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I enjoyed drinking this a lot – this was my first week of student teaching, and it was a really rough week. Everything went well, and my kids and cooperating teacher are great, but the 12 hour days so far are killer. I made this each morning from a sample I had to take in the car with me and it was great. I didn’t get any caramel flavors, but it was definitely spicy and very good when prepared with a little honey and almond milk like traditional chai. I have a 30 minute drive to my placement each day, and this makes me think chai will need to become a very regular part of the morning routine.
Preparation
I made a cup of this after listening to the man upstairs beat up his gf for the thousandth time, after I called 911 for the thousandth time. I really needed something comforting, and this did the trick. It really just tasted like a milder version of the chai I am used to (black tea based), with less cinnamon and more natural sweetness. I liked it, particularly for a summer evening, but normally I prefer to essentially be swept away by cinnamon overload.
Preparation
I received this sample from the Tea and Card TTB. Thanks! I didn’t really know what to expect from the description but I guess I expected something with a bit of chai. Didn’t really taste any chai at all. I taste the black tea but it’s not overwhelming. It has an astringent but not bitter aftertaste. I can’t really taste much of anything distinctly. I used the brewing directions on the packet: 1.5 tsp/cup, 170 for 4 min. I’m sorry to say that I’m not enjoying it.
From the LiberTEAS sampler I bought a while back
This is a delightfully odd tea…there’s a berry high note that swoops down into a warm chai base; between the two there’s an interplay of sweetness and spice that I find rather wonderful on first taste.
The front berry notes don’t taste like any berry in particular…more like generic “berry,” if that makes any sense. There’s a bit of an astringent dryness that sits at the end, but the well-settled, mellow spicyness really makes up for it.
Although I like this tea I must admit that the longer I drink it the more convinced I am that it’s not a favourite. It seems a little undecided in terms of flavours and I’d almost rather it put some effort into being an awesome berry tea or an awesome chai instead of just being good at both.
It’s a good tea to drink while you’re doing something else, but not one I’d want to drink on my own. Steadfastly mediocre, it seems.
Preparation
From the LiberTEAS sampler I bought a while back
After sniffing a whole bunch of the samples I settled on this one for my nightly brew – it smelled warm and spicy (which went quite nicely with the 0F temps here in Indianapolis) and I couldn’t wait to try it.
As it steeped it opened up into a deep, rich colour and a scent that reminds me a little of baked goods. I did sweeten it a little bit, but the black tea definitely manages to push it’s way to the front, palate-wise; I pick up a little bit of bitterness, some malty hints and that’s about it…I know there are supposed to be some caramel and sweet notes, but I’m just getting a definite dryness (that I think comes from the black chai).
In all honesty it reminds me most of my Irish Breakfast tea – hearty, rich and a little bit punchy (but in a good way)…I would’ve loved it more if it hadn’t gotten my hopes up for something sweetly caramel and spicy. Maybe I just need to stop reading the descriptions before I drink?
Oh, and as it cooled the spicy chai notes really came up a bit brighter. I decided to hit it with a generous splash of (whole, organic) milk and it helped the flavour quite a bit. If I resteep I’ll definitely sweeten it a bit more and add the milk right off the bat.
So I guess I like it, but with a little bit of a caveat. It’s not what I expected, but it is a hearty black tea that I would be willing to drink in the mornings if I was out of my usual suspects.
Preparation
Backlog:
Before making a unique blend using the Earl Grey tea, I wanted to taste the Earl Grey offering from Uniq Teas. Because there are so many different Earl Grey teas out there … some are exceptional, others are good, some are just OK, and then sometimes, I come across some that should be ashamed to call themselves Earl Grey, if you know what I mean.
This one is somewhere between exceptional and really good. The bergamot is a bit sweeter here than in a typical Earl Grey. This is still tangy, but, it tastes a bit smoother and sweeter than the typical tart and tangy bergamot.
A really refreshing Earl Grey. I like it a lot.
