Tea Revv

I really enjoyed this, which is saying something because I haven’t been thrilled by Tea Revv and I don’t often like red rooibos. This is strongly almond flavored and scented. I don’t really get any tartness from cranberry or orange, or much in the way of distinct spices, but I suspect they’re contributing to the overall cookie-type flavor. There’s only a slight woodiness to the rooibos, which actually works well and gives it some backbone. I wouldn’t place an order just for this one tea, but I would include it on a list if I buy a few.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 1

(originally written November 1st)

Hooray, it’s the first day of tea advent calendar time! I’m writing to you from the past (oooooOOOOOOooo scary ghost noises). Since I purchased no fewer than five tea advent calendars this year, I am drinking through two of them in November. But in order to avoid spoiling the advent calendar surprise fun for my beloved fellow Steepsters, I’m storing these November notes in the tea note vault until December.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

I love the art on these Tea Revv calendar packets. Last year, I hung this calendar from the mantle using festive holiday-colored twine and mini clothespins. But now I’m a year older and a year lazier so I didn’t bother… XD

This packet is labeled “Frosted Fruit Spice #6”, but appears to be the same tea (and the same number) as “#6 Sugar Plum Spice” on their website. So I’ve added the second name to the existing tea listing here on Steepster. The art on the packet is a cute geometric penguin!

Wow, the dry leaf has a powerful (and mouthwatering) sweet fruity aroma – perhaps candy apple? I steeped the entire packet (around 2 tsp) in 12 ounces of water.

Hmm… This tastes unexpectedly perfumey, and not very fruity. I guess I can taste a bit of that candied apple from the dry leaf, but mostly it tastes of floral perfume. And as most of you likely know by now, floral flavors are not my favorites. Although I’m not sure anyone would enjoy this amount of perfumey floral…

Nope, it’s not for me. In fact, it’s gross.

P.S. – I think Tea Revv is just a reseller and this is actually “Sugar Plum Spice” from East Indies Coffee & Tea.

Wow, this tastes exactly like the tea version of a Gewurtztraminer wine I used to drink. I liked the wine, not so much the tea. It definitely tastes of pear and maybe a bit of honey (the stuff the bees make, not the candy). I don’t get anything spicy out of it, and it’s very astringent. I will give them points for unique, as I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything quite like this, but I just don’t like it.

This was a nice white tea and peach mix, as the name suggests. It does have that honeyed apricot taste, as well. I am finding Tea Revv to not overly flavor their teas, which could be a good thing or bad thing depending on your preference. It’s not a good thing for me, as part of the point of drinking different teas is having them taste distinctly different – and I’m not a particularly skilled person at detecting subtle nuances. So this is certainly a nice tea, but nothing I’d rush out to buy when I run out of it.

Sipdown (280)

Coffee? Check. Pu’erh? Not so much. Thankfully. Not my favorite but then again this never was going to be my favorite.

Tbh I have no idea how this tastes. It was added to a smoothie and I couldn’t taste it among the other ingredients.

Sipdown (283)

Typically almond/marzipan rooibos blend. Nothing special. Also not what you expect from a tea called Snowballs.

In other news, my sister and brother-in-law got the keys to their house today. Exciting stuff…though I told them while in school I’m too broke to get them gifts so I said I wont recognize this even until I’m employed. I also said none of them gets to celebrate their milestone birthdays until I can afford gifts again :P

The fragrance is pure watermelon Jolly Rancher. That’s probably not good for tea, but I can’t help it, I do love those things and the mere scent makes my mouth water. My whole kitchen smelled like it after I brewed some. It’s probably a good thing that the fragrance is much stronger than the flavor, but I can’t help but feel like there’s something missing. It just underwhelms. Did you ever try to melt hard candy in water as a kid, figuring it would give the water some great flavor? And it would smell like the candy, but it just tasted kind of like slightly different water? That’s what this tea makes me think of. It’s tea that someone dissolved a Jolly Rancher in, and it just makes me kind of sad that it doesn’t taste that way, too. It does have a sweetness to it, just not as much as I want with a tea that smells like this.

Holy pepper! This really hits you in the back of the throat with a whole lotta spice. I also get a lot of the rooibos base which works well with the pepper. I also get the clove, cinnamon, and ginger bundled up in the spice. Its strong but nice enough.

