With green tea calling my name tonight, I went pilfering through my sample stash to see what captured my interest. Out of my choices, this one won the contest hands down and conjured visions of green apple jolly ranchers liquefied into my tea cup. The green tea used in this blend looks a bit more like illegal narcotics than most green tea does (not that I would know much about such matters)! Fortunately, there are a fair number of safflower shreds and little dried apple pieces so as to eliminate any confusion. The aroma coming from the dry sample will also help to eliminate any confusion as it is rather floral. These are some fairly fragrant safflower shreds in my opinion.

Since Red Leaf Tea does not include any brewing instructions on their website (that is an upgrade that I might suggest to them as being helpful), I was left to my own devices. I used water brought just to steaming and infused the leaves for about 2.5 min. Since Red Leaf Tea does indicate that apple flavoring is amongst the ingredients, I was still thinking green apple Jolly Ranchers, but the actual cup is quite different. Everything about this blend is delicate in nature. The green tea is very mild in flavor with just a touch of vegetalness. It is complemented by floral notes from the safflower shreds. The apple is also very demure in the cup. The apple flavor is more natural tasting than that of a candy apple flavor like I had in my head originally. It is also on the subtle side and if you didn’t know that this was an apple tea, then you might overlook it. The cup has a nice natural sweetness to it and it’s delicate nature is one that will be appreciated when the mood calls for it. In fact, I think the strongest component in the cup came from the floral safflower petal shreds. However, I personally enjoy flavored tea blends and wanted this one to have a bit more apple flavor—natural apple or otherwise. I would suggest this to folks who like their green tea on the mild side and like just a hint of flavoring in their cup.

This is my first experience with a white tea pu erh. Norbu sells this White Buds Sheng Pu erh in a 250 gram cake for $16. My sample of this is a 10 gram size and, since I don’t plan on drinking this to death, I decided to break mine in half. I first gave my cake a couple of rinses in water that was just beginning to steam. I then infused the cake in water just beginning to have bubbles but prior to steaming for a full 3 min. The aroma coming from my teapot and the wet leaves does have that earthy yet medicinal aroma that I associate with pu erh. However, this does NOT smell barnyard-ish at all!! The resulting cup is actually surprisingly good. Yes, I am surprised that I like it as well as I do. The white tea is fairly smooth, a little naturally sweet, slightly astringent, and, yes, even a bit malty! It does taste earthy and I could even detect a bit a floral coming from the white tea. However, there was none of that syrupy, sweet, barnyard taste. Mind you, this is not a gentle cup—the white tea is rather strong and the pu erh taste dominates, but in a more pleasant way than I expected.

As I’ve alluded to in many other reviews, I have neither the time nor the inclination to prepare 6-7 infusions of anything. However, I feel it only fair to do 2-3 when I review certain teas such as unflavored pu erh and oolong. I prepared a second infusion of this exactly as I did the first. The primary difference between the two infusions was that the pu erh taste (medicinal and earthy quality) is a bit stronger in the second infusion. It was also even more pronounced at warmer temperatures. I didn’t get too much time with my first cup when it was at its hottest temps because my 3 yr old required my attention. I am thinking that this stronger ‘pu erh taste’ is due to the fact that the little cake started to break apart quite a bit in the second infusion. Mind you, it is largely still intact but I am sure that the pieces that broke away released more of that pu erh taste. It is still actually pretty good—though I am not sure that I find the taste addictive the way that some folks do. I did find the cup to be more enjoyable after it had a chance to cool down even though the water used was not all that hot.

This is definitely the best unflavored pu erh that I have tried and one that I would consider purchasing. I really like the fact that Norbu sells a number of their pu erh offerings in these 25 gram sample sizes and even offers a sampler of them. If you want to check this out, you could buy this in the sample size for just $2.75, which I think is a great deal. I am guessing that I probably could have broken my cake into thirds and could probably infuse each of those thirds a half dozen times easily. This is a great tea and a great value. Further, their website is amazing and very educational for pu erh newbies like me!!

I happen to love the combination of chocolate and mint. Mint chocolate chip ice cream from Baskin & Robbins is one of my ultimate comfort foods though I rarely give in to the urge to indulge. I happen to have a couple of chocolate mint black teas in my personal tea collection and consider them amongst my favorites. When Lynn’s review of this blend posted on the site, I became even more excited to know that my own sample of it was waiting to be reviewed.