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/11/10/earl-grey-black-tea-from-uniq-teas/
This had one teaspoon left I removed from the HH teabox! I was intrigued when I saw from the description it’s a CARAMEL chai. Wow does caramel chai sound like a nice blend! There weren’t many spices, just a lot of black tea leaves. After steeping for a few minutes, the flavor isn’t caramel or spicy, which I kind of expected. But the black tea has a nice toughness (without astringency) and very raisin-like! I know this blend would have been better if it wasn’t the last of the sample… and probably not stored in a very thin baggy.
The spice to the white chai remind me of Christmas! As soon as I take a sip it’s just like I’m hit with a taste that reminds me of Christmas when I was a kid…I’m not sure what it is…but man those were the best Christmases, I’m straight into remembering Polly Pocket.
As it cools it becomes stronger and I just kind of feel like I am drinking cologne, like something in there got incredibly woodsy so that’s what I’m getting with the blend of spices and what seems to be the caramel.
So this is a pretty aromatic tea, as you can see. Haha before that point I quite enjoyed it, definitely something that needs to be hot, but I imagine if you just went straight to it being cold it might not be so bad…lukewarm, just nope.
Yummers! See other notes…backlogging a few cups of this from last week!
http://blissfulyogajourney.blogspot.com/2013/02/aaloo-bhaji-fried-potatoes-dressings.html
Check out these fun foods while you are surfing today! The Potatoes were nice with this tea :)
This is Azzrian’s Blend over at Uniq and I think it’s just great! I’m having a cup now but will review more down the road. My favorite part of this is the flavor combo of the strawberry AND genmaicha! Excellent idea and perfect ratios!
As you can see from my last few posts I am working on replacing the ‘lost’ Traveling Box B. I figured I would throw this into the mix as I have a large tin from Uniq Teas and wanted other to try their service as well as some flavors inspired by the Sororitea Sisters!
I’m also having a cup of this now.
I found a perfectly rolled BALL of Caramel in this cups-worth! I gave it a little gnaw prior to infusing. It was lovely.
This time around it’s a bit different from my first attempt with this blend and that is what I love about it! It morphs! I will say the random bunch of loose leaf that poured into the sealed bag for the Box B batch seems to have more black tea than my last cup and this cup have so I’m interested in seeing how people put tasting notes for them.
This smells like Crusty Caramel Spice. It’s different and spicy yet dessert like to the nose.
As I sip I could first taste the white tea and then most of the other ingredients. My 2nd sip I could taste The White Tea with the Spices and the Caramel. The Raspberry comes out to play in the aftertaste and lingers and I really like that about this cup! As it cools at room temp for a while I can taste the savory vegetal notes and subtle floral flavors come out as well.
YUM! I’m looking forward to more attempts with this as well as what others have to say about it!
See previous notes as my first attempt was different than this one :)
Again, not rating as it’s a blend I put together.
As LiberTEAs mentioned yesterday with the review of her tea from Uniq – they got in touch with The SororiTEA Sisters who are made up of the two of us and our girl Azzrian to blend a series of 3 custom teas as well as review them!
The Tri Pi Chai was the one I blended thru their wonderful service!
(Therefore I will not rate my own blend)
You can find this blend here
http://www.uniqteas.com/products/sororiteas-tri-pi-chai#ixzz2DRbhkaPT
It’s made up of:
70% White Chai / 15% Caramelicious / 15% Raspberry
I wanted to do a Chai but not a ‘regular’ chai. I’ve always been intrigued by WHITE Chai’s – I can’t really explain why but I like them and like the tinker with them. This was the very first thought I had when I saw that as an option on their site!
But I also wanted both WHITE and BLACK Teas in them. I didn’t want the black tea to over power the white, tho. BUT…I did want to taste both. Most of the other attempts I have tried with the black and white combined you can’t taste the white…so…fingers crossed!
I also wanted this to be just a little sweet and a tad fruity so that is why I went with a little bit of the caramel and raspberry combo-ed offerings!
I wanted to try infusing this a 1 minute or under FIRST so that is what I did.
