BrutaliTeas

Catching up after some busy work days, but it goes slow as new surprises keep cropping up and taking me away from the house (and my tea).

Re-crAnimator is a fun blend. The scent is festive but light. I get spiced cranberry with orange, which is also reflected in the flavor. The orange in particular here was strong, which surprised me. My cup came out a fairly pale pink despite using the whole sample in a single mug, but it didn’t detract from the flavor. I have a lot of other similar blends currently. Still, this goes on the list as a possible purchase in the future.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 8

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 10

Uh oh, almond is in the name ha ha… ^^’

Luckily, the almond flavor isn’t too terribly strong. This has an interesting mix of bases, with oolong, black, and roasted maté. To be honest though, the oolong and maté pretty much blend into each other and contribute a very woody note. I do taste a little of the black tea as well.

Overall, it mostly tastes woody with the marzipan-like almond flavor. It’s fine and very drinkable, but not something I would purchase. I think maybe a bit of cinnamon would help add some interest here?

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 9

I feel like I’m missing something with this one, because the other two notes are extremely positive…

To me, there’s not enough cake going on, and the black tea is too strong and tannic, which makes it taste even less cakey. It ends up tasting like strong black tea with a touch of buttercream frosting.

Oh well, can’t love them all I suppose. :P

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl-UO4JOHvq/

This tea was so good, definitely cakey and lightly sweet.

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 8

I was excited when I saw cran, but it’s a fruit tisane.

This is fairly generic to me, it tastes the same as all of those Mulled whatever fruit tisanes from Bird & Blend. Very tart red fruits combined with spices. This one is perhaps a little heavier on the ginger, but still very similar. I do like the lime, though do we really need lime and hibiscus together?

Anyway, a fine cup but nothing special.

I can’t say too much about this tea because I was in such a rush drinking it yesterday. It was tasty, with definite bitter coffee/dark chocolate flavor permeating. It’s a dessert tea without a whole lot of sweetness (so my partner enjoyed it more than expected). It seems like it would have been perfect for me, so maybe the rush was impacting my rating, but I just sort of felt… meh about it.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 7

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 7

I love maté and coffee-flavored teas, so I was excited to see this one.

It’s actually a little bitter somehow? Not terribly, just a smidge. I do taste the earthy roasted maté, which is nice. However, the chocolate flavoring is ruining it for me. Not that it’s bad or anything, I just don’t like chocolate flavoring and here it has a boozy taste as well. I pick up on the almond flavoring in the finish, which is interesting. The combination with the boozy chocolate gives it an almost chocolate-covered cherry vibe? Strange that there’s no cream element, given the inspiration…

It’s fine but not something I would order because chocolate flavoring. :P

Wrapped up yesterday with this interesting blend. It feels like a tropical fruit punch in scent – a strong scent both dry and steeped. The flavor is not as intense, but it has the notes I’d expect from the scent. I’ve got to admit to being generic about tropical fruit because I don’t know many of them, and I couldn’t even tell you if I’ve tasted dragonfruit! I taste tropical fruit with a good sweet/tart balance that leans a little more toward tart, and it’s all smooth and tasty. I really want to try this one iced, so I’ll be buying more.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 6

It was a nice cozy coffee-like wake-up call for advent day seven, but I definitely preferred it as a latte. I probably won’t grab more of this one but I wouldn’t mind drinking it if it was offered to me.

I am in LOVE with this tea!

This will definitely be a keeper in the shelf. I think the sprinkles sound cute, but wasn’t sure of the taste of this one before sipping, especially with Vanilla and Creme are mentioned as the primary other than two. What I will say is somehow they make this a wonderfully sweet black tea while chomping on a small slice of cake. The flavoring is spot on, it’s a delightful dessert tear that isn’t cloyingly sweet. It’s just a happy cup that satisfies the sweet tooth craving while being a strong enough black blend on it’s own to suit the comfort tea sip.

Now I can only imagine that eating it with actual cake would be interesting.

