Revolution Tea

Well, this could be better, but it not bad.
I hate that they put Darjeeling into the mix
as that is one of my least favorite teas.
But, this is nice and refreshing.
I enjoy the taste of the black tea mixed with Ceylon
as well as the light flavor of the Bergamot here.
You can definitely smell the lavender before steeping…
very nice…it also lingers on the palate in a lovely way
after the tea is gone.
This cannot match the Creamy Earl Grey From David’s Teas
that Whiskey Buzz sent me,
But for the occasional pick me, it is worth the coins (not expensive)
& on a different tip, the flow through infuser bag is super nice
for a tea bag…allowing the tea leaves to expand nicely.

Backlog:

I received a tea sachet of this tea in one of my Love with Food boxes. I’m always excited when I get tea in one of my foodie boxes, because the only thing better than getting a foodie box in the mail is getting tea in the mail! So, I am doing the happy dance when I get a foodie box WITH tea in it! HAPPINESS!

Overall, this was alright, not my favorite from Revolution, but, it’s certainly tasty. A little bit sweet, a little bit tart, and there is some bitterness to it which I can’t be sure if the bitter tone is from the Sencha or from the Acai … but, it’s not an off-putting taste … it’s a nice contrast to the other flavors.

I wasn’t expecting too much. I found a box of this at TJ Maxx and decided to give it a try. I really like this. It’s incredibly smooth and the blackberry and jasmine mingle together nicely. I may have to try and find more of this once I’m done with the box.

Finally tried this with milk—much better than it is straight up. Some earl greys seem to be fine without milk and some truly need it: this is one of the second type. The milk makes it smoother and cuts the intense herbal taste the lavender can develop. On a side note, I’m pretty sure I oversteep this on a regular basis. Oops.

Very nice afternoon tea with a sweet floral aftertaste. In my opinion there’s nothing better than something floral for calming down.

This is the first lavender earl grey I’ve tried, and I’m impressed. Dry, it smells very strongly of lavender. The brewed tea doesn’t taste as strongly as it smells, but the bergamot is much milder than in some earl greys. That makes it a nice, smooth tea. The aftertaste is my favorite part of it, though—strong, sweet lavender. Delicious!

Not all that thrilling, in my opinion. Tried it hot, and while it smelled and looked nice there wasn’t a whole lot of flavor. Delicate and a little bit sweet and otherwise indistinct. Not enough pear flavor to impress me.

I am chilling the rest of the box for use as iced tea right now, and I suspect it will be much better that way. In general I like white tea better cold.

UPDATE: This tea is much better iced! The flavor is subtle and cold suits it well.

Backlog:

A very refreshing mint tisane. Minty, crisp, minty, flavorful … minty. Did I mention it was minty?

A very fresh and exhilarating cup. Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/04/19/southern-mint-herbal-tea-from-revolution-tea/

I think this was the first Earl Grey I ever tried, as well as the first tea I had in a sachet. All these years later, I didn’t think it would live up to the memory. I thought maybe I had built it up in my mind.

I was wrong. This was one of the best lavender variations I’ve tried during my Earl Grey project. There’s no missing the floral note, but while it is unmistakable it is also fresh and subtle.

You can read my full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/08/earl-grey-lavender-by-revolution.html

This was another of the samples I received, and I’ve been surprised at how much I enjoy it as an iced tea. I made a very small batch up and took it to school in a water bottle. It’s nice and subtle, a smooth white with just a hint of fresh pear in the aftertaste.

When Revolution sent me some of their Earl Grey for the Battle of the Earl Greys, they included a whole passel of various single-servings, and I am having a lot of fun sampling through them. This sachet was in a little individually wrapped box. I couldn’t find a suggested steep time on the box or their website, so I went by the steep times other Steepsterites mentioned on here. I started at five minutes, then bumped it up to eight after a quick check-in.

