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I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from tea in the last few days as my body has been giving me absolute hell and hasn’t been tolerating anything. Having a slightly better day today so I decided to ease into a nice warm cup of this raspberry brew that I have been craving. Its so warm and comforting, yet the raspberry flavors are fresh and light, leaving a perfect balance of flavor and depth. Seriously, try this tea.

Brewed this beauty with a touch of clover honey for some added sweetness this morning. On its own, this tea isn’t particularly sweet, and its flavor is smooth, somewhat smokey mint. The smokey flavor works well with the bold mint taste, and I like this mint tea because it doesn’t have the sometimes overwhelming sharpness present in peppermint teas. This tea tastes more natural and vegetal, and while it is not a complex tea, the flavors are good and I find this brew to be very calming.

This tea is a personal favorite of mine and was a much needed brew on what has been a rough night. I’m in a flare with my illnesses so even my strongest pain and nausea medicines are falling short of controlling my symptoms and so I seek comfort wherever I can find it, and tonight it was in a cup of this tea. This is my favorite of all the chai teas I have tried, and I think its because it balances the spices with a lighter woodsy note that keeps you from tasting nothing but spice. Not to say I don’t enjoy that sometimes, but I like that this chai remains less heavy without losing the deep notes of spice and warmth a good chai tea should have. The lemongrass and pineapple give it natural sweetness that is good both with or without rock sugar added, and the black pepper and cardamom work nicely with the tea to give a solid, smooth base to the flavor of this brew. I like this tea brewed medium to dark, but I have also found it steeps well up to 5 or 6 times, depending on the length of each brew. This gives this already well-priced tea more bang for your buck, though this is one I keep around in large quantities – right now its the only tea I have in a 1lb tin. Like I said, this tea is a personal favorite and the overall flavor and notes of ginger are calming to my jerk of a stomach.

Holy mother of YUM! I finally got to visit A Tea Affair in Lititz PA this stormy afternoon and let me tell you, it took a lot of willpower not to buy everything in sight. Of their 350+ loose tea collection, I was hunting for something with raspberry. The heat of the summer has me craving them and since I can’t eat them, I was pleased to find this lovely blend. The smell of both the dry tea and the brew is heavenly – fresh, ripe raspberry, light floral notes and the rich tannic undertones from the black tea. The taste is lovely, smooth and light yet the flavors are strong and well defined. I truly enjoyed this tea, and it made me so happy to have raspberry flavor again – fruit is a no-go with my disease due to the fact that the fiber and seeds are so hard to digest, and I miss fresh fruit so badly. Anyway, I loved this tea – I was so sad because I lost a bit from my Perfectea steeper when I knocked it off balance and some leaked out! Oh well, I guess I’ll just HAVE to brew it again.

Second and Third Brews
Flavors were still strong and delicious even brewed a second and third time. More vegetal notes developed but the raspberry flavor and aroma remained steady. I brewed with clover honey the third time and it worked so well with the natural sweetness of this tea. I have definitely found a new favorite tea

I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m dragging through this day harder than RuPaul – the white rose tea earlier was low in caffeine and I desperately needed some, so pulled this beauty out of my M&K sampler out to give it a whirl and its wonderful. Brewed strong with jut a few rock sugar crystals, this tea has bold earthy tones and a mildly bitter/dry finish to it. It’s not overpowering ad actually compliments the sweet woodsy notes. I found the flavors to develop as it cooled and drinking it just barely warmed was delicious. The tannic/bitter flavors developed and were pleasant and not overwhelming to the overall taste of the tea. I’m planning a second steep later today, so I’ll update this post then! Overall a very nice tea and I’m happy to have enough for another brew left. So far I have not been disappointed by my M&K tea sampler – I can already feel the caffeine coursing through my veins!

I was looking for something soothing on this early morning, and I haven’t had this in a while so it felt like a good pick. I want to play around with brewing in the future with this tea – First brew was sweeter and lighter, though the floral notes are consistently strong. The rose aroma is lovely and follows through each sip. The flavors were light and accented nicely wit 1/2 tsp of rock sugar. I enjoyed this cup, although I wouldn’t recommend re-steeping as much of the flavor complex is lost, leaving the second steeping primarily rosey. This isn’t necessarily bad, but I liked the more complex flavor the first cup had to offer. I have a good bit of this tea so I will continue to play with brewing and possibly blending because I refuse to waste perfectly good tea. This one was nice, but not an absolute favorite.

I have been dying to try this tea! I got it in my sampler from M&K and it is lovely. Very light and mellow with sweet floral undertones and a very smooth and consistent taste. I am thinking of trying this iced next time I brew it, although I don’t have as much experience with iced teas. I added a drizzle of clover honey, which accents the delicate flavors of this tea very well. The suggested brew is two whole flowers, although the company recommends 8 oz of water while I used 12. This made the flavors a bit weaker but I am pleased overall with this tea. The whole flowers are gorgeous to watch as the tea brews, and this excited me for other floral teas I have waiting in my cupboard. I think this tea goes to show that even a simple, single-ingredient brew can be wonderful

Second Brew
I re-steeped this in 8 oz of water with 1/2 tsp of rock sugar and it was even better than the first brew. The floral notes were stronger and there was a soft vegetal undertone that rounded out the flavor. I also think the rock sugar better accented the natural sweetness of the violets. I definitely recommend brewing this tea stronger for a better experience, but even brewed weak I really enjoyed this tea.

I got this tea in a sampler set from M&K’s and I really enjoyed this brew. I used less tea to make a more mellow brew, although I may try it stronger next time to get more of the full, malt/earth flavor. Its simple, clean and was a nice start to the morning with just a bit of rock sugar to enhance the natural sweet notes. I re-steeped the leaves and actually enjoyed the second cup even more, and the flavors were somewhat bolder. Even so, it was a very light brew, sweet brew. I will definitely be back for seconds!