Tea Time

Tea: Dark Rose from Tudor House Tea

Price: $3.75/oz

Ingredients: “Dark” tea and rose petals

I got this tea as a gift from a family friend months ago, when she visited Tudor House’s Kalamazoo shop, and I’m really in love with the adorable heart shape. It’s made with dark tea, something I had to actually look up because I’ve never heard it called that before. Dark tea is the nickname for fermented tea, which includes pu’erh and other similar endo-oxidized teas. This makes sense, because it is packed in a heart shaped miniature cake, which is more characteristic of pu’erh than black tea. 

First thing you notice about this tea is the shape. These cute little hearts are really sweet. I’ve seen them in a similar shape at other stores (one was actually called Shakespeare themed names), and I just love it every time I see it. The rose petals are visible but just barely, a faint pink in the dark black. The one disappointing thing about this tea is that there is almost no scent before steeping, except for the faintest rose when I try hard. I do wish there was more smell to it, but the overall appearance is cute. 

This tea steeps very quickly, and the heart unravels really well. It’s a deep, dark brown, with an earthy smell. The earthiness is also present in the taste, along with a slight bitterness and an almost, but not quite, fishiness. I steeped this before realizing it was a fermented tea, so I wish I had rinsed the leaves and used the third or fourth steep. For anyone who does not know, pu’erhs and similar teas should be rinsed for a more pure cup. The rose is present, but it’s more subtle undertones, which I really like. It’s flowery but not overly so, and very smooth. 

Tea: An Xi Qing Xiang TieGuanYin Oolong by Tea Vivre 

Cost: $19.90 / 50 grams (1.75 oz)

Ingredients: Hand rolled Tie Guan Yin

It’s been over half a month since I’ve made a tea review, which I am both extremely apologetic about and mildly irritated with myself for. Fortunately, break is coming up, and I will hopefully write at least a few reviews over the course of that week, which should hopefully make reviews more common. Today I’m doing a slightly fancier oolong from Tea Vivre. I got a sample of this awhile back, but I don’t see a sample price option available on the website. Normally when I have a teavivre tea, I include the Mandarin characters in my title, but the container this tea came in was airtight and scrunched a bit, so the characters weren’t readable. I was actually really happy and a bit surprised by how this tea was packaged, because it was nearly vacuum sealed and kept the tea very fresh. 

This tea is curled up really beautifully, and is a dark emerald green, with hints of spring green in the curls. Each curl is about 2-3 cm long, and tightly wound. It smells flowery, and a bit sweet. The smell is very dramatic and strong, and for the most part what you would expect from an tieguanyin. As a note, it’s a bit sweeter than other tieguanyin’s I’ve had in the past, but I consider that a good thing with oolongs. 

The wet leaves smell like a perfume, while the liquid has mostly lost its smell. It’s a soft and clear yellow color. While this tea is a bit heavy in my mouth, it leaves a soft aftertaste. Overall the taste is very flowery, and a bit buttery. The first steep was left a bit longer, but didn’t get bitter. The leaves also didn’t expand as well as I’d have liked during that first steep (which was why I left it in a bit longer), but in future steeps they did expand more. 

Tea: English Breakfast from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Cost: $8.75 for 20 sachets 

Ingredients: Black tea 

I got this little sample from my hotel room in Baltimore a few days ago, while traveling (which is my excuse for not writing a review in so long). There was a physical location on the hotel lobby and I considered actually buying some, but my experience purchasing a single cup was so awful that I didn't bother going back for dry tea. I'm glad I was able to at least get these samples, and if I like them I might order some of their more interesting flavors because they actually had a really interesting array of options. As a note, my sample is a teabag, while the ones available for sale online are sachets.  

I was surprised by two things when I opened the package. First, how much tea was actually in the bag. This is a normal sized paper teabag, but instead of lying flat like most do, the tea puffed up the bag a lot. Secondly, the smell is shockingly strong, and very sweet. It has a standard breakfast tea smell, though I wouldn't consider it plain. The leaves were dust, but considering it's both a bagged tea and a breakfast tea, I'm not too worried about that. 

This tea has a very deep chestnut color, and is very smooth. Although a bit dry, the taste is nicely balanced and although I accidentally oversteeped it a bit, it didn't get bitter for the most part. The last few sips were bitter, but that's probably my fault. It's nutty, and brisk, exactly what I'd expect for a breakfast tea. There's powder on the bottom of my cup, which is mildly annoying, but overall I'd say this was a pretty good cup.

