My Cup of Tea (USA)

A sipdown from last week of a sampler I think I received in an advent swap. My cupboard is so out of order ’m not sure any more!

Anyway, this is an average black tea. The strawberry flavour is chemically and fake like a candy. However, it is also creamy which is a very nice addition. Not bad by any means, but not excellent either. I appreciate that it is decaf. Slight malt but nothing else remarkable about the base.

Shae Advent Day 4

I waited for this to cool to room temperature, and the flavor is a candy strawberry with a bit of a metallic hint from the decaf black tea. It’s nice plain, but I added milk, and I think I like it a little more like this. Now it’s sort of like a strawberry creme saver. Oh I wish I had some whipped cream for the top! I like the flavor of this black tea too.

Shae Advent Calendar Day 2

I’ve had this tea several times from other brands, but it’s a tea I enjoy, so I was pleased to see it again. It tastes mostly like orange. It’s pretty mild, not tangy or sour. It’s a pleasant one to have cold. I think I used to enjoy it a little more (I rated the Tiesta version 93 apparently) but I definitely still like it!

I really love the way rooibos steeps up so beautifully dark. Adding milk or cream just makes it so luscious. This is a nice chocolate peppermint tea, both flavors equally present. I wouldn’t say it’s special, but I’m enjoying it. Strangely enough, as it cools there is a fruity note to the blend that’s adding some depth. It’s strawberry, I think? It seems like it would be out of place, but I really like it! Bumping the rating up a bit for the strawberry surprise. :D

Another tea to celebrate Black History Month! This one is from My Cup of Tea in Memphis. I thought this was a Black-owned business, but after doing some digging I don’t think it is. Someone correct me if I’m wrong on that. The shop operates in Orange Mound, Tennessee – the first and oldest African American community in the United States. They do a lot of work with the women in the community, and it seems that this is really more of a non-profit business teaching vocational and life skills to its residents. The tea I’m drinking from them today is part of a sachet sampler I bought that included several of their flavors. This one smells just like one of those pillow mints. I can taste the rooibos, but more so in the background, and it adds somewhat of a fruity flavor. It’s very interesting. I expected it to be a typical chocolate mint flavor, but there’s definitely something extra about this one.

Samurai TTB #6

I discovered My Cup of Tea this past year and have really enjoyed many of their teas, so I was eager to try this when I saw it in the box. It’s also rare to find a strawberry tea that doesn’t include hibiscus, so I’m happy about that! The strawberry flavoring is strong and sweet and slightly artificial. Others have described it as candy-like and I think that’s accurate. The base tea is very smooth and pretty much disappears into the fruity flavoring. This isn’t necessarily something I’d purchase, but it was a pleasant cup of tea!

SIPDOWN 4
The number isn’t accurate actually. It’s much higher as I have finished a few teas at work, but I never wrote a note about them, I just removed them from virtual and sadly also real, cupboard.

This tea I have received in 2020 Advent swap from Shae. I feel that the time just flies… we have already January 2022 and it seems ages ago.

It was still very delicious. Very fruity, refreshing and overall mellow cup of tea. I haven’t tried it iced.

It was a good fruit tea. Now it’s gone.

Shae’s Advent Calendar, December 15

Oh wow, how full pouch is! And there are some big pieces! (Turns around the pouch) Oh, interesting we will see how it is! (Opens the pouch for first time) That is indeed Mango, papaya, tropical fruits everywhere! (Closes the pouch)

But not for morning

Decided to brew in the afternoon, after long and draining statistics lecture. It was interesting, but I hate being only one who replies!

The tea; I described the aroma above. But brewed, western style with lots of blend (but picked out some orange zests and some strawberry pieces), it is much different. First of all, it’s filling the room with summery aroma of tropical fruits.

Next thing I noticed, when I sipped it down, it is mellow and very, very sweet. I can imagine it drinking iced, that would be a blast! I won’t do it as outside is -2°C and won’t be much better. Keeping for future reference here though.

Third, it’s great against thirst. You know you are drinking something and yes, it is highly refreshing. I can’t really undestand how actual fruits, which are moreover so sweet, are so refreshing when brewed.

Shae, this is amazing. Indeed it is.

Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2khfQxo

Shae’s ADVENT CALENDAR, December 14

I had to write Shae in the morning to find out what is this tea actually! Label says strawberry and there is no strawberry in. Had no idea how it could be called.

Two exams written, two course credits granted. We will see how today ones will develop. I get caught on trap question, so I know there is a mistake. And there (on other one) too. Oh well. So tired.

So, I know what is this tea supposed to be, so I brought a big mug and decided to brew it in. Steeped for 3-4 minutes, not sure; but less than recommended, as I thought it is “done”.

Roswell Strange said it is bit on “European” flavour profile and more-less agree with her. But I don’t get any strawberries, rather some generic fruity profile with hints of papaya in. It is interesting to see black/green blend with probably mellowed the bold black base, but it was somehow… poor. Maybe I have expecting more fruity note; or just somehow fresher taste, but it was just a fruity tea with base, but it was on the boring side and I finished the mug without much to remember.

I think I had better fruity blends, though usually with hibiscus, but maybe I kind of miss it here?

Photo:https://flic.kr/p/2kgWwkH

Shae’s ADVENT CALENDAR, December 12
We are in half folks!

