Some fruit flavors are so subtle and hard to capture when it comes to teas. Watermelon. Cantaloupe. Honeydew. And Pear. The flavors of the actual fruits aren’t necessarily in-your-face so in order to capture those flavors oftentimes they can either go completely unnoticed or come off artificial.
Comforting Pear by TeaTaxi teeters between artificial and unnoticed and somehow actually makes for a nice pear tea. Some sips, the base tea can be a bit astringent and the spices can get muddled. Yet underneath it all is a fruity sweetness that lingers and in the aftertaste, becomes distinctly pear-flavored. Other sips, all the flavors come together to taste of a spiced baked pear.
The spices of cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom are balanced which can be both good and bad. There is none of that ginger burn that I tend to enjoy, while others hate. There is also no overt cinnamon sweetness, which I tend to hate but others enjoy. Cardamom imparts some flavor but isn’t overwhelming. For me that is a plus but I know some will want more. Ultimately, it is that balance of spices that causes the occasional muddling which can make them one note and boring. Yet it is the balance that allows the pear to come through.
This tea is pleasant and could be great for a comforting tea on a cold day. Or a little bit of a treat on a rainy day. It is not a must-have for me but I certainly enjoyed my cup.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tea Taxi
Description
The perfect harmony between a nutty aroma and a slightly fruity and sweet taste make this black tea the perfect warm drink to start your day on the right foot.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Raspmonade from TeaTaxi. . . .
This has been the first day in a while that I have had the opportunity to relax. To me, that means sitting by the fire while drinking cup after cup of tea. Now, as much as I like to say I am not impacted by caffeine, I know it is good to switch it up a bit. To that end, I like to mix in a rooibos, honeybush, or herbal infusion amongst all the mugs of black tea, green tea, and oolong.
I brewed up my entire sample packet (5 grams) of this Raspmonade tea by TeaTaxi as a hot tea, steeping it in near boiling water (200F) for 3 minutes, 2 minutes shorter than the recommended steeping parameters as the rooibos began to smell quite strong.
As I drink now, the rooibos is strong but more so because the other flavors are so subtle which leaves little to taste other than the base. I get some berry flavor from the raspberry leaves but lemon comes through mainly in scent.
I don’t know if my understeeping is at play here but this lacks the flavor I was looking for when I brewed this up. I wanted sweet raspberry and bright lemon and I got generic berry rooibos. Definitely not what I was hoping for but still fun to try something new.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Red Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea Taxi
Description
Delight in this amazing concoction of raspberry flavored with lemon. A fruity euphoria you can drink hot or cold!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Coffee or Tea? from Tea Taxi. . . . . . .
You know the Old El Paso taco shell commercial where they’re trying to decide between hard shells and and soft shells for tacos and then the cute little girl comes along and asks “Why not both?” and the whole city celebrates this great revelation? That is what coffee-flavored teas make me think of – someone trying to bridge the gap between the coffee camp and the tea camp, bringing us all together with one hybrid beverage. Such is the case with this Coffee or Tea? drink from TeaTaxi.
This blend is made of black tea, broken cocoa bits, brittle pieces, chocolate chips, roasted coffee beans, and free-dried yogurt granules. I set up half my sample (about 1-1.5 tsp) in vanilla almond milk yesterday to cold brew overnight and the rest was steeped per the package directions, 3 minutes in almost boiling water.
Now I don’t drink coffee so I am probably not the best person to determine accuracy of flavor but the hot tea definitely has the taste of the roasted coffee beans (at least it reflects how they smell) combined with chocolate. It is a medium-bodied tea with strong flavor which makes for easy drinking. It is a touch bitter but that is balanced by the slightest bit of brittle peaking through. It is by no means a cup of coffee but it does have more coffee to it than the other coffee flavored teas I have tried.
