Tea Review: Earl Grey Moonlight

Adagio: Earl Grey Moonlight Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Floral, vanilla
Where I got it Adagio Teas (online here)	Cost $7 / 3 oz
How I brewed it 2 tsp for 2-3 minutes with water from the coffee machine, slightly cooled, in a 12-ounce mug	Rebrewing notes Reasonable for 1 rebrew; fairly weak by 3rd cup; don't recommend past 2nd rebrew
Review Holy heck did it take me many tries not to ruin this tea. Take it from me: brew it cooler and shorter than the rest of your black teas. This tea goes bitter fast, and it goes bitter hard. That said, it's a good drink as long as you don't burn the leaves. It's earl grey, except with a floral, creamy, vanilla-ish touch. Brewed correctly, it's actually quite mellow, and I like the twist on the standard earl grey. Mornings are hard for me, and this tea does make them easier. It also smells really good, and is pretty with the touch of bright blue cornflower, both of which add to the sensory experience.It's sweet and creamy, and on the whole I do rather like it. It's an advanced-skill tea due to how quickly and how strongly it gets bitter: I would not recommend it for someone just getting into tea unless you make it for them or get them a timer. However, it's also inexpensive, so if you like earl greys with a twist and are willing to take the effort to not overbrew it, I'd say you do get a good value. It also makes a nice base for blending with other floral teas (rose/lavender especially), and because you have to be careful with it anyway, and because it brews well at lower than usual temps for black tea, it would blend well with even green teas. In other words: A nice take on earl grey, inexpensive, but you may wind up with a bad cup or two before you get it right.

Tea site: Adagio

Adagio Teas website

I've been wanting to do another tea review for a while, but today I'm doing something a little different: a tea site review.

There's a site called Adagio Teas that sells, you guessed it, tea. It's got a wide variety of teas offered, lets you get points for ordering tea that you can redeem for more tea, and allows you to order sample sizes and small sizes if you just want to try a tea. The tea is about the same value as most teas offered at the stores in my area, if not a bit better in terms of quality vs cost (though how much you order affects this as well; the price is cheaper when you order more). Oh, and, uh, if you find you're spending too much, you can also temporarily ban yourself.


Adagio also has a cool feature (besides selling tea) that lets you blend your own teas. You are "limited" to a list of certain blends and flavors, but it's not a short list, and you get up to three, plus a scoop of flavor (raspberries, dried cherries, coconut, rose petals, etc). You can also adjust the percent of each tea used. And since you can order it in the same quantities as the rest of the teas, you can order yourself a sample to make sure you like what you blended. The blends are saved, you can name them, and they can be edited later.

That alone is a pretty nice. But then there's the fandom feature--because when you name your blends, you can also give put them in groups (or fandoms) and share them so others can enjoy them. This way, you can see what other people think phoenix down might taste like, or what tea blend they think Navi from Ocarina of Time would drink.

Oh, yeah, and you get points when other people buy your blends. So it's share and share alike.

And you can make your own labels
to go on your tea.

I've been planning to do a "Writing Moods" series, with teas to get me into certain moods to write. It'll be slow to grow, though, since I'll have to sample each one before sharing it. But there are plenty of fandoms to browse through, and lots of tasty teas of Adagio's own blends to try.


Find any good teas on the site you're excited to share? Or any fandom blends you think are particularly cool?

Tea review: Dry Desert Lime by Numi

Numi: Dry Desert Lime Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea herbal, bagged	Flavor aspects Fruity
Where I got it Whole Foods (online brand store here)	Cost $6.99 at Whole Foods
How I brewed it 1 bag in a 12-oz mug for 5 minutes with slightly less than boiling water	Rebrewing notes Did not try to rebrew
Review I ordered a cup of this tea at a cafe, and then immediately ran across the street after the meal to buy a box. It's just really, really good. It's very tart; I think most drinkers would prefer it with a teaspoon of honey. I enjoy it plain, but then, I eat lemon and lime slices like orange slices. To me it tastes very much like "summer" or "warm tropical places," which is the kind of vague description that covers citrusy, natural teas. It's a very real, natural flavor; none of that fake lime flavor, just real citrus, which makes sense, as the only ingredient is "dried lime." Organic, natural, one-ingredient: this tisane is lime and that's it. Basically, if you love lemon or lime, it's a good drink for you. If you're not a huge citrus fan, you're probably off making it with more sugar than your usual tea, or blending it with another tea to mitigate the citrus-sour. As an herbal tea, it's caffeine free, yet it's a great pick-me-up thanks to the bright flavor. Good for afternoons if you're trying to avoid more caffeine, or for anyone who is cutting back on the caff. Also a good starter tea, especially if you like lemonades. Pretty much the only people who I wouldn't recommend it for would be those who are sensitive to tartness and those who aren't citrus fans. As for me, I'll be keeping a box or two of this stocked on my own shelves from now on. From the Numi website

