First of all, I am no tea expert.  I drink tea.  I like tea.  There are plenty of teas that work well for me.  There are plenty that don't.  To top it all off, I have crappy sinuses and no sense of smell.  So, I probably shouldn't even be writing about the tea I drink.  But, since I'm looking for tea that I would like to give to my fans, and who would hopefully not gag when I give it to them, I thought I would test some out and post some of the results right here.  What's more, I'm not a huge fan of tisanes (herbal teas) except maybe those mixed with rooisbos, probably because the African red tea has enough body.  I also don't add anything to my teas, so the quality may be improved with sugar.  Lastly, I'm trying them in teabags because that's what I'm giving to my fans, unless I say that I'm doing this as loose tea. 

Ok, here goes.

-- Tisane: Evening in Missoula.  Sounded interesting.  Had a gazillion ingredients but was based on Chamomile and Rosehips.  Unfortunately, the subtleties of the tea were lost on me because it had a lot of mint.  Spearmint, Peppermint and Wintergreen were all in this tea and sharply pronounced.  I wanted to like this tea, but couldn't.  If you like mint, then this is a tea for you.

-- Tisane: Night on Glacier Bay.  This is a strong cinnamon tea with orange peel.  It has licorice root overtones.  The cinnamon is more the hotter type than the smoother type I usually like.  There's mouthfeel I can't put my finger on, maybe the lemon grass or the licorice root, that gives it a slightly slippery mouthfeel.  I've had this feel before, usually with teas intended for sore throats.  It's not bad, but I'd like to try some more tisanes before settling on it. 

-- Green Tea: Dragonwell.  (loose) This is a single tea from the Chinese village whose name translates to "dragon well".  It's a decent green tea, which makes me suspect that I'm fonder of Chinese teas than Japanese teas.   See below.

-- Green Tea: Japan Sencha.    Hmm.  I heard so much about Sencha, that I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Terribly undrinkable to me.  Tastes almost like a puerh.  Maybe I had the water too hot or steeped it too long.  Will try this one again with low temps/less steep time.  But for the sake of my fans, this will have to be a pass.

-- Black:  Five Valleys Chai. (loose).  I tried this one iced, because I really love chai iced.  This one has telicherry pepper in it that adds to the bite.  It's pretty good, but maybe a little less pepper would smooth it out.  Must think on this.

-- Black: Huckleberry. (loose).  Nice flavor.  Going to try it again when I make my final decisions. 

So, the "winners" of this round are:

Tisane: Night on Glacier Bay
Green: Dragonwell
Black: Huckleberry
Runners-up: Five Valleys Chai.  (not out of the running)