Old Barrel Tea Co

TTB! I feel pretty medium toward the two teas that make up this blend, but I figured I’d still give this a try. It’s all right cold. The berry is pretty tart and mostly takes over the flavor except for a hint of green tea.

TTB!! I’m not a mate fan, so I didn’t love this one. It was okay! I mostly tasted coffee and herbaceousness. I wish there were more going on. Apparently it’s supposed to taste like Mexican hot chocolate? I must disagree with that.

There is a little bit of chile heat as an aftertaste, but the main flavor notes are cinnamon and anise. It smells more like a cookie than it tastes, and I will happily sip down this small tin. A good addition to the fall subscription box.

Thanks Cameron for adding this to the database! This blend is the sweetness of the Bourbon Brew and the spicyness of Ginger. I don’t mind it, but I think I’d rather drink each separately. OTBC Ginger chai isn’t my favorite, I think I like Maya Chai and adding my own heaping teaspoon of ginger if I’m in the mood. So I’ll enjoy drinking the rest of my small tin, but I’ll drink the bourbon brew on its own (and I hope its always in my cupboard!)

I have tried this blended with another tea in a previous Tea subscription box, but I’ve never had it solo. I’m not a fan of bergamot so I had low expectations for this tea, but I find the lavender and vanilla cream are the main notes here, with a tiny bergamot note at the end. I’d certainly drink more of this tea, but I’m not sure I’d buy a whole tin

Fall subscription tea.

This combo sounded weird to me, but it’s actually quite pleasant to sip. I mostly get the chamomile, cinnamon, honeybush/rooibos, and a touch of mint. I think the rose and lavender were the parts that seemed odd to me, so since I don’t taste those, it’s perfectly soft and cozy without being too spiced. Would be lovely for a before-bed cuppa.

Thanks Cameron for so many teas! Actually, I still have a few from the last batch you sent and a few from Martin as well, eep. Time to sip some things down!

I only managed a single sip of this while it was warm, but I quite like it fully cooled. The base is slightly astringent, but I quite like the fruit flavour. It’s definitely giving a tropical fruit vibe, somewhat generic, but also like a not quite fully ripe pineapple.

This is just ok, peachy, juicy, and light, but not very interesting. I’m not a big fan of peach or prickly pear teas, so I’m not surprised. I’ll add it to the next TTB.

Well the fall OBTC subscription box is in the mail I best be getting around to writing tea notes for the summer box! This one is yummy pecan pie drowning in hibby tartness. The second steep is a bit toned down on the tart, and the blueberry and cinnamon come through a bit better. This is just ok, I Iike the pecan pie by itself much better

I found my first sip of this off-putting, but it really grew on me! I liked the rooibos, and I feel like I could taste the corn, though maybe that was just in my mind. It doesn’t remind me of bourbon, which is a good thing. I taste a lot of rooibos and some interesting middle flavor that I can’t identify. It’s not something I’d need more of, but I enjoyed my tin of it!

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The last tea from the summer subscription box, woohoo!

This was just an okay mint tisane. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, just not preferable to a nice Pacific Northwest mint or the mint I have stocked for my own herbal blends. There’s a tiny bit of a wet rag thing going on. I mostly mixed it with other things to sip through it, and this time I added chamomile and a bit of ginger, as I was feeling a little burpy.

Fine and does the job, but I just prefer more “premium” mint these days, for a crisper taste. Also, I felt like the peppermint far overpowered the spearmint here, and it could’ve been more balanced.

Another one from the summer subscription box.

This is okay, but not my favorite. I don’t tend to like hibiscus and cinnamon together. The combination here reminds me of some sort of blueberry crumble or pie, since it has sweet and tangy blueberry with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutty notes. But the description compares this tea to trail mix, which doesn’t make sense to me given the strong pastry and cinnamon notes. (shrugs)

Anyway, into the rehoming box it goes!

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Really enjoyed this blend from the summer subscription box. Somehow pineapple and lemon together ended up tasting like stonefruit to me. The black tea being cut with lemongrass also made it lighter in body, which I really liked. I think they intended this to be an iced tea, since they described it as having “Arnold Palmer energy”, but I drank it all hot with a touch of clover honey and enjoyed it that way!

Really enjoying this blend from the summer box. The lemony herbs are sweet yet refreshing, and a nice mix of fresh lemon and lemon drops. I believe their Tropical Black is pineapple, but somehow it comes out tasting like apricot in this mix. Not that I’m complaining, I love apricot and it’s a great pairing with the lemon.