Tea Review: Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai

Pumpkin Spice Tazo Chai Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea black, bagged	Flavor aspects Sweet, spicy
Where I got it Harris Teeter (online through Amazon here)	Cost On sale at HT for $4.50; online $6.99
How I brewed it 1 bag in a 12-oz mug for 5 minutes with slightly less than boiling water	Rebrewing notes Did not try to rebrew
Review Enjoyable. It's pumpkin-spice chai. Ginger, cinnamon, cloves, the whole shebang. I brewed it with water, no milk or sugar, and it was still good, which isn't always true for me for chais; it's naturally slightly sweet and the flavor is rich enough to stand on its own. I found it on sale on the seasonal rack at the grocery store, and am pleased with what I got. Tazo, in my experience, typically makes pretty good bagged teas, and this is no exception. If you're looking for a pumpkin-spice tea for the season, whether for a gift or yourself, and don't want to splurge for some loose-leaf fancy seasonal novelty (few of which I've really found worth it), then this is a good buy. I don't tend to rebrew bagged teas, since I rarely find second brews worth it, so admittedly I didn't try with this one, either. If you have the inclination, I would suggest trying it with milk and sugar; chai teas tend to be pretty amazing made that way, and if you want to impress, it's a good way to make your tea seem fancier without adding a lot of extra cost or effort. Note that I have not tried the pre-brewed versions of this; this review only applies to the bagged version of the tea. Picture from Tazo website

Tea Review: S'mores Oolong Tea

S'mores Oolong Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea oolong, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Sweet, chocolatey
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $10/2 oz (sale right now at $2.50/2 oz)
How I brewed it 2 tsp in 12-oz mug, brewed for about 2 minutes with water from a coffee machine cooled for about 1 minute	Rebrewing notes Not so great
Review There aren't many flavored oolongs that I think are really worth the money. Nor are there many chocolate teas that I go head-over-heels for. And this one is sadly about on par with both of those. Don't get me wrong. I love chocolate, and s'mores, and this tea is made of reasonably high-quality ingredients. And this is a nice-tasting tea on the whole, especially at its sale price--in fact, I would recommend purchasing it if you want to give someone a gift who might enjoy a single-steep oolong with a touch of chocolate flavor. I mean, the price is right, and it does taste pretty good as long as you like watery chocolate. It's a cute novelty gift, but not much more. But I don't recommend buying this tea at full price, because at the end of the day, like most chocolate teas made with a lighter tea, it's just watery chocolate. The chocolate drowns out the oolong flavor, and yet is weak and wimpy compared to actual hot chocolate. It is good chocolate--real chocolate that melts when you brew the tea, and real marshmallows that also melt into the tea, giving it a genuine sweet and chocolatey taste. It's just that it's 2 tsp of chocolate (less, actually, once you take into account the tea part of the spoonful) in a mug of hot water. So, watery chocolate. (Note: I suggest brewing hot chocolate in steeped black tea if you want to add a tea flavor to your hot cocoa. Black teas, too, on the whole do better as chocolate teas than other types of tea, being more robust in flavor, and are sometimes worth the investment.) As far as being an oolong, well, one of oolong's huge advantages is the number of times you can steep it, and another is its flavor, and you lose both in this iteration. So... Not worth it at full price, in my book. Decent taste, but not as good as hot cocoa; oolong isn't rich enough to stand up to chocolate's flavors, so you don't really taste the tea, either. Nothing wrong with the tea product (good ingredients and reasonable general flavor profile), it's just better in concept than in application. Picture of tea from Teavana site

