Neptune

Lupicia promises a “black tea with honey-preserved fruit and golden-orange marigold petals. Rich honey aroma, a hint of flowers, and dried fruit yields a mellow and lightly sweet flavor.”

I am not a big fan of marigold, though the tea bag I got from the Book of Tea doesn’t seem to contain the petals, so that’s fine by me.

It does have the promised honey aroma, but it’s almost medicinal rather than warm and sweet. It’s sweet on its own, with a sort of generic jam taste. I cannot identify any individual fruits, it’s more like a blend of dark stonefruits. No citrus present here.

It has a nice finish and no underlying bitterness, pleasant astringency but not what I’d call potent. Very middle of the road. I feel this would be a nice tea to have on hand for guests, etc. since it’s pleasant and not too controversial. Not a bad cuppa at all, but nothing stands out about it.

I don’t think I’ve gotten to try this one before! Thank you, Amandastory!

I was thinking this tasted like apricot, but there was more to it that I couldn’t quite pin down. Not Lupicia peach. Looks like there are several other flavors in the mix. There is a bit of a honey scent to it and something ashy, but not in an unpleasant way, in the sip. There is a light tartness too. The flavors seem a little muddled when hot. I bet this is one of those blends that would do well cold steeped. I’m going to have to try it with the rest of this sample!

I ended up overstepping this slightly, so there’s a touch of bitterness. My least favorite thing about Lupicia teas is that they all seem to be so sensitive.
Even through the slight bitterness, this is still tasty. sweet honeyed fruits. It also smells incredibly sweet.

SIpdown #7: This was the last cup of the older Neptune bag of tea I had.
I really like this tea the jam and honey notes are lovely. It is a tea that would do well served during a tea party. This cup was a lighter one since I really only had about a teaspoon left. This is a quick tasting note as one of my Classes starts in a few minutes.

I really thought I’d tried this tea before, but maybe that was back when I was just lurking on here. Thanks to tea-sipper for giving me the chance to definitely try this! The black base was pretty mild, and the fruitiness came out more and more as it cooled. Without looking, I would have said that the fruit flavor is sort of like lychee? It’s not my favorite, but I think it did a solid job and was somewhat original.

From the Samurai TTB.

The notes on this one don’t make it sound promising, but it’s hard for me to pass up a new-to-me Lupicia tea. Grateful to tea-sipper for including it. (I do think we must like the same types of tea because I keep gravitating toward the ones you put in the box!)

I do really like the way this one smells – definitely fruity. Maybe stone fruits? Not peach, perhaps apricot. During steeping, I smell strawberries. After – grapes. Could this be right? Still no honey.

Tasting it, it is so familiar. It tastes like something I’ve had, something from Teavana maybe? The fruit all but disappears in the finished cup which is really disappointing. I do wish I knew my tea types better, because this has a very distinguishable taste. It’s only I don’t know which type of black tea it belongs to.

Overall, it lives up to its reputation on Steepster. Which isn’t saying much. This one unfortunately wasn’t for me.

Sample sipdown 194/397 courtesy of the lovely Marzipan

My thoughts on this tea are very much in line with other reviewers here. The tea is smooth and a touch malty, and I’m picking up some mineral notes too. The flavouring is very natural and elegant as I’ve come to expect with Lupicia; stewed fruits reminiscent of date, plum and apple with some honeyed notes which help to give the overall impression of preserved autumn fruits. It smells a lot better than it tastes, in my opinion. The scent is heady and draws you in, while the flavour is milder and more generic by comparison. I am enjoying the cup, but not enough to consider purchasing more.

I couldn’t resist this one.. it sounded like my kind of blend. The description says “scented with honey-preserved fruits” which sounds delicious in theory. Lupicia’s fruit flavors are usually perfect. But on tasting the tea, the description might be a little vague for a reason. I’m definitely not tasting honey and I have no idea what types of fruits, other than a plasticy flavor that at most could be lychee. Lychee tastes plasticy to me. There is also a drying quality. The black tea is probably something like Ceylon or another tea I’m not a fan of. The description doesn’t say much about the base tea either. The second steep doesn’t add much to the flavor. Not a fan of this one.
Steep #1 // 1heaping teaspoon for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Sipdown!
I’ve had this several times, but it’s not really inspired reviews. I thought it might be like my much loved Tower of London from H&S, but tis but a mere shadow.
Oh well. Worth trying, certainly!

It’s okay. I can taste the honey, but nothing really stands out about this tea. I’ve had others with similar flavors that were more bold.