Shaktea

Beautiful. Earthy. Creamy. Raw.

I really enjoyed the the taste of woodlands, bark and dried grass, as well as the spice that accompainied this lovely tea!

I often have Chai, but this was a delight in a totally different way that I have experienced yet!

I enjoyed this iced – didn’t try hot, but I think it would be good as a latte. The coffee notes really stand out for me, but my husband really noticed the chocolate.

I used 2 spoons of this tea for 1.75liters of water.

Not amazing, but I would buy it again.

This is a pleasant tropical Oolong and floral blend. The guava and melon are quite prominent both in the aroma and flavour of the tea. The floral notes from the tea flowers and sunflowers are more subtle in their presence. This tea came from Vancouver’s Tea festival in 2015 and I’m quite happy it’s quality hasn’t diminished since then. I’ve noticed it can be a bit vulnerable to over-steeping and high temperatures, the floral flavour can shift to an unbalanced bitterness. After experiencing this a couple of times though, I’ve been more attentive to it’s preparation and enjoyed the rest of the tin. This review accompanies what will soon be a sip-down. Usually I’m more prompt in my reviews, but better late than never.

Oh how I love pom white tea! Will definitely a “mainstay” in my tea-shelf…. :-)

First ever oolong tea I’ve tried. I think I’m ready for oolong now – or just for this one. So love the taste and smells good too.

Yup, it also rocks as a latté. It was an excellent way to finish it off. :)

Nothing beats a good chai in my opinion and while you’d think it was just a matter of throwing a bunch of spices in black tea you’d be wrong. Shaktea is a great little tea shop in Vancouver’s south Main St, an area that’s seen a lot of revival lately and is home to a lot of great independent shops and cafes that haven’t been overtaken by the big businesses (yet).

This chai is one of Shaktea’s most popular blends and it’s easy to see why, it’s a great, full-flavoured tea with just the right mix of spices. I can taste the coconut as well though I wish it were a touch more prominent. Great with milk (like most chais), I’m going to try this one as a latte next time.

I’m not sure why ‘pear’ is anywhere in the title as the most dominant flavour is blatantly lemongrass. There’s maybe a bit of fruity sweetness as the tea cools but it’s pretty minor compared to the lemongrass. I don’t actually mind the flavour of lemongrass, but I was hoping for a little bit more from this tea.

Eggnog latte.

So so good.

Ummmmm no thank you. Medicinal lemongrass….. :((

Continuing with my Shaktea tastings. This is going to fall into like, don’t love category. This is good, but the spices aren’t balanced to my tastes. It’s a little heavy on the star anise – I’ve already picked the rest out of the package. There are some really nice cookie, almond notes to it, and the pu’erh adds some interesting depth, darkness, and mouthfeel. Most teas like this one are really cinnamon heavy and I’m happy that’s not the case here. What I am missing is more ginger, can’t call it gingerbread without ginger. I’m thinking this is more chai shortbread cookie………

I picked this one up while in Vancouver, and then promptly ignored it. Why did I do that? Dunno, but I shouldn’t have. This is an amazing cherry green tea. It’s light and fruity but not hibiscus tart. It’s green without being overly. There are some rose petals in here but it’s not floral. It’s just a well balanced cherry green tea. Those are hard to find. Cherry in general quite often comes across as candy or medicinal…. not this one. I love this. It’s perfect hot, it’s perfect cold steeped. It’s my new favorite cherry tea (of any color).

ShakTea is a great little shop/tearoom located on south Main St. in Vancouver that I discovered on my most recent visit. They have nice munchies too (sweet and savory) if you’re looking for a light snack, though it’s a bit pricey.

Now this is a nice melon-flavoured tea – it’s sweet without being cloying or artificial-tasting (I’m looking at you Davids Tea). Using an oolong base instead of a more neutral white tea is an interesting twist and the one they use appears to be some sort of green oolong that has a pleasent smoothness combined with a lightly roasted flavour. Possibly one of the best melon teas I’ve tried yet.