Taiwan Lu-Ming Oolong Tea Review

Taiwan Lu-Ming Oolong Tea, Organic Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea  loose-leaf, oolong	Flavor aspects Happiness Natural, earthy
Where I got it Taiwan Not sure where exactly to get it online. The closest I found was here, but it's not an exact packaging match and my Chinese isn't good enough to tell if it's just a different packaging or another tea. I think the pictured version online is a higher grade.	Cost  ($24/oz)?
How I brewed it Water from the coffee machine, cooled down for about 2-3 minutes, then 1.5 tsp steeled in a 12-oz mug for 60 seconds.	Rebrewing notes Like most oolongs, the answer to "how many times can I rebrew it" is "Yes." Alternatively, "How much day do you have?" I run out of day before I run out of rebrewing power. (I prefer not to re-use the same leaves on different days, but that's just personal preference.)
Review This is a high-quality organic oolong tea from Taiwan. It is excellent, and it is delicious, and if you like oolong tea, you will like it (if you can find it). Also, from what I understand,"organic tea" in Taiwan is pesticide-free grown tea, and any high-quality oolong tea will be grown without pesticides, as those taint the flavor of the tea. The Taiwanese take tea seriously. In fact, if you know how to find Taiwan Lu-Ming oolong teas online at anywhere besides the link above, let me know. Please. This miiight be a plea to crowd-source "Where can I find more when I run out?" I will note that 1.5 tsp could easily brew 16 oz of water, but I'm a strong tea person, so I use more tea. The aroma is earthy, a beautiful classic oolong scent, and the color is a pleasing gold/amber shade. If you like your oolongs sweet, avoid brewing for too long; however, even oversteeped I find the flavor pleasant. It should be noted that walking into just about any grocery store or tea store in Taiwan will result in a shopping cart full of high-quality oolong teas. Many are very affordable, less expensive than tea you can buy in the US grocery stores and yet higher quality. You can also walk into a tea specialty store and walk out with tea that costs $100 USD an ounce or more, if that's what you really want.

Tea Review: Marshmallow Macaron

Marshmallow Macaron Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea  loose-leaf, herbal	Flavor aspects fruity, vanilla
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $7.98/2oz
How I brewed it 4 minutes with just-under-boiling, 2 tsp in 12-oz mug.	Rebrewing notes Have not rebrewed yet Edit: Took it in this morning and tried a second brew. As with almost all herbals, stick to a single brew. Really weak second time around.
Review The reason I bought this tea was the scent. It's decadent and rich, and if you head into a Teavana and they waft it at you, you may well drop your credit card into their hands right then and there. Heck, if I didn't think it would attract bugs, it'd be almost as useful as a candy-type potpourri as a tea. If the flavor is much less amazing, it's mostly because not many non-sugary items can taste that sweet. That's not to say it's bad: it's actually quite tasty. The gist of the flavor is fruity--think tart pineapple-hibiscus with vanilla tones. It brews a nice pink color and a long steeping gives it a strong flavor. This would be a fantastic tea for a kid's tea party (it's herbal, so no caffeine). I'd vote it high on the list for someone learning to like tea. It's also a nice tea if you're in the mood for something fruity and sweet. Don't drink it if you really expect to taste macarons, or if you think it'll taste like marshmallows, or if you want to drink something that tastes like tea (herbal tea=tisane; thus no tea leaves). Do drink it if you're in the mood for a hot, fruit-flavored beverage that smells like cookies. (Also, if you at first thought the tea name was misspelled, you are as sadly uneducated about cookies as I was before buying this tea, and we should all devote more time to studying cookies to address this problem.) Image from Teavana

Tea Review: Harney & Sons Paris tea

Paris Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Citrusy
Where I got it Harney & Sons	Cost $7.50 for 4 oz
How I brewed it 3 1/2 minutes with water from a coffee machine, 2 tsp in a 12-oz mug	Rebrewing notes Decent. At least one good rebrew, possibly two if you're careful with the leaves, before you really lose flavor.
Review Mellow, tasty, a nice black tea with strong orange and citrus flavors. If you're a fan of bergamot teas, orange spice teas or or black teas and oranges, give this one a try; it's not spicy but it does welcome you with a delicious orange scent and taste. It does have vanilla and caramel flavoring added, but they're very faint, and mostly just add a nice scent and help emphasize the orange/bergamot flavor. I think I slightly overbrewed this tea--I would recommend brewing closer to 3 minutes. It does seem like it is fairly sensitive to overbrewing, so be careful to set a timer and make sure your water isn't too hot. But, even slightly overbrewed, it's pleasant. The orange flavor accents the slight hint of bitterness so that it's not actually unpleasant. If it were brewed perfectly, I think it would be even better, but as it is, the tea is pleasant. It's a good price, and if it's not the most exotic or glamorous of black teas, it's a decent tea at a good value. I'd recommend it for anyone who wanted a good go-to daily tea that doesn't break the budget, especially if a touch of orange/bergamot is what you like. Those who dislike Earl Grey will probably also dislike this tea; it has many of the same flavors but stronger and with a different, fruitier balance. Captain Picard would probably happily share a pot, though. Equally appealing to casual tea drinkers and tea addicts who want a good breakfast tea. Harney and Sons Paris tea (photo from their website)