Tea: Organic Chamomile with Mint and Lemon from Twinnings 

Cost: $4.49 for a 20 count box of bags

Ingredients: Organic chamomile, organic peppermint, organic spearmint, organic lemon myrtle (all fair trade certified) 

As a note: the yarn in the image above is Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo if you're curious

What's this? Morgan actually reviewing teas with somewhat frequency? How novel! All joking aside, I wanted to make sure I got this tea review out while I'm ahead of homework. Given that I'm writing this late at night, and queueing for tomorrow, I'm picking a caffeine free tea for this review. I got these free tea samples through a twinnings promotion, and shockingly, I haven't tried any of them yet, so I'm excited to see how this tastes. 

Although the herbs are small, that's to be expected considering this tea is bagged instead of my usual open leaf. It smells very papery, which is annoying because I dislike when the bag interferes too much with the smell, but there is a nice balance of chamomile and mint. It actually smells a bit yeasty, which is odd, and I don't notice any lemon, but bagged teas aren't particularly renowned for smelling good dry, so I'll reserve judgement for after tasting. 

The bag expanded surprisingly nicely, and the colors in the bag became more vibrant, letting me see the array of ingredients. The liquid is a pale yellow, characteristic of chamomile tea. After steeping it for the lowest recommended amount, three minutes, I popped the bag back in, to let it steep a bit longer. More steeping gave the tea a slightly rosy hue. Taste-wise, this tea was very mild. The mint remained undertones, and it was very much a chamomile based blend. I didn't really notice much lemon, so if you are looking for a more lemony tea, I would suggest adding some. The spearmint shone through in the aftertaste, leaving a nice tingle in my mouth. 

Tea: Arthur (based off of King Arthur of Camelot) from Adagio

Cost: $10 for 3 oz 

Ingredients: black tea, cloves, ginger root, cardamom, natural hazelnut flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural cinnamon flavor, cinnamon bark

It's been awhile since I've reviewed a fandom blend, and this one was just calling to me. Based off of the Arthurian legends, probably my favorite literary canon in the world, this tea is specifically blended with BBC Merlin's Arthur in mind. I'm excited to see how this tastes for a few reasons. Obviously one is my adoration for the character, but I also am excited to see how these flavors blend, because I absolutely love ginger and black tea together. 

Opening the pouch, this tea is extremely strong smelling. The cinnamon and ginger blend reminds me of a chai. The flavors drown out the smell of the black tea itself, but they blend so well I think that's fine. The hazelnut is faint, but it balances, and overall the smell is really nice. The leaves themselves are broken, like most of Adagio's black tea blends, but I can see bright, contrasting chunks of the other ingredients. 

This tea is very sharp. It's a deep mahogany red, and the smell lingers slightly. The ginger and cinnamon are definitely the dominant flavors, but I'm glad I can also taste the cinnamon and caramel. The taste is definitely complex, and required a few sips to get a full understanding of all the nuances. and While the end of the cup was a bit bitter, the boldness in the beginning balanced it while. 

Tea: Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong from Teavivre

Cost: $13.90 for 100 g or $3 for a sample 

Ingredients: Oolong tea 

This review is another oolong tea, because I am absolutely obsessed with my gaiwan recently. After a recommendation in the comments for another oolong tea I reviewed a few weeks back, I decided to do most, if not all, of my oolong reviews using my gaiwan-style teapot. I purchased this little beauty from New York's Chinatown. It's about the size of a gaiwan, with a similar steeping style, but has a spout for easier pouring. As a note, this tea was received as a free sample in exchange for an unbiased review. 

This tea is just gorgeous dry. It's a light green-yellow. The curled leaves are small and compact, almost as small as gunpowder tea. I'd estimate that they measure about 2.5 cm on average. The smell is fragrant without being too strong. It's slightly sweet and floral, with slight honey notes. One sample is about enough for a single cup, though you might be able to get two separate cups out of it. 

Pouring this tea, it's a very clear yellow liquid, almost lemony, with a faint green tint. There's a light floral smell, but it's nothing you'd notice without seeking it out. It's much creamier than normal oolongs, The taste is vegetal, and has a hint of nuts. I'd say this tea is a bit flat, and some sips left a dry taste in my mouth. A few of the steeps were fairly bitter, even in a gaiwan, but I managed to get quite a few steeps from this tea, which was nice. Even with a slightly disappointing taste, the leaves expanded beautifully, and I was really happy with it visually. 