I’m sure it would be wonderful iced, but I’ve been enjoying it warm with a drizzle of clover honey. :)

From the summer subscription box.

I’m not a fan of Prickly Pear, so naturally not a fan of this either. I mostly taste the melon-y Prickly Pear with a bit of peach in the background. Will set this aside to rehome.

That being said, I’m quite happy with the summer theme and teas, considering it’s my least favorite season. They chose a summer camp theme which is very nostalgic and cozy, and I feel like it brought a bit of autumn influence in. There are some cozier teas like Horchata Rooibos and a Pecan Pie Puerh blend, as well as garden herbals which I also enjoy. Excited to try the others!

Received as a gift from somebody who visited Old Barrel in person!

Cold-brew is my first attempt and it’s a fruity, saturated blueberry brew. Artificial in the sense that it reminds me of the blueberry-scented Strawberry Shortcake doll I had in the late 80s, but I like it in the moment. Some light florality from the oolong and other ingredients. A little bit of lemongrass permeates throughout the main blueberry taste. Purplish-blue from the butterfly pea flowers.

I’ll try it hot, but I think most of this will go cold-brewed since added flavorings tend to hold up better that way.

TTB. When a smell triggers a memory, it is called the Proust effect. The moment I smelled this dry blend, I was ripped away from my home here in MN and taken straight to Island Soap & Candle Works in Kilauea, Kauai. It reminds me of how their shop smells.

That being said… not sure I want to drink that aroma…

Oh my goodness. The aroma has undergone a change from the dry to the wet. I’ve been swiped from Kaua’i and landed in Amish country in Indiana. The aroma of some of the places we used to visit. A mix of spices and fruit to form a relaxing potpourri.

The liquor color is opaque and beautiful burgundy.
Flavor: There is a lot going on in this tisane. It’s hard to pick everything out. Here goes: Hibiscus, Coconut cream, Cinnamon, slight woody notes, slight palo santo. Hint of beet.

This is quite intriguing.

This is one blend I’m keeping out of the TTB because I love it so much and it doesn’t appear to be popular with others.

I normally dislike hibiscus, but I actually like this one hot and cold over ice. I’ve had it hot several times. Although it is acidic and tart, there is also a lovely flavour in the green rooibos/green tea base. It’s quite fruity with melon and citrus notes. I’m finding it quite unique and an enjoyable summer cup.

Steepster 2025 TTB Team

While I was hopeful that this would be a nice well rounded floral tea, I found it very rose-heavy in a perfumy way. I do like rose, but this is too much rose for something called cherry blossom. I do get fruity cherry notes, astringent green with some vegetal notes, and a touch of jasmine. I would have preferred something less artificial tasting and a less bitter green base. I added milk and let it cool, which was a huge improvement to having this straight and hot.

TTB! I removed as many rose petals as I could since I’m not a huge rose fan, and I’m glad I did because this ended up pretty enjoyable! I’m drinking this cold, and it’s a little fruity and floral on quite a smooth green base. The main flavor is still rose, so I wouldn’t prefer much more of this.

Sweet tart apple and earthy puerh, they don’t seem to mix but somehow this works. Bright crispy apple is the dominant note and this would make an excellent iced tea. There is also a bite of mate in the aftertaste, and somewhere deep underneath is puerh. A good blend to offer to someone who is on the puerh fence. Not my favorite blend from OTBC but I might need another tin of this.

Subscription box tea. This is certainly suffering from a comparison in my mind to Banana bread coffee puerh, but this new coffee blend from OBTC is too heavy on the coffee part. The cinnamon dulls the coffee bitterness a bit, but I’m not a big fan of this tea. I’ll try some add ins to sip down the small tin.

TTB! This isn’t my favorite sort of tea, but with a lot of extra sugar, it’s not bad! The fruit is tart, and I can taste a bit of the spice. I’m drinking this cold, and it’s pretty enjoyable. The flavor is definitely mostly hibiscus, but that’s surprisingly what I’m in the mood for right now.

TTB! I’m super familiar with the flavor of the prickly pear tea since I have a big tin of it. I definitely taste more of that than the mango tea. However, I like this a lot more than my plain prickly pear, so I can tell the mango is doing some work balancing out the sometimes fake candylike prickly pear tea. I wish I could taste more distinct mango, but the flavor is quite refreshing cold.