Fern's Tea Reviews

reviewing various teas. usually bagged, occasional loose-leaf. pfp by Sharey Monk

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Review Guidelines

tea is usually steeped for the entirety of drinking time (sorry) unless otherwise specified

tea is not sweetened unless otherwise specified (may be sweetened with honey, sugar or agave)

tea is steeped in boiling/near boiling water with the exception of white tea. i don't own a fancy kettle

if a product is marketed as tea, i will be reviewing it as tea. this means that yes, herbal teas will be referred to as teas even though they’re technically not.

all opinions are my own and are therefore probably bad because i am not a professional tea drinker. please don't yell at me

teas will be tagged and categorized by type (eg. black/green/white), brand (eg. tazo/bigelow/harney & sons), and whether or not they contain any extra flavor

have fun and be yourself

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Tazo Passion

Rating: 9.5/10

Comments: what an excellent tea. this is a fruity decaf herbal infusion with a hibiscus and rose hip base, flavored with orange peel, passion fruit, and cinnamon. tazo has it on lock when it comes to blending somewhat unexpected flavors into their teas that really end up making the final product. the tiny bit of cinnamon balances out the fruity flavors perfectly, and keeps it from becoming overpoweringly sweet and tart. the color of this tea is gorgeous too, it's a deep and evocative magenta that makes you sad you're drinking it in a mug (but never fear! it's great iced too, so you can drink it in a clear jar if you'd like). i highly recommend this tea for a relaxing start or end to your day, no sweetener needed!

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Organisia Lychee, Yuzu, Mint

Rating: 8/10

Comments: for a tea i bought on a whim at homegoods, this is really yummy! it's a very strong, fruity flavor, but you can definitely taste the discrete elements, which is pretty impressive for a tea of this caliber. again, i swear i'm not a tea snob, but this is a cheap tea. so considering that, i'm impressed! it's decaf too, with a rosehip and hibiscus base (which also makes for a deep and vibrant color). these two herbs are also both supposed to be very beneficial for period pain if that's something you experience! my only complaint is that it gets unpleasantly grassy and bitter if you let it steep for too long, but that can be easily remedied by taking out the teabag after a shorter steep. bonus: this saves your teabag and gives you two steeps! highly recommend this tea, i'm really hoping that it wasn't just something the homegoods pocket dimension spat out and that i'll be able to buy it again!

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Guayakí Peach Revival Yerba Mate

Rating: 8/10

Comments: tea in a can! wow! my comment: make brain go zoom

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Devagiri Tea Estate Vanilla Black

Rating: 6/10

Comments: I had really high hopes for this tea, especially because Devagiri Tea Estate makes a really big deal about having sustainable labor practices, being single origin, and using biodegradable packaging. this is all fantastic! unfortunately this tea is honestly a bit disappointing. it doesn't taste like black tea with vanilla in it!! it tastes a bit more like the pu'erh tea i've been drinking recently, which isn't bad per se, but it's really not what i was hoping for. it's pretty bitter and malty, with almost no sweetness unless you add a sweetener. it was also pretty expensive, which makes sense given their supply chain, but does add insult to injury of it not being very good. I'll definitely take the plunge again and buy another one of their teas to support their practices, but if it's also bad i will be very unhappy indeed.

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Harney & Sons Pomegranate Green

Rating: 10/10

Comments: I think Harney & Sons just does flavored green teas the best of anyone in the business. I've loved every flavored green tea from them, and I've had quite a few. Their tropical green is my favorite tea, period, and their citron and cherry blossom green are really high up there. this one marks another entry into the Harney & Sons pantheon. What can I say? it's delightful. A perfect balance of that tart, almost mixed-berry sweetness you get from pomegranate with the lightest grassy notes. flavorful and punchy but not overpowering. it's sublime. it is, as i texted my friend who very kindly bought this for me, "bangin." good for two steeps too! i got this tea in a limited edition tin from the met on a trip to NYC, which has a beautiful print of some very nice tilework they have on display there on it. i Will be putting house plants in it as i finish this tea, which will be fairly soon because it is excellent.