Tea: Adam's Peak Breakfast Tea (BOPF) from The Rendezvous with Tea

Ingredients: Black Tea

This tea is different from the ones I normally review because it is not available online. I've linked to the store's website, but unfortunately online sales aren't available. However, this tea was so unique I couldn't resist reviewing it. Adam's Peak is a mountain in Sri Lanka believed to be where Adam fell to earth and was first 'born' I've linked to the wikipedia page, for anyone who is curious. 

This tea is incredibly small broken pieces, which was what I expected when I saw the grade is BOPF, so that's fine. They're very dark, almost chocolate brown, and look similar to the leaves used to create the grim in the Harry Potter movies. The leaves smell very nutty, although the fragrance is lighter than most black teas. There is a slight earthy smell, that you might associate more with pu'erh instead of a breakfast tea, but it doesn't detract from it. 

Because of the size of the leaf, even with a strainer with fairly small holes, lots of leaves got in my cup. However, because they are so small, they're really only noticeable visually. This tea is a honey brown, and except for the floating pieces, very clear. The liquid is very smooth, and fairly brisk. The taste itself is similar to a standard breakfast tea, except slightly less prone to bitterness. Past cups I have steeped with this tea were accidentally left for three or more times longer than I should have steeped it, and were perfectly drinkable. This tea is also on the sweeter side, and gets very strong very fast. 

Tea: Christmas from Adagio

Cost: $2 for a sample, out of stock of the 3 oz as I write this review, but normally $6 

Ingredients: black tea, cinnamon bark, orange peels, natural spice flavor, cardamom, cloves, ginger root, natural ginger flavor and natural cinnamon flavor

I very rarely do two teas from the same company in a row, but with finals I didn’t have time to write up a review until now. Since Christmas is so soon, I won’t have time to do two reviews so looks like doubling up is my only option. Now that break is here, hopefully these reviews will become more regular. Christmas break is fantastic, hopefully I’ll get some fun new teas to try out. Last year I got an insane amount of tea, but I think that was just because no one knew what else to get me. Nevertheless, I’ll be getting some teas with Christmas money and hopefully branching out to review some new companies. 

This tea smells a lot like a holiday candle. It’s very gingery, and while a bit artificial, overall it’s fairly nice. I think the cinnamon is a bit too strong, and the orange peels detract from the overall smell, but it definitely has a Christmas edge to it even if it’s not my favorite smelling. I think part of the issue is that it’s trying to be too complex, and ends up muddled and over the top. There’s sweetness, but it’s also a bit bitter, and it’s just leaves the nose over stimulated. The leaves themselves are fairly broken, but don’t look bad. I wouldn’t say it’s the best quality black tea, but it’s the same black tea you would expect in any of adagio’s flavored blends. 

I really wanted to like this tea, because it’s got great reviews. Steeping it, I was glad that I did. It wasn't too bitter, and was fairly smooth. While this tea has a complicated taste, and I can't decide if it's harmonious or not, it's not too overly dissonant. While this tea is not really a chai, it has a nice array of spices. The leaves did float a bit in the cup, but that could be the strainer's fault because I made do with what was available to steep in.

Tea: Gingerbread from Adagio Teas

Price: $2 for a sample or $6 for 3 oz

Ingredients: black tea, natural gingerbread flavor, cinnamon bark, orange peels and ginger root

With December come the Christmas teas. I have a few to review, though definitely not nearly as many as I had for my October pumpkin theme. This one I ordered specifically for Christmas, and I'm curious to try it. Gingerbread tea is intriguing, especially with orange peels. Note: This tea is a seasonal tea, and may not be available all times of the year

If you live in Michigan, you've probably heard of Faygo Pops. Well they have a cotton candy pop that smells exactly like this tea does. It's scary how much this tea smells like a mix of bubblegum and cotton candy. There's also a slight bite to it too, though, The ginger and cinnamon are definitely noticeable, and after the immediate sugar smell, it mellows out into a more cookie one. Perhaps it's not perfectly gingerbread, but it's definitely cookies of some sort. 

My cup was too mild, so I steeped it a bit longer than the recommended 3 minutes, even though the color was already a deep brown. It's just bland. The orange was nonexistent, and the cinnamon was too light. The ginger was just plain disappointing, and I barely noticed it. Overall the tea was flat, and if I didn't know I just got it, I would have thought it was stale. I'm just unimpressed. 

