Tea Empties #1

​Over the past few months, I have emptied quite a few tea boxes. I love chatting about tea, and as most of you probably already know, I place tea orders pretty often (maybe too often??). I have posted a tea haul on this blog before, but it doesn’t allow me to do an informed review of each tea, since I just got it and have only enjoyed a cup or two. So I thought I would do it the other way around.

​The concept of empties actually comes from beauty gurus who, every couple of months, share the products that they have completely finished, along with their thoughts on them. I have shared a product empties before, but I’ve since decided to steer way from the beauty community and focus this blog mainly on tea, books, baking, and lifestyle. But the concept of empties stuck with me.

​I finish every single tea that I buy or that is given to me, because I find that there is something to love in each and every single one. If I don’t like the taste and can’t play with the intensity, I use it up in recipes or drinks. There is no tea that’s being wasted in this household. Without further ado, here is the tea that I finished in the last few months (occasionally with tears of sadness).

​*Most of the tea here is from David’s Tea. This post isn’t sponsored in any way (although I wouldn’t say no, hehehe). Most of the tea that I finished is from David’s Tea simply because I buy most of my tea from there, as it is the most easily accessible to me.

​Matcha Matsu
I recently got into matcha tea (can you believe I had never had a proper cup of matcha tea before the beginning of this month??). Matcha Matsu came in a matcha starter kit, along with the matcha bowl, bamboo whisk and spoon. I can’t really compare it with others, because I didn’t get a chance to taste very many yet. What I can say is that it’s super simple, with no added flavor whatsoever. I think it’s great to discover matcha, get familiar with the taste, and experiment with this little green powder. 

​Green Passionfruit
This tea tastes like a spring day spent in the park. I thoroughly enjoyed every single cup. It is light, not too fruity or too sweet, not too floral… just perfect. It’s also great iced, so this is definitely a spring/summer staple. The only thing negative I could say about this tea is that I’m not sure it really tastes like passion fruit… but then again, I won’t claim to have the most developed palate for exotic fruits. I’d be curious to see, is it just me?

Cinnamon Chai
While I do love cinnamon, I’m not one to sprinkle cinnamon on everything. In my humble opinion, this tea is a little too strong on the cinnamon front, to a point where you can’t really taste the chai tea anymore. A lot of tea featuring cinnamon (from various brands) end up being super concentrated in spices and super intense, and this one is sadly no exception. I’ve used this tea for the sole purpose of dipping cookies more than once.

​Sweet Tart – Limited Edition
That’s a new favorite of mine, right there. Cherry tea, in general, hits the mark for me; I could drink it like water. Sweet Tart is so perfectly balanced, I like it even more than Cherry Lucuma or Cherry Blossom (both from David’s Tea as well). The name leads you to believe that it would be super tart, almost like sour cherry candies, but the sweet element is definitely there to balance out the tartness. To me, that is a perfect tea.

​Lemon Ginger
Ginger tea is great for digestion, to alleviate nausea or during a cold. I always like to have one or two handy just in case (after a huge meal, it is not the time to go tea shopping), but this one didn’t do it for me. Lipton has some great tea, and I do like the idea of the ginger combined with the lemon in this one, but the ginger element is just too present. Combined with the acidity of the lemon, it creates an extremely bitter taste. There is so much great ginger tea out there (almost every single brand makes it), I feel like this one is just not worth it.

​Gingerbread Blondie – Limited Edition
Speaking of great ginger tea, this one is definitely one of them. In fact, it might be my favorite. It’s all the good of the ginger, sweetened with a little vanilla. It’s the perfect halfway point between tart and sweet. I’m normally not a big fan of vanilla, but here it only comes in to tone down the acidity and the spice of the ginger. And it’s super festive. Definitely something to look for in the next holiday collection.

​Fresh Start
Every month, we get a box of granola from Oatbox, and sometimes I like to throw a little tea in our order. This fresh minty one is great for iced tea during the summer. I love that it’s made with earl grey, and I find that the mint compliments that flavor perfectly. However, the tea bag and the grade of the tea give it a little dusty flavor that makes you wish it was loose leaf tea.

​Super Ginger
Another great ginger tea, although not my personal favorite. I like the mix of the ginger with the three types of pepper (black, white and pink peppercorn), and it doesn’t have caffeine, so it’s great for nighttime or after a big lunch meeting.

​Thé Rose
I’m personally not a fan of rose water, or rose flavor, or even the smell of roses, so this tea wasn’t for me. However, it is strictly black tea and rose petals, so I can imagine it being very enjoyable if it’s a taste that you appreciate.

​Forever Frosty – Limited Edition
This one is a spin-off of David’s Tea’s famous Forever Nuts. I don’t like the original one that much, because I find it sweet in a very overpowering way, kind of like a bunch of dried fruits in one single bite. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the holiday version either, for pretty much the same reason. Forever Frosty contains oranges, marshmallows, coconut flakes and cloves (in addition to all the ingredients found in Forever Nuts), but it’s hard to pick up on that because of the intensity of each ingredient; they kind of just all blend together.

​The Buzz
I used it to wake up in the morning, and it certainly did the job. Mate has a very particular, heavy, almost burned taste, which I probably need to get more accustomed to. It’s hard to pick up on any individual flavor in this tea. To me, it tastes like Mr. Freeze juice (to be fair, a lot of people are really into that).

​Satsuma Spice Cake – Limited Edition
I loved everything about this tea. It smells delicious, it is a beautiful combination of fruits and spices, and the name is super appetizing. There is something old school about this tea; it almost reminds me of an upside-down pineapple cake or a molasses cookie. It is made with black tea, which makes it perfect for the morning or for the afternoon tea. My mouth is watering, just writing this. It was in the 2019 holiday collection, and if it comes back in 2020… Grab some!! 

​Movie Night
I take the name very seriously and solely drink this while watching a movie. Maybe it’s 100% in my head, but I can’t imagine this tea in any other scenario. You can literally taste the melted butter (although there isn’t any!). It’s the perfect imitation and the perfect snack for a movie night if you don’t have any pop-corn. I don’t even care that I’m probably saying all this because of the name; I don’t want the illusion to end.

​Bear Trap
Not a fan, but I know a lot of people who are. It is a very intense fruit infusion, to the point where it almost just tastes like hot fruit punch if you drink it warm. You can’t really taste the hibiscus and the rosehip, which would have been nice to balance out the fruity taste. However, it is much better cold when poured over ice.  If you are a fan of fruit infusions and more specifically berries, this is the tea for you. 

​Maple Chai
This tea reminds me of a very good whisky, with an amber color, classy, warm flavor, enjoyed in a plush living room… Maple marries well with chai tea, and it’s a great holiday tea to offer to your guests after the party.

​If you have discovered a new tea lately, or if you’ve tried any of the ones mentioned here, please let me know in the comments so we can chat all about tea. Tea preferences are very personal, so I strongly encourage you to try any tea that sounds appetizing to you. I plan on doing tea empties every couple of months; stay tuned!

Much love,