All The Raj

(This is my first review of this tea in which I gave a 90. For the second review I gave an 8.. crazy right?)

I saw this tea online and had to have it. It looks so beautiful, like rosy potpourri with the rose buds and chili strings.

Smell of the tea… well isn’t potpourri… i actually can’t figure out what the hell I’m smelling. Rose for sure, by a little…and the rest smells weird and not sure if that’s a good smell. Alas, I don’t care – I figure this tea would look ULTRA FREAKING COOL in my glass Libre tea mug as it shows off all the rosey buds and other pretty redness of the herbal tea. And I love drinking DAVIDstea “Citron Oolong” and “Checkmate” for their pretty factor. Especially when I’m in meetings at work – just so sophisticated.

Okay, back on track – “All The Raj”. Steeped this tea is a clear slightly peachy colour. Damn the flowers look pretty. I made sure to get it a good shake, there was some bits in the potpourii I wanted to get in to have pretty factor = tastey. I could see the large rose buds floating to the top of the dry leaves in the bag.

Tastewise… very rosey. Not tart at first. Not sour at all. I don’t taste coconut, but I found it’s probably what is mellowing out the taste. A little taste of fennel, but again, is evening out the whole experience and adding some freshness? I don’t taste the heat.. moreso just feel the heat of the chilis on the back of my throat. After all that, a tad of tartness aftertaste with more floral (surprise).

Overall, floral. Mellow with the coconut/fennel. A little bit of heat to perk up the experience, as if to bring you back to earth after dreaming in roses (okay, cheesy sounding, whatever :P). I like it – it’s complex, it’s pretty and it’s mellow.
I want to relax, drink this tea slowly in a rose garden while eating little sandwiches. Sandwiches with cream cheese, maybe brie.

I purchased 30grams.. will I buy again? I think so, most likely online to ensure I get a good mix of the tea (I want lots of rosy bits!) as I could see this tea potentially being different if you had too much of say fennel or rosehip bits. Appearance would be a 10/10. Taste 8/10 It’s good and complex, but not addicting and super-wow for me.

I was lucky enough to be in the store when they opened the bag of this one, and the staff hadn’t tried it yet. So they did a traditional tea tasting brew and we all got to try it!

Dry, I got a combination of true rose scent with extremely strong peppercorns. I’m still not sure if I like or dislike the smell, since I love both separately but together they are . . . unique.

The taste was much nicer than I expected. I expected peppered rosewater, but it is by far more complex. There were definite hints of the coconut, and I didn’t get any perfume-ness from it at all.

I definitely recommend trying it, although I’m not sure if I’ll be buying it, and can’t figure out exactly what kind of numbered rating I’d like to give it, either.

Well, I’m glad I just bought a teeny amount of this in store and didn’t get overexcited and buy a whole bag online.

I want to like this tea! I should like this tea! I like floral tea! I like roses, licorice, coconut, and chili! On paper, everything seems perfect.

The dry leaves definitely smell of roses. I don’t detect any coconut in my nose, and I can’t see any either. There’s also an acidic smell that reminds me of vinegar. I disregard this and continue on.

Brewed, the vinegar smell gets stronger, and I start to feel wary. I still smell rose, and maybe some licorice, but everything is sort of blanketed by that smell.

The flavour is definitely floral, there’s a lot of rose, and some sweetness from the fennel, but I still can’t find coconut, and I don’t feel any heat from the chili. But most of all, I taste sour. Not tartness, in your usual rosehip way, but sour. Vinegary. Not very nice.

I don’t know that this would be everyone’s experience. Maybe I had a bad sample. Maybe others will find a way to brew this that totally rocks my world. But for now, I will be letting this pass.

If we were rating teas strictly on a “looks” scale, this would be the supermodel-perfect-10 of teas. Holy crap, is this tea gorgeous to look at. Beautiful big brilliant pink rosebuds, petals, a scattering of fennel seeds, and chili threads strewn throughout.

The taste doesn’t quite live up to the promise this tea has dry. It tastes rosey, but not as overwhelmingly so as the dry smell would imply. It is tempered quite a bit by the fennel, which gives it a bit of a licorice aftertaste. It is quite yummy, but perhaps a bit too strange for an “everyday” tea.

I just received this tea this morning. On opening the bag there was a weird pickle like smell, but as it had settled in it’s tin I only get a floral smell. This tea reminds me of rose candy I had as a kid. Very light, not too overwhelming with the floral taste ( no soap taste…), I great tea to have while reading.

Not everyone is into floral tea’s but I myself love floral tea’s to me its a very unique tea.. very relaxing and soothing both when smelled and tasted. every sip of all the raj from my ice tea mug from DAVID’s puts me into a relaxing trance. I really like this tea!

This tea was recommended to me at DAVIDsTEA shop after I responded with an enthusiastic yes when the salesperson asked if I liked rose. I didn’t get the chance to sample it before purchase, but it seemed like a good gamble because it contained everything that I like. Rose! Fennel! Coconut! Chili threads! Set me up!

I happen to like this tea, but I would advise caution, since it certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes. The smell when dry is… interesting. Rose dominates, but it’s not quite like any other rose tea I’ve had. The very first thing it brought to mind, bizarrely, was a toy my sister had as a child. The toy had some kind of scent added to it that was reminiscent of roses and sugar cookie dough, and this tea had precisely that same smell. It didn’t put me off completely, but it was unexpected.

This is a very mild tea; I have to steep it for several minutes to get the flavor strong enough. Just as in its smell, rose is the dominant flavor, with a mildly spicy aftertaste from the chili. The fennel tends to get overwhelmed, and there’s nothing in the smell or taste to indicate there’s any coconut involved. The combination of rose and chili, however, is enough to make me happy; I enjoy it with milk and honey when I want a tea to help me relax or warm me up. It’s nice to have around when the mood strikes, but I could easily do without.

nope nope nope :(
tastes like perfume. a beautiful tea though!
it gave me a headache it was so strong!
my brother liked it though, so the 50g i got won’t go to waste, thankfully!

So.. I went in expecting to purchase a little bit of Rose Congou Green and the tea lady talked me into this one instead. I am a little angry about it.. but I could have stood my ground I suppose!
Keeping in mind I was feeling a little iffy in the tummy all day prior to sample..
I disliked this tea a lot. Dry smell = awesome. Steeped smell = awesome but suspicious. Steeped tea = tummy ache.
I enjoyed the rose taste which was the whole point of checking out a floral tea, but the chili strings or whatevers do not jive with me. I will try it again, and then try it AGAIN without the chili things. But really made me nauseated, I hate to say. Very sad. Love the smell though, if I dont drink the rest of my 25 g, I will make it just to smell..

Admittedly, I was first enchanted by this tea’s description. When a lovely tea guru @ New York’s store offered me a look and sniff, I became infatuated. After my first cuppa, I fell in love.

Granted, I added a good amount of honey to compliment the tart rosehip-ness (and I don’t mind tart teas). However, once the sweetener-to-tea ratio was figured out, I became an All the Raj believer.

The tea is very floral so if you’re not a fan of flavors like rose, jasmine, or lavender this may not be the tea for you. If florals are okay in your book, or you are open to trying them, please “stop and smell the roses!”

After my first taste, I bought a bag and brew a cup whenever I want to sit down and get some writing done. This tea invokes the muses, I tell you. Enjoy!