International House of Tea

A re-review of this tea.

Gunpowder green tea has become my favorite work-day tea. It’s inexpensive ($6/50g!), fuller-bodied to help me wake up, can “take a beating” (I.e. higher temps and longer steeping time without becoming bitter…accidentally let it steep at work for 7min (lower temp) and it was fine!). Although it doesn’t have the buttery or super vegetal taste I love in green tea, it is slightly smoky, which is an interesting change of pace, and a slight “green” taste. Overall it just works for me during work days where I don’t have time to worry about oversteeping and whatnot. I can def see myself trying different gunpowder teas and using them up quickly!

Another tea from the sampler pack. Unfortunately, it seems like I received a lot of broken leaves and dust in my sample. Probably since it was a sample. Either way, when I scooped out tea to make my mug full I did get almost all whole leaves to try it out- nice.

This tea is one of my favourites from the sampler pack. It is not too prone to astringency, not too bold or weak, and very floral, sweet, and vegetal. I’m especially loving the vegetal aspect of this tea. Yum.

Unlike the Yunnan tea I just reviewed, this one is a re-purchase. The vegetal character does make it unique to me and this tea is good for multiple steepings. It is one of the most pricey teas from iHOT at $12.50/50g (only gyokuro and jasmine pearls are more expensive), but that’s the beauty of trying a sample first.

One of the teas from the sampler pack I got from iHOT. I’ve tried it several times now, actually just finishing up the last of the sample.

Let me just start off by saying how pretty this tea is. Because it’s tips all of the leaves are the same size and shape, almost reminding me of the look of fennel. The uniform look is really nice.

So with that being said, I did enjoy this tea, but I dunno if I would repurchase. The taste isn’t unique to me and the tea is really prone to astringency, yet it’s not that great for multiple resteepings. This tea is pretty inexpensive so I think there would be other greens I would prefer over this one in that price range.

I find with fruit flavoured teas, a lot of the time they’ll SAY it tastes like a particular tea, but when you drink it it’s just vaguely fruit or sweet but distinctive. This blueberry rooibos does a pretty good job with it’s blueberry flavour. I suppose that’s what happens when you use dehydrated blueberries in your tea! I did enjoy it straight up, but I’m wondering how it’ll tasted iced as well. We’ll have to see!

Mulberry Magic from DAVID’s tea is a staple for me. However, when I saw that iHOT sold mulberry leaves for $6.00/50g as opposed to about $10/50g for Mulberry Magic from DAVIDs, I knew I needed to try this out and be economical.

I noticed that the leaves are VERY long (some are about 2.5 inches!) and more straight than with mulberry magic. Even still, it brews up just like mulberry magic: dark, muddled green with a very floral, grass, and sweet flavour that has depth to it. Very nice. I always brew mulberry strong so I never noticed the macadamia nuts with Mulberry Magic, so this is a great substitute.

Good amount of bergamont flavouring in this rooibos blend. Yum. I think I like the Cream of Earl Grey rooibos blend better though. Still though- this tea is a good substitute for people like myself who cannot drink black tea but still like bergamot flavouring.

I currently have 3 genmaicha teas in my collection but haven’t been drinking genmaicha lately! Luckily this is just a sample.

Not much to say- a nice roasted rice + popcorn flavour with the taste of fresh grass in the background. Nice. I hope to get a move on with this genmaicha teas soon..

Not usually one for flavored greens, but since this is decaf I don’t really care. Made a pot of this for the hubs and I, then took some tea out of the pot for a cup (and brought some for a short evening shift too). A not too weak, not strong vanilla taste with the undertones of grass. Lovely. I find that straight, decaf green tea is not nearly as good as the straight, regular-caf stuff since the decaffeination process creates a strange taste, but adding the vanilla takes away that strange taste while still having the pleasant grassy undertones. I think this shall replace the straight decaf stuff I have!

Finally used up my $50 gift card my husband got me for my bday (dec 14, so it’s been 3 months!). I’m really impressed with how much tea I got for $50. iHOT’s prices are so much better than most companies I’ve ordered from (example: most of iHOT’s rooibos teas are $5.75/50g instead of the avg $7.00/50g from DAVIDs) and they have great quality. Not to mention, I watched them fill up the bags of tea and I noticed they were giving me 60-70g for the price of 50g (they sell in denominations of 50g). What a deal and great customer service!

Anywho, I brewed this tea up for prob 8min, 2tsp of tea in 10oz of 200F water. Earl Grey Cream indeed! Bergamot and vanilla flavours are more prominent than the rooibos- which is hard to find in flavoured rooibos blends (especially vanilla). I want to try this as a latte. It’s so creamy I’m sure it would wok wondrously. I’ll have no probably drinking this one down!

Probably one of my favourite teas at this moment. The smell is heavenly, and the taste is even more so. Not too overwhelming but definitely there.

This is one of my go-to teas for after supper. Sweet, smells amazing, and warms me right up.

Another tea from the husband for Christmas. I’m only supposed to have this when I’m sick, but I was doing a bit of shuffling with my teas and wanted to sample it.

I got a big bag of this! It’s so light and fluffy. I actually filled up one tin and still have 13 grams (1.5 cups!) in the bag! I’m actually looking to pass it on to anyone who is interested? There’s just no way I’ll be able to us all of it up! Let me know If you’re interested ;).

Anywho, I steeped this tea for about 7-8 min I was surprised on how dark the liqueur turned. Similar to a black tea. The taste is interesting, a little medicinal, a little flowery, and all together herbaceous. I like teas like that, and this’ll be good to keep around and to mix with echinacea. I’ll have to see how well it works with colds!