Here are my findings:
First…the DRY leaf aroma – right from the tin – smells like white tea, gentle spices, raspberries, citrus, a pinch of sugary and I am chalking that up to the caramel, as well as a little woodsy. It has some interesting yin and yang or masculine and feminine type aromas to it. I like how the opposites seem to attract in this!
This blend – at 1 minute or under – infuses to a medium brown color with a neat copper glow.
To the nose – the liquor smells warming, comforting, mellower, and slightly fruity, floral, and woodsy…all at the same time! WOW! How different…but that is what I was HOPING for!!!
Now the taste…
“Oh…WOW!” were the first two words that came out of my mouth! WHITE TEA! YAY! But there was MORE to it!
It has a nice white tea flavor up front that is mellower but still pushing thru and noticeable. The Chai Spices are subtle and I am ok with that! I didn’t want them to over power! The white tea also provides an interesting floral flavor working with the spices or maybe just a tad more than the spices. The Caramel is also hiding out in the background and does contribute an oh-so-small-hint of sweetness to possibly tone down the floral flavor. More importantly – I think the Caramel assists with the texture and gives it a nice creaminess to the middle of the sip. However, as it continues to cool at room temperature I can taste the caramel more and I like it! I also think the black tea working with the caramel works well, here, again, I didn’t want it to overpower the white and I really don’t think it did. YAY! Also as it cools the Raspberry started to come out to play more and it’s really welcoming and fun! It’s just enough to make you say “What’s that? Fruit!?” So, yeah, I guess I just really wanted this to be complex…but I wanted it to be interesting and diverse, but jive in it’s own certain way. Just like a Sorority I guess. So far…I think this reached those things.
I named this Tri Pi Chai for a few reasons! One being…The SororiTEA Sisters are made up of 3 Tea Lovin’ Sista’s…Liberteas, Azzrian, and myself. We are all different but we all love tea and we all work well together. I also named this Tri Pi Chai to do a little Play on Words to work hand-in-hand with SororiTEA Sisters. Also because I used 3 different offerings Uniq Teas offered.
The more I drink this the more I like it and as it cools the flavors dance around and become more youthful and seem to morph at different temperatures…very neat!
I will experiment with this at different temperatures but I am really liking it with a shorter infusion time, so far.
For more information on the Sororitea Sisters and our upcoming contests and Liberteas and Azzrian have been working so hard on – please visit our website – http://sororiteasisters.com
Special THANKS to Uniq Teas for this awesomely-fun opportunity!
OK, so I held off on trying this one again until I felt it had some time to cure … and it’s been a little while so I think it’s had the time it needs.
Today, I brewed two cups of this tea … the first, I served straight up with no additions just to see how it turned out after a couple of weeks left to cure. Then I had a latte with this tea, and while it is tasty served straight, it is even better as a latte. The milk brings out the creamy notes of the caramel and the sweet, luscious notes of the almond.
This is really yum. I’m very happy with this!
Recently (as in last week!) Uniq Teas approached us – the SororiTea Sisters – and offered us three blends (one for each of us) … allowing us each to first create our own blend and then sent us our blend to review.
(By the way, in the weeks to come, we will be hosting several giveaways sponsored by Uniq Teas where the winner will be able to create their own blend and receive it!)
This is my Blend! Sweet & Sassy SororiTea … although I don’t know if “sweet” is the right word to describe me, I think that sassy could be, although I think there are other … better … descriptive words that could be used to describe me. But, I chose the name not as a reflection of me but as a reflection of the tea. It is a combination of Caramel, Black Spiced Chai and Almond teas.
(If you’re interested in what the other Sisters created, you can see all the blends that have been crafted in the Uniq Teas Gallery: http://www.uniqteas.com/products )
Mmm… this smells so good. The aroma that is wafting out of my teacup. I keep holding up the cup to my nose as I impatiently await it to cool enough so that I can sip it … I guess I could drink it piping hot but I don’t want to burn my tongue. I’d be pretty useless as a tea reviewer with a scalded tongue.