Tea review: Genmai cha

Genmai Cha Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea green, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Natural, bitter
Where I got it Adagio Teas	Cost $14/4oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp in 16-oz mug, brewed for about 2 minutes with water from a coffee machine cooled for about 3 minutes	Rebrewing notes Flavor balance at the second brew changes--slightly less toasted rice, slightly more sencha. Haven't gone past two brews yet.
Review Genmai chas (or genmaichas) are an interesting tea. Do you like green tea from Japanese restaurants (where it's often served as part of the meal)? You might like this, then. It's more bitter than most green teas. But, in a way, that's part of the appeal. If grassy flavors are okay in your book, or a tea that tastes like toasted rice (think rice cake), or sencha tea, then this is a good tea for you. It's made with toasted rice, which is pretty cool, and you can definitely taste the rice, and the "toasted" part of the rice. The first time I had it I thought the tea was over-steeped, but once I realized it was the rice I was tasting, I started tasting it as rice-cake flavor rather than bitterness. The rice is what adds that strong aftertaste. I like it, and a lot of tea drinkers enjoy the unique taste... but if "grassy" is a reason you dislike green tea, you'll probably hate this one. Then again, others have said that the toasted rice makes it taste less "grassy," so I guess it's how your tastebuds perceive it. That said, if you like sencha, sencha green tea is the base for this genmai cha. It's an interesting flavor, and generally makes a good tea for drinking with a meal, as it goes well with savory flavors. As compared to some other genmaichas I've had, Adagio's is quite tasty, and not a bad price. That said, my genmaicha experience is actually fairly limited, mostly to what I've had a restaurants and what my friends have shared with me, so I can't give a great comparison to other brands of the tea in terms of quality and price, as I don't know where the other teas originated or for what price. Picture is a screenshot from Adagio teas

Tea Review: Rooibos Chai

Rooibos Chai Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Rooibos, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Spicy
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $4.98/2oz
How I brewed it 2 tsp with boiling water for 3 minutes n a 16 oz teapot, with a dollop of heavy cream and honey	Rebrewing notes Have not rebrewed
Review By now I know I don't like rooibos without milk and sugar (or, in this case, leftover cream from a pasta recipe and honey), so I made it with both. It's a chai, and as such is a spice tea. Coincidentally enough, with milk is also how I tend to like my chais, so... works well. The price is good, and as a rooibos it's caffeine-free. I've had spicier chais, and it's not exactly the standard flavor, so if you're particular about your chai you probably won't be impressed. But if you're willing to try a non-black chai tea it's quite good. It's basically cinnamon-ginger rooibos. I rather like it, on the whole. Given a choice between a regular chai and rooibos chai, most of the time I'd go with regular, but as I don't want to toss and turn tonight, it's great. So... basically a chai substitute that fills that craving when it's too late for the regular kind, and if it's a little mellower, it still has a tasty flavor and even has a built-in excuse for making it with cream and sugar (y'know, in case you ever feel guilty about that or anything). Looks like a normal cup of rooibos.

Tea Review: Cream Black Tea

Cream Black Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Before brew: Chocolate After brew: Natural
Where I got it Adagio Teas	Cost $2/sample (~1oz), $6/3oz, or $19/16oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp in 12 oz mug, brewed with coffee machine water for 3 minutes	Rebrewing notes Rebrews pretty well for 2 cups before losing flavor, so long as you don't brew too long. Fairly standard black tea. Usually noticeably weaker by 3rd cup, though still flavorful enough to be drinkable.
Review Opening this tea up reveals the scent of the leaves is pure, rich, decadent chocolate. It's cream tea, so don't get too attached, as the tea neither tastes nor smells like chocolate after steeping. Don't be fooled. Flavor and scent-wise, you'll get a fairly standard loose-leaf black tea. The cream flavor adds a little extra richness, though if you're looking for significant milk taste, you'll need to add actual milk or creamer. Not enough to replace the taste of real dairy. It's a good tea, especially for the price. The cream flavoring tastes almost vanilla-y, but is very subtle. It's pretty mellow, and mostly just tastes like, well, black tea with a hint of cream/sweetness/vanilla. Pretty standard fare. It would be a great tea to drink with scones or other sweets. It's also pretty good as a slightly sweeter morning tea, if you want a black tea, but want a change from Earl Grey/etc. I've had better black teas, but not for this price, and it's perfectly decent. Good for buying in bulk and caffeinating up for the day, so you can save your best (and pricier) teas for sharing with guests, or for a special treat when you're awake enough to really appreciate it. Where this tea shines is as a blender. If blending teas is your thing, it makes a great base for or addition to other flavors. It would go really well in anything fruity, nutty, or spicy. I use it with a coconut pu-erh to mellow that out. I've also added it to other black teas that have started to grow a touch weak after a couple of rebrews, but enough good flavor left I'm not ready to give up on them yet. It extends their tastiness and adds more caffeine if they've been brewed past the pick-me-up without substantially altering the taste. Long story short: Reasonable black tea at an affordable price. Great for blending. I didn't take a picture, and their picture wasn't of the tea,  but I wanted to include some kind of image... so... >.> You get a logo.

