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I’m all out of pumpkin spice teas and the seasonal cravings have been horrible. But I remember I snagged this out of the City Hall breakroom when I was there for required leadership training… I just got back from the dentist and had to forego my morning cuppa, so I was really hankering for this cup.

Sadly, it doesn’t really hold up… not that I was expecting much from Bigelow, as I rarely enjoy their teas. It just has the same problem I tend to have with grocery store bagged chai tea, in that all the spices taste really artificial and oily, especially the clove. I’m fine with clove, but clove flavoring or oil just absolutely wallops the whole tea. It’s all I really taste. I’m definitely not getting the “natural pumpkin flavor” and the spices just taste like clove rather than a spice blend. It reminds me of the “Double Spice Chai” by Stash I tried not long ago and also didn’t care for. Meh.

At least it was just a single teabag… I definitely would not buy this if I stumbled across it.

I am a coconut fan, but rarely order teas with coconut in them because I usually can’t get to them before the coconut turns. Thankfully this tea is still okay since the November 2023 order date, even though Simpson & Vail doesn’t heat-seal their packaging (what the heck, S&V?)

The tea really does remind me of a coconut macaroon cookie. There is a sort of buttery sweetness to it, beneath the strong coconut note. I also oddly taste a faint cinnamon note, and I don’t know why… there isn’t any in the tea, but some combination of flavors is tricking my brain into tasting it. It isn’t bad though, if anything it goes nicely along with the sweet and creamy coconut vibes.

While I enjoy this tea hot and plain, it is really decadent as a tea latte. I brew 400ml of the tea and mix in 100ml of warm and frothy sweetened vanilla almond milk, and it is absolutely dessert in a cup. Perhaps even a bit too sweet and cloying for some that way, as it is very sweet and quite mouth-coating, but the creaminess and flavor are exquisite… definitely a liquid coconut cookie with this preparation! I’ve been enjoying said lattes as a Sunday morning treat.

My first cup of this came out as weak cinnamon water… there was a little hibiscus but the flavor didn’t come out until I was nearly done with the cup and it was a bit thin. So for my second go with this tea I amped up the amount of material to a little over double the initial amount, and left it steeping a good 10+ minutes (probably closer to 15-20). Now the tea actually has some flavor, though it isn’t anything to write home about. I love hibiscus/spice teas, but there isn’t anything about this one to set it apart from the many others I’ve had. It doesn’t taste much of almond or apple… the apple is mostly apparent from the hibiscus base being pretty sweet with just a little tartness at the end of the sip. I’m honestly not tasting anything nutty in the flavor. The hibiscus/cinnamon combo is certainly cozy on a rainy fall day, and a flavor profile I enjoy, I just wish the two notes listed in the title of the tea popped more. I’ll have no problem quickly finishing this off, but will likely replace this with a more complex mulled cider sort of tea, or Rishi’s “Cinnamon Plum.”

I really only have matcha in my breakfast smoothies rather than drinking it plain, and I like the 3 Leaf Tea matcha because it is pretty much the only flavored matcha I have found that doesn’t include sugar, which just makes my smoothies too sweet.

I like to pair this lemon flavored matcha with berries, or occasionally with mango and ginger for a lemon ginger vibe. I really like mixing his one with some vanilla almond milk, Greek yogurt, and strawberries. The vanilla milk and yogurt gives it a sort of “creamy” lemon dessert flavor and the strawberries pair well with the bright citrus, like a strawberry lemonade.

It was good, but not as memorable to me as their lavender matcha or mint matcha… I’d probably try a different flavor in the future over ordering this one again. But I certainly enjoyed my time with it and how easily the citrus went with a variety of smoothie combos.

Back in the day Simpson & Vail had a tea simply called “Pear Black” that I absolutely loved… it had a really strong and syrupy pear flavor that I really enjoyed. When I finally got around to ordering from them myself for the first time, that tea was gone, but this one was listed… I assumed it was the same thing just with ginger added, and since I like ginger, that sounded fine. Unfortunately, it really isn’t. The pear flavoring in this just doesn’t hold a candle to that older tea… either it is much weaker, or the flavor just doesn’t hold up the same against the stronger ginger note. The base tea is malty and smooth, and there is still a pear flavor but it is more subdued, lacking that “syrupy” quality I enjoy and leaning a little more towards the floral notes of pear than the fruity notes. The ginger is the much stronger note… it isn’t uncomfortably strong, landing in a tolerable level for me (I’m extremely spice sensitive) but it does pack a little bite and lingers in the aftertaste. Overall, the tea flavors do blend quite nicely together, I just wish the balance was a bit stronger on the pear and a little softer on the ginger. It at least doesn’t taste like bubblegum, which I often get from a pear/spice combo in teas. I’d prepared this as a warm cuppa, both sweetened and unsweetened, and have found that adding just a touch of honey to the cup helps bring out a bit more fruitiness. I still want to try this as an iced tea, as I think the flavors would work well with that preparation.

I purchased this at a local Natural Grocers under Natural Grocers packaging, but it is the same tea offered from Tiesta so I’m recording it here rather than creating a duplicate under the Natural Grocers name.

This is the last of the chunky herbal teas I brought home from Natural Grocers, which I’ve been preparing as coldbrew waiting for our weather to change to fall here. It’s very tasty! I rank it just above the “Maui Mango” and just below the “Blueberry Wild Child,” both of which I also really enjoyed.

