Tea Licious

This is the third of my Tea Licious free samples; thanks again! I’ve wanted to try other lavender Earl Greys, so this seemed like an opportunity to do so. The aroma of the dried leaves on this one smells great: strongly of lavender with a bright bergamot behind it.

Brewed, I was surprised to find the aroma had turned kind of… soapy. Now I’ve read many reviews were people complained of finding lavender teas soapy and they write them off entirely because they associate lavender with soap. I have had a few lavender teas now, and I haven’t found them soapy, so I just figured I wasn’t one of those people. This one is seriously soapy. It tastes like soapy lavender water. It’s not residue on my cup, because I actually don’t wash out my cup with soap all that often, I just rinse it most days. I’m not sure what part of the lavender makes it soapy, but apparently there are some blends where even a lavender lover tastes soap. I enjoyed my other samples from Tea Licious, but unfortunately this one I can’t drink.

This is a pleasant tea. I find it to be more enjoyable after allowing it to cool slightly – the flavors of lemon and raspberry really pop at that point. The hibiscus is lightly tart but nothing I can’t handle. It seems to do more to the color of the liquor than it does the flavor.

Tasty!

Rosey tea number two, and this one is a sipdown. I’ve had this sample for a while and this is the last of it, though I think it may have to be a reorder. A lot of flavored oolongs are made on a formosa base, which isn’t one I care for a lot on it’s own, so I love that this one is a nice green one. Don’t know what type, but it is pretty tasty. I also love the combo of rose, lemongrass and ginger. It’s not really a combo I would have thought up, but it is fantastic. Not to mention great for the stomach after a lunch of greasy pizza.

I had some problems with consistance early on in my sample of this tea, but this cup seems very similar to the last cup I had, so maybe I just wasn’t getting a good mix the first times around. This cup is rosy and lemony with a hint of ginger, all with a pleasant green oolong base to back it up. I’m really, really enjoying this one and if my last cup of the sample is as good as this one, I think I might have to order some more… this flavor combination doesn’t seem that common!

I’m not feeling the greatest today, so I was looking in my stash for something soothing. I actually don’t have any primarily ginger tea right now, which is odd and needs to be remedied. This is described as a rose oolong, but it also contains ginger and lemongrass (and the lemongrass seems to be the primary flavor), so I went with this one.

This tea is crazy because every time it tastes different. First time I had it, it was strongly lemongrass and ginger. Second time, it was only faintly lemony and mostly the green oolong. Today, it’s actually very rosey! With a nice, light hint of lemon underneath, adding a bright note that pairs well with the rich, sweet rose. This iteration is definitely an oolong I’d buy again, but I’m unsure I’d ever be able to replicate this cup.

This past weekend we went back to Coney Island to find our super rare Gray-hooded Gull again. If anyone is interested in seeing the gull, my pictures are here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvGy7Wq
There’s a NY Times article about the gull today, but the reporter was pretty lazy and didn’t even try to contact any officials or try to find the person that reported it originally (me!). http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/nyregion/gray-hooded-gull-rare-bird-in-us-is-apparently-on-coney-island.html?_r=1

ETA: Here’s an article from the American Birding Association, which actually does give us credit: http://birding.typepad.com/peeps/2011/07/gray-hooded-gull-coney-island-new-york.html

When I took a deep whiff of the dried leaves in the sample pouch today I again got a lot of lemongrass aroma, but also a definite note of rose!

Brewed, however, the flavor profile is pretty different from before. This cup was much less lemony today. It was just about like drinking a nice, leafy green oolong with a hint of lemon. Still no rose, unfortunately, but my first steep seems like a later steep where more of the flavor has already been steeped out. Weird.

This is another of my free samples from Tea Licious. The rose part intrigued me, but also listed lemongrass and ginger, a combo I like, and I was very curious. The dry leaf smells like lemongrass and ginger, unsurprisingly; the rose is fairly wiped out. The oolong leaves are very green and crumpled up almost into little balls; I don’t have any rose buds in my sample, but there are definitely petals.

Brewed, the aroma is still very lemongrass/ginger. That carries through to the taste, which is primarily lemony but a bit gingery as well. It’s not peppery gingery, but the lemongrass and ginger meld together to form a very tasty combo. I’d wager that in a competition like this, the usually more delicate rose loses, as it seems to here. The oolong base is very pleasant; a tea with lemongrass and ginger can easily get too ‘sharp’, but the oolong adds a smoothness, almost a thickness to the tea. I guess this is the ‘breadiness’ that people describe with some oolongs. I really feel like this tea is misnamed; call it a Lemongrass Ginger Oolong, and you have it right on the money. It’s delicious, and I could definitely see it filling the lemon/ginger gap in my cupboard right now.

I found this one to be a bit woodsy, had a dry finish with the classic Oolong flavor staying with you. I was surprised at how different it tasted “barely sipp-able hot” compared with “gulp-able hot”. The taste was much better once it cooled down a bit.

I used the rest of my sample of this tea for a cold steep. My goodness if it wasn’t rosey! The first sip tasted like I had bitten into a fresh rose turkish delight. Like the hot steep, the bergamot just can’t compete, and this tea seems primarily like a rose black. The bergamot gives a little bright note, but nothing that I could positively identify as bergamot. The rose is very sweet, like Harney’s Rose Scented. As tasty as it is, I’m afraid it just doesn’s succeed as Rose Earl Grey, so I’m marking it down a bit based on that. It is a decent rose-scented black, however.

I always love getting a package of tea in the mail, and so it was awesome to come home yesterday to find my free samples from Tea Licious in the box. I must have been in a floral mood when I picked these out, because they’re all flower-scented of some kind. Floral scented Earl Greys are definitely of interest to me, so this was one of the three I received.