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Numi Emperor's Pu-erh

Rating: 7.5/10

Comments: This tea was a first for me! While I'd certainly heard the name before, I had never had pu-erh (or pu'er, or pu erh) before this, and honestly was not even sure what it was. it's fermented tea from Yunnan, known for its malty and earthy flavors (according to wikipedia, and also me, because it does indeed have those flavors). It's also reddish in color, which is very cool and fun to look at. when i first tried this tea, i was honestly a little concerned, because while it was supposed to taste malty and earthy, it initially smelled like butt and ass. but curiosity drives this cat towards weird smelling tea, so i took a sip. the flavor is! complex! it definitely took a few sips to get used to. but honestly, after making it a few times, i think i really like it. it does have a funk to it that regular black tea doesn't have, but that also takes the bitterness out and makes it more mellow. as i said earlier, i definitely get the malty and earthy taste it is purported to have, and overall it's a pretty enjoyable experience, or at least something that's fun to try. obviously, i am biased, because this is the only pu-erh i've ever tried, so i can't vouch for how good numi's tea is compared to more high-end brands. i definitely get the sense that this is a tea that is probably noticeably better loose than bagged. but, for a first time drinker, numi is enjoyable enough to earn a high score from me!

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Numi Jasmine Green

Rating: 7/10

Comments: Pretty good for bagged jasmine, which i'm usually not a huge fan of. grassy and mild and a little bit sweet. my only complaint is that it's a bit bland, and, at between $7-8 a box, i think it's safe to say it's overpriced. Even though it tastes nice, my issue with it is the same as other bagged jasmines i've reviewed: jasmine is just better in loose form. Usually I'm not a loose tea snob. Even though the quality is better, i like the convenience and flavor variety of tea bags. But jasmine is one where i will genuinely say it is worth it to just spring for jasmine pearls, because you will notice a distinct difference in the flavor. My preferred brand is saratoga tea and honey company jasmine! if you want a nice bagged jasmine, numi certainly isn't a bad option. it's pretty good flavor-wise! but really, i think it's worth it to save your money for a bit and buy nice jasmine pearls later down the line.

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Numi Rooibos Chai

Rating: 10/10

Comments: I think this might be the best chai i've ever had in my life. I got it in a multipack where the different teas are supposed to correspond to your emotions, and this specific tea was marked "inspire." it certainly does inspire me to brew it, and to buy more when i run out! the flavor is warm and spicy but not sharp, and the rooibos adds juuuust enough fruitiness to balance it out and give it a little complexity. Highly recommend with some brown sugar and milk of your choice, i guarantee it'll taste as good or better than a chai latte from your local cafe!

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Equal Exchange Green Mint

Rating: 9/10

Comments: equal exchange continues to knock it out of the park with their green tea blends! this tea, like their ginger green, is very well balanced and mild without losing any flavor. a perfect way to start winding down your evening!

also, expect a lot more equal exchange reviews coming in the future! i had a dream the other night that convinced me that buying most tea brands is ethically sketchy at best, so once i work my way through my household's tea stash i will likely be buying most of my tea from equal exchange since they work with small farmers and have the best fair-trade business practices. if anyone has any other ethical/environmentally sustainable tea brands they'd like me to review, please let me know! i'd like to keep reviewing different brands on this blog and i'd love to support more ethical tea companies!

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Trader Joe's Blood Orange Rooibos

Rating: 9/10

Comments: this is the first rooibos i've ever reviewed on this blog, and ohhh boy i may have found a new favorite. i've never thought of myself as a huge rooibos fan, it has a very distinctive flavor (wikipedia describes it as "similar to yerba mate or tobacco," i didn't know those tasted the same but the more you know), that i haven't particularly enjoyed in the past. BUT i went out on a limb and tried a peach rooibos the other night, and was immediately converted. i tried to find it the next day, to no avail, and bought this tea as a substitute. and what a happy accident! this tea is capital D Deee-licious. the flavor is strong, the sweetness is light and delicate, the color is deep red and very enticing. lovely fruity caffeine free afternoon drink. the only reason there's a point taken off is that my local TJs, for some reason, packages the tea bags in single-use plastic bags :/ 10/10 for flavor, 0/10 for sustainability.

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Trader Joe's Black Tea

Rating: 6.5/10

Comments: i mean it's trader joe's brand black tea. it's nothing to write home about. box art is cute though!!