I wouldn’t call the flavor of this tisane “watermelon” persay, but it has that really sweet “melon” flavor that tastes like a cross between cantalope and honeydew that is popular in Japanese snacks, and it makes a very refreshing iced tea. It is very naturally sweet, and I want to try adding some Co2 to see how close it can come to a melon-flavored Ramune.

It’s a pretty servicable alternative to Lupicia’s melon teas at a lower price point and easier accessibility. Like all chunky fruit teas, though, you don’t get a lot of bang for your buck since the bags are weightier and it requires quite a bit of material to get a nicely flavored brew.

I managed to get in a sneaky Yunomi order from a surprise free shipping sale earlier in the month, just before the US lost the de minimis exemption to all foreign countries (previously it was only China and Hong Kong). So after many years I was able to restock my beloved Creha sakura-flavored black tea. But some time ago I grabbed this sakura black tea off of Amazon (I really love the sakura matcha by this company!), and had been hording it not knowing when I’d ever have a chance to get more. With the new restock, I felt I could finally dig into this bag.

My first cup was disasterous… the black tea was extremely tannic and bitter, and the sakura came out oily/perfumy (which I’ve had happen with other floral teas before, but never sakura). After much trial and error, though, I think I’ve finally zeroed in on the ideal steeping parameters for my tastes. The leaf is very small (almost a CTC, but not quite that fine) so 2.8g is plenty for a 350ml cup. I had tried steeping at my typical black tea temperature (205F) and just cutting down the steep time dramatically but never got ideal flavor… then I saw the directions recommended 175F. I’ve never steeped black tea at such a low temperature before, only green teas, but I tried it with a 3 minute steep… AMAZING! The black tea was no longer tannic and the sakura was sweet and floral and not perfumy at all. It also doesn’t taste annoyingly salty despite there being “pickled” sakura leaves listed in the ingredients… I usually avoid those types because I don’t prefer really salty sakura leaves. It still has that umami-leaning cherry flavor with a little salinity, but avoids being salty.

But what I really am enjoying with this tea is making sakura milk tea! I’ve been brewing 5g in 400ml 175F water for 3 minutes, then adding 100ml of warm and frothy vanilla almond milk, which is absolutely delicious. It has a very “sakura dessert” quality to it.

I purchased this at a local Natural Grocers under Natural Grocers packaging, but it is the same tea offered from Tiesta so I’m recording it here rather than creating a duplicate under the Natural Grocers name.

This has been my least favorite so far of the Tiesta/Natural Grocers tea I’ve tried. I’ve been preparing it as cold brew. It’s a hibiscus fruit tea, but honestly I feel like it needs more hibiscus as the hibi flavor and the mouthfeel of the tea is a bit thin. It’s filled with lemongrass and also has a lot of chunky orange zest, leaving the tea a bit strong in the citrus with a somewhat bitter pithy aftertaste. It’s not bad, but I’ve had far better “pink lemonade” teas than this one.

Rating: 70

This is one of the packages of tea my friend Todd brought back for me from his China WorldCon trip, so I don’t have a lot of details about the tea or manufacturer. The only English on the packaging reads “Mountain Mengding Tea” (I think this is the brand?) with a Product Name reading “LvMaoFeng(green tea)”. The packaging also has “the water is from Yangzi River, the tea is from Mengshan” written on it. So… mystery mao feng style Chinese green tea!

It’s a very mellow and approachable green tea. Grassy and vegetal, a bit on the garden snap pea side but not too strongly umami. I’ve been mostly making this cold brewed, since I really like green tea prepared that way… I find it very refreshing in the hot weather. I typically add 6g to a liter mason jar and let it steep in the fridge overnight, then strain the next morning. It may be a little non-descript, but easy to gulp down.

My only complaint is these bags of green tea Todd got for me are 100g each, which is just waaaaaaaaay too much tea for me (I never buy such a large size for myself unless it is a heavy fruit tea which adds to the weight and requires a lot of material to brew) so it is taking me absolutely forever to work through this package, even making a liter every day! I’ve been working on it all summer and probably still have another 10-15 cold brew servings left. I’m starting to feel ready to move onto something else, but this also crossed the best buy date in 2023 so I want to use it up…

Flavors: Grassy, Vegetal, Garden Vegetables, Peas, Sweet, Mellow

I saw TeaEarleGreyHot has been drinking Harney & Son’s Black Currant tea recently, and it reminded me I’ve also been drinking that flavor as of late, albeit the one from Simpson & Vail.

The black tea base is pleasant and not entirely overpowered by the flavoring. It has a nice brassy edge without being too tannic, with some more subtle autumn leaf undertones. The aroma of the tea is a really lovely mix of fruity and floral, and the black currant flavoring is very nice; I always forget how grapey it tastes when I haven’t had it in a long time, and I’m really digging that particular flavor note lately. I get a grape-forward berry fruitiness that is sweet enough to smooth out the rough edges of the base black tea without being so sweet as to be cloying. Just the right amount.

This has been pleasant as a morning cup, straight-up with no additions, but also made a great batch of iced tea, as well. I prepared my iced tea by brewing 7g of leaf in 500ml hot water for 3 minutes, straining, mixing with an additional 500ml cold water, leaving it to cool on the counter for a few minutes, and then popping it into the fridge to chill overnight. I wanted a stronger, more tannic flavor so I opted to chill a hot brew preparation rather than cold brew, but I bet it would be tasty cold brewed as well. Something about that grape note just really jives with me for too-darn-hot summer weather.