Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Brew Mama Herbalism
Tea Description:
Sun Tea is blended with herbs packed full of antioxidants, and vitamins A, B, C and D . This blend makes a great cold and flu prevention. It is a delicious tea the entire family will enjoy. Kids love this tea, and if you don’t tell them it’s really good for them, they will never know 😉
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is just about the perfect herbal tea for me. Sweet and tart with hints of a grassy touch.
Brewed up hot (212F-1c water-5 min steeping) I really didn’t care for this one. The hibiscus was incredibly strong and the taste reminded me of unsweetened kool-aid. Where my heart lays with this tea is when this tea is on ice.
When iced, this tea takes on a completely different taste. The hibiscus is still there but there is now a sweetness that is combating the tart, making the tea just delicious. Refreshing is the word that comes to mind.
I love teas like this. The flavors are bright, crisp, and they make you think of summer. This tea is even a bit better than your normal herbal because there is this amazing grassy flavor coming in. Yum!
I love Brew Mama Herbalism’s Teas. Angie does such a great job. Not one herbal note takes over the other. Just the right touch. Kudos Angie!
Iced Tea Blend from Tetley
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tetley Tea or where Tetley Products are sold.
Tea Description:
Round, stringless tea bags are made with our unique Perflo tissue—sturdy, yet soft and porous, for faster tea infusion and better flavor release. 2 tea bags make 2 quarts of iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t usually buy bagged teas off the supermarket shelf – and by this I mean to say, I just don’t do it. I guess I’m a bit of a tea snob. But when Tetley sent me a box of their Iced Tea Blend to try, I was willing to do so because a) that’s what I do, and b) tea. Tea makes me happy.
And really, when it comes to iced tea – especially cold-brewed iced tea – I really do prefer a bagged tea to a loose leaf tea. When drinking hot tea, I’m all about the loose leaf but when it comes to cold-brewing tea for iced tea, I prefer the convenience of a bagged tea because less mess = happier me.
So, I was actually happy to have this tea sent to me to try. I’m getting a little low on my cold-brew tea options (time to shop) and this helped to postpone my shopping for a little while, anyway!
To brew it, I filled my half-gallon glass iced tea pitcher full of freshly filtered water and then I dropped in two of the large tea bags from Tetley into the pitcher. Then I put the lid on the pitcher and stashed it in the fridge overnight.
Note: This is essentially “sun brewing” the tea too, because the sun doesn’t actually heat the water sufficiently to ‘brew’ the tea when you put out a jar of sun tea. By cold-brewing the tea using my above described method, you’re doing the same thing that you’d be doing to make sun tea except that my cold-brewed tea is now chilled. Eliminated a step! Yay!
The flavor: it tastes like black iced tea. This is an enjoyable unflavored black tea blend. I think I would prefer this to most other readily available grocery store blends. It’s refreshing and thirst quenching and the flavor is there.
This tastes like a pleasant iced tea. It doesn’t taste “dusty” the way some of those supermarket teas can taste. It’s smooth – not astringent and not bitter. It is brisk without an overly aggressive flavor. It’s a medium to full flavored tea, I suspect it’s a Ceylon or since it’s a blend, it’s comprised of mainly Ceylon leaves. It has that very clean, moderate, no-nonsense type of flavor that Ceylon tea is known to deliver.
If I were in need of an iced tea fix and I wanted a good, unflavored iced tea, I could see myself grabbing a box of this tea off the shelf. And since it is an unflavored tea, it allows for many interesting possibilities: try adding a few thin slices of lemon to the iced tea pitcher when you’re brewing it, or perhaps some crushed mint leaves or a couple of cinnamon sticks!
Taiwan Sun Moon Lake Formosa Black Tea (Premium Grade) from Cameron Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cameron Tea
Tea Description:
Region: Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
Type: Black Tea
Oxidation level: Fully oxidised
Taste: Strong and refreshing flavour.
Terroir: Sun Moon Lake is located at altitude of 700m, surrounded with mountains and lakes with remarkable environment and typical climate for growing black teas. Heavy moist and stable yearly average temperature make the tea trees grow thick and rich tea leaves which produce carmine and perfectly clear liquor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve mentioned this more than once, but I LOVE the teas from Cameron Tea. They are the very best that Taiwan has to offer. And this Sun Moon Lake Formosa Black tea is no exception.
You might recall that I previously reviewed the competition grade of this tea back in July. Since it’s been a while that I’ve tried the competition grade, when comparing the two grades, my opinions will be based off what I can recall with the help of that review and my tasting notes.
