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Ho – Ly – Crap.

So I went to Indigo yesterday. I’ve had the urge to go shopping there for a while, and yesterday I just couldn’t hold off anymore. Indigo is just one of those stores where, if I walk in, I usually spend at least an hour browsing and drooling over everything I want to buy before I manage to escape, hopefully with minimal damage to my wallet. I knew Indigo sold Harney and Sons tea, but I haven’t really thought to try it until recently, when I read some of their reviews on Steepster. I’ve been aware for a while that Harney and Sons has some really good/high quality teas, so I’m not sure why this is the first time I’ve decided to try one out.

That being said, as soon as I opened the tin of Paris, I knew I had something special. I think this is what love at first sight (smell?) feels like. The aroma is just amazing. I don’t know what the ingredients or blend in this tea is, the tin doesn’t list it, so it’s hard for me to identify. There is something lightly fruity (cherry?), also sweet (caramel?), with the base of the smooth black tea. Perhaps even a hint of bergamont? I don’t know, but it felt like ecstasy to take long deep breaths with my face in the tin.

Of course, I couldn’t wait to try it. By the time I got around to it, it was already 7:30pm, but I didn’t care. Black tea or no black tea, I was going to try this tea. The flavour did not disappoint either. It held true to a lot of the blended notes that were present in the aroma. The tea is smooth yet bold, light yet full, and dances wonderfully on the tongue.

Lady Grey, I think you have competition.

Iced tea!

Wow, this one turned out really yummy the way I made it! For whatever reason, this tea brews bitter no matter what I do to try to counteract it (lower temp water, less steeping time), so I did have to add just over a tablespoon of simple syrup (which is still not that much considering it’s already a 1:1 water and sugar ratio). However, with the addition of the sweetener, and after I added a handful of frozen mangoes and let it sit in the fridge over night, the iced tea tasted really nice! The whole flavour profile was very tropical, and the mango infusion definitely came out in the tea, which I wasn’t really expecting to be honest. I think mangoes were the perfect choice for this tea because it already leans towards a fruity/tropical feel with the inclusion of apricot in the blend itself, so the mangoes really complemented the style and brought out a lot of the fruity flavours that I was missing in hot brews. Perfect timing for this, as it turned out to be a hot day, too!

Iced tea!

Used three tea bags, steeped for five minutes. This one turned out pretty tasty. I used an infusion of oranges this time, and I think the citrus complemented the sweetness of the tea pretty well. I didn’t even need to add any extra sugar to the brew because the tea was really sweet in itself already. I did enjoy this tea iced, but I think I want to experiment with different flavour infusions next time. I’m thinking apples and cinnamon. Maybe blackberries? Gotta go grocery shopping!

Made this into iced tea last night!

I brewed 4 teabags in a 1L teapot, let it cool, added some simple syrup syrup and a couple slices of fresh lemon, stuck it into the fridge overnight. In the morning: wonderful, lemony iced tea! The best part is, it’s not overly sweet like any other iced tea you can buy. I added just enough simple syrup to top it off in the morning, and drank the whole thing throughout the day. Quite nice! I think I may have steeped the tea a bit too long as it was a little too bitter, but will definitely try this again. Very tasty and refreshing!

Had one last cup of this at work before I decided that I simply couldn’t drink any more. I originally though this tea was decent, but I no longer think it’s quality green tea at all. While the aroma is very citrusy and fresh, the tea doesn’t taste like it at all. In fact, it is very sour in a way which the green tea and other flavour elements don’t seem to mix well at all. Each sip leaves quite an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth – slightly grassy/seaweedy, but mostly sour. Not like citrus-sour either, more like spoiled sour. =/ It’s not even old – only a couple months. I got in in February on my birthday. Disappointing, this could have been a good tea.

This is strange. I could have sworn I had added this tea to my cupboard AND reviewed it in the past. Oh well. Here it is, then.

I’ve had this tea for a very long time (read: 3 years). I first tried it when I got to take home a whole bag of it from Starbucks, since we were tasting the new replacement teas that took away my beloved Tazo. Since no one else wanted the rest, I “volunteered” to take it home with me. It’s been sitting in the back of my cupboard ever since. This tea was supposed to be replacing Tazo’s Zen tea. Now, if you’ve been reading my blog, you’d know how much I just love Zen. Jade Citrus as a replacement was a big, big disappointment. Whereas I found Zen to be perfectly balanced with the green tea, lemongrass, and a hint of mint, in Jade Citrus the mint overpowers all other flavours. It even smells like pure spearmint – it’s more comparable to my toothpaste than to Tazo Zen, in my opinion.