Dispersed amongst the black leaves in my dry sample package are some green peppermint leaves. The aroma coming from my sample package is nothing short of decadent! While peppermint dominates the aroma, there is a nice rich chocolate undertone that promises a tasty cup. I prepared my sample with water brought to a full boil and allowed to cool a bit and infused the leaves for a full 5 min (the website suggests anywhere from 3-7 min depending upon how strong you like your tea). A quick check of the ingredients shows that this consists of luxury black tea, peppermint, blackberry leaves and natural flavors. Curious of what a luxury black tea might consist, I did a little checking around on the Culinary Teas website and found that they use high grown teas from the top 3 tea growing regions of Sri Lanka – Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula and Uva. These three high-grown districts produce flavorful teas that have classic ‘Ceylon’ tea character which is noted by floral bouquet and flavor notes, touches of mild astringency and a bright coppery color.

The prepared cup delivers a nice decadent dessert tea. One thing about this blend is that the aroma is amazing and has this hint of chocolate to it that really teases the senses. The peppermint definitely dominates the blend, but doesn’t totally overwhelm it. The black tea base is somewhat bitter and, when paired with the chocolate flavoring, kind of morphs into this bittersweet chocolate flavor that made this blend extra delicious to me. I did find that I enjoyed this best with a healthy dose of German rock cane sugar. This also took a splash of milk well—and took a splash of chocolate milk even better! Further, as I write this Culinary Teas has this blend on sale and, at the sale price of just $6.62 for a 4 oz bag, it is an excellent value. The combination of the mint and bittersweet dark chocolate taste make this one definitely worth consideration.

While a good Yunnan reigns supreme in my house, my second choice is generally a good Darjeeling. I have one that lives in my personal tea stash that is no slouch and has the price tag to prove it. However, as I allude to now and then, when I reach for a plain tea, I want the good stuff! Since American Tea Room seems to stock a lot of offerings that are top notch, I was excited to try this one out. This offering comes from the Puttabong garden and they are known for offering some Darjeelings that are a bit more earthy and rich than some of the others on the market, which tend to be more floral and fruity. The leaves are tippy in nature and look from shades of wood to that of white and even green.

One thing about this tea is that this one requires careful attention when steeping or else you will end up with a bitter cup (though this is true of most tea). I prepared this using water beginning to steam and infused for 3 min on the cup that I enjoyed best. While it is fun to drink a first flush leaf sometimes, I actually tend to prefer the second flush, which this one is. The first infusion brews up a coppery amber color and the aroma is definitely hints that the cup is muscatel in nature. The taste is indicative of the fragrance and delivers the sweet muscat that I look for in a good Darjeeling. I did find this to be a bit more earthy and rich than most Darjeeling leaves that I have tasted. I also found that it tasted a little nutty to me, but the clove and nutmeg alluded to in the description were not obvious to me as stand alone spices. However, I did sense a hint of spice in the cup. The cup itself somewhat astringent and, yes, a tad bitter. This is also fairly smooth and that quality in and of itself reminds you constantly that you are drinking a quality leaf. A second infusion was equally enjoyable, but somewhat less muscatel. Since I happen to love some nice bold muscat, I will call the first infusion my favorite.

I think that lovers of the Puttabong garden will be most impressed with this offering. You can tell that it is a quality second flush leaf. While this one commands a price tag that might put it out of reach for some folks, I will tell you that it is actually less than the one that lives in my personal collection. If you are looking for a rich yet sweet second flush offering, then this one is definitely worth consideration.

Jasmine is one of those things that I am developing a bit of taste for lately. I recently tried an Earl Grey tea that had jasmine added to it and found it amazing. Teavana’s Dragon Phoenix Pearls were my introductory voyage into jasmine tea and I still stock a few of them in my tea stash. This particular offering is a mixture of jasmine and black tea. This seems to be a hot pairing lately that I have seen offered by a number of tea companies, but one that I have yet to try.

The dry sample is rather golden in nature and contains a number of buds and little jasmine flowers. I prepared this with water beginning to have consistent bubbles and steam, but cut short of boiling. I infused the leaves for about 3 min. The first thing that I noticed about this cup is the pleasing aroma of the jasmine tea. I must admit that it took me a few min of sipping to fully wrap my brain around the pairing of black tea with jasmine. I am used to green and white jasmine teas, but not black. At first, it even seemed a little odd to me, but as I continued to sip and the blend cooled it came together in a way that I think ultimately works. The black tea used here is pretty mild and relatively dominated by the jasmine, though not completely overpowered by it. You can taste both the jasmine and the black tea. The tea base is smooth and has just a tinge of astringency. The jasmine is bold, but not so bold as to totally be in your face.

