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Another wonderful tea from TassieTeaGirl!

I love how I can taste the raspberry here first and foremost… and not the hibiscus! There’s a bit of bite from that, but it really isn’t the primary flavor. The lime is super interesting too. I’m drinking this hot, and it’s a little odd – I think it needs to be cold-brewed, so I’ve started a pitcher. But it’s a good berry blend that isn’t overwhelmed by hibiscus. What a thought!

Interesting! There’s a cool fruity smell in this, and I love the dried jasmine flowers.

The jasmine itself is strong, but it mixes well with the cream, which gives it a little bit of “juiciness” back and keeps it from being too perfumey. I missed the note that it’s a black/green blend, so I used boiling water and it’s a bit harsher than I would like, but I’ll have to try it with a lower temp. I really like it so far though, and I’m impressed with NMTC.

I like this one! My order from NMTC came in today – three cream teas. This one, their Vanilla Cream, and a sample of their Black Jasmine Cream. That one interests me the most, but the EGC just smelled so good!

Nice black base, not astringent. A bit of agave, a bit of milk. Not quite enough bergamot for my taste, but it’s still good. Ended up adding /too/ much agave, made it too sweet, but still finished the pot. I don’t regret buying 2oz of this!

This came in my sample box from Tassie Tea Girl!

Smooth buttery sencha, with hints of rose and cornflower. It’s delicate and light but smooth, and the additions don’t overpower the tea. Lovely!

Eh. This is decent. I wanted a morning tea, and when I think “morning tea,” it’s not a straight black. I want something with a little flavor. Best with sweetener (I use agave) and a little milk.

I’m finally getting around to opening up this sample so graciously provided by Angel at Teavivre.

It’s really cold outside, and I was looking for a tea that would be clean and clear and very light. I’ve had this one for awhile, so I decided to try it.

Upon opening the package, the leaves are very thin, long and twisted. They have a strong dark green scent, like that of spinach or kale, and they’re the dark grey-green of kale as well.

I put ~2tsp into my 20oz Amsterdam pot, steeped at 180 for 2 minutes.

The liquor is transparent. It looks like nothing more than water. The smell is similar to the kale smell of the leaves, but it is very faint.

The flavor, however, isn’t. It’s not a strong, punch-you-in-the-face kind of flavor, but this definitely isn’t water I’m drinking. It has that sweet grassy sort of taste I like in green teas, with a little bit of natural vegetal sweetness that sparkles towards the end of the sip. It’s a little bit like seaweed, to be honest.

I wanted an Earl Grey Cream tea.
I have no Earl Grey Cream tea.

I was searching through my stash for something that would get that rich, heavy sweetness across, and I stumbled upon the Copley Square Vanilla by Tealuxe. “I can make an EGC,” I thought to myself. “Too bad I don’t have any EG.”

I did have one EG – the Lavender Earl Grey by Epi Tea.

I figured I would try it. Couldn’t hurt. So I steeped 1 heaping tsp of the Vanilla with 1 sachet of the EG for ~3 min.

Meh. It’s not that rich creamy taste I wanted. I got a bit of bitterness, which could have been from oversteeping – I didn’t time at all – but there was also an uncomfortable dryness that I think was the lavender. It took away from the richness of the vanilla I wanted.

Ah well. Off to the tea shop…?

This came as a gift from Terri HarpLady – thanks!

I’ve had these sachets for awhile, but I haven’t been the biggest fan of RoT in the past. Today I was feeling lazy and cold, though. And I’m in the middle of cataloguing my teas (only done blacks and greens and I’m already at 106… yeesh), so old samples have gotten stirred up. GOOD.

I tossed two satchets into my 20oz pot. It actually smells delicious – really beautifully cherry sweet, without that sharp sort of hibiscus-cough medicine flavor it could have. The taste is a bit bland, but I attribute that to it sitting in my drawer for a couple of months.

It’s good. I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Thanks!

My stomach feels so much better after drinking this. Sadly, I now feel like I want to go to sleep. Mate time!