Violin in C Sharp

 This is the second blend from a variety three pack that I'm trying.  The first was African Chai - which I really enjoyed.  This Earl Grey variation uses the same Kenyan black tea as the base as was used in the Chai, so I had high hopes. When I opened the tin, the bergamot hit me in the face like a wall - and it made me smile with how delicious it smelled.  A surprising twist from the tin was that, even though it is a black tea, the tin suggests only a three minute steep in boiling water instead of the more traditional 5 minute.  I wasn't sure I would get enough flavour from a black tea with only a three minute steep.  Hence, the first time I brewed it, I did a 5 minute steep. After the 5 minute steep, the tea DID exhibit a few tells flavour wise of an oversteep.  Thankfully, it wasn't a full oversteep disaster that ruined my cuppa - but it did make me try the tin directions for a three minute steep on my second brew.  Also thankfully, the 5 min o...

 Dad found this at the grocery store and brought it home.  It's not something I ever would have picked out for myself because I almost NEVER enjoy peach flavoured anything - especially not peach flavoured tea. That having been said - OMG THIS WAS DELICIOUS!!! The peach flavour in this was not at all like any peach flavouring I've ever had in a drink.  It tasted like I was biting into a fresh peach!  It was like drinking peach nectar, but without the pulpy lumpy texture and with the lovely added end note of a light green tea. The tea flavour was there in the main note, but I had to search for it.  Mainly, the green tea came in on the end note, the finish, and the after taste.  In the end note, the somewhat grassy flavour you can get from green tea is what cut the sweetness of the peach flavour, but then the grassy faded on the finish and the aftertaste was almost similar to that of a sweet matcha latte without the creaminess. Verdict:  I want more!

 This was in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's, and well, I love me a good chai.  Loving a good chai means that I am eternally on the hunt for good chai blends, which means I pretty much have to try nearly every chai that I come across because you never know when it is that you're going to find THE chai blend that is perfect for YOUR palate.  As such, I picked this up for a taste test. Now, the large print advertises this as a chai - but if you keep reading the bottle, the smaller print bills this as a protein smoothie, and honestly that's far more accurate.  "Protein smoothie with chai tea, almond, coconut cream, and an exotic spice blend" is how the entire label reads.  Texture wise, this is DEFINITLY a protein smoothie.  It's thick in that nearly melted milk shake sort of way, and it has a coarseness to the texture that utterly betrays the presence of the chopped up almonds.  There is also the not quite dissolved powder sensation that you get...

 A week or so ago, I was in the Trader Joe's beer and wine section when I saw a variety pack of what is being marketed as "hard tea".  I was, needless to say, intrigued. So I bought myself a few packs with different flavors, and this is the first of them.  Raspberry Mint.  Honestly, I was afraid when I popped this open that it was going to smell like kombucha.  I have yet to smell a kombucha that doesn't remind me of dirty socks - and I can't stand the taste of any of them either. So, it was with great delight that when I sniffed this as I poured it into a glass, that it smelled nothing of kombucha!  If anything, it smells slightly like beer or maybe cider would be a better correlation on the aroma profile.  What I didn't smell was the mint - which was a surprise. Also a surprise was the color.  I just wasn't expecting such a pinkish berry color!  Keemun is a pretty dark black tea the way that I brew it, so I was honestly expecting this to ha...