YUM! This tastes just the way I wanted it to when I created the blend. I wanted something creamy and caramel-y, with enough spice to cut through some of the sweetness of the caramel, and just a touch of almond for a little bit of sweet, nutty flavor. Yep, and that’s what I’ve got in my teacup.
The caramel is the strongest note but it isn’t an overwhelming note. It is sweet and creamy without being too much. The almond gives it an almost almond toffee kind of flavor, and then the spices cut through that at just the right point.
I’m loving this, but I’m not going to rate it since I crafted it. Love it … and I’m wondering how it will taste in about three weeks … which is when I will write my full-length review of it. If it’s good now, it will be awesome in three weeks. (Remember … 3 weeks is the magic waiting period for tea blends to mingle)
Downright aromatic in the bag. Saccharine even, as if vanilla soy milk was already added, with a snicker of lemon from the cardamom. In the cup, the liquor* is so dark that it looks like coffee, and the scent mellows out to a rich, baked goodness. Many chais have a substantial kick at the end from the ginger, but this one was smooth all the way through.
The first taste is a real treat. Although cocooned in silky black tea and clove, the rest of the spices go, “Wait, I’m still here!” There’s a significant clove base, a sort of softness on the tongue, which rides on the ginger. The only hint of cinnamon’s presence is the way it keeps everything smooth and neatly folded together. You get lemon lingering on your lips in the aftertaste–this tea really goes heavy on the cardamom. So much so, in fact, that you’d be better off calling it Black Lemon Chai instead.
Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/04/06/snooty-tea-review-uniq-teas/
Alright, a weird bag-smell. Very off-putting. There was almost an alcoholicness to the fruit, possibly the effect of the dried kiwi. While steeping, however, it smells scrumptious, and all weirdness goes away in the cup as that nutty coconut carries the brighter fruit notes.
As a drink, though? Not much to say for itself. The cherry flavor is dead silent, maybe a tone of kiwi in there, but you really have to dig to seek it out on your tongue. The coconut wins by default, but it isn’t much of a win since the overall drink is just weak, even infused at full-plus strength and steeped for far longer than recommended. The bag-smell returns in the aftertaste, too. Sadly, I wouldn’t even recommend this as a trail mix, which is a true shame because I had high hopes for this tea–two lovely fruits and sweet coconut, what could go wrong?
Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/04/06/snooty-tea-review-uniq-teas/
Definitely didn’t get “mean” from the bag. More like “whiny.”
If you’re looking for another fruity tea, or even a pronounced green, it isn’t this one. It could work if iced, so that the cool flavors of (once again) papaya, and the titular tangerine could develop more. It’s not a tropical punch to the face. Rather, it’s that quiet cousin who’s safe to sit next to at Thanksgiving because they won’t ask about your plans for grad school or the Peace Corps. A comforting tea for those who’ve had bad experiences with greens before–but it’s not going to make you want to go back and start pursuing them.
Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/04/06/snooty-tea-review-uniq-teas/
Caribbean Punch’s base of green rooibus makes this a very light tea, a fun one! “Punch” is apt indeed because that papaya really socks you in the mouth with bright tropical flavor. A tea of sun and beaches where the sand doesn’t get into your buttcrack and is never too hot to walk on. It seems to rely heavily on the papaya, which overpowers all the other flavors, but if you’re looking for a fruit-dominated concoction, then you’ll be satisfied.
Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/04/06/snooty-tea-review-uniq-teas/
I’d call this Pom-uhhhhhhh-granate White.
There was a pronounced candy smell right off the bat, predominantly cherry, which was likely the pomegranate doing that “I’m a dried fruit and smell weird” thing that we’ve gotten with mango before. This scent disintegrates with steeping.
In the cup, the dominant presence here is the white tea itself. Pomegranate comes in as a tang as the edge of the tongue but not a strong player on its own. This show isn’t “Pomegranate: The Musical” but rather “White Tea: The Musical” and you’ll have to open up the playbook to find out which middling part Pomegranate managed to score.
Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/04/06/snooty-tea-review-uniq-teas/