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The Chai Box Sweet Monsoon

Rating: 8/10

Comments: much like whittard of chelsea's coconut chai, this chai mix initially had me a bit skeptical. much like whittard of chelsea's coconut chai, this also has coconut! and mango. and cloves, which i'm pretty sure are in most normal chai mixes, but this one lists them like they're special so i'll do the same. now, to be clear: i love chai, and i love mango. but i don't usually think of chai as a fruity flavor, so I wasn't really sure what they were going to be like together.

they were delicious! this chai mix is beautifully spicy, plus the richness from the coconut, with the mango providing the perfect fresh and tart balance to keep it from tilting into sickly sweetness. i really, really enjoyed this. i personally didn't add milk, and, in deviation from my normal chai protocol, added honey instead of sugar. i think it would be fine with any sweetener, just don't go too heavy on it. you'll want to experience the full breadth of this tea's flavor!

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Cozy Tea Cart Decaf Blackberry

Rating: 7.5/10

Comments: I liked my other cozy tea cart teas so much that I went back for more! And for my “more,” I decided to go with this loose leaf blackberry tea. I loooove blackberry, and blackberry tea is always a favorite of mine. And this tea is! Pretty nice! The blackberry flavor is strong, it’s nice and tart and herby with just a hint of syrupy sweetness. It’s nothing exceptional but it’s a solid choice. My only complaint is that it takes foreverrrrr to steep. Normally berry teas are very strong and don’t need a long steeping time, but this can be steeped for the entire time and still isn’t particularly strong. This isn’t a problem now, because I’ve been steeping my teas overnight in the fridge to have iced tea in the morning, but I fear for my blackberry loving self this winter!

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Equal Exchange Ginger Green

Rating: 9/10

Comments: normally i am not a fan of super-strong ginger flavoring, but equal exchange does a really nice job with this ginger-forward tea! it's a pretty decent balance of ginger and, well, green. the ginger is present, and speaks for itself without being drowned in fruity sweetness, but it's not overpowering. this tea is lovely with some honey on a rainy day, or maybe a day when you're not feeling well. it is also nice iced, especially if you're looking for something with enough kick to wake you up as you dissociate on the highway because the town you work in has been doing construction specifically during your commute for the past month. love equal exchange! love this tea!

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Mlesna Tea House Sophisticated Fruity Birthday

Rating: 6/10

Comments: I make my triumphant return! i went to Japan for two weeks, and of course enjoyed a lot of tea. most was powdered or loose leaf green tea, and while it was all delicious it didn't really fit the format for this blog. i did however buy quite a bit to bring home, including Mlesna Tea House's intriguingly-titled "sophisticated fruity birthday." mlesna wasn't a brand I had heard of before, and I still do not know very much about them as their website is entirely in Japanese and google translate sucks. so this was a fun mystery tea! After translating the box I was able to find that this is a black tea with pear, orange and lemon, which made me VERY excited as those are The Best Flavors.

unfortunately, this tea is a bit disappointing! to be clear, it's not bad. it tastes like a vaguely fruity black tea, which is perfectly fine, nice even. but you can barely taste the pear, and the flavor is less citrusy and more just the concept of fruit in general. i wouldn't sniff at it if served it somewhere, but i'm a bit disappointed that i spent money on it and brought it home as a souvenir. it does, however, have a delightful little short story that takes up most of the box space, which was very annoying while i was trying to find the ingredients but in retrospect is very charming. the box art is very cute too. cool trappings for a pretty standard tea.

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i'd like to make an amendment to this review! it turns out it was part user error and part seasonal misstep. This tea, as it turns out, is (shocker) not designed to be steeped for the entire time, AND is wayyyy better as an iced tea than a hot. i've pre-made this several times to take to work and it's a delightful drink on a hot summer morning.

Updated Rating: 8.5/10

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Charleston Tea Garden Peachy Peach Tea

Rating: 10/10

Comments: apologies for the extended hiatus, folks! i got a second job and tea reviewing kind of fell by the wayside but! never fear! today i tried a tea so delicious that i thought "wow i have to tell people about this!" and then i remembered i have a blog for that exact purpose. fun fact! this tea comes from one of the only tea farms in the United States, on Wadmalaw Island in South Carolina. and it is absolutely delectable. it's rare to find peach tea that isn't mixed with ginger/honey/some other flavoring, but this one leans into the southern charm vibes with straightforward, sweet, and delicious peach flavor. the flavor is light and sweet but still vibrant, and unmistakable as peach. it's a peach lover's dream!

As a quick side note, this appears to have been formerly named "plantation peach," which is very unfortunate, but it loooooks like they've changed the name? What I had was peachy peach, so i'm unable to tell if plantation peach is a different product or if they realized the name was a bad look and changed it.