Yet another tea from the husband for Christmas :)

Reminds me of Dandelion Root tea from here, except more floral. The other taste is grassy/herbaceous. Very nice and relaxing.

Another Christmas gift tea!

This one is quite refreshing. Slightly floral (not nearly as much as chamomile, for example). Very herbaceous. Reminds me of echinacea without being so medicinal or drying. Quite nice. I think this would go well with lemongrass or lemon myrtle.

Re-review of this tea

Guess who’s getting sick right before her anniversary weekend trip? Me, right here. So Vitamin C, healthy foods, lots of sleep, and lot of echinacea (+ mullein) tea. My supervisor jokingly made a “bleh” face when I mentioned echinacea tea, but luckily I actually like this the taste of this tea. It’s herbaceous and slightly drying. Right now I just have a scratchy throat so I’m hoping it won’t progress too far. As long as I’m not throwing up I’m still going!

Glad this tea is $4.50 for 50g. I’ll be chugging it like crazy :\

A re-review of this tea.

Now with it being October I’m trying all the herbal/rooibos pumpkin blends I can find. Unless I find one at a tea shop I’m going to in Minneapolis this weekend for my anniversary , this rooibos blend is my last one I’m trying.

I tried it 2 ways:

Way 1 (plain cup): 1.5-2tsp of leaf, steeped 8min in 8oz of 190F water: Def tasting cinnamon and cloves followed still by rooibos and a bit of apple. The spices seemed weak to me, but I’ve realized iHOT airs on the side of caution with their spices. See my tasting note for rooibos chai: this pumpkin blend has more spice than it! Overall this cup was okay if weak.

Way 2 (latte): 4 “perfect spoonfuls” (10tsp), steeped 5ish min in 8oz of 190F water, mixed with hot, frothed 1% milk (approx 6oz): Wow, ok, THERE’S the cinnamon and cloves! The latte is much more powerful and this is where the tea shines. I would even reduce my leaf by 1 perfect spoonful (or sub in something else) because the spices were almost a bit strong for me. Overall a good latte!

However, if I had to say what my favourite pumpkin tea is I would say Spiced Pumpkin by DAVIDs TEA: reason being, they had actual pumpkin in that blend. This tea from iHOT is an easy #2, and pumpkin cheesecake (DAVIDs) and pumpkin pie (Steeped Tea) were crap. I kind of consider this tea to be the better chai rooibos blend as opposed to a pumpkin tea. Definitely a repurchase.

What can I say-it’s lemongrass! Nice lemony, herby, lemongrass. I got it as a gift for Christmas and have been mixing it with a honeybush tea + ginger :).

A re-review of this tea.

Original tasting note: “One of the teas I got from Christmas from the husband :) I wanted to try some different things. I just placed the tips directly in the boiled water and let it steep continuously. The result is a mild woody taste (obviously to be expected).”

I actually brought down the rating from 70 to 60. Reason being: I broke up the cedar tips into small, manageable pieces and mixed them with the Violet Leaf tea I also got from IHOT. I’ve been using up the mixed teas at work (I put measured amounts in paper filters and steep in in my timolino, which retains heat like nothing else) and I find the cedar to be very powerful. I don’t mind mild woody tastes like rooibos of honeybush, but when steeped for too long the cedar is much too woody for my taste. Therefore, I’ve been careful about the steeping time with this tea. I think the reason why I didn’t mind this tea at first was because I just steeped it in a mug where the water cools down quickly and therefore not much of the wood taste is released. In the timolino, it stays at a very hot temperature for a long time and it’s very powerful way to steep.

Got a sample of this- just enough to make 1 cup worth. overall the taste is just as advertised- fruity and cranberry with too much tartness from the hibiscus. This would be great iced in the summertime.

I popped in again to ihot yesterday- Mostly to get my husband’s Christmas present (a french press travel mug- he’ll use it for coffee), but they threw in this sample :)

I brewed it up today to try- it doesn’t have an ingredients listing on the sample, and not on the website either, but what I’m tasting is very similar to the Christmas chai rooibos- vanilla, and for this tea, a very small touch of spice. Altogether tasty, but I don’t usually go for those flavours in green tea so I will gladly use up the sample and move on.

Re-review of this tea

The more I drink it the more I love it. The lady at iHOT described it as a “cornucopia” of flavors- I agree. Love the mix of orange, cinnamon (and other baking spices) and a light touch of anise and apple. Very tasty. Definitely a repurchase.

Re-reviewing this tea because I didn’t pay much attention to it the first time.

This blend tastes primarily of mint with a grassy taste from the nettle leaf, followed by cooking spices (as opposed to baking spices like cinnamon, cloves, etc). Altogether a unique, enjoyable blend. Although, I must say, if I am going to drink a tea that is going to kick my immune system back into gear, I would want something a bit stronger, like super ginger from DAVIDs or Immunity booster from steeped tea.

Yep, this is honeybush. Woody, slightly sweet, honeybush. I like it as a base for a tea and will mix it with lemon myrtle :)

I could pretty much copy and paste my tasting note for the lapacho mango tea and it would work for this tea- the pear flavouring is spot on (just like the mango flavouring was), but as the tea cools down you realize that the lapacho is not a strong taste so there is not enough body to this tea. Kudos for ihot fo getting their flavourings right, but I think honeybush/rooibos is better than lapacho.