BrutaliTeas
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What a pleasant surprise!
I have had some bad luck at times with ginger/clove/chai like mixes, and Rooibios in general, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. A good thing too as the name is wicked cool. I brewed a heaping spoonful in a mini pot with some sugar and downed it all. Could not stop drinking. None of the flavoring overwhelms another which is unusual for this type of mix. All just complement to make a good taste. Very cozy and comforting tea experience. I brewed four minutes so will continue to do so with future brewing and hope I enjoy as well.
A definite keeper.
Preparation
I guess it’s official that one of my favorite tea pots is somehow leaking when I pour. It’s a triangle small brown one and I had assumed last night was a coincidence spill, but today some tea ends on the counter with both cup pours. Oh no. :(
With work tea break today chopped up a roma tomato with some seasoning and some more Havarti cheese. All I ate before sipping the tea while it brewed.
This tea is perfectly servicable but not memorable. I would think, considering Brutalitea’s usual strength and that I went a bit over five minutes, and with the espresso beans, that it would have more oomph. It does not. It is fine and not bad but not a favorite. I have a tin to drink so will see on future thoughts with future steepings.
There are more beans and I only grabbed one in this particular tea bag, so that could have made the coffee more of a backround. I will try to steep longer later.
#SVTTB Round Two – Tea 10/???
This one was interesting and I’m not yet sure where I’ve landed on it. I think my biggest hang up is that I found the flavour more light than I would have thought this profile would be, even for BrutaliTeas which often has a more understated blending/flavouring style. I kept comparing it to ButterBotch which is similar but, IMO, better executes those sweeter caramel-y “brown/maillard” type of flavours. That said, the sweetness level overall was nice and I thought the mix of black tea and rooibos achieved a smooth, medium body that was pleasant.
I just wanted a little more, y’know? Since there’s not much of this sample left in the TTB anyway, I think I’m holding on to this one to see if I can push it to be a little more flavourful…
Pulled this from the #svttb and while I want to like these Brutalitea blends, I have to say I’m personally disappointed. They all have a lot of ingredients but nothing stands out as unique or particularly flavourful. This is nutty but not much else and seeing as it has cinnamon, apple, banana, etc. that is underwhelming.
This one is unique and almost grassy – well, grassy isn’t the right word, can’t put my finger on it. Balanced and gets better the more I sipped it. Have plenty left to keep trying and seeing if I can find the other flavor profiles it mentioned. Not sure yet if it’s a keeper, though.
Preparation
Hm, didn’t notice was a “white” tea when brewed it as I would a black tea. Oops.
Didn’t hurt it though. Was very fruit punchy and a deep purple-red “bloody” color. And of course any tribute to Jaws gets bonus brownie points on its own merit.
May be good iced, not sure. Reminds me a little of Harney and Sons Ice Tea Indigo type. The hibiscus is not overwhelming so, while there is a touch of sour buried below these waters, its’ not overwhelming.
This isn’t a tea I’d drink daily or anything but it’s nice for those moments.
Preparation
It seems somehow appropriate that this ended with another rooibos. I plan to spent January on the Bird & Blend advents & samples, but I am thrilled by the idea of a February where I don’t taste a single drop of wood chip tea.
There’s sweetness to this one as well as the rooibos, but it mostly seemed like a vanilla with some unknown light spices. I can’t say I’ve ever had eggnog or would know how it compares. This was a miss for me.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 24
In all, I enjoyed this calendar and exploring some new teas from an interesting brand. It surprised me that the calendar only duplicated one tea from my original sampler order of 18 varieties, and I still didn’t get to taste a few that I’m very curious about, so there’s a lot to explore!
Preparation
I was excited for this tea both because of the candy cane flavor and because of the name joke. I’m not clear from the ingredient list what wasn’t working for me here, because there’s nothing inherently wrong with candy cane and peppermint and black tea. I love the combination, actually. But this one had a strange artificial sweetness to it with a flavor that didn’t quite work with the candy cane. My partner said it was like a butterscotch. I didn’t get that, but I definitely didn’t get just candy cane, and I couldn’t finish it.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 23
Preparation
This tea was fine? If anything, it struck me as an odd choice next to The Chai Ning in the advent, because there were a lot of similar flavors happening except that this one was weaker and not toasty. I got a lot more cinnamon and vanilla from this than ginger, which I suppose makes some sense for a gingerbread blend, but I don’t need more.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 22
Preparation
This was a lovely chai with a distinctly toasty flavor, and it somehow reminded me of the chewy molasses cookies I get several times a year from our grocery store. I drink most of my teas straight, but my partner insisted I try adding milk to this one, and it somehow brought out more of the sweetness and baked goods quality. This made the cut as one of 5 teas I reordered from the advent calendar.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 21
Preparation
My two favorite teas of the calendar were Apples Aligned Coming Undone (caramel apple) and Dragonfruitforce, so I reordered those. Then I decided I really wanted to try Re-CrAnimator iced, and my partner requested more Sage Against the Machine. Didn’t exactly match up with all my ratings but I’m excited for it all to arrive!