Tea: Royal Coconut Pouchong from Tealuxe 

Price: 10 grams for $2.89 or 50 grams for $10.99

Ingredients: Unstated. Oolong tea, assumably coconut of some sort

This review is long overdue, with how long it's been. November was insanely busy, but hopefully I'll be back to reviews at least once or twice a week from now on. While exploring Harvard for a college visit, I came across this adorable tea store. The physical location is one of the cutest tea cafes I've come across, with a rustic feel and plenty of places for sitting and drinking cups. I got a cup of the pear pomegranate tea, and I wish I had gotten some of that to take back home. The Royal Coconut caught my mom's attention, and after smelling it, I decided to get a bit of that one. Seems I'm on an oolong kick, especially since I have another few oolongs to review in the upcoming weeks. 

This poor tea had to travel cross country (well, about 13 hours at least) and the smell has since become less pungent. It's extremely sweet smelling, with hints of what almost smells like chocolate. The coconut definitely dominates over the oolong, and there's a light nuttiness almost. The leaves are standard looking, if a bit small. They're slightly curled, and a dark green with slight spring-green tips. 

Taking my first sip the coconut has lightened, and lingers in the taste. It's sweet, but not overtly so. There's a slightly bitter edge but for the most part the sweetness balances it out. I'd say the oolong itself isn't my favorite, but the coconut adds a nice lightness. A bit of sugar wouldn't damage the tea, but it's not needed unless you like super sweet teas. This tea has a bit of a mellow popped corn or grain aftertaste. The flavor hovers for awhile in your mouth. I'd say the leaves expanded fairly well compared to their dry size, although I've seen better expansion in other teas. 

Tea: Taiwanese Ali Shan Oolong  from Teavivre

Price: $3 for a sample or $24.90 for 100 g (3.5 oz)

Ingredients: Tea leaves

Oolong is one of those teas that I don't drink for ages, and when I finally do I remember how much I love it and should drink it more often. I got this sample set in the mail from teavivre with a bunch of oolongs, so hopefully that will give me motivation to drink it more often. 

Opening the bag, I get a sharp smell of grass. The leaves are wound in balls that are about 2.5 cm in diameter. They're a tender green, with yellow tips. It reminds me a bit of a gunpowder tea, except slightly larger. The smell mellowed out once the back was open, and it was slightly floral. Overall fairly balanced, although I wish the strength had remained for a bit longer than a minute or two after I opened the bag. 

Into the strainer they go. The first few minutes, the leaves didn't expand as much as I'd like, so I let it steep towards the longer edge of the recommended time (1-5 min). They did end up expanding, and became a nice forest green. The tea is smooth, if a bit flat. The liquid is clear, and well balanced. It's floral, and lingers well, but there is a slight bitter edge I'm not happy with. This tea also has slight vegetal undertones but they're less prominent than they could be. The second steep was much better, and it ended up expanding really nicely, but the first steep wasn't very good. 

Tea: Paris from Harney and Sons

Price: 20 sachets in a tin $8, 20 individually wrapped sachets $9.60, loose tea samples $2

Ingredients: Not listed specifically, beyond "current black tea with vanilla and caramel flavors, and a hint of lemony Bergamot" 

Wow, it's been awhile since a review. Hopefully they'll pick up soon, but with school, I might only have two or three during November. I can't actually remember where I got this tea from, but at some point a single individually wrapped sachet of this tea came into my possession. I love Harney and Sons, but I normally drink it at coffee shops or when I'm buying tea from somewhere instead of owning it in my collection at home. I've never tried this tea, but I've tried (and liked) some of their other Earl Grey blends so I'm a bit excited to try this. 

This tea is much more floral smelling than I expected. There's definitely a strong lemon note, and the vanilla is also very deep. It doesn't smell like a standard Earl Grey, and I'm not sure if that's the caramel or something else, but there's definitely a dimension that I wasn't expecting with the ingredients. The lemon is definitely more than a hint, and dominates the tea, and you can't really notice any bergamot smell, but overall, I like the smell. The leaves are broken, but with a bagged tea I wasn't really expecting otherwise. 

The smell becomes creamy once steeped. As expected, with such a strong lemon smell, there is also a dramatic lemon taste. The liquid itself is very silky, and smooth, but a bit flat. It's not as dynamic as the smell led me to hope for, and the tea itself was buried under the lemon and vanilla. Even though the ingredients list bergamot, I really don't detect it at all, which is a bit of a disappointment. The color was a nice copper, and a bit buttery, and what you'd expect from an Earl Grey. 

