L. S.
User's reviews
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Campfire S'Mores
I'll say this to start; too many people buy these sorts of blends and then complain when they don't taste *exactly* like cake, or candy, or s'mores in this case. If you want to taste s'mores, eat a s'more. If you're looking for a smoky, chocolatey tea, you'll like this one. My 3 oz. bag of it's going pretty fast, because the lapsang and the chocolate go together really well.
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Almond
Bitter and astringent. The almond flavoring is far too mild to overcome the black base. If you want a nutty tea, there are better offerings.
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VANILLA CARAMEL TEA BAGS
Artificial-tasting. I used to like it more when I was a teenager and filled it with milk and sugar, but now? Now I think I'll pass in favor of something else.
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Country Peach Passion
Makes for a good iced tea. The peach really shines and the hibiscus is muted. Not as good hot, because that obnoxious hibiscus sourness comes to the forefront.
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Toasted Coconut Almond Bark
Ew. Since I love coconut, my mom gave me a box of this, and it's so gross. The green tea, chamomile, and rose hips are unnecessary and clash with the coconut-almond flavor. Would it have been so hard to just have a black tea with pieces of coconut and almond along with the flavoring?
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FRENCH VANILLA TEA BAGS
It has that fake vanilla taste that all supermarket bagged teas have. Not for me. If I want a vanilla tea, there's plenty of better loose-leaf options.
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Gingerbread Festival
Smells better than it tastes. It's not only lighter than I thought it would be from that delicious scent, but there's some sort of funky background taste that I just don't like. Not worth the $15 for the tin.
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Vanilla
Really better as a blending tea than anything else. I don't really care for it alone.
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Vanilla Oolong
I know it's the same flavoring, but I like this more than the vanilla black tea. I can't exactly describe why, but it seems less artificial on the oolong base than on the Ceylon.
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Pumpkin Spice
All spice, no pumpkin. There really isn't any difference between this and any generic chai you might find. Had to mix it with a more pumpkin-forward tea from another retailer.
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Vanilla Pear
It's a nice tea, with a pear-like flavor to it, but it's not really anything to write home about. Tea Forte's often overpriced for what it is, and this is no exception.
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Gingerbread
At best it's just okay. Bought it one year when I couldn't get Simpson & Vail's gingerbread tea and was disappointed. It's nowhere near as good.
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Cinnamon Apple Spice
Another apple blend ruined by the presence of hibiscus. Really sucks how many herbal teas are spoiled by its overpoweringly sour taste.
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TOWER OF LONDON
It's an interesting take on an Earl. The bergamot isn't overpowering like it can be in some Earl Greys, taking a backseat to the fruit and honey flavors.
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VENETIAN TIRAMISU
The chocolate works nicely with the hojicha. I wouldn't say it tastes all that much like any tiramisu I've ever had, but it's good.
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CHOCOLATE MINT
Unlike most chocolate mint teas I can taste both the mint and chocolate. It's definitely more mint-forward, but the chocolate is still there. It makes a surprisingly good iced tea too.
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APPLE CINNAMON
It's a pretty solid apple cinnamon tea. To be honest I like it more than the Hot Apple Spice because the cinnamon is natural-tasting and not like Red Hots.
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HEIRLOOM BARTLETT PEAR
This is really lovely. A light, sweet spiced pear flavor that's nice on its own, or paired with another fruit tea. Sometimes I mix it in with blackberry tea, and it's really good. My only complaint is that all those ground spices will go right through your tea ball if you're using one and into the bottom of your cup.
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Cream
It's really nothing special on its own, but makes a good blending tea. It adds a nice creamy note to chocolate or fruit teas.
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Pu-erh Hazelberry
Something about it always reminded me of Crunch Berries. Both the scent of the dry mix and the flavor of the tea just keep making me think of it. Not that that's a bad thing. Plus it's a nice way to get the benefits of pu-erh without having to deal with the taste of pu-erh.
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TIPPY YUNNAN
This is a good, strong early morning tea when I need something to wake me up. Not astringent at all, and usually pretty forgiving if you overbrew it.
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WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA TEA
Tastes for the most part like cinnamon with a sweet aftertaste that might be something like white chocolate. Supposedly coffee flavoring in there, I wouldn't know if the packaging didn't tell me.
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AMBESSA CHOCO NUT - 50 SACHET BAG
It's alright. I think it's trying to do too many things at once (chocolate and peanut *and* caramel *and* apricot) and it all sort of gets muddied together. To be honest it tastes like less of a "choco nut" blend and more like a "choco fruit" blend.
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Chocolate Mint Oolong Tea
Way more mint than chocolate. There's an odd background taste that might be the chocolate flavoring or the oolong base, I'm not really sure. There are better options if you want a chocolate tea.
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English Breakfast Honey & Vanilla
This makes for a nice morning tea . The honey and vanilla flavors are strong and sweet, so you really don't need to add anything else in the way of sweeteners to it.
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Spiced Apple Chai
The apple makes all the difference. The regular chai is pretty unimpressive, but the apple flavoring makes this into something almost pie-like.
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SOHO BLEND
I wanted to like this. I really wanted to like this because chocolate and coconut, what's not to like? Something about this tea always tasted off though, no matter how I brewed it. I eventually just gave up and gave away my tin.
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BANGKOK
Not much ginger, but plenty of coconut and lemongrass flavor. The vanilla makes for a nice background note. One of my favorite green teas.
