Prequel: I was driving my sister to a party. We were early, so we stopped at the mall, and there was a tea shop that had just opened. It was Spice and Tea Exchange. the prices looked fair, not crazy cheap. So I grabbed this tea, because it didn’t look like anything I had had before. Later that night, we though maggie had died, and I would be running this blog alone. We found she was not dead, just on a very long date. So we steeped it up, and loved it.
So I was gonna to rate this a 8.89/10 but Geeves said that was too much math and to #Not
So I Rounded up to a 9/10 sadly compromising my judging capabilities, Sad my dudes.
Buy anyway heres the tea, So I really really, Like REALLY enjoyed this blend.
It was smokey and had just the hint of cinnamon, and orange to it.
Its actually very similar to one of my favorite teas, lapsang souchong, so it definitely got into my good graces
Now some of you might be asking, “But Maggie Dearest Why Does this amazing smokey spice tea not a 10/10 if you love it so much” and I would respond
Why thank you so much for asking. Its very similar to a Lapsang Souchong. So much so that at first I though Geeves had just added a tad bit of cinnamon to a cup of it. And while I love it, I wish there was a little bit more to differentiate it from Lapsang.
Over all though its not that big of a point, because I still loved it. Hence the rounded up 9/10
TL:DR
9.5/10
A lovely blend. A perfect cup for those who need a Smokey Drink in their lives
Much love to all you readers. May your tea never burn your mouth, and always be the right strength!
Fun name, isn’t it? Howdy folks, Maggie here. So this scrumptious cup of leaf juice
an offended Iroh for my fellow Avatar fans
was actually a gift I received from some awesome family friends, shout out to the Guptas. If you guys are reading this, you’re awesome and you have wonderful taste in tea! They brought this back from their Europe travels and I just felt like Geeves’ and I had to share it with you lovely readers. We chose this one today because we felt like its Earl Grey base matched the lovely foggy and grey weather we’ve been having here in Usually Pretty Sunny San Diego, and the hibiscus tang matched the beachy vibe we still have here at school. So with that said, who’s ready to review some tea!? I am!! (Probably wouldn’t be much of a blog if we weren’t, but that’s beside the point.)
This one is not very expensive at 4 dollars an Ounce. found here
Maggie’s Notes:
I’mma give this one a fantastic 9/10, can I get a YeeHaw?!
Honestly, I really don’t like hibiscus. It usually ranks on the Personal Grudge Status. Like, me and hibiscus got in a fight at 3am in the Denny’s parking lot and we haven’t reconciled since. But this tea, thought not making me a believer, makes me over look that grudge for an exception.
The Earl Grey base paired really well with the tartness of the hibiscus.
Also, this one can do it all. I tried it over ice, and whoooo boi, it was good. The rose came out a little bit more, and the tartness of the hibiscus was refreshing.
My reason for this one not being a 10/10 is that the combination of black and green tea, while resulting in a lovely lightness to contrast the normal strength of an Earl Grey, meant that it was hard to steep correctly, and I felt like I couldn’t really steep it for as long as the company recommended without the green tea getting bitter and burnt.
But that’s not a deal breaker, just steep it for a little less time and boom, we’re golden.
Geeves’ Notes
6/10 (8/10 on flavor but see below)
Side note, Maggie said “we” picked this tea today, no, I picked it. I asked her for the fanciest Earl Grey she had because it was grey where we were going to be doing our photoshoot. 😛
This is nice. It has an herby taste, which I enjoy, and the hibiscus is pretty nice in this fresh take on an Earl Grey.
However, you can only get this tea shipped to Spain and Portugal. So while I’d probably drink it again if it was offered, it won’t be offered unless I send a buddy to Granada to pick it up for me. And that is why it is a 6/10, because essentially I can’t purchase it again.
This also is not great as a hot tea. I left mine on the patio for a while because of an accident I had during the photoshoot (I cut my foot open), so I had it chilled from the rain, and I liked that. When given a hot cup afterwards, I was not as thrilled about it. Hence the lower rating.
View here at Aromas de al Andalus (shipping only available to Spain and Portugal).
And with that we leave you, my good tea drinkers. May you never grow sick of your favorite blend.