The leaves look very similar to the competition grade tea: they are long and chocolate-y brown in color. The leaves are whole and have been rolled into slender, curly forms. They slowly unfurl to release their flavor.
Also similar to the competition grade: the dry leaf had very little discernible aroma. Mere hints of earthy tones. The brewed tea has more fragrance, it smells warm and earthy with notes of spice. It’s a sweeter smell, and in the aforementioned review I suggested notes of molasses. I’m getting that with this tea as well.
I used my Breville One Touch to brew this tea. Because the leaves are so large and curly, they’re difficult to measure or scoop out with the bamboo scoop into any type of measurable tool. I don’t weigh my teas and since I don’t utilize a scale, it’s difficult to tell you how much tea I put into the basket of the tea maker, so I’ll just say that I put three pinches of tea into the basket. Then I looked at it and it looked like it should be enough tea. Sorry for my less than precise measuring method but I am very adamant when it comes to tools for my tea. The less tools, the better, in my opinion, because tea is meant to be a simple pleasure and I feel like the more gadgetry used to make the tea – the less simple it becomes.
I brewed this tea at a slightly lower temperature than I would normally steep a black tea. I guess I found myself feeling that this tea needed a little less heat – I was worried that these beautiful leaves might find boiling water to be too hot a bath for them. So I went with 195°F and steeped the tea for 3 minutes.
The result is an absolute delight to sip. Sweet! It’s smooth and there is no astringency. No bitterness. Just smooth, sweet molasses-y goodness. It tastes as though I thinned some molasses rather than brewed some tea! Maybe added a couple of warm, gentle spices to accent the delicious, deep flavor of the sweet molasses with hints of caramel.
Beneath these sweet flavors, there’s a savory “earthy” note that has notes of chocolate and leather. I infused this tea a second time and I found that the second infusion was a little less sweet and I discovered more complexity as a result. I picked up on layers of fruit and as I continued to sip, I started to notice a dry astringency toward the tail. This astringency is quite soft and for those of you who are sensitive to that dry feeling that the astringency delivers, I think you’ll find this tea to be quite acceptable as the astringency is barely there.
It’s a very smooth and delightful tea to drink. This isn’t the kind of black tea I’d want as my first cup of the day because it doesn’t have that “shake me awake” kind of quality that I want in that first cup. Instead, this is the kind of tea that you want to brew when you want to sit and reflect. As I sit here on a chilly afternoon, I realize what an autumnal taste it has – the molasses, the spice … even the stone fruit notes … remind me of the early days of autumn when the weather becomes crisper. When the late summer harvests deliver those delicious stone fruit to enjoy in warm cobblers and the weather is just cool enough that those warm desserts are the perfect comforting thing.
A really delightful tea.
Taiwan Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea (Competition Grade) from Cameron Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cameron Tea
Tea Description:
Region: Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
Type: Black Tea
Harvest Time: Winter 2013
Oxidation level: Fully oxidised
Taste: Natural flavour of cinnamon with a slight hint of mint.
When to drink: Throughout the day
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Having tried and LOVED the Premium Grade Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea from Cameron Tea, I was excited to try their Competition Grade Ruby Black to see how it would compare.
I brewed this tea in my ceramic teapot which I warmed using hot tap water prior to measuring out the tea leaves. I pinched out what appeared to be the equivalent of two bamboo scoops of the tea into the vessel. This tea – because of it’s long, wiry leaves – is difficult at best to attempt to actually measure out with my trusty bamboo scoop. So, unless you have a scale, you’re probably better served to use the noggin here and give it your best guess rather than to try to measure this tea with scoops or spoons. I personally do not have a tea scale – and I don’t want one! Tea should be simple and scales = scientific. Science = not simple.
Anyway, after putting an estimated 2 scoops of tea into my teapot, I then added 16 ounces of near boiling (205°F) water to the teapot and let the tea steep for 3 minutes. The result is a near perfect cup of tea! (Well, actually, a mug of tea!)
It’s been a little while since I last tried the Premium Grade Sun Moon Lake Ruby Black Tea, but what immediately caught my attention about this tea is the cinnamon-y spice notes! I don’t remember the spice notes being quite as forward in the Premium Grade version of this tea, and I’m not sure why that is.
Just beneath the cinnamon-like notes I notice flavorful notes of cacao – now those flavors, I remember! I think that the big difference, at least in flavor, between the two grades is that this Competition Grade has a more pronounced spice note and the Premium Grade has a stronger cacao focus.
Other than that, this tea is very similar to the Premium Grade … both are rich, satisfying teas that would serve well as a breakfast tea or mid-to-late morning tea. There is a strength