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While it is hardly the “indulgent, voluptuous black tea” saucily promised on the teabag, this is much better than previous Palais de Thes.

It states it contains almond, cinnamon and vanilla, spiced with a hint of ginger. I get no ginger, but the cinnamon and vanilla come through well. There’s also alleged apple but it’s minimal.

It tastes rather like a poor imitation of Mariage Freres The de Noel brewed at half strength. I have taken to brewing my Palais de Thes in a small Japanese cup with about 100-150ml of water, since that is the only way they taste of anything to me.

I bought the Advent Calendar so am working my way steadily through. I think The des Amants is the best of a bad lot. But if you like this profile, just go for the Mariage Freres Noel. It’s a similar flavour profile and exceedingly more pleasant.

This one is pretty straighforward. It’s Jasmine Green, what you see is what you get. Although both the green tea and jasmine are a little weak, it’s a pleasant enough cuppa. The jasmine is well-done and not perfumey. The tea base is a bog standard green bancha.

Do keep an eye on steeping times, this one turns bitter fast. The green tea is not the finest quality and oversteeping will turn it undrinkable.

Another fruity Lupicia black from the Book of Tea. It has small pink peppercorns which Lupicia says look like the namesake Daruma dolls, as well as sweetened mango pieces (my bag had a minimal amount of these.) The peppercorns do not impart any peppery sensation or flavour.

It’s a very familiar Lupicia tea, a standard tannic black tea blend with a zingy vaguely “tropical” fruit flavour. It reminds me a lot of Sakurambo as they both share the pink peppercorns and a vague sort of tropical black tea suggestion. Daruma is much milder, though, so if you like Sakurambo but thought it was a little too powerful, this might be a nice choice. I would not be unhappy to get this in a tea house, but I personally prefer a little more flavour in tea that’s supposed to have it.

All together, a nice cuppa of classic Lupicia.

This is a good mass-market introduction to smoked tea. It’s got some rather artificial smoke notes in the beginning, and a woodsy intermediate that goes to a dry tannic finish. Nothing too complicated or nuanced here. It’s the training wheels on your smoked tea bicycle.

Smoked teas in general are rather divisive. I am a fan but my partner says they smell like barbecue sauce. It is rather off-putting to some, which I definitely understand. For me, this was the gateway tea to more sophisticated smoked blends. I have heard Twinings reformulated this blend in the orange box into something awful in a new black box. I won’t bother trying the new blend since I have some upleasant Palais de Thes to get through and thus have enough upcoming tea tragedies.

I’ve been seeking out some herbals, so I picked this up since it finally appeared at my local Trader Joe’s.

It does brew to a lovely yellow colour, but I feel like licorice is the dominant note here rather than the stated ginger or turmeric. It has a sweet finish that I can’t quite place (orange peel?) but the citrus is pretty minimal. The overall flavour is somewhat weak. but given the dominating licorice that might be a blessing.

It’s by no means awful…but feels like something you’d drink after some kind of wellness treatment. I wish it had more ginger and less licorice. It was not what I’d call unpleasant, though I wouldn’t repurchase because I expected Ginger and Tumeric to have more…ginger. They should call it Licorice Turmeric Blend so everyone can purchase accordingly.

Wanted something totally different for today…mission accomplished. I swear I am getting licorice/anise notes in here, but none are listed. I brewed for 6 minutes rather than the recommended 8-10 as it was plenty strong for me already.

Obviously, heavy tumeric presence here, but the overall taste is somewhat savoury, almost like some sort of medicinal broth Grandma would have made you when you were home sick. Definitely a smoky/earthy sip. I do like a smoky cuppa, so it’s satisfying and very warming on a cold winter morning. No heat from this tumeric blend, despite it claiming cinnamon. I didn’t get that at all.

I like it, but I wouldn’t want to drink it every day. It just gives me “sick in bed” vibes through no fault of its own.

This is a powerful Darjeeling that can also be used as an industrial degreaser or paint stripper.

Well, OK, not really. But the cup I brewed…well, it kind of feels like a punishment because it’s so bitter and astringent, but has very little actual tea flavour. It just tastes like regret and disappointment with an odd whiff of petrol at the end.

I suspect this tea is much better with milk and sugar to cut the bitterness and astringency. But I’m just going to pour this down the drain and hope it unclogs my kitchen sink. Still, it is a classic tea from a venerable brand, so I shall defer to centuries of tea drinkers who seem to love this and say it’s not a bad tea, it’s just not for me.

I have to start off saying I am not a fan of red rooibos and have yet to find one I truly enjoy- except for Gryphon Apple Strudel, which is very hard to get hands on now that I’m living outside Singapore.

Piccolo has a weird medicinal jam note in it, like some unholy alliance of stonefruit marmalade and cough syrup distilled into some sort of wretched jam. Lupicia claims it has a “lovely scent and flavors of honey, apricot, and sweet berries,” but I am not detecting any of those flavours except the apricot which at least serves to mask the rooibos note somewhat. They further go on to recommend it for children (apparently ones you don’t much like) and adding milk. I am a child-free vegan, so into the trash Piccolo must go.

I can’t blame Lupicia for my personal tastes and this does seem to be a nice quality rooibos- it’s just got that prominent red rooibos note that personally overrides any other good qualities. It does brew up to a lovely colour and seems like it’d be good for multiple steeps, if you’re into that sort of self-flagellation.

Whoa, this is a black that will put hair on your chest- a proper bracing cuppa that will get you going. It’s got a woody, earthy aftertaste after the initial tannin-heavy opening that lets you know THIS IS TEA! I imagine lumberjacks or other similar manly men drinking it. It feels like this should be advertised with one of those ridiculous American portmanteaux, like “Real Men Drink Kilimanjaro Tea for MENERGY!” You could probably also use the teabag to staunch bleeding after you’ve cut off a limb with those manly power tools.

If you find other standard black breakfast-style too wimpy, give this a try. Can’t say the taste is outstanding- it’s rather standard- but it will get you out of bed.

According to Lupicia, this is a black tea with savoury caramel, honey and fruit flavours. I get some rather standard caramel aftertaste and that generic fruit blend Lupicia seems to favour in a lot of their mixed black tea blends. It has a rather fruit candy-like aroma, though the fruit taste is somewhere between natural and artifiical.

Overall, a pleasant cuppa but I feel as though I’ve tasted this one before many times. I imagine it would be a nice pairing with a cake or dessert.