Not My Momma’s Merlot / KipersLilTeaShop

Raise your pinky fingers. This tisane brews a beautiful clear, rose in color. Close to Merlot but closer to a

Rosé. The mix of berries makes for a unique medley. The flavor is close to a merlot but fights with the cacao nibs and the vanilla rooibos for dominance.

Nutty, vanilla, slightly fruity. It’s definitely not your momma’s merlot but if you are looking for a replacement this is a good second.

 


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Kipers Lil Tea Shop
Description:

Bold, beautiful, robust, and berry-delicious!! This tea blend really does taste like Merlot Wine (without the alcohol).

The aroma of cacao nibs and berries hits your senses first. Then the tea brews to a deep, merlot red color. The cacao nibs melt and blend with all the rosehips, hibiscus, elderberries, cranberries, and cinnamon to create this one-of-a-kind delicious tea.

Lightly tart, but mildly sweet at the same time.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Love In The Afternoon from Kipers Lil Tea Shop. . .

Well, I should have taken the name of this tea a bit more literally! I saw on the website that they have many movie themed blends, but I didn’t realize just how accurately they try to blend the tea to match the name!

I will list the ingredients of this tea for you here, as it is not available at present on their website. This blend contains green tea, peppermint leaf, spearmint leaf, calendula, cinnamon, and catuaba bark. All of these ingredients were familiar to me save one – the last one. Naturally I did a google search to find out more about this ingredient. Oh me oh my! It is widely used as an aphrodisiac, a treatment for low libido in males, and for neuralgia, including neuralgia following shingles. (Good to know should I ever meet up with that malady.)

So, literally this tea is trying to enhance your “Love In The Afternoon.” All righty then!

Since I will only be drinking one to two cups of this tea, I do not expect to have any medical reports for you, but I can report on the taste of the tea!

The dominant aroma was spearmint, which suits me because I prefer it to peppermint which is actually listed before spearmint on the package.

As for the taste…the mint is actually a little more muted than I would like. The green base was not terribly distinctive, the mint flavor was milder than a Moroccan mint, for instance, and I couldn’t taste the cinnamon at all. I have no idea what catuaba bark tastes like but either it or the green base was lending a light metallic aftertaste.

It wasn’t bad but it isn’t something I would seek out unless I was looking for the herbal benefits rather than just taste. If you love mint tea and want something that isn’t screaming in your face level mint, it might be a good tea for you!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green
Where to Buy:  Kipers Lil Tea Shop
Description

This blend is not listed on the website but click below for teas that are!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Roses are Red, Berries are Blue from Kipers Lil Tea Shop. . . .

Roses are red, berries are blue, this tea from Kipers Lil Tea Shop is delicious, and good for you too!

Not too long ago, I discovered Kipers Lil Tea Shop on Etsy and I have just been enamored with these hand blended beauties.  This go around, I devoured their Roses are Red and Berries are Blue blend.

This particular hand blended treat is a blend of Dao Ren Green Tea, rosehips, hibiscus, elderberry, and bilberries.  To start off with, this tea is just stunning with rich tones of pinks, purples, and greens.

Brewed up with water prepped right under boiling and allowed to steep for 4 minutes and cooled for three, this tea provides a sweet yet vegetal note in each sip.  The beginning of the sip you are greeted with the familiar green tea tones from the Dao Ren Green Tea.  Towards the middle, you start to get the tart hibiscus, while the end note is a different kind of tartness- almost a sweet tart tone.

What I loved most was how each flavor could be identified and each ingredient had their own moment in the spotlight. No one flavor overwhelmed the other and each sip and this awesome transition from vegetal to tart to tart with a sweet finish.

An incredibly well balanced berry tea that gives you the best of both worlds. . .all the green tea loving you can take garnished with the tart hibiscus and tart yet sweet berries. Oh I’m in love!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green
Where to Buy:  Kippers Lil Tea Shop
Description

This tea blend is as beautiful to look at as it is to drink. I combined Rosehips, Hibiscus, Bilberry, Elderberry in a sea of Dao Ren Green Tea.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Cinderella from Kipers Lil Tea Shop. . .

I love the wonderful world of Etsy. You just never know what you will find wandering through the shops.  I always like to see what possible gem of a tea shop I might stumble upon.  You really just never know what you might find and I think I have found quite a gem the other day.

Kipers Lil Tea Shop offers quite a variety of hand blended teas, anything from herbal teas to flavored puerh blends.  When I saw the picture of Cinderlla, I knew I had to try it.

Cinderella is a blend of puerh, calendula, hibiscus, red clover, jasmine, and a few other inclusions.  The combination of puerh and jasmine instantly grabbed a hold of me and screamed-“You MUST try me NOW”.  So I threw a few other teas into my cart and anxiously awaited by the mailbox for my beauties to arrive.

Finally the day came when this adorably packaged treat arrived.  Inside were my tea samples telling me to prep my tea pot asap.  Since this is a puerh, I prepped my water to 212F and allowed this tea to steep for 4 minutes, then cooled for an additional 3 minutes.

With being a blend of puerh and jasmine, I wasn’t sure what to think.  Floral and dark teas don’t exactly sound like they belong, but I have to say, they really do.  This tea blend is absolutely gorgeous! The dark tea tones provide such a dark and alluring flavor that is earthy, robust, and rich.  Hibiscus tart notes yield a wonderful contrast to the puerh while the jasmine provides this slight floral hint.  The rest of the inclusions give off this lovely herbal feel to finish the sip off.  Such a unique pairing of flavors.

I couldn’t get enough of this cuppa and quickly prepped for a second infusion.  I have to say, this tea didn’t steep up for a second cuppa like I thought the blend would.  The flavors definitely did not come across as strong but I was still happy to get another cuppa of this wonderful tea.

I’m insanely gaga over this tea and over Kipers Lil Tea Shop.  Currently there are around 60ish teas available to check out from this lovely gem of a tea shop and quite a few of them are now calling to me. . . .


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  Kipers Lil Tea Shop
Description

Cinderella – A delightfully original blend of black tea, herbs and flowers create this one-of-a-kind herbal tea that will have you wanting more. Starting on a bed of Pu’erh black tea, I add in some Red Clover Herb & Blossoms, Catauba Bark (a known aphrodisiac), Calendula petals, Jasmine buds, and Hibiscus, and then for added “oomph” I sprinkled in some Vitex Chaste Berry (the “female-friendly” fruit).
The result is a taste unlike anything you have ever had, and you definitely won’t find this pre-bagged on a store shelf.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!