New Tasting Notes

It has a delightfully cherry scent, and the flavor is very earthy. It’s not an ultimate favorite but I’d never see cause to turn down a cup of it.

Had this this morning. I have less than a teaspoon left, bah.

Ended up adding milk to the second steep because I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to wait for it to cool down enough to drink. Quite tasty with milk. Although I added a little too much, the maple flavour was still fairly evident.

Interesting! It started off harsh — just what I’d expect from lemon verbena, which I generally find to be an extremely strong and spicy flavor — but it sweetened and softened as it cooled. There were three of these sachets tucked into the box I just got from Harney & Sons, which is a nice little bonus. I’m not sure I’d want this as an after-dinner drink, but as an early-evening-and-dinner-will-be-late drink, I like it.

I decided to follow specialteas’ advice and make a tea latte out of this chai. So I brewed it, then combined it with a bunch of foamed vanilla almond milk.Verdict? Almond milk never makes good foamy drinks, but it’s all I had in the house. This chai though, is quite good and I’m surprised nobody else has reviewed it. It’s got a cinnamony overtone, but is sweet and interesting. Oddly, it’s not that different from the Teavana blend I tried the other day. I liked it a lot more simply brewed with water than I did with this bastardized concoction I made- I even burnt my finger on the hot cup badly enough to need to ice it. This is not a good day for tea related injuries!

Sorry to say, but rose petals make for a fairly dull drink. Rose buds pack more flavour than these if you’re after a rose tea, but the petals are so handy to add to or blend with other teas and tisanes! Sometimes if I’m feeling floral, I’ll add a pinch to my favourite earl grey…

This was a blah tea for me. I brewed this up on Sunday and tried the multiiple infusions. Sure if I squint my eyes, I may be able to detect some of the flavor notes that the other reviewers noted…This oolong is very subtle. This would be a perfect drink for an afternoon of calm introspection reading at a desk…I just am not sure if this drink fits into my routine….

Stuffed up and puffed up by allergies this morning, I did not want a super strong black. Napal delivered a nice floral drinkable cup of black tea.

2nd steep: 5 min, 205° F, pinch of fresh leaf.

Nice Moroccan mint-y sort of tea. Can’t really taste the vanilla, but the balance of green and mint is very pleasant.

Second of my samples.

What makes this Long Island? (No idea).

I made my wee sample with about half the amount of water I’ve been using for the GM samples.

First surprise, the dry leaves smell nicely fruity. No cough syrup or any such oddness. I had a tiny dried strawberry and two tiny bits of papaya in my sample. Second surprise, the aroma of the steeped tea is vague but sweet and nice. The color is just barely yellow.

Third and last surprise, this is a pretty good flavored green tea. This from someone who has only met 1.5 flavored green teas she’s actually liked well enough to reorder. It is pretty delicate, and not quite as robust a flavor as I’d like, but it’s not what I call thin. I think this is 100% attributable to the strawberry which adds a fruity sweetness to the taste that gives it (shut my mouth) the beginnings of character, something mostly absent in flavored green teas I’ve tasted.

It isn’t quite enough to get me over the hump to ordering it, but I think those who like fruity green teas should give it a whirl.

This tea has a juicy, and bold mango flavor that is natural and not artifical… This is no frilly French blend- this tastes like mango, mango, and nothing else. In fact, although I like mango, I was worried about the black tea mango combination – but this turns out to be a delightful summer treat.

I want so badly to like this tea, but after several cups I have decided to give up and face the facts: I do not like Sweet Lemon at all. It has a strange lemon flavour, reminiscent of imitation lemon essence that you think is okay to use in your cupcakes when you’re out of real lemons, but it ends up ruining the whole batch.
I guess I’ll continue my hunt for a tasty lemon black tea…

Thanks to Soccer Mom for my Golden Monkey taste championship – Adagio vs Teas Etc. The verdict: Adagio… The Adagio’s version is much bolder, malty-er. In fact, I find that I may have a new mission: which vendor supplies the “best” golden monkey?

Sure the award-winning Teas, Etc had more golden leaves and brewed to a darker liquor but where was the taste?

Thanks to SoccerMom for this sample. This one is just OK to me. Comparing Adagio’s Golden Monkey w/this one, it seems that the Teas Etc. just does not have the bold flavor as Adagio’s version…..

Either the tea blossoms or the chamomile in this blend are not agreeing with me at all. I’m unsure what makes this a “Turkish Delight” aside from the rose, which would be nicer on its own than with the addition of other flowers.
Looks pretty but tastes bad, like fondant icing. Perhaps this is the wedding cake of teas?

Chocolate tea. I think no matter what, chocolate flavoured tea will always be disappointing, because its no substitute for the real thing. The flavour is sickly sweet and more artificial “chocolate flavouring” than chocolate. I think if you’re looking for something to sate your sweet tooth you should hit up a caramel or vanilla tea instead.

Golden Moon sample No. 7 of 31. You guessed it — randomly picked.

This is going to be interesting. It’s my first loose leaf gunpowder green tea. I’m enjoying looking at the little rolled up leaves as I haven’t been able to see them before when I’ve had bagged gunpowder. They’re nestled in and among the brighter green, flat mint leaves.

It’s also going to be interesting because of my love affair with Samovar Moorish Mint, the only flavored green tea that has my number so far.

Smells minty (duh) and the dusky smell of the tea adds some depth and darkness. I’m reminded of Girl Scout thin mints. I heart Girl Scout thin mints! This bodes well.

It steeps to a golden yellow with a hint of green. A dark champagne color. The minty aroma has become duskier, greener and lost its thin mint quality. It’s more like a warmed-up mint cordial.

The minty note is fresh and clean, and lands softly on a surprisingly mellow gunpowder base. I expected it to be more pungent than it is. I’d describe it as a cross between wheatgrass and parsley with maybe a little moss thrown in. It’s not quite sweet, but it’s not overpowering or bitter either. The tea feels soft and velvety, and the finish is sweet with a persistent minty freshness.

It’s a nice mint. I’d drink it if I couldn’t get the Samovar and I wanted a mint tea instead of a tisane, but it isn’t a replacement for the Moorish Mint.

A repeat performance of Earl Grey occurred the morning after the first (yesterday morning, that is). He auditioned this cat that goes by Milk for a trial show to see how he jived with the band. Not a bad fit, but EG preferred the original set up. Milk would certainly do if EG got in a pinch and needed a someone to fill in in the band.

2nd steep: 6 min 30 sec, 200° F.
Milk came out with EG for the encore. The song was weak but you could hear EG’s influence under it all.