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 6

Lol, the name… This appeared to be mostly fruit pieces with just a bit of white tea, so I only used 8 ounces of water for the whole sample. Dry, it smelled like some kind of tropical fruit gummy.

Mine didn’t have much hibiscus and steeped up a very pale pinkish-coral hue. I’m surprised by how mild it tastes, given the strong smell. It does taste like dragonfruit to me, and I also get quite a bit of pineapple and some apple. Overall it’s quite a light-tasting cup, with the refreshing, almost cucumbery, spa-like tropical notes of the dragonfruit combining well with a pop of sweet-tart pineapple. There’s something adding a musty floral note, I guess maybe the rose? Either that or it’s just part of the flavoring.

A tasty cup! I might have to order a bit of this to try a few more times, I feel like such a chunky tea probably isn’t very well represented in such a small little sample tin.

Well this was Advent day 6… Can’t really describe the flavor because I’m allergic to it. I didn’t pay attention to the ingredients until after my lip started burning so I had to hand this over to mom. She really enjoyed it, said she preferred it hot.

According to my last tasting note on this tea the last time I drank this it was quite oversteeped, but sadly following the instructions didn’t save it for me. It’s still fairly bitter. While I can smell almond and something creamy, I’m mostly getting an astringent black tea in the taste. This is bringing the rating down from its original number.

BrutaliTeas advent day 5

BrutaliTeas advent, day 5

Apparently also day 5 last year, I actually put this off when I got behind because I remembered finding it unpleasant. The review is much more positive than my memory allowed, but I’m not sure it’s warranted. The oversteep of last time resulted in a strong almond floral. This time, I felt more like I was getting an almond flavored sugar cookie (heavy emphasis on the sugar cookie) with the lightest aftertaste of rose, with the former stronger when cold and the latter stronger when hot. Not something I’d return to, and moving down this rating.

My partner wanted to help out and added water without the timer, so this steeped for…. who even knows, but at least 10 minutes. Still, it avoided the extreme bitterness I was afraid of after the steep. I am mostly getting almond and something floral, which I assume is the rose. This is probably my least favorite of the teas so far in the advent, but it’s not bad, and I don’t even know if that’s the tea’s fault!

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 5

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 5

Enjoying this one more than I thought I would, given I’m not a fan of almond flavoring in tea.

But all of the flavors are more mellow than I expected. I can’t really tell it’s puerh, which is surprising. I get hints of fruitiness from the cranberry, but mostly I can taste buttery nuts and a bit of cream. There is some of that marzipan-y almond flavor too, but it melds in a bit with the cream, which I think makes it more palatable to me. The base though, seems much more astringent than their other black teas that I’ve tried so far. There’s a noticeable drying effect at the end of the sip, and a hint of bitterness too. Strange, I used the same steeping parameters…

Anyway, pleasantly surprised to enjoy this one! :)

I love this blend, I always will. Today I tried this one cold brewed for the first time and it was AMAZING I totally recommend it!

Advent day 5! I love, love, loved this blend. It’s one of my favorites from Brutliteas and it’s based on my favorite ice cream flavor! It’s nutty, almondy, a teeny bit fruity, and you get the classic pistachio ice cream flavor!

This blend was a good start to my day yesterday, a bit too sagey but the syrupy fruit balanced it out a bit. Best served iced.

This was the final tea of a very busy weekend. I waited to steep it up until my partner could try it too, because it’s both his favorite berry and his favorite band, so if it was a hit I knew we’d be ordering more.

It’s a good berry, though my partner didn’t realize it was blackberry at first – he named blueberry instead. (He wants me to note that may not be a commentary on the tea, but perhaps his tongue). I don’t love the bitter edge to the tea. There’s definitely an herbal vibe here, though I wouldn’t have pinpointed sage out of the taste so much as the scent.

In all, a pleasant tea, even more so as it cooled, but just a touch too bitter for me to want more. Partner is divided, so I think it will stay out of the rotation for now.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 4