Overall, I found this to be a pleasant and enjoyable cup. I loved that the black tea is of a good quality and I can’t imagine that any other black tea base could pair with jasmine any better. The amount and flavor of the jasmine was also done very well and suited my tastes perfectly. I still think that I do prefer my jasmine tea best when paired with a green or white tea base. However, I would strongly recommend this one to those that like or want to try jasmine paired with black tea.

I was thrilled to try out this blend because I have contemplated ordering it a time or two from California Tea House. I have several lime tea blends in my stash and really love a well done lime flavor. My sample of this blend smells delicious and largely like lime, but more of a tropical lime. I prepared this using water brought to steaming and infused for a bit over 2 min. The resulting cup is quite delicious and the flavor profile is actually somewhat familiar to me as it very much reminds me of one that I have in my personal tea stash. This blend has a very strong lime flavor profile that is softened a bit by the delicious coconut backdrop. You can taste the green tea in this, but it is largely overpowered by the rather full flavor profile. My criticism of this blend is that it does have a finicky preparation and if you don’t get the brewing parameters just right then the green tea bitters very easily. I did find that I enjoyed this blend best with a pinch of brown rock cane sugar as it brought up the coconut flavor a bit more. If this anything like the one in personal collection (and it is very similar), then I can also testify that this excellent when consumed iced as well.

As a lover of lime and coconut flavors, I found this blend to be very refreshing delicious with proper brewing. I will warn that this is not for those who are not true lovers of lime as the lime is an in-your-face kind of lime. I feel that the coconut provides the perfect backdrop to the key lime flavor making this a tasty tropical cup. As a side note, California Tea House provides free shipping on orders of any size making it economical to place a small order with them.

If you are not familiar with 52teas, then I would suggest that you check them out as it is such an interesting concept: a new tea blend every week and most are suggested by tea drinkers following them on Twitter and Facebook. Further, their prices are reasonable and the owner is one that we have come to love here at Teaviews. Every so often they put out a blend that I have to check out and this was one of them. I love malted milk, Whoppers (candy) and so on, so I found this one hard to pass up. Further, I have been on the lookout for some Genmaicha with a twist (other than Matcha added to it) like some vanilla or hazelnut flavor added. So when this blend hit 52teas.com, I pulled out my debit card.

There is nothing about the appearance of the dry blend that would suggest that this was anything other than Genmaicha. The ingredients on the package actually read Japanese Sencha, toasted rice, and all natural malt flavors. The aroma, however, is a bit unique and smells a bit sweet and reminds me a bit of vanilla. I prepared this with water that was beginning to have bubbles rise to the top of the pot and infused the blend for a smidge over 2 min. Initially, the taste of this blend is of the typical, toasted Genmaicha taste. The tea base is fairly mild and the toasted rice is dominant, but not overwhelming. However, the finish and the aftertaste has a bit of sweetness to it that does, in fact, remind me of vanilla. This part of the flavor profile is not overwhelming and I don’t really think that it would bother anyone that does not like flavored teas—though arguably Genmaicha should be considered a flavored tea anyway. I found that bit of malt/vanilla added some interest to the blend that made it special. If you like Genmaicha and are looking for something a little different, then give this one a try.

Since it is almost 9:00 p.m. as I sit down to enjoy some tea and write a review, I know that it is in my best interests to pick a caffeine-free option. Since nothing amongst my samples was calling my name and imploring me to review it, I decided on this night-time blend from Boston Tea Company. Boston Tea Company is a company that I am not unfamiliar with at this point as I have had the opportunity to try a number of their blends through Teaviews.

My sample package contains the ingredients described above and smells surprisingly like honey! I don’t think that I have come across another blend with an organic honey flavor… In fact, I am not sure if it is a ‘flavoring’ or if they actually squirted some honey into the mix. I scooped the blend liberally when preparing this and infused for 5 min with water brought to a full boil. I did find that I enjoyed this blend best when it had an opportunity to cool for a couple of min. The flavor profile to my tastebuds was dominated by the green rooibos and chamomile, which come together quite nicely. The interesting thing is that this actually does taste like it was prepared with a drizzle of honey. The honey flavor is also a dominate player in the blend but it shows up more in the finish and aftertaste. Oddly, the honey flavor seems less sweet than when you use actual honey suggesting that they have used a honey flavoring. While you could certainly drizzle a bit of actual honey into the blend if you wanted it to coat your throat when sick or something, the flavor itself is strong enough that an addition is not really necessary. The lemon peel and osmanthus flowers are a bit lost in the blend though I suspect that they contribute something to the blend that might be missed if they were not included.