Ok, I was going on a little rant. To be perfectly honest, I am drinking trying it again because when I came home from work today I saw a brand new tin of Jade Citrus sitting on my desk – a lovely and thoughtful gift from my boyfriend. Unfortunately, he didn’t know about my unpleasant history with Jade Citrus, and I was mostly just confused about where this tin had come from than shown him my gratitude at his thoughtfulness. I feel bad. So here I am, giving this tea a second chance. (Note: I did use tea from the original sample back I had from Starbucks. I realize it may be a bit old, but when I opened it to check it’s quality, I was once again blown away by the minty aroma. I think it’s safe to say the tea will still be potent.)

Being very wary of the strength of this tea, I underleafed my cup slightly, and didn’t brew it more than a couple minutes. I have nothing new to report, despite my hope that maybe my tastes/grudge has changed. Honestly, all I can taste in this tea is the mint. It even leaves that tingly mouth-feel you get after brushing your teeth. Now, I am not averse to mint, but I do not enjoy it when it overwhelms where it’s not supposed to. This tea is supposed to be nuanced with layers of flavour, both green tea and citrus – it is not. I’m glad I didn’t open up the new tea, at least now I can give it to someone who will enjoy it.

Edit: I had the wrong tea company. Re-posting here!

I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed this tea yet, I’ve had it for a few months now! It was one of the samples of my Tea Sparrow subscription, which is currently on hold as I catch up on drinking what tea I have in my cupboard.

Vanilla Cacao really does taste and smell like hot chocolate. Made straight, it could leave you longing for a bit of cream or milk to make it the hearty cup that you expect when drinking hot chocolate, but even so the tea is robust, chocolatey, and quite satisfying.

This afternoon I made it as a blend with my Hathikuli Estate Assam, since I needed a little energy boost to keep me going with my LSAT studying. I picked this assam because it has a hearty neutral base but leans slightly towards a coco flavour itself. I used a teaspoon of assam and slightly more than a teaspoon of Vanilla Cacao since I don’t want to over-steep the black tea but want to get a lot of chocolate flavour out of the herbal blend. Have you noticed I am also craving chocolate?

The aroma is predominantly Vanilla Cacao, which is nice and relaxing. Smells delicious, and I do love the smell of chocolate. (Jeeze, I really am a choco-holic.) First sips are a little bitter – the tea has a lot of flavour thanks to the two blends. I am definitely tasting the cacao, and I realized the bitterness is coming from the cacao shells: dark chocolate has the same chocolatey bitterness (which means it’s not from the black tea, as it doesn’t taste at all astringent or sour.) I’m very satisfied with the blend! It has the chocolate flavour I was trying to find, and the assam provides for a nice, smooth base that works well with the herbal blend.

I should try blending more often! I have many different types of tea, but I almost never remember that I could mix them together rather than just drink each one straight.

Have been drinking this one at work so that I can use up the last of my teabags in the sample box. I’ve learned that this tea needs to be steeped to a MAXIMUM of 30 seconds, as anything longer and it will start to go bitter very quickly. So I’ve been steeping it for abour 30 seconds each time, and I think I would be willing to improve by rating of this tea by a little bit. It is still not something I would consider “good”. But my method made it more drinkable. The tea is no longer bitter, and the flavour is in the best balance that I could get it to be without making the tea astringent by steeping it too long.

The aroma is fairly mild but nice, slightly lemony. The flavour of the tea is very basic, almost bland. Black tea is predominant, with a weak mix of other flavours that aren’t even strong enough for me to identify, save maybe for the lemon. Overall, a very basic and bland tea that I will not be buying again.

(Sept 2016: This review seems to have been eaten by the Steepster Thief. )

I buy this smoothie whenever it goes on sale at my local IGA. I’m not too sure about how healthy it is (looking at you, sugar, oil, and carrageenan!), but it really is delicious! The matcha flavour comes through really nicely, and the slight sweetness does help boost the flavour. I drink about a third of the bottle with my lunch or during breakfast, and helps to fill out those last hungry holes in my stomach. :) Yummy treat!