Hi There! This is Maggie, yep you don’t always get Geeves’ clean writing. Tonight it is Maggie Story Time. So I found this tea over the winter break, when I so generously volunteered to be the Designated Driver for my sister and her boyfriends Wine Tasting Trip. Though at first glace this may not seem like an amazing use of time, I did end up really enjoying it for many reasons. The second most being the Old Town Tea and Spice, in Old Town Temecula. (for those of you wondering, the first reason is that all of us being youngins, we didn’t want to eat the overpriced winery food. And Katie and Mike definitely did not want to go an entire day drinking with no food. Which led to us lugging around an Entire Wheel of Cheese to all these fancy wineries. It was worth a giggle and a half to watch the manager try to tactfully tell us that it was tacky to BYOCheese)
Old Town Tea and Spice was a cute little shop nestled in the Old Town district, but fifteen minutes away from the wineries. They got me there with the promise of a large tea selection, and kept me with their affordable prices, and buy 10oz get one free. This particular tea drew my eye with the fun name, and once I saw that one of the main notes was chocolate I just had to give it a try.
Here’s the Store for all you Funky Little Tea Drinkers:
This one gets a high number from me for the lovely and smooth chocolate taste, without it being too sweet. It was a good dose of CHoCOlaTE (cue Spongebob screaming meme “dID YoU SaY ChOColATE!!”), without the feeling like I needed a dentist appointment immediately afterwards.
The tea base was strong and could definitely hold up to milk if you wanted a creamier flavor, though honestly it doesn’t need it. But, I am one of those weird heathens who likes 87-92% dark chocolate, so if you want to sweeten I promise I will not judge.
The price was also pretty good. At $4 an oz you get a decent amount of tea, and this is one to re-steep.
My one little gripe would be that in the notes it did claim to have a hazelnut hint to it. And I didn’t really feel like I got that. I went in expecting Nutella and Came out with dark chocolate. I ain’t even mad, BUT I understand that some would be a Tad Miffed, a Bit Peeved, A Smidge Irate, if they were looking for a sweeter note.
Overall, would buy again, and I would recommend it for fixing that chocolate urge that we all get at one in the morning, the one that leaves you wondering “to be (a gremlin) or not to be (a gremlin). Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of The Chocolate Cravings or to take arms against a sea of hungers and by indulging end them. To eat—to chocolate”… yeah no that’s all the Hamlet I have in me for today. That’s all folks!
Geeves’ Thoughts:
7/10
I drank this and immediately needed to sleep. Maybe it’s because it’s late. Maybe because there’s a lot of caffeine and no sweetness. IDK.
I’m a little disappointed, because I wanted this to be a dessert tea and it really wasn’t. It was cacao chunks and black tea, neither of which I am a huge fan of. I ate it with a bittersweet chocolate cake, which I think helped me because I was already in a not-sweet chocolate mindset, but I’d probably be unsatisfied if I drank it as my dessert.
Maggie and I have very different tea tastes, so I’m not surprised that she liked this! It’s not my jam, so I probably wouldn’t buy it, but at $4 per oz online I wouldn’t tell you not to. And if Maggie gives me another cup at some point in time, it’s not like I’d say no…
Also, even thought Maggie did write the majority of this post, I did my best to edit for y’all, you’re welcome 😉 (Yes, this is REALLY an edited post.)
TLDR:
Rating: 7.75/10
Tasting Notes: black tea with a bittersweet chocolate note.
Pricing: Fair, $4/oz
Recommendation: A ConrTEAversial blend, depending on your pallet.
Hello, it’s Geeves again! My next stop on my tea trip (I wasn’t there for tea, I was actually in town for a symphony) was to Perennial Tea Room. They were very easy to shop; a small store, pretty empty on a rainy day, but very cute with knowledgeable employees. I asked the man what teas were special to their store, and he recommended a few black teas as well as some fun fruity ones.
I chose Turkish Blend because it smelled great and seemed new and exciting for me! Apple, rose petal, and apricot are apparently all common in Turkish teas, and this one had no shortage of those ingredients on a black tea base.
Geeves’ Thoughts:
7.5/10
For a fruit tea, I’m tasting more blackness than fruit, so I’m not a big fan of that.
As a hot tea, the rose flavor is an aftertaste and the fruit is weak. Three hours later, the fruit actually becomes much more powerful, so I’d say I prefer it cold. I need my flavors really strong because my taste sensors are damaged (I can’t tell regular crackers and bacon flavor crackers apart), and sadly this one wasn’t quite that.
Maggie’s Thoughts:
6/10
I’m a HOE for apricot. I got a little bit of aaaaapricot, and some ROSE!!, but not very much apple. like a silent polite apple maybe vibe
I will say though that I really enjoy this tea iced (an odd thing coming from me you might come to find)
Over Ice: 8.5/10; when it’s cold (like one you can crack open with the boys) you reaLLLYYY get more of the promised fruitiness and the rose takes a step down from her spotlight. Regretful, but neccccesssssary (attempts to spell necessary and fails miserably)
It wasn’t too light though. The tea base was sufficient to carry the flavors, and got a little bit stronger when left to sit. All the more reason why ice is the ‘Way To Go’ with this one. (Cue Ice Ice Baby)
It was still a good price for the quality of tea. $8.5 for 2oz is definitely not bad, and I’m sure the more you buy, the cheaper the cost.
