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Emergency tea from today. By emergency I mean I can’t find any tea bags in my purse and had to run to the nearby cafe for a tea. So not really an emergency at all.

I added a dash of brown sugar because I needed that this morning. It brings out the honeysuckle and sugar notes in this blend. The rooibos is not as minerally or woody as usual rooibos blends are. If I had to describe the wood I would say it’s more like dry twigs than a specific type of wood smell (e.g. hickory or pine) but it does remind me of new woodchips when they re-do a chip trail. But maybe 5% of that intensity and mostly in the aftertaste.

I get some fruity notes but more like dried generic fruits than anything specific. I also get some almondy notes like amaretto or toasted marzipan (but less strongly than other blends like African Celebration by Jeoffrey’s Tea)

A strong peppermint that is still potent after many years in my quarantine jar (where all mint teas go so they don’t contaminate my fruity ones) because it was in a sealed plastic wrapper.

Nothing particularly notable since all peppermints are pretty much the same. It is stronger than some other peppermints I have tried.

I had two lovely cups of this tea today (one plain, one with a dash of unsweetened soy milk) and enjoyed both. I am your average rooibos enjoyer but I particularly love vanilla rooiboses. The woody mineral notes and the honey/sweet notes go so well with the aromatic vanilla.

What I like about this blend is that the rooibos has a lot of that sweetness I associate with honeybush, which is interesting. And the vanilla is quite intense, so you can rebrew it a second time and get a strong second cup.

My fist tea purchase of the year. Hopefully one of my only tea purchases this year. I found it at bulk barn of all places!

I really like the chamomile/spearmint combo. This has a nice dried herb (like the smell of dried sage and sweetgrass leaves) and slightly sweet finish. The blackberry leaves give a bit of natural sweetness. The chamomile is very present and I enjoy the flavour of it. I kind of like that chamomile has an almost nectar or honey flavour happening in it but also a bit like mango or pineapple.

I really can’t make out any vanilla at all, but I still enjoy it like the plain Sleepytime blend.

This is a decently strong plain Orange Pekoe type tea. Nothing too remarkable – some slightly bitter notes and a bit tannic. It brewed fairly strong. I enjoyed it with a dash of oat creamer. It seems fairly full-bodied but I would have liked some subtle smooth malty notes or even a bit creamy. Overall, not bad for a very old tea bag I needed to use up.

I’m working my way through the teas in the break room at work. This one is labelled as a black teas but is primarily rooibos. I’m confused as to how they missed that on the ingredient list.

There is a lot of rooibos flavour, so a bit woody and some minerals. I also taste some slight tannic bitterness from the orange peel and possibly the chocolate chips (if they are semi-sweet). I get a smell that reminds me of cheap dollar store chocolate (the waxy type with a heavy chocolatey scent). Overall not really a black tea but it made a nice latte with a dash of barista oat creamer.

Finishing off my misc. tea bags and this is on e that has been sitting around for years. The tea base is pretty good, but mild. I don’t taste any ginger but lots of peppermint. I would have thought it was only peppermint and a generic green tea. Not bad, and better with a splash of soy milk.

This is one of my all-time favourite teas. I did not buy a box this year because I still have a few teabags. To my delight, my new job had some teabags of this sitting in the communal tedabag area.

Not only did I land my new dream job with awesome pay, but they also pay us for a 30 minute tea and coffee break where we talk about science things. It’s incredible! AND I get to drink my favourite tea.

I have been drinking this nearly every day and have now used all of the tea bags, however I really enjoy this tea brewed hot (either plain, or with vanilla soy milk).