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Florence
Much more chocolate than hazelnut. It's a tasty tea, but I can't see enough difference between it and the plain old chocolate tea to choose it over that.
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CAPRI
I didn't get much of a fig taste from this (partially because there were so few figs in the mix), but it's still a delicious lemon-vanilla tea.
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VANILLA BLACK
This is my favorite vanilla tea; I could easily drink it every day. It's sweet and creamy and vanilla-y. My mom doesn't even like tea and she usually comments on how good it smells whenever I make it.
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Sweet Harvest Pumpkin
It's pretty decent for a bagged pumpkin tea. Reminds me a bit of pumpkin cake or pumpkin bread. I wouldn't add any sweetener to it, as it's already pretty sweet on its own.
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Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride
It's decent if you use two bags and steep it for a long time, 10 minutes or so. If you do, you'll have a nice vanilla-y tea that really is a bit reminiscent of a sugar cookie. Any less than that and it won't taste like much.
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Caramel Peach with Coconut
I don't normally like rooibos, but this is the exception to the rule. The peach and caramel work nicely together, and mask that woody rooibos flavor.
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RASPBERRY ROYALE
Raspberry's one of those flavors I really like. While it's more of a candylike raspberry than a fresh raspberry taste, it's still decent for a bagged tea.
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PUMPKIN SPICE BLACK TEA
Ugh. This just isn't good. No matter the steep time or temperature, it always has a funky, nasty taste to it. Not something I want to drink.
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Asian Pear Harmony
Definitely tastes like pear. It's not quite as light as the honeydew green, but it's tasty, and also makes for nice iced tea.
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Sweet Honeydew
I haven't come across many melon-flavored teas, but this is really good. It really tastes like honeydew melon. It's light and refreshing, and makes for a really nice iced tea.
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Pumpkin Spice Chai
It's one of the better pumpkin spice chais I've had. The base can be a little astringent, so I wouldn't steep it for longer than three minutes.
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Earl Grey - Jasmine
A nice lighter Earl thanks to the jasmine green. The jasmine is subtle, but it's there, and it works better with the bergamot than I thought it would.
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Strawberry Tea
It's not any different from most bagged strawberry teas I've had, which really isn't saying anything good. It's okay if you blend it with other teas, but on its own it's unremarkable.
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Double Spice Chai Black Tea
Ugh. Just not good. It's way too heavily spiced, especially as far as the cloves are concerned. I felt like I was drinking hot spiced water and not tea at all.
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Peach Black Tea
It has a wonderful peachy smell, but the taste isn't quite as strong as it would suggest. All the same, it makes a nice iced tea.
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EARL GREY BLACK TEA BAGS
A nice, solid Earl. One of the teas I reach for when I just want something simple. No milk, maybe a bit of sugar or honey, nothing else.
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Earl Grey Bella Luna
I was a little apprehensive, but the coconut and bergamot play surprisingly well together. Just don't steep for longer than 3 minutes or it'll become horribly bitter.
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Pear Ginger
Most fruit and ginger teas I've had are way too light on the ginger. They taste like only peach or only pear. In this I actually get both, which is exactly what I was looking for.
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ROSE PETAL BLACK
Picked up a can of this on a whim because I enjoy floral teas, and I don't regret it. It's lovely. Nice and rosey, but not to the point of tasting like shampoo. You can sweeten it if you want, but I drink it without.
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STRAWBERRY SENSATION
Jammy strawberry flavor, really doesn't need much in the way of sweeteners at all. A bit better iced than hot because of that sweetness.
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PEAR & CINNAMON STRUDEL
I was incredibly disappointed by this tea. I think it might have been the base, but there was this underlying cardboard taste I didn't like at all. The pear flavoring was good, but that wasn't enough to save it.
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APPLE REFRESH
It's hard to find teas that are just apple and not apple cinnamon. This fits the bill nicely, and is my go-to tea when I want something that's just plain apple.
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Earl Grey - Lavender
There's a lot of lavender in this, which is surprising for a bagged tea. It's really good when I want lavender Earl and don't feel like breaking out any of my loose teas.
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Honeybush Banana Nut
Has a nice banana bread flavor, and blends well with chocolate or nutty teas if you want to mix it with something caffeinated.
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Maple Creme Oolong
It's tasty and it smells wonderful, but whatever maple flavor there is is overshadowed by the cinnamon and cloves. Really more of a maple chai than anything.
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Summer Rose
One of my favorites. Just enough rose to be nicely floral, not so much as to be overpowering.
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Coconut
I love this. It's just coconutty enough without being cloyingly so. Gets even better when you mix it with chocolate or almond.
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Chocolate Chai Pu Erh
Overpowering ginger and a strange, funky pu-erh smell made this far too unpleasant to drink.
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Vanilla Bean Macaron
Has a pleasant scent, but it's overly sweet and fake-tasting. Almost tastes like cheap canned frosting.
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Apricot Vanilla Creme
Very light and delicate, as it's a white tea. I enjoy it cold-brewed, as I've found that it can get very bitter very quickly if you brew it hot. As far as flavor goes, the apricot plays nicely with the vanilla, making it sweet and creamy.
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Chai Pumpkin Spice
Very, very licorice-forward. In fact, this tastes more like "black jellybean spice" than "pumpkin spice".