This does smell exactly like one of those chocolate oranges you can buy around Christmas! It has that same powdery orange and dry chocolate fragrance. Unfortunately, the tea itself doesn’t have too much taste…I’m going to try using double the leaf next time to see if that helps. Right now, it’s mostly just basic tea with a very faint aftertaste of both chocolate and orange. Withholding final judgment until I try with more tea!

Update: I have now tried it with (a lot) more tea, and it just didn’t really change the flavor. I think you do need to go a little heavier on the leafing than not, though. I don’t actually dislike it, there’s just not much to like. It’s still better than not, it’s basically a fairly smooth black tea with faint chocolate and faint orange notes. I just wish there was MORE of that good stuff! I’ll now assign a numerical rating to match that.

Sipdown (285)

Creamy but with a metallic astringency at the end of the sip. I think Irish Cream describes this better than Ice Cream. Regardless of what you call it though, breakfast teas just aren’t for me and this is no exception.

Sipdown (290)

Lazy breakfast tea to go with my lazy breakfast of a roasted bagel and cream cheese. My plan was to make a fancy breakfast but that didn’t happen so this tea seems fitting.

Taste wise, this is briskand more floral than I typically like. Tea Revv recommends a splash of milk however i have a whole lot of eggnog that’s going bad December 4 so i put a splash of that instead. It was a weird choice because now this tastes like floral eggnog. Oops

Minty licorice with a cinnamon ginger aftertaste. This is warm but fresh but also just a whole lot of weird.

Apparently when I was sick I described this as nice but I don’t like it. Not a fan. It’s not bad per se but not what I want in a tea either. So not for me and just not something I think is that great.

Ginger and turmeric are the stars here. It’s got a nice spiced flavor atop green tea. It is nice though not something I would reach for often. It is awesome to be able to taste again but I am saving rating until I’m back to 100% normal.

Anyways, instead of doing my studying for exams or preparing for my client meeting tomorrow, I decided to go through my steepster cupboard and make sure it is up to date. Turns out there were a bunch of teas I have finished or traded but left in my virtual cupboard. So, I went from 330something to 282 real fast when I actually took the time to go through it all.

However, one question I have is what to do with the teas in my swap box? Currently they are not in my online cupboard because I have no interest in drinking them. Some teas I have designated for certain people so I think it makes sense that those are no longer listed but for the teas that are just in my swap box with no intentional recipient, should I add them in to my virtual cupboard? What do others do?

Sipdown (353)

“Ice cream” always gets me. Even if there is bergamot, if the words “ice cream” comes first, I’m in. That’s why, I tried this last year when I was sick but saved a serving for when my tastebuds were better.

Alas, this is not my favorite. It is sort of creamy vanilla, as EGCs are but it’s not ice cream. That creamy vanilla doesn’t compensate for the sort of flat and slightly bitter earl grey component of this. It beats out the creamy vanilla which makes this cup less enjoyable and more soapy than I would like. It’s the last cup though so I can finish this and say good bye for good.

This smelled really good. Taste I get bergamot and maltiness and then a void. Soon I’ll be back to normal…maybe.

My weird taste buds are doing weird things here. I can sort of get Apple and some cranberry but I’m also getting wax and dirt and honestly I blame the cold and not the tea. I saved a sample of this for another time. I’ll rate this tea then.

I arrived in Toronto Friday evening. Since my arrival, I’ve had my hand closed in a car door and I’ve caught a nasty cold. This tea came at a surprisingly good time lol. I don’t love licorice or chamomile and if my taste buds were working fine I’d probably dread drinking this but it’s warm and it’s caffeine free and it mostly tastes like lemony chamomile so I’m okay with it.

This is definitely an amaretto tea. Except instead of being a whole lot of marzipan, it has a bit of a cherry vibe to it. It’s not something I need more of but I am enjoying this cup more than I thought I would.

I was surprised to find this already listed in Steepster but I am glad it was. Thanks Cameron B!

Tea Revv was super awesome and sent me their tea advent calendar to review for Sororitea Sisters. It’s very cute and relatively inexpensive. You can check out that review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2018/11/14/tea-24-advent-calendar-2018-from-tea-revv/

This tea is actually really nice. The green tea base has more depth than usual green teas and tends to me more umami than grass. Here it is actually very subtle which is making the apple flavor really stand out. The spice is really on point too. It tastes the way an appley holiday candle would smell. Super wintery but still light.

This is from the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar from Tea Revv. This tea is slightly sweet and has a bit of cinnamon. Overall I found it too weak tasting for my personal taste.