Tea Review: Strawberry Cream

Strawberry Cream Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea White, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Fruity
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $12.98/ 2oz
How I brewed it 3 tsp in a 32 oz teapot, brewed with boiling water cooled for 2-3 minutes and steeped for... uh... five minutes? Six?	Rebrewing notes Haven't rebrewed yet.
Review Strawberries. It's strawberry tea. It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect. The "cream" part of Strawberry Cream is more noticeable in the scent than in the taste, though I can taste it. The tea doesn't actually taste completely like off-the-vine whole strawberries, but it's to strawberries what Celestial Seasoning's Raspberry Zinger is to raspberries. It's strawberry-flavored hot water, tart in flavor, brews strong, and is overall quite good. If you like strawberries, you'll like this one. It's resilient in brewing--I definitely used water that was too hot and steeped it a bit too long, with no sad results (though white teas do tend to get bitter when steeped much too hot or much too long, so don't go overboard). I've also brewed it at the correct time and temp and it's good there, too. Haven't brewed it in small enough quantities to try a rebrew yet. It's good both hot and room temp (probably iced, too, if you're into that). I can taste a hint of cream in the tea, but mostly it's tart. I haven't tried it yet, but add a little sugar and it'd probably be almost candy-like. It's a white tea, so good antioxidants. I'd recommend it for anyone who likes fruit-flavored teas. Experienced tea drinkers will appreciate that it does have a white tea as a base (it's a subtle flavor and hard to pick up on if you don't know what to look for), but mostly the white tea flavor is overpowered by the fruitiness. Strong fruit flavors tend to be a great intro to tea, and if you like strawberry, this is a good starting point. Then again, considering the price, new-to-tea drinkers might want to just grab a Raspberry Zinger/Lemon Zinger herbal tea. You'd save a ton of money and those teas are good, especially since it takes a while and a lot of tea-trying to be able to really appreciate the differences between a loose-leaf tea and a bagged tea. Otherwise, if you want to start with premium teas, or you want the antioxidants of white tea but aren't in love with tea in general, this is a great tea. Long story short: Tastes like strawberries. Very good, but you can get similar flavors from Celestial Seasonings at a lower price, so unless you want the antioxidants or just love loose-leaf, you might not find it worth it. Nice ruby red color (slightly redder than this picture makes it look, due to lighting).

Tea Review: Caramel Almond Amarettti

Caramel Almond Amaretti Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Herbal, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Nutty, spicy, fruity
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $7.98/ 2oz
How I brewed it 3 tsp in a 32 oz teapot, brewed with boiling water for 5 minutes. Drunk with a tsp of milk and a drop of honey.	Rebrewing notes Few herbals make a good rebrew. Didn't rebrew this one, though I don't see this one holding up well.
Review I enjoy this one. It's got a rich nutty scent, and tastes nutty, too. A bit reminiscent of hazelnut, despite not actually containing any. It's one of those teas that I do prefer with milk and lightly sweetened, but it's also tasty plain, just a bit more tart. Rich, with the sweetness of caramel. Although it's vaguely fruity, and has apple in it, I don't really taste a distinct flavor of apple. More like a hint of a subtle, generic fruit flavor. I also don't taste the coconut; it disappears the moment you add milk, and is subtle anyway. Really the coconut just brings out more of the nutty flavor, probably why I think I taste hazelnut in addition to almond. It's made with beetroot, which is part of what makes it sweet-tasting, so it brews to a bright red (or pink with milk). You don't taste beets, I promise. It just makes for a nice natural sweetener. So if you want some tea for Valentines, it'd be a cute choice. Because it's herbal and doesn't have yerba root, no caffeine, which makes it a good tea for drinking in the evening. The sweetness makes it a good dessert tea if you want something sweet but don't want to ruin your diet. The price point isn't unreasonable for a nice tea, even one that only gets brewed once. I like this herbal enough that I'd buy it despite the single use (though it came as part of the holiday set, I've bought it on its own before). What can I say? It smells fantastic, tastes good, won't keep me up at night. When I want to sleep, it's an easy win.