Last tasting notes for this particular advent.
Between a dislike of lavender and of chamomile, I’m not much a “sleepy” tea person. The spearmint in this one helps a lot, and I don’t feel overwhelmed by either of the disliked ingredients. If I really felt inclined to own a tea of this sort, I’d probably pick this one – but I’d rather just find other blends without caffeine.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 20
Preparation
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and to everyone else, happy last Sunday of the year! We have nothing on the calendar, nowhere to be and no one to host today. Honestly, that’s a perfect way to celebrate in my book.
I did better at keeping up with the advents than usual! I do want to keep reviewing them for my own notes, so I apologize in advance that these aren’t over on my end yet.
I actually steeped this up yesterday afternoon and spent a good portion of the evening trying to convince myself I liked it. I found the chocolate and mint quite well-balanced and enjoyable, when this combo is so often just off in other teas. But while it would have been a smash hit on a different base, the aftertaste was too much rooibos for me to like.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 19
BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 24
So I like eggnog, but this doesn’t taste anything like it to me.
It mostly just tastes like woody rooibos, with a touch of mustiness to it. There’s a little bit of cinnamon in the aroma, but I don’t get any in the taste. And certainly no nutmeg or creaminess, which would be what would make it eggnog.
A disappointing end to the advent.
Flavors: Musty, Rooibos, Woody
Preparation
I was sad when the advent sold out before I could buy one, but I noticed your reviews were sort of medium for it. Would you buy it again, or did you feel that once was enough?
I probably wouldn’t, there were a few I liked but none that were must-buys, and most were just meh for me. Although obviously it’s very subjective, you might enjoy them much more!
I felt the same way when I got the advent a few years ago. The punny tea names were probably the best part.
It’s worth noting, I think they blend with a lot of Adagio teas, and I don’t like Adagio so I’m not surprised to not love these teas either.
Yeah I wasn’t blown away by the flavors from last year’s calendar, but I enjoyed having it. I’ll probably go ahead and skip it next year…on purpose this time!
I didn’t realize they were using Adagio teas! They have been mostly miss with the occasional hit for me, so it makes sense I feel the same about this company.
Preparing to have people over and cook a (relatively simple, thankfully) Christmas Eve dinner tonight. I thought today might be the day to catch up & finish up the BrutaliTeas advent – it’s a pretty adventurous number though, so we’ll see.
I love a jasmine tea and find jasmine pearls just so pleasant and fun, but they had to go and make this one coconut as well. When first steeped the coconut is absolutely at the front. Thankfully as it cools it takes a back seat to the jasmine, and I was able to drink the rest of it. I don’t get any sort of pineapple from it, sadly.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 18
Flavors: Coconut, Jasmine
Preparation
BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 23
So this is fine. The peppermint is very strong and refreshing, in a candy cane sort of way. There’s not really any creaminess despite the description mentioning it. Mostly it’s just a strong peppermint flavor on generic and fairly tannic black base. Maybe a hint of a chocolaty flavor too? And it leans very slightly fruity, which is a bit odd.
It is candy cane-esque, which is what it says. I think some vanilla or cream would’ve been nice here though.
Flavors: Brisk, Chocolate, Fruity, Menthol, Mint, Peppermint, Sweet, Tannic
Preparation
BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 22
Okay, so I admit at first I didn’t get the name. And then I was like, “ohhhh like gingerbread, doi” LOL! I blame it being morning when I opened my advents. And to be fair, it would be a bit clearer if the words were actually combined, like “The Walking GingerDead” or something.
So I didn’t even notice the rooibos when I steeped this, apparently it’s a mix of gingerbread black tea and rooibos chai. I’m honestly not a fan of this mix, as I feel like it leaves the tea tasting thin? Overall it tastes like a generic chai with cinnamon and clove, and a bit heavy on the ginger side of things. I don’t really get cookie from it, and I’m not tasting the vanilla. If anything, yesterday’s tea was almost more gingerbread-y to me? Now that I mention it, it’s a bit weird that they put two such similar teas on consecutive days…
Anyway, it’s fine but not good or special.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Tea, Thin
Preparation
Rooibos is determined to ruin my tea fun today.
This smells pleasant enough! It seems like a sweet, nutty, butter cookie. I don’t really like a sugar cookie, a shortbread, or anything similar, but I feel like this tea could have its place if not for all the rooibos. I managed about half of my cup with a square of chocolate and salted caramel fudge I was enjoying. As soon as the fudge was over though, I couldn’t manage the rest of the cup.
BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 17
Flavors: Butter, Cookie, Nutty, Sugar, Wet Wood