Overall, this is a tasty and well-done blend from Boston Tea Company. If I were placing an order with them, this is definitely one that I would place in my shopping cart. If you are a lover of green rooibos, chamomile and honey, then this is one that I would recommend to you. I thought that the honey flavor added that something unique to the blend that makes this one worth consideration.

52teas is a tea blender that I find myself with no choice but to order from now and again. Their blends just push the envelope and are so unorthodox that my curiosity about them forces me to whip out my credit card and order. Further, this a tea company that you don’t have to place a huge order from in order achieve enough of an efficiency to make it worthwhile as most of their blends are just $7.99-$8.99 for a 2 oz pouch shipped to your door. As a recovering Coca Cola addict, this Cherry Vanilla Cola black tea is one of those blends that I just couldn’t resist checking out. I might add that when a slight mix-up with my order occurred, 52teas stepped up and provided good customer service.

My sample package smells very much like, well, cherry cola without the fizz. While it is possible that I don’t see the cherry and vanilla pieces due to the rather dim lighting in the room, my sample package looks to be primarily just the black tea leaves. I prepared this using water cut just short of boiling and infused for 4 min. This is dominated by a strong cola flavor profile that pretty much overwhelms the black tea. There is a touch of cherry in the flavor as well, but the vanilla is kinda lost in the mix to me. This is actually kind of interesting in that most of my experience with cola and a hot drink is not exactly the best. I’m sure that we have all left a bottle of Coke in the car at some point and were just thirsty enough to take a sip of it anyway—even though we already know that it is gross. The hot tea version is actually not bad though, but it kind of begs for some carbonation in my mind. Maybe because I just associate the cola flavor with carbonation? If I was feeling ambitious, I would actually make the Tea Soda recipe on the 52teas.com website, which essentially involves dissolving some sugar to add to the tea and finishing it off with some sparkling (carbonated) water. Since I am also accustomed to drinking cola drinks iced, I prepared a glass iced and found that this one does lend itself to a more enjoyable and refreshing drink when consumed cold. It becomes more of a black tea with a touch of cherry cola to add interest.

Overall this an orthodox and unique tea blend that definitely grabbed my attention. I think this is a great choice for those trying to ween themselves off of cola drinks. The question is will I drink the rest of it and would I buy it again? I am fairly certain that I will drink the remainder of my 2 oz pouch before it loses its freshness (and I will probably drink most of it iced). If I were madly in love with this blend, then I would stock up right now as it is not a certainty that 52teas will reblend this at any point. That said, I am not quite in love with it enough to add another pouch to my tea stash at this time. However, it is definitely worth consideration if you are looking for something different.

If you follow along with my reviews on Teaviews with any regularity, then you probably already know that I love, love, love coconut. Pretty much anytime there is an available sample with coconut as an ingredient it is requested by me. Culinary Teas is a company that I am not unfamiliar with as I have had friends give me some samples of their stuff. However, it has been quite awhile since one of their offerings has entered my tea cup. My sample package consists of the dry black tea leaves, thin shreds of coconut and small blue flower petal shreds. It smells delicious and the aroma is slightly intense. It smells mostly like a strawberry kiwi blend with little in the aroma to call attention to the coconut. Did I mention that I love coconut?

I prepared this using water cut just short of boiling and infused this for about 4 min. The flavor profile is very nicely done and quite delicious. The flavoring is not quite as intense as the aroma suggested and that is probably a good thing. When you first begin to drink the blend the primary flavor is that of a strawberry kiwi tea. However, the finish and aftertaste is all coconut!! The coconut flavor is spot on and reminds of a good dessert coconut flavor. The black tea base used is quite mild and is of a good enough quality so as not to detract from the blend. One word of caution, this blend is very naturally sweet on its own so I would hold off on adding any sweetener until you’ve had an opportunity to taste it. Since my favorite part of the cup is in the finish and aftertaste (coconut), I was reluctant to add any dairy and try this out latte style.

If the description of this blend appeals to you, then this is definitely one that you should add to your cart when shopping with Culinary Teas. I thoroughly enjoyed this blend. It is kind of the perfect union of strawberry, kiwi and coconut. One thing about this blend is that it is fairly two dimensional (even more so than many) in that the initial taste is strawberry kiwi and the aftertaste/finish is all coconut. It is almost like this blend has a split personality—in a good way. At $13 for a 4 oz bag of tea, this one is a bit of a splurge but one that I would make. In a word: Yummo.