Tea Review: Four Seasons Oolong

Four Seasons Oolong Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Oolong, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Natural
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $17.98/ 2oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp in 20-oz teapot, boiled water with 1 ice cube melted in, steeped for 2.5 minutes	Rebrewing notes Like most oolongs, rebrews well at least a second time. Haven't tried a third yet, but I see no reason why it wouldn't go for at least 3-4 brews. It's an oolong, after all.
Review It's a decent oolong. I recommend using more tea to water than I've noted for brewing here--I like my tea on stronger side, and 1.5 tsp for 20 oz is a bit weak for my tastes. I've made it stronger before, however, and it was good. There are other oolongs I love more, but this one is definitely good, a solid and well-flavored brew with a nice, earthy oolong scent. It's got a light taste, but you can definitely smell the tea. Cooled to room temperature (such as by forgetting the mug at hand while browsing on FB for too long...), and I can't even taste it, just smell it. It's got the taste of good water with a nice scent, so if you're not a huge tea drinker but want the benefits of tea, I'd suggest this tea, room temperature or even cooled. If you're a huge tea-lover, then keep it warm, or else you won't be able to taste your tea! Really, I can't think of anything particular to say about this oolong. It's good, and good quality, but not as spectacular as Osmanthus or High Mountain (for an unflavored oolong) to my tastebuds. It's a bit on the pricey side, so if you have a choice, just go for a real Taiwanese oolong. If you have trouble getting your hands on one of those, or are at Teavana with a gift certificate and want something more on the earthy side than the grassy side, this is a good choice. If you're more on the slightly closer to green side of oolongs, and don't mind paying a bit more, monkey-picked oolong is your best bet. Long story short: Quite good, but not great; brew strong for best results. From Teavana

Tea review: White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos

White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea herbal, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects minty, chocolatey
Where I got it Teavana (part of the Winter Gift collection)	Cost $9.98/ 2oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp in 12-oz mug, water from the coffee machine, drank half, added 1 packet powdered creamer to the rest	Rebrewing notes Haven't re-brewed yet, but my hopes aren't high, since some of the flavor comes from the chocolate bits that melt.
Review Like many rooibos teas, I enjoyed this more after adding creamer. Luckily it's already sweet enough that I didn't need to add sugar, but it takes a bit weak without the richness of milk.  It's pretty good. I find it does taste a bit like peppermint hot chocolate. More like regular chocolate than white chocolate, though. It is sweet on its own, so it's definitely a dessert tea. Enjoyable and easily drinkable. That said, for those who don't drink tea regularly, they'd be better off with actual cocoa. So probably not a great beginner tea. Better as a novelty gift for a veteran tea-drinker who enjoys the occasional fun tea. If holiday-themed gifts are your style, it's the sort of gift a tea-drinker would enjoy, but probably not put money into themselves. Just be sure to tell them to add milk. On the whole, if I didn't get this tea as part of a gift set, I wouldn't have bought it myself. But I am enjoying it, and rather like the play of flavors. The mellowness of the chocolate goes well with the rooibos flavor--in fact, I can barely taste the rooibos, it blends so well. But I don't think the tea would be drinkable without the rooibos base; it's just that the chocolate is what you taste instead of the rooibos that gives the tea a solid foundation. The peppermint, like in most peppermint-chocolate blends, is a nice touch and goes very well. Plus it's easy to make and forgiving. It's a decent tea. I enjoy it, but I don't head-over-heels love it. So... yeah. For a holiday gift, if you're only getting one tea, I'd probably actually suggest going with the White Ayurvedic Chai as a gift instead, especially if your friend has experience brewing white tea.  Find it here at Teavana.