Two exams on Monday. Both hard; imagine economy of transport companies and linear programming. No idea what to expect as we got it in distant way.

A tea; another straweberry, and my gummy ones are eaten. So they aren’t on the photo. But there are some in. Prepared a mug for myself and then a pot for family. As intended from Shae, as she sent me a huge load. I used two teaspoons for my 300 ml, and 4 tsp for family pot. I really should measure the volume.

The tea; I have to agree with Roswell Strange it is candy-like strawberry and I notice bit of creamy. So kind of strawberry-cream candy. It’s quite sweet for me (but well, I don’t sweeten my teas) and it’s smooth. The base is bit lacking, but as a decaf, maybe I don’t mind. It isn’t artificial which I really like on this blend. I am impressed of the smoothness of this blend, as I have been afraid it will be rough on tongue due to decaf base, but… it isn’t.

A good tea for the evening; but maybe I shall prepare myself another caffiened tea, as I need to focus on that Economy of transport companies. I feel like it isn’t making any sense to me. There are laws, there are some terms I don’t understand, there are some calculations which aren’t hard per se, but all together it looks like a big mishmash to me. Moreover, I have no idea what to expect in the exam. A credit-exam (my dictionary says so); so one bigger is coming after Christmas. Hopefully I can at least pass this one; so I don’t have to resit.

Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2kg5y8v

ADVENT DAY 10

Honestly, the name scared me at first – I hate peach – so I was hoping this was an apple orchard instead of a peach orchard – I went online and found out it wasn’t talking about peaches, thank goodness :)
I’m on my second day of drinking this tea – I kept it hot in my coffee urn overnight, and it was good this morning – I tried to get it as close to the 175 degree mark as I could, with my Keurig – the lowest setting was 182, so I did that. It turned out a little bit watered down and a little bit bitter at the same time – I used a tablespoon in 27 ounces and steeped it two times in a row – maybe I needed to add a 4th teaspoon to make it perfect, but it was a nice and relaxing blend.

Wanting a simple cup tonight while cooking dinner. This isn’t my favorite strawberry black tea, but it’s definitely a nice decaf option.

I missed my opportunity this morning for my Advent tea, so I decided to have a decaf blend instead since it’s later in the day. After reading AJRimmer’s note that this one tastes like a strawberry creme saver, I decided to have a cup tonight and try to replicate that flavor. My husband made it for me and admitted to being a little heavy-handed with the cream, but it works because it absolutely does taste like a strawberry creme saver! I’ll dig back into the Advent teas tomorrow, but for now this is really hitting the spot.

Not loving this one as much tonight for some reason. It’s like strawberry candy, but not in a good way. Hard to describe.

STTB Tea

This is really tasty cold. Lots of fresh fruit flavours, mostly stone fruit and mango. Some citrus (tangerine or Mandarin orange?) but I think I’m missing the strawberry and pineapple. Either way, it is so nice to have some fruity herbal blends to make iced tea with. I refuse to give up on summer.

I’m not the biggest fan of florals (especially jasmine) so I probably wouldn’t have chosen this blend on my own. But my friend Rives who introduced me to My Cup of Tea LOVES this one and talked me into buying it. I’m glad she did! While the jasmine flavor is present, it’s counterbalanced by the citrus and pineapple so it does’t come off at all perfumey. There is a bit of dryness at the end of the sip, but it isn’t too much…just makes me want to keep coming back for more! I enjoyed it hot, but have found that it really shines as an iced tea. I am so excited about discovering this company and looking forward to trying more of their teas in the future!

This may have been my least favorite blend of the Memphis sampler. It smelled like strawberry candy, but the flavor was a muddled jumble of generic fruit that didn’t taste distinctly like strawberry or anything else in particular. I’ll drink the three bags I have, but this isn’t one I’d chose to re-purchase.

Like all the teas in this sampler, this is much nicer than your average bagged chai! The tea itself appears to be a CTC, but there are nice big cardamom seeds and bits of cinnamon bark visible in the sachet. The flavor is intense and spicy with lots of ginger and cardamom and a hint of pepper tickling the back of my throat. The base tea is pretty astringent, but it smooths out nicely with a bit of milk. Overall, this isn’t my personal favorite flavor profile for a chai (I like the ones that lean a bit sweeter with more cinnamon and nutmeg) but still one of the better bagged options I’ve tried!

James offered to make me a cup of tea this afternoon and asked for “creative liberty” with my tea pick today. I agreed, on the condition that he make me something good. I tend to forget that his idea of good tea is a lot different than mine. He loves this blend. I do not. I think I’ve finished almost half my cup over the course of the past four hours. I’m just not into these nothing-but-dried-fruit teas. It’s a good thing we like different flavors so that one of us is almost always glad to finish a tea the other doesn’t like.

M is for… Mango Fruit Tea.

This has never been one of my favorites, so I tried Martin’s steeping parameters to see if that might make a difference. It really is a beautiful blend to look at, but it’s always been far too citrusy for my tastes. I also never taste any mango. This cup is lighter in flavor than others I’ve had before, and I do think I like it better this way, but it still isn’t as enjoyable as I’d like it to be. Maybe a cold steep? I think I’ve tried it cold before, but I can’t remember for sure. I’ll give it another go iced and see if that might boost the rating for me.