Hina's Tea

Hmm, I thought I had written a tasting note on this before…

Anyway, usually a good green to go to, medium dark, nice mild flavor.

But today, it surprised me, it was super roasty tasting today! Very nice!

Been drinking this during this last work stretch, been crazy at work and I wanted energy without caffeine because I have been having trouble sleeping due to a kinked neck and “stuck” shoulder. Stuck is the only way I can describe what my shoulder is doing and feels like. Anyway, I’ve had this for a while, really miss my Hina’s Tea shop. Just pure yerba mate, great unique yerba mate taste and totally powered me through the day! Yay!

I dug this tea out again and I found that sweetening it a bit with agave nectar (which seems oddly appropriate) brought out the citrusy flavour from the orange peel bits. I’m still getting that odd creamy aftertaste and I think it reminds me a bit of chocolate – almost but not quite.

I think I got this one from TeaEqualsBliss – it’s another one of those teas that I dug out of the depths of my Cupboard while I was reorganizing that I hadn’t realized I had. It certainly smells intriguing to me – very citrusy and I can also smell the guava surprisingly enough – and it is guava not ‘genericsmell’.

I expected the tea to be much hotter and peppery than it really was – there’s a bit of a bite, but not much heat. It tastes more fruity than anything else, which actually works quite reall with the red rooibos base. Oddly the flavour mutates into something rich and creamy-tasting at the end of each sip. I’ve not quite sure what could be causing it. *shrugs *

seykayay was kind enough to send me this. The ingredients list reads like 52teas’ kitchen sink green…what isn’t in it?

And I like it! I can taste the white tea, and there’s a hint of jasmine (which, thankfully, isn’t too terribly strong), and then there’s this mass of tropical fruity flavor. I can’t pick out any one fruit that’s dominating. It’s sweet, but not overly so, with just the tiniest edge of sour to keep it interesting.

Thanks, seykayay, for sending a bit of this my way to try!!

I’ve been drinking this for a few days now (not in a row) and I still can’t describe it. I thought I’ve had rooibos before, but in a bagged version. Although now that I taste this, I can’t actually say with any certainty that I’ve had rooibos before, and if I didn’t, what did I drink?

So anyway, I open up the bag and it looks and smells like tobacco from a cigar shop. Dry though, and the tea is a fine small size, the size that creates static cling and sticks to everything, like glitter does. After steeping, a very beautiful red-brown color, kind of like cheap garnets. I don’t like my garnets this color, but in my tea cup is acceptable!

The smell is weird to me, it is sweet, but not sugary sweet, and then there is a strong note that reminds me of…alcohol? The kind of smell that makes me react like I do when I smell wine. Maybe because I am allergic to alcohol, then I also sensitive to that smell and therefore react the way I do. My stomach gets tight and red sirens go off in my head.

(Yes this happens with all alcohol for me, even in food. I have had allergic reactions to Chicken Marsala and believe it or not, kombucha. But I still drink as much as the allergy will allow and I just drink in a bar where for some reason, I can’t smell any alcohol. Unless it’s wine, then I’m usually at a friend’s house, but I can’t smell it when I drink it. I will hold my breath and sip. Why hasn’t all this yet stopped me from drinking at all? Because I LOVE mojitos and red wine.)

So the taste is sweet, mild, I like it. I want to experience more rooiboses and I’m glad there is no caffeine, I’ve been enjoying these at night during the wind down to bedtime. Who knows, my rating may climb as I become more familiar with the roob.

Doubled up the leaf in my new tea infuser (http://artahome.com/cafe/tea-leaf-infuser, cute isn’t it?) and this is fabulous iced! Been sipping this most of the day, perfect without sugar! Fruity and refreshing!

It smells great and tastes good too! Berry and black tea are balanced very well, not one overpowering the other. I didn’t think there was any need for sweetener of any sort, it tasted sweet with out being overly sweet. They say it’s only good for one infusion, and they were right. That’s maybe the only thing I can say is a negative. Otherwise, it really is a good “warm me up” on this sunny but cool morning. A good way to start the weekend, after calling in to work for a “mental health day” off. :-)

This one tastes…mushroomy? Is that right? Not that it’s bad, just reminds me of mushrooms. Is that called “muscatel”? Anyway, smooth, beautiful color liquor, kind of sweet, in a mushroomy kind of way. I like it, I don’t know about all the time, but I like it. It reminds me of when my mom would rehydrate those black mushrooms all day for that night’s dinner, the whole kitchen smelled like those mushrooms. I always wondered what she did with the water, and if it was flavored, or if you could actually cook with it for flavor. Hmm, I wonder if this keemun is what that mushroom water would taste like…

The same gyokuro their matcha is made from. Yummy, cloudy green, grassy, warming to the soul.

Excellent quality, and with a very dynamic flavor.

Had this all day today iced. I was almost giddy with excitement and fatigue brewing this last night so it would be cooled down and iced for today.
It’s perfect. Although I think I prefer it hot, iced is mighty fine as well.
Oh goodness gracious, if I could have this replace the blood in my body, I would be so so SO happy!
Still hoarding this one until I can find a replacement. But really, nothing replaces your first love, right? :-)

This smells divine, like fresh lemons.
It tastes divine, fresh lemons, a hint of ginger, and lemongrass. The oolong is perfect for this blend, mild, not overpowering.
I could drink this hot or cold, all the oolong day! :-D
Not a perfect rating because I don’t know if I can ever get this again. :-( Good thing I bought the big 4 ounce bag!

Tonight I made this into syrup and poured it over vanilla ice cream. SO good! My friend was licking it off the spoon. Really really good! And I didn’t even add in the suggested liqueur, Curacao.

What else can I say? Borrowing from Cofftea…matcha!!!! :-)
Not as bright green as the Samurai matcha from Hina’s, but still a good sweet taste, smooth, grassy, soooo nice. The breakfast of champions!

Fantastic as always! Hina’s is the best! Going to enjoy this while I still can, while they are still open!

I never thought I’d give a tea such a high rating but this simply is the best tea I’ve ever had. It brewed a light brown, dark orange color; a very appealing color, something I haven’t seen in a tea before. The first taste was so bright yet mellow. There are a hundred different undertones to this tea. The only reason I didn’t give it a 100 rating is because when I left the tea in my mouth for a little while I began to get some slight astringent tastes, which I don’t like in teas.

Actually what I had was a Sweet Tea Latte at Hina’s. Wild Strawberry black tea, a little vanilla smoothie mix, foamy milk, and viola! The best drink ever! The thick creamy foam smelled and tasted like marshmallow, and the tea latte was sweet, but not too sweet. It tastes nothing like a Southern sweet tea, it’s warm and creamy like hot chocolate, but better! I barely tasted strawberry, only a hint of it after he mentioned it, just in the aftertaste slightly, but not overwhelmingly fruity at all. So so good and perfect to finish off a weekend at work when it was starting to rain.

This is truly great. I love Rooibos and Hina has blended some chili and guava with the rooibos and the description “Mexican Winter” is exactly what you get. It’s great when it’s cold out with a slight heat in your mouth from the chili. It sounds crazy but it’s well balanced and very flavorful without being overpowering. Just love it.

This tea I think is one of the best teas Hina’s has. Love the flavor