Tea Review: Pineapple Kona Pop Herbal Tea

Pineapple Kona Pop Herbal Tea Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea herbal, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects fruity
Where I got it Teavana	Cost $6.98/ 2oz
How I brewed it 4 tsp in a liter teapot, added boiling water, let steep 3 minutes	Rebrewing notes Like many fruit-herbal teas, it's not a good rebrew. You get one strong steeping and then you're done. The second brew has some flavor, but compared to the first it's very weak.
Review I brewed this tea strong, because I tend to like my fruity herbal teas strong (as it has no leaves from the tea plant, it's technically a tisané). This is just personal preference. It's very citrus-y, pineapple and orange. Made strong I don't taste any of the "floral undertones" advertised, but to me there seems to be a bit of a blueberry-reminiscent aftertaste, which is odd because there's absolutely no blueberry in it. Not enough to change the main taste, though; it mostly appears in the aftertaste. I can sort of smell the flowers in the scent, but mostly it's a pineapple orange tea. If you want a slightly juice-like tea, this is a good one to taste. I'd say it's great if you're just getting used to teas, too, with a strong flavor (still weak compared to, say, Gatorade, but it's tea, not juice or soda-substitute.) A nice tea for breakfast, and also a nice tea for nighttime when you're trying to avoid caffeine. On the whole I'd give a solid score: tasty, but not spectacular. A good for someone new to tea, or looking for a caffeine-free cup, or in the mood for something fruity. Better than most average-priced bagged teas, but I won't call it the very best herbal tea I've ever had, either; and for the price a high-end bagged tea would be just as good, without the mess of clean-up of loose-leaf tea. Still, it's enjoyable and not terribly expensive, and honestly the tea blend looks very pretty. It would make a very nice gift for a citrus-loving tea drinker who is looking to avoid caffeine for a while, without breaking the bank or looking cheap. At Teavana

Fujian Wu Long Tea Review

Fujian Wu Long Tea (Golden Bridge Brand) Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Oolong, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Natural, earthy
Where I got it Gift from a friend	Cost No idea, really
How I brewed it Boiled water and let it cool slightly, maybe 10 minutes in a closed kettle. Also tried making it with coffee machine water at work.	Rebrewing notes Rebrews well, like most oolongs. I had 3 good cups from the same leaves, and wouldn't be surprised to get more.
Review This oolong is light, even more so than most. Warm I can barely taste it, a very subtle flavor. When it cools it seems to have an almost coconut-like aftertaste. The first time I made it, I didn't have the water quite hot enough--I'd suggest using water at least 190, which makes the flavor more noticeable, but really even fully steeped it's a subtle taste. What I do notice is almost a green tea in taste, or possibly a white-green blend. Don't let that dissuade you if you're a tea lover, though. Probably not for people still developing their taste for tea, but if you're an aficionado, or at least a pocket hobbyist, it's worth a try. If you enjoy plain white teas, you'll probably enjoy this one. I rather like it, and find it highly drinkable, even after 5 cups in a single day. To that point, I've had five cups in a single day, and am about to go back for a sixth... Is it my favorite all-time tea? No, I'd probably give that honor to one of the other oolongs I've had (like this one), or perhaps the white chai. To be honest, not even in the top ten. But I'd rank it in the top 30.

Tea review: Disney's Mad Tea Party Blend

Mad Tea Party Blend Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects fruity, natural
Where I got it Disney World	Cost Came with the tea press, which was $35; or about $25 here for 3 oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp loose-leaf tea, 12ish oz hot water from the coffee machine, for about 3 minutes	Rebrewing notes Like many black teas, it gets weaker with subsequent steepings. However, I typically get one good, full-flavored resteep from each batch.
Review So part of the appeal is that it's a Disney tea. That makes it fun, even if it's oversteeped. Which, this morning it is, I slightly did... I recommend about 2 1/2 minutes and water around 190 (I think the coffee machine was a bit hot this morning). But it's only slightly oversteeped, and I've done so before; this tea is fairly resilient and doesn't become very bitter even when you abuse it. This probably has to do with the fruity aspects of it. It's a ginger/peach/apricot/black tea blend. Honestly I get mostly an indistinct peach-apricot-ish flavor that mellows nicely with the black tea; I can't really taste the ginger at all. I say "indistinct" because I usually tell when something is peach-flavored, but it's more gentle in flavor than peach-flavorings usually are. Blends really nicely with black tea, and ends up highlighting the black tea flavor more than the other way around, although I definitely do taste the fruit. I just have to think about it to identify that it's the fruit I'm tasting. I'd call it an overall pretty good tea. Not amazing, and not something I'd usually spend that much for on it's own (I'd put it on par with the $6-10 per 2 oz teas I have); but if you want a Disney souvenir that you can get use from for a while to come, it's not a bad choice. Especially if it's part of a set, like the tea cups or the tea press, which are very cute. Definitely drinkable. And fun. And yeah, I'm definitely tempted to wear a silly hat every time I drink it.