I had the last of this today, so it is a sad sip down. Normally, I save this kind of tea for cooler and wetter weather, but it was kind of cool and overcast this morning, and I woke up with a headache, so I thought to myself, why the heck not.

As before, I really loved this tea. This tea, plus some dark chocolate covered marzipan my coworker gave me, were the highlights of my day. I’m sad this is gone, but I have hope that one of my friends in Vancouver can score more of this tea for me. It’s really tasty!

OMG, you guys, this tea is SO GOOD! The isn’t a lot of info on this tea, as if you go to the website, the tea is only listed with price, and no description. It looks like they are out of Vancouver, and since that’s where OMGsrsly lives (and this came from her), I hope to be able to score more. I only have one serving left, sadly.

This is almost a pu erh chai, but something about it makes it just a little different. I’m not sure if it is in the spices and flavourings, or what…but wow, what a fantastic pu er blend. The flavour is mild enough to let the pu erh come through, but at the same time, the pu erh base isn’t overpowering or fishy/musty/etc. It really is just a nice balance of flavors, and I can definitely see myself owing more of this in the future.

This was the first tea I purchased while on vacation in PHX. My friend took me to the art district in Phoenix for some lunch. We stopped at a restaurant named Jobahn. I saw the word “desert” and knew that I had to try it. The tea was slightly weak but still very tasty. It carried a warm citrus tone and finished with a green fruity tone. The aroma was what made it enticing. It was a sweet nectar scent with a fruit garden undertone. I love vacation tea!

Been drinking this one every morning this week. Just adding white sugar, no milk this morning.

Thanks to OMGsrsly for a sample of this one as well. She offered an EG puerh and I accepted even though I’m not big on puerh. You never know, right?

The dry leaf smelled mostly like strong bergamot, so it was promising. Then I brewed it, and a rush of shu puerh (“poo-erh” for Sil :) aroma came out of the tea pot. Earth, dirt, mustiness, wood. And bergamot. Hmmm.

I have to say, the flavor is better than the aroma for me. Pretty smooth, the bergamot is strong enough to stand up to the wood and earth. Not entirely my bag, but better than I thought it would be from the scent. Glad I tried it out, and know that not even bergamot can save puerh for me. :)

I prefer this one hot over cold; it gets a bit weepy and floral once cold. I still really like it, I may even venture out to Main Street to go and get more. Thanks again OMGsrsly, this is a great, unusual find.

OMGsrsly thank you so much for sharing some of this with me. Pu-erhs have always been favorites of mine, and even more so of late. An pu-erh EG? Wow. Okay, I’ll bite.

I actually love how these flavors blend together. There’s the depth and earthiness the pu-erh gives it, with the brightness of the bergamot. A really unusual cup, and one that I’ll savor.

soooo omgsrsly sent me a bunch of teas. And knowing that i need to try all the tea, she included this one, even though she knows i am NOT a fan of earl grey. Bergamot is awful.ick.gross. BUT i do like puerh. sooo i figured i should try this today and just be done with it haha. Turns out? this isn’t that bad. I really like the strength that the puerh gives to the brew and the bergamot isn’t terribly intense. That is, unless the cup cools too much…then it’s game over for me. For those who like EG, this is certainly a bit of a different twist on things.

Thanks omgsrsly! :)

So. Weird.

Really.

I had to add a little sugar. No (non-dairy) milk this time.

Just odd. Yet, I think I really like it.

I had this tea to go today.

I really like the flavours. The warming cinnamon, the fruity flavours from the plum. It’s really good when steaming hot. Sadly, I don’t think honeybush is a tea for me. It cools and has a really nasty sour note to it. So far this has been true for all 3 honeybush teas I’ve tried.

This is my breakup with honeybush. It’s not you, tea. It’s me.

This tea was alright. I didn’t really taste the nut or sandalwood flavours, which was a bit disappointing. Mostly it just tasted fruity – quite reminiscent of a fruitcake, actually. So if that’s what you’re looking for it would be quite nice, but I was just hoping for but more spice and somewhat less fruitiness.