Tea: Pumpkin Spice from Adagio 

Cost: $2 for a sample or $6 for 3 oz

Ingredients: Black tea, pumpkin spice flavor, cinnamon bark, cloves, cardamom pods, ginger root, marigold flowers

My final pumpkin tea, just in time for Halloween, is Adagio's pumpkin spice tea. Another black pumpkin, I'm hoping I like this more than the pumpkin juice blend which uses this tea as one of its components. Either way, the pumpkin theme will be over once I've reviewed this tea, and I'll move on to more normal flavors again.

This tea smells like...bubblegum? Odd. There's definitely a sweetness to this tea that I really didn't expect, and I hope comes from the pumpkin flavoring (although it doesn't really smell like pumpkins). I can smell the cinnamon and ginger, but it's faint. The overall smell is really artificial. At least most of the blend is tea itself, with a few yellow pieces sprinkled in. 

The bubblegum is retained in the taste, which is really dissatisfying. The overall balance is really flat and one dimensional, and I'm actually really disappointed that I can't taste pumpkin spice. I steeped this a few minutes longer, as per a suggestion in a review on the website, and still couldn't taste pumpkin and could really only taste spice as an aftertaste. If anything, this is more of a chai than a pumpkin, and that was really a disappointment. 

Tea: Pumpkin Spice from Harney and Sons

Cost: $5.99 for 20 sachets or $2 for a loose sample 

Ingredients: Rooibos, natural pumpkin flavors, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg

The only rooibos pumpkin I'm reviewing this month. I got this tea as a gift from a friend so I'm really excited to review it. This is the third out of four pumpkin teas I'm reviewing this month (sadly I won't have time to review more than four teas before Halloween, I know it's fewer than normal but it's also midterm season). This is also the only bagged pumpkin tea I'm reviewing, so it's unique in quite a few ways. So, without further ado, rooibos pumpkin. 

I love sachets because you can see all the parts of the tea, but with these leaves, I'm slightly worried powder will get in the cup through the holes. Characteristic of a rooibos, this tea is composed of broken leaves, but you can also see bits of the spices mixed in. It smells very sweet, and a bit floral. There's a grape edge to it, even with the almost tangible smell of spices. This tea doesn't really smell like pumpkin, but the other ingredients are definitely prominent. 

Steeped, this tea is a rusty reddish orange. The cinnamon and nutmeg dominate the taste, although the smell is still largely characteristic of rooibos. It almost reminds me of raisins in a way, and tastes a bit like grapes. The spices are balanced really well, but I do wish the pumpkin taste was stronger, because it seems a bit mild. It's very creamy and clear, which I'm happy about, and not bitter. As the tea becomes lukewarm and cools, it becomes a bit flat, but it's fuller when hot. 

Tea: Pumpkin Chai from David's Teas

Cost: 50 g (1.75 oz) for $7.50

Ingredients: Black tea, cinnamon, cloves, lemon peel, carrot, caramel bits, pumpkin candies, natural and artificial flavouring

It's been awhile since my last review, so I knew I had to get this up before the next wave of homework came flooding in. Next on my pumpkin list is a tea from David's tea. Pumpkin Chai is one of three pumpkin teas from David's, sadly the only one I have. I also have this tea in candle form, because I have a minor obsession with candles and needed some good fall scents. So of course I had to try a tea candle. This is my second year getting this tea, but I haven't had it in awhile, so I don't remember the taste as well as I'd like. 

Cinnamon. This tea smells like cinnamon and caramel. There's very little pumpkin in the smell, but it's definitely chai. It's spicy and hovers from the tin. The leaves are broken, which isn't my favorite, and I'm a bit put off by the artificial flavoring (although by this point I'm used to it from David's blends). I'm a tad cautious about the carrot and lemon peel, and it will be interesting to see how those reflect in the taste. I think my favorite part about this tea are the cute little pumpkin candies, which probably have no bearing on the taste but are adorable. 

This tea is an incredibly bright yellow-orange, I was a bit shocked. I accidentally got distracted while it was steeping, so I let it steep a minute or two more than I planned, but it ended up fine (there's a wide steeping berth for this tea, 4-7 minutes). This tea had a smooth, buttery finish to it. It's a bit mild for a chai, and I might prefer for the taste to have more oomph, but the pumpkin The cinnamon is very soft, and balances well, and I think the caramel definitely adds to the taste. I didn't even notice the carrot or lemon in the taste, but they don't detract from the taste which is good.