This cold brewed in vanilla almond milk is not my favorite. I think the vanilla of the almond milk is just far too strong and it butt heads with the more roasted quality of the coffee beans. I thought it might make for a sort of coffee with cream vibe but instead the two flavors just don’t blend at all and the vanilla drowns out the chocolate that worked so well with the coffee in the hot tea. So this was a bit of a fail, more because of the flavored almond milk than a reflection of the tea itself.
I am definitely a member of the tea camp and though coffee-flavored teas catch my interest, I am usually never a fan. Though this is not one I intend to stock anytime soon, I will say it is one of the better coffee-flavored teas I have had. The combination of the coffee and chocolate with the hint of brittle in the hot tea reminds me ever so slightly of a more roasty coffee crisp bar or perhaps dark chocolate covered coffee beans.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Taxi
Description
This chocolaty black tea with a high caffeine content offers the best of both worlds.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Antivirus from TeaTaxi. . . . .
One thing I never realized until I started drinking tea is that when I get sick, my tastebuds stop working. Sometimes when I’m sick, my food still tastes the same but with tea there is almost a void in my tastebuds. It is like some of my tastebuds work and some are muted so everything is just off and it is all too clear that something is missing. It’s at these times I either try to drink teas I didn’t really love to being with or sick teas such as this Antivirus tea by TeaTaxi.
Made with peppermint, spearmint, rosehips, almonds, apples, ginger, rose, sunflower, calendula, osmanthus, hibiscus, and natural flavors, this is not something I would ever care to drink under normal circumstances. However, the collection of ingredients is tolerable and even nice when sick.
I brewed this both hot and iced, steeping both for 7 minutes in 200F degree water. Then I got suckered into going grocery shopping with my mother so both teas were left on the counter in their respective thermoses for a couple hours.
Starting with the iced tea, I am getting mint…mint and maybe ginger. That void is still present so the flavors are all lost for the most part but the tea feels good on my throat as I sip. Hot (well…warm), this tea has a lot more mint flavor. While the iced tea was more smooth and peppermint-like, hot it is more medicinal/spearmint tasting. Ginger is also more noticeable in the hot tea but as a soothing ginger tingle at the back of my throat. Other than that, everything else is M.I.A.
I don’t mind the lack of flavor because the tea is doing what I want and that’s soothing my sore throat and cough and hydrating me when I am not feeling 100%, especially the hot tea. If I am being honest, my preferred cold tea is probably Cold 911 by DAVIDsTEA but this is not a bad alternative.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Tea Taxi
Description
An infusion of peppermint, spearmint, apples and ginger to help you make it through the winter. It’ll warm you from the inside out.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Milky Oolong from Tea Taxi. . .
When I first started drinking tea, I avoided oolongs at all costs. They were too floral or too green and just not for me. However, over the years, I have found myself more and more curious when it comes to oolongs, particularly milk oolongs which are often so simple and yet amazingly creamy.
This particular milk oolong, Milky Oolong by TeaTaxi, boasts “a subtle taste and a delicate aroma”. I steeped it per the package directions, letting the leaves steep for 3 minutes in 190F water.
At first taste, I found myself worried that perhaps this is too subtle. It came off a touch weak and not all that milky. In fairness, the “milk” oolong I had most recently prior to trying this was Oolong Creme by Sloane Fine Teas and that set the bar quite high. The more I drink, the more flavors I find. There is a definite smoothness here but I don’t know if I would go as far as to say it is “creamy”. On the other hand, I suppose “milky” is an accurate description as it is a little on the thinner side in comparison to the other milk oolongs I’ve tried. There is also a lot of floral notes here which to me appear as almost a shadow of the orchid taste in DAVIDsTEA’s Vanilla Orchid.
All in all, this tea is not bad, but also does nothing to stand out among the sea of milk oolongs. It came to me as a sample in the Generation Tea monthly subscription and the one cup is leaving me satisfied though I probably won’t seek it out again.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Taxi
Description
A subtle taste and a delicate aroma. This classic tea will make you feel as zen as a yoga session would! Namaste.