Tea Review: Lapsang Souchong

Lapsang Souchong Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects smokey, natural
Where I got it  The Tea and Spice Exchange	Cost $5.49/oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp at 190F in a 16-oz pot for 3 minutes	Rebrewing notes First rebrew is good. I still got the full smokey flavor and the rich taste of the tea. However, the second rebrew was a bit weaker. I'd suggest your third pot be brewed with hotter water and for a tad longer, and I wouldn't expect to get much more 2 rebrews with these leaves.
Review This tea was recommended by an online tea group; I was looking for the best teas for reading different types of fantasy, and this came up as the favorite of several people for urban fantasy. Therefore, when I was at the tea store I had to pick up a packet to try. It's smokey, and when I say that, I mean it very much feels like drinking the essence of campfire (hickory wood, I think). It's a black tea, and if you were to add a drop of liquid smoke to black tea, you might end up with a flavor much like this. In this case, though, the flavor comes naturally from how the tea is prepared (the leaves have been actually smoked). It's a traditional Chinese tea. I find the taste pleasant and very unique. If you're looking for something off-beat, I'd suggest giving this tea a try. Still trying to figure out if it's the novelty that I find so appealing, or the flavor itself, but I do quite enjoy it. The brand is a good, respectable-quality loose-leaf tea; my taste buds tell me it's worth the price, and if you prepare it as I did, it has a very nice, mellow black tea flavor under the smoky taste. However, if BBQ isn't your thing, and you're not a fan of the taste of smoked foods, you should pass on this one. Note that if you don't usually make black tea with water hotter than 195F, ignore the instructions on the packet. It has you using tablespoons of tea instead of teaspoons and at a hotter water than most black tea, but I suggest following your usual method of black tea preparation--turns out fine, plenty strong, and not over or underbrewed. Image from Tea and Spice Exchange-- I suggest ordering by the ounce to try before you commit to a larger quantity; they let you do that here. Also, the spice blends are excellent, too.

Tea Review: Coconut Oolong

Coconut Oolong Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Oolong, loose-leaf	Aroma Coconut, light oolong scent
Where I got it At Tea and Spice Exchange in Blowing Rock, NC. You can find it online here, although apparently this is a chain store, so you might be near a brick-and-mortar store.	Cost $5.49/oz
How I brewed it Water from the coffee machine poured over 1.5 tsp in a 16 oz mug, steeped for about 2-3 minutes.	Rebrewing notes Rebrews well for a second brew. It's an oolong, which you're supposed to rebrew multiple times anyway to get the "full oolong experience," which is another way of saying it's a great tea for re-steeping. Flavor holds up for at least 3 rebrews; I haven't gone past that yet.
Review Word of warning, if you don't like coconut, you'll hate it; and the coconut flavor is obtained by "artificial coconut flavor." But I do like coconut, and I find the taste of this tea fantastic. The coconut is more in the scent than the flavor--although it has a strong coconut smell, the taste of toasted coconut is rather light and mostly notable in the aftertaste. In terms of flavor, it's a good-quality oolong tea, if not a particularly fancy one. It's pretty resilient; I've brewed it with both water too hot and too cool, and it turned out okay with the too hot, and fine with the water a bit too cool (a bit light on the first brew with cool water, but the second brew with normal-heated water was full flavored). It's got a bold-for-oolong flavor; the coconut seems to more enhance the natural oolong flavor than be tasted itself, and I think may contribute to the resiliency of the tea, covering up brewing mistakes that might otherwise taste bitter or flavorless. If what you love about oolong is the scent, you'll miss it with this tea. It's one of the two things I dislike about this tea, but the coconut smell completely covers the rich oolong scent (the other thing: I'd have preferred real coconut to artificial). However, I like how it does smell almost as much, so there's that.  Admittedly, I also hit up Asian food stores for my oolongs, so I'm a bit spoiled on prices and find it on the high end. However, although the price per ounce adds up, it's in line with Teavana, even a bit cheaper than most of the Teavana oolongs, so it's definitely not unreasonable. On the whole, I give it excellent scores for taste, resiliency, and ability to rebrew. If you re-steep your leaves, it's worth the price, and I would definitely recommend it.  It won't give you a great idea of what oolongs in general taste like, but it's delicious and a unique tea for habitual oolong drinkers. If you want to buy another tea for a collection and can only buy one, compared to the Osmanthus Chin Hsuang, I'd definitely say go with the chin hsuang if you can find it, but you'll have a much easier time finding this one, and it's good enough you won't feel you're missing anything.

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea, Guest Post: How long to cool boiling water for your tea)