One place I really see this tea shining is at a spring party over ice for everyone, which is probably why I’m not super digging it. As I am on Winter Mode (it dropped below 60F and I’m a delicate San Diego flower), I think this is a tea that will deserve a revisit come the Spring Times.
TLDR:
Rating: 7.5/10
Tasting Notes: black tea with a lot of fruits and hint of floral, and fruitier when cold.
Pricing: Fair, $8.5/2oz
Recommendation: Would reorder in Spring!
Purchase here from the most organized small business in Seattle!
Hi, this is Geeves! I have just returned from a whirlwind three-day trip to Seattle, and while there, I bought A LOT of tea! I hit three different stores, and wound up with about a pound of tea…(we’re not going to talk about how many cups I had with breakfast, lunch, and for snacks.) But anyway, Maggie and I are back to school, back to procrastinating, and back to the usual shenanigans! And tonight we baked up some cranberry chocolate scones, and broke out the new tea to pair it.
The first place I went on my trip was the Seattle Public Market, and within that there is a great tea and spice store: Market Spice. Tonight we broke out the Cranberry Creme, a tea I purchased because of a very specific reason.
Me: Hi! So what here can I not get in California?
Girl: Uh…what do you like?
Me: Anything! Something fun! Anything!
Girl: Fruit?
Me: Anything!
Girl: What type of tea?
Me: Anything!
Girl: I guess cranberry is popular?
Me: If it’s unique, I will take it!
And so I did.
Maggie baked cranberry dark chocolate scones to go with the tea of the night!
Geeves’ Thoughts:
8.5/10!
Not super strong flavor, but then again I am not always great at discerning flavor so the fact that I could taste the fruit was pretty good!
Definitely can’t handle cream without being completely overshadowed, so take the creme flavor and don’t intend to add more.
Okay but let me be straight here: I paid almost nothing for this. Well technically my mom bought it for me so I did pay nothing, but she paid like $3 for my 2oz of tea. Online, you can get 1lb for $20. Which is a good freaking deal! For tea of this quality, that is an actual steal and I may cease buying from anywhere else (not really, read my next posts) There is 4oz minimum online, but it’s only $5 so I’m fine with that. (PS: Shipping from Market Spice is $7, flat rate US)
Maggie’s Thoughts:
7/10
So this may seem harsh. But i came in with high expectations of CRANBERRY and got like a Meh crranberrry
The cream note was nice and smooth, but I felt like it overwhelmed the fruit flavor.
However, all is not lost.
The base tea was smooth and not at all bitter which is appreciated. I prefer tea over coffee because I can’t handle the bitter. (It feels to me like how I assume reading my comments feels to your eyes. Unpleasant.)
Kinda reminiscent of the Russian jam tea my friend made me once. (Jam mixed into tea, essentially)
I would High-Key say no cream in this one, folks. Due to the light nature of the hunan (the region the tea was grown in) leaf base, the cream would overwhelm the tea entirely making it more of a Lightly Flavored milk. Not Prefered.
If you enjoy adding stuff, or you would like something extra (varieTea is the spice of life and all that jazz), a little bit of honey or a square of Dark Chocolate does go to enhance the fruit-ness a bit, bringing it from crranberrry to a solid CraaaanBerry
I feel like this is a good afternoon black tea, as the lightness lends itself to a little less of the caffine ( i gave up on that word).
Points as well for affordability, like dang. It college so we kinda be a little broke, so the price is a smooth balm over my irritated and sore wallet.
Also Normally i would record this statement for those who Dont want to read, but i ave been poisoned by the Devils Plant, and by god Did i lose the battle to Poison Ivy. (but im not dead so i guess i won the war??) But to save you all from being subjected to my 1600’s smallpox victim LooKe that i am rocking right now… no recording. Suffer.
So for your TL:DR summary:
Rating: 7.75/10
Tasting Notes: black tea with a light cranberry taste
Pricing: Great! About $1.50/oz
Recommendation: Not super special, but if you’re looking for a thing to drink on the veranda on a cold day, buy it!
We’ll put purchasing info and the links for each tea down at the bottom, so if you’re inclined to try something that catches your eye, it’s easy.
Maggie’s Thoughts:
Here's the Tea 