The scent of the dried leaves on this one is very rosey, with a sharp citrus aroma from the bergamot. I didn’t have any brewing parameters for this one, so I went with my new standard for unknown blacks, boiling/3min. It brewed up pretty dark, with a maroonish red-brown liquor. The brewed tea smells powerfully like rose, even moreso than the straight up rose-scented tea I have. I don’t get as much of the EG aroma, but I occasionally get a whiff of it through the rose.

First sip… ROSE. Wow, this is rosey. The EG takes a backseat to the rose in this one, though I can taste a hint of bright bergamot at the end of the sip, and its slight astringency made it into the cup. The bergamot is not distinct on its own but seems to be combining with the rose to make it “brighter” somehow. I don’t quite think this was exactly what I’m looking for in an rose EG, but I do really like this tea, especially as a rose tea, and would consider stocking it just for that reason!

This is a nice Keemun.

This is pretty good! But it’s different than I expected. It’s not overly Pineapple but you can tell it does have Pineapple in it…there are a few other things going on here too…including something that reminds me of coconut – almost coconut pouchong oolong type taste in with the pineapple. And it’s a breadier type oolong…neat features!

Got this as a free sample, but I’ll be placing an order very soon! I believe it is green tea (possibly gunpowder green, a personal fave) with rose petals and a light floral flavor. Those of you who dislike floral teas should back away slowly. Those of you who – like me! – love floral notes in teas should embrace this version with gusto!

The only problem is that I was unable to order from www.totallytealiciousteas.com. There was a whole breach of system security and my browser wouldn’t let me go any further. Maybe I can find it elsewhere, although I would rather support the company who sent me the sample…

A mellower Royal Yunnan taste but it’s nice! It’s mildly malty and smooth and isn’t really peppery, per say, but there is a little something ‘extra’ there to keep you thinking…I like it!

SIPDOWN!
This will be missed! I should have started my day with this one :)
Slightly Peppery but also a little fruity. Medium-strength-Malty-Goodness!
YUM!
See previous notes :)

Upping the rating on this one! I’m having another cup this morning and it’s hitting the spot :)

It’s malty and lovely!

My first cup of the day! It’s a satisfying cuppa. Medium strength for a black tea, I suppose. There are subtle notes of peppery and fruity but I am having a hard time putting my finger on what type of fruity notes it reminds me of. Nice malty taste tho!

I really didn’t know which “Tealicious” I am supposed to be using for this company… so I hope this is the right one. So much Tealicious-ness!

The aroma is very nice with this one. I can smell both the mango and the lemon with the black tea peeking through… a unusual yet delightful scent.

This is quite tasty. The lemon and mango are well balanced and I can taste notes of both here. The mango tastes sweet and the lemon has just a little tartness to it. It makes for a very delicious blend, indeed. The black tea is strong and a bit bolder than I thought it would be… is this a Ceylon?

A really nice cup! I think I’m going to let the rest of this cool, though, because I think it would be even nicer iced!

Backlogging from this AM: Got this as a free sample. I really enjoyed this new take on a chai! It’s not as bold as others, but the flavors are definitely enjoyable. Plus the white tea base doesn’t compete for attention as much as a black tea base would. Overall this is a decent chai. Plus I was able to resteep twice and the flavor was just as bold as the first cup. (A fourth steeping did not go as well, but honestly, I only ask for one add’l steeping.)

I just had to try this white tea with chai! I thought it would be interesting to try some spices in teas other than black. (I haven’t seen a green chai.. I would imagine the green would really bring out the spices.) White teas are usually my least favorite. I thought spices would help me like this white tea, as chai is my favorite. But this is odd. The spices aren’t strong enough to me. Maybe the white tea drains the flavor out of the spices. Maybe chai spices just naturally go with black tea. Maybe I dislike white teas, no matter what is paired with them. But try this one if you either love white teas or chai!

There aren’t very many Huckleberry flavored teas – there are only 5 listed here on Steepster, even! So I was very excited to try this one from Tea Licious! It’s really good! The flavor you would expect from a huckleberry – for some – an acquired taste, I suppose – but if you are looking for something different to try – this is a MUST. There is a bit of bitterness to it – much like a cranberry type bitterness – but what else would you expect from a huckleberry, eh? It’s a nice – true – huckleberry flavor. It’s pretty potent! It starts off with a leafy/earth taste and switches up into a berry more-so at the end. This oddly takes me back to my Girl Scout Camp Days…the aroma remind me of the Artists Cove – the make and taste area – must have been near a huckleberry patch or something but the aroma is identical!

A rather amazing Assam! A delight! The color is a rich maroon or burgundy and it’s truly vibrant! LOVE the color! The flavor is full and quite juicy for a black. This is FAB cold or hot. I had one of each so far today! YUM!

A very nice Keemun! Ever-so-slight hints of brunt toast but a nice medium-strength burly black tea! YUM!

Got this from Tealicious as a sample via their discussion thread (Thanks again!). Smelled yummy when I opened the pouch so I decided to give it a whirl on this cold, snowy (yes, it’s April!) Monday. I’m pretty sure I really like it. I think all these teas that have coffee influence (this and Teavana’s JavaVana) are a bit confusing to my tongue. It thinks it’s getting tea and then there are hints of coffee flavor, and real coffee flavor, not the girly coffee drinks I normally get. The only downside to tea-coffee beverages is that while I expect there to be loads of sugar in the coffee versions, when I add too much brown sugar splenda mix to the tea ones all I taste is the brown sugar and it’s too sweet (by God, what’s happened to me?!?). Maybe I just need to explore alternative sweeteners. Maybe I’ll try a second steeping tomorrow with a little sweetened condensed milk.

It’s also possible that it got a tad overbrewed as my puppy didn’t think 3 minutes of cudde time was enough.