The Tea Merchant

I am going to have to re-try this one. I may have steeped it at too low of a temp. I admittedly had the water at 175 and was too in a rush to wait for it to get up to 195. Most of the time this works out but with this one I am not getting ANY of the oolong flavor and it is very tart like hibiscus tart. I refuse to hold this against The Tea Merchant until I steep it correctly.

It appears that my revie of this one failed to save last week. I’m going to hold off on giving this one a number, if only because I seem to dislike pu-erh. I feel like I should love this tea. The coconut and tea provides a rich bold flavour that screams delicious! I also love the deep color of this tea. However, when I try and drink it – ther is something within the tea that I just can’t get past. I’ll be honest, part of the reason I asked for this as my sample from the Tea Merchant was to try another Pu. I’m not holding that against this tea as I do think that this is something that people can get behind. I just may not be a pu person. I’m going to have to try it again to see if maybe I simply did something weird in brewing it. I do want to thank the tea merchant for this opportunity to sample it though. Thank you! If nothing eke I’ll be passing this off to a friend who loves Pu, so that it can be appreciatedby them :)

This is another tea that I’ve discovered at the bottom of the tea drawer. It’s been in there for far too long without me trying it by now! I’m a bit hesitant about this one because of the rosehips. I’ve found that teas with rosehips in them are always just too tart for me. This tea also has an odd aroma – I can detect vegetal green tea and a hint of sweet fruit, but there is also a strong underlying smell that almost reminds me of a car garage. Like a heavy oil and tire smell, maybe? I know it sounds odd, but it’s just the first thing that came to mind when I smelled this cup. The flavor was definitely less tart than expected, with a nice full vegetal green tea flavor. There is a slightly tart rosehip finish and a smooth, almost buttery aftertaste. I tried adding some sweetener, but it seemed to bring out more of an artificial flavor, so I think it’s best with nothing added. Overall I am just not a fan of this tea. There seems to just be something a little off in the flavor, and I can’t get the smell of a car garage out of my head. Thank you for the sample, though, Nicole! I’m glad I finally got around to trying this one!

-Dry blend has a mixture of green tea leaves and twigs with rosehips and dried raspberries.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of tart raspberries. Tea liquor aroma is of vegetal green tea with a hint of sweet fruit.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark yellow color.
-Full vegetal green tea flavor with a slightly tart rosehip finish. Smooth buttery aftertaste.
-Best plain.
-Poor tea. Lightly flavored with a strange hint of something off. Sweetener brings out an artificial note.

1 tablespoon used for 375 ml

Brewed tea has a fresh barn smell with sweet caramel undertones.

Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing with me!

Rose petals. That’s the taste I get with the first sip. Like I’m drinking liquid rose petal smell. Very strange though not surprising considering the actual rose petals I saw in the blend.
I am surprised at how relatively sweet it is plain. It’s not like candy sweet, but more a subtle sweet with that light rose/floral note. Though if I didn’t know there was supposed to be black tea in this, I would never know. I get more of a white tea taste than anything else. Maybe the scoop I brewed was just light on the black tea or something. I’ll have to mix it up more next time.
The longer I sip it, and I guess the more it cools, the more I’m getting the grape-y taste to it, especially when I roll it around in my mouth a bit.

I wonder how this would do iced? Might try it, though I have the uneasy notion that the rose might come right out and sock you in the jaw. Lol.

Edit – Unfortunately this tea made me just a bit ill later on after drinking it. Well, not even finishing the rest of my cup after this review actually. I’m wondering if it might be the rose? Possibly ’cause now all I think about is tasting what I see as a cloyingly sweet rose smell that makes me feel ill thinking about it.
Unfortunate because it was such an interesting tea before that.

I tried this tea a few months back and have to agree with most of the notess below; it was really a great tea.

Each steep I had was delcious. Maybe I noticed more caffeine than others, but this one had a lot of caffeine for me. I am sensitive because I usually drink Pu’er or other not so highly caffeineted drinks. This s not a bad thing, just saying.

I liked the vanilla hint also, a lot.

A great tea!

2nd steep, forgot and brewed about 11 minutes. Still tasted okay, yay.

Tuesday

Tuesday

Oh, wow, this changed a lot with a slightly longer steep! 4 min this time; I think last time was 3 min. . . . The extra minutes makes it significantly more robust, with a pronounced leafy taste and a bit of piney kick. Interesting!

This was one of several samples The Tea Merchant included with my order. Such a nice surprise!

I really enjoyed this one. It has a lovely, delicate, complex blend of scents and flavors. The bergamot is subtle—this tea is not trying to be an Earl Grey. It’s just enough to provide a hint of citrus. The teas themselves are a nice blend of sweet and vegetal, with subtly floral notes.

This has everything I want in a great iced tea: black tea, with floral qualities and a hint of fruity notes that do not go overboard. Everything is nicely balanced. With a little sugar, this is just about as good as it gets. I now have 3 “must have” iced teas, and this company makes 2 of them, so I give them props for that. I will be ordering more of this.

When I opened the package and smelled this, I could think of nothing but a bergamot creamsicle! (Someone should make that. . . . ) The taste also fits that profile.

Having recently tried a few flavored teas that went too far with the flavors, I am impressed by the balance here. There’s lots of vanilla, but it’s a bit short of overwhelming the earl grey. The tea and the bergamot are still discernible. This is definitely a sweet tea, but so far I’m not finding it cloying. It’s a nice blend of flavors, and I’m enjoying it a lot.