The rooibos is definitely the primary note, although after increasing the steep I am now enjoying the hint of caramel. I did add some raw sugar, but only a teaspoon… and for me that’s showing a lot of restraint! On its own, this blend is so sweet that it doesn’t really need it.

I bought a sampler of Revolution Tea at World Market. This bagged tea is pleasant but not exactly something I’d go out of my way to purchase. I taste tropical fruits but it doesn’t seem to give me a single obvious note. I managed to get two steepings out of my bag.

A refreshing mint tea, with hints of spearmint. I find it interesting that this is called “Southern Mint” since in the south they add sweetener to mint teas and I don’t think this one would be as good with sweetener mixed in.

Bought this during the very beginning of my tea journey. Earl Grey with lavender is a nice change from EG Créme, but it’s not something I necessarily seek out.

Brewed one bag in 6 oz of water. Added a bit of lavender syrup to bring it out over the bergamot (not such a fan of citrus alone in tea). Added 3 ounces of milk for a latte-style cup. It lacked the strength I look for in a wake-up tea.

It is Green Tea Tuesday around here – Dragonwell, Hojicha and Genmaicha. Time to get some flavored greens in the mix!

I found one individually wrapped bag of this and realized that I’ve been hanging on to it for 5 months now. I picked it (along with a few other of Revolution’s individually wrapped teabags) up from a gas station between seeing my family and driving 5 hours north to see the husband’s family.

In an effort to continue today’s green tea consumption I made this. Dry bag smells mostly like a minty green tea – strange. No where on the packaging does it say “Mint”. But I push forward. Brewed at the below parameters with 8 oz of water, all I taste is a slightly minty green tea. There’s no chocolate; no orange in my cup. Oh, the disappointment… Revolution you lured me with the orange and chocolate left me hanging with a green mint. :(

Last time I had tea with lavender (White Lion?) I was underwhelmed and I’m not sure whether that was because I didn’t know what I was doing or it really wasn’t well done. Now I am inclined to go on a lavender-tea quest as a parallel to my Earl Grey adventures.

I also used to think all Earl Greys were alike. There was “tea,” and there was “Earl Grey” tea, and much, much later, there was “green tea” and — you get the picture.

I also had trouble figuring out which log to put this tasting note under. There’s another labeled for the 16 individual infusers, which is what I actually have, and which doesn’t look much like the tall tin box in the photo attached to this one! I finally went with this because it had more tasting notes attached and because, after visiting the Revolution site, it looks like they put all their teas into pyramid-shaped cloth (polyester? Silk?) sachets. I like the idea of the re-sealable foil envelope inside the box, too.

ANYWAY: I used one sachet, probably could have used less water or steeped longer, and probably will try one of those next time. I still am getting a nice subtle bergamot/floral scent and flavor, though. I added half-and-half and am very happy.

We jokingly call Revolution varieties Truck Stop Teas because we first found them at the local Flying J/Denny’s and were surprised to see such a sophisticated selection rather than food service grade stuff.

Revolution has made this one deliberately fruity and peachy. I have often compared the flavor of good oolongs to Juicy Fruit chewing gum, but this one is so sweet, I’d call it Fruit Stripe Gum flavor — you know, the 30 seconds of flavor you get until it goes away. Very tasty and pleasant.

This, however, does not make the husband cut. Way too fruity. His oolongs must be toasty and oversteeped enough to bite your tongue. So far, his only consistent request is for inexpensive Bigelow bagged oolong. Eh, I tried.

Elsewhere, a friend of mine has been posting “daily joys” as a reminder that there is still joy to be found when you ponder it. Mine yesterday was a few hours of bona fide sunshine to walk in and watching neighbors try to pose their six-week-old husky pups for a photo session. I’ll be watching for yours.

After completely ruining a pot of loose green tea yesterday, I crankily dumped the whole mess and decided to go for simplicity in a sachet. This is a nice bagged oolong; I didn’t get much on the fruit/apricot side, but the safflower and marigold gave it a nice sunny disposition. Which helped mine a bit.