Strawberry Rush from The Love Tea Company. . . .

Welcome to summer this tea screams as it tumbles down your throat.  . .

The hot weather sensations begin with the liquid. Clear rose in color with hints of a sunset orange.

This tea has hibiscus in it so one must be mindful of the steeping time. In order to full appreciate the summery strawberry flavors steep 2 – 2.5 minutes.

Sensations of fresh strawberries intertwine nicely with the crisp grassy green tea notes.

Once you hit the three minute mark the hibiscus takes over like Japanese beetles on a bean plant. . . . .so this tea is for those who love a tart strawberry tea with a grassy note. Definitely one that needs to be enjoyed in the summer or to brighten up ones palate since winter time is typically a heavy spiced tea season.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green
Where to Buy:  The Love Tea Company
Description

It’s hard to keep this one in stock, teens and tweens love it, and it’s so much better than soda.   It’s a Brilliant Blend of herbal and fruit that evokes strawberry fields.  It is an organic green tea that is a simple pleasure with complex ingredients – green tea, with papaya, apple, orange and strawberry pieces, rosehip, calendula petals and natural strawberry flavors.  This blend is great hot or cold, but our preference is cold.   Blend several pots, keep it refridgerated and serve over ice with a fresh strawberry on the side.   The kids can take part in the mission on this one.  Make sure they #sharethelove with their friends.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Watermelon Lemonade Organic Green Tea from Fraser Tea. . .

 

I am a green tea kinda gal. Always have been. I enjoy black teas but sometimes they just hit me as being heavy. I love the fresh crisp flavors that  only green teas an sometimes white teas can provide.

Speaking of crisp flavors, the other day I tried a unique blend that I haven’t seen anywhere else yet.  Watermelon Lemonade Organic Green Tea from Fraser Tea.  This blend is a lovely combination  of green tea, peppermint, organic flavors, pineapples, and a few other ingredients.

Never would I have ever thought that I would dig watermelon in tea blends but recently 52Teas brought out a few watermelon teas that I greedily gobbled up tea pot after tea pot.  This tea blend had my name all over it. I  was happy to see it in my green tea sampler that I picked up from Fraser Tea a week ago.  My tea kettle couldn’t prep the water fast enough for me.

For brewing parameters for this tea sachet, I prepped the water at 190F, steeped the tea sachet for a little over 3 minutes, and then allowed the tea to cool for another couple minutes-letting the flavors settle.  This tea blend brews up to this lovely green limeade like flavor.  I took my first sip and I knew I was done for.

Bright pops of a green vegetal background swirled happily and danced lovingly alongside notes of lemon and a subtle melon like flavor.  There is a tartness through out each sip that is really lovely and the peppermint adds in a needed contrasting freshness to end each sip.  I wouldn’t exactly call this a lemonade but in the same token, I wouldn’t simply call this a Watermelon Lemon tea.  Like I said there is that noticeable tartness and I think that is where the lemonade comes into play.

Regardless, this tea is refreshing and marvelous. I can only imagine how dynamite this tea would be iced. This tea may not be a solid everyday drinking tea for me, but this tea is one that I would gladly drink every now and again.  A lovely little ditty to keep in my tea stash when I need a change of pace.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green
Where to Buy:  Fraser Tea
Description

Delicate watermelon and mint flavor with a gentle finish.

Green Tea*, Peppermint*, Eleuthero Root*, Organic Flavors, Pineapples*, Lemongrass*, Hibiscus*, Safflower*, Cornflower*, Calendula* (*) = Organic Certified.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Cucumber Mint Limeade White Tea from 52Teas. . . .

White teas and I have been best friends as of late.  And this tea is the reason why.

I love the fresh flavors that a lime can bring to a beverage or really food in general. Add in the refreshing flavors of mint, crisp notes of cucumber, and soft subtle floral base of a white tea, and you have yourself a tea to remember.

Because this is a white flavored tea, I prepped this tea up at 170F and allowed to steep for about 4 minutes.   After that, I allowed the tea to cool for a few minutes, allowing the flavors to settle in. The first flavor you really get from this tea is the spearmint. Refreshing and cooling. A lovely burst of minty freshness without being too overpowering.

After the initial mint blast, the other flavors start to take shape. I can’t say that I can pinpoint the cucumber but I can pick up the limeade and base white tea flavors and that combination is insanely delicious.  Such a bright and vibrant blend of flavors.  Almost like a mug of sunshine waiting for you to indulge in. I personally can’t get enough of the lime and spearmint flavor combo with a white tea twist added in for good measure.

This tea is hands down one of the best takes on a limeade tea that I’ve had. And I’ve tried several.  This is one of those teas that I have literally emailed 52Teas to ask how much inventory do they have left so I can gobble up the remaining pouches.  Luckily for me, 52Teas was able to come up with a few more pouches for me to enjoy but I will sadly be finished with those shortly.

Because that is the heart breaker of it all with  falling in love with a tea from 52Teas. I fell in love with this tea from the first to final sip of each cuppa. And sadly, unless I beg our friend Anne to re blend the tea or she happens to re blend the tea, this tea will always be in my heart but that will be it.

Let’s cross our fingers for a reblend because this is just the sort of tea that will help with those winter time blues!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Summer Lovin from becauseURpriceless

With a name like Summer Lovin, this has got to be brewed as an iced tea. I brewed this tea with hot water at double strength, and poured it over ice. I took a sip while brewing the tea hot, and was surprised to get hit with a wave of out-of-season nostalgia. Cinnamon and citrus always remind me of wintertime spices, and brewed warm, this tea almost seems like an orange chai.

On paper, hibiscus and cinnamon sound like weird bedfellows, but the combination turns out to be well-balanced, both hot and iced. While hibiscus is an overbearing herb, there are undertones of lemon and rose, to give some variety to the taste. Sweet licorice root and earthy cinnamon tame the hibiscus, and keep it from getting too tart.

This would be a great tea for showing off in a sangria or summertime fruit punch. It brews up a luscious ruby color, and looks amazing in any glass pitcher: vibrant red against snowy, white ice cubes and contrasting fruit slices.

Pick up a bag of this blend before the heat of summer takes you by surprise!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: becauseURpriceless Etsy Shop
Description:

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Anything but Basic – Louisa May Alcott from Simpson and Vail

There is nothing better than sharing a hot cuppa with hot ladies. Wait, did that came out wrong? I mean strong, independent, educated ladies. Yeah, that’s who I’d have tea parties with! So, I invited two amazing students from my “Women’s Contributions to Science” class for a tea party. And, what better tea to drink than one inspired by the author of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott.

Simpson and Vail created fandom teas for several authors, and this green blend has a soft spice scent with the dried apple bits – is it nutmeg that it reminds us of? Pine? As we brew up this pumpkin pie colored treat, we bring up recent TED talks, STEM, swiping right… Hey, just because we love Autumn doesn’t make us totally basic! And neither is this literary tea – it’s good for multiple infusions and it builds flavor as you drink it. There is a midweight mouthfeel, and a certain sweetness from the Rose that lingers into the aftertaste.

It’s a heartwarming blend, and we have high spirits for the coming equinox, including brainstorming for Halloween costumes. If our Louisa May tea was alive today, we picture her costumed as T.Swift in a flannel, and this tea is the perfect embodiment of that.  Now if you’ll pardon me, I’ve been inspired to go crochet a scarf for some eligible but aloof bachelor.


 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy:   Simpson & Vail
Description:

Early in Little Women, while visiting a sick Laurie, Jo says that her sister Meg’s blancmange is made “very nicely.” Later, her own attempt turns out “lumpy” and accompanied by strawberries that were “not as ripe as they looked.” Our blend follows Meg’s example and is almost, as Laurie says, “too pretty to [drink].” Combining almond and strawberry flavors, this blend brews to a delicious tea that is fruity and aromatic. It manages to be both sweet and light thanks to the Chunmee green tea base and the gentle floral notes added by the rose petals.

Ingredients: Green tea, apple pieces, flavoring, strawberry pieces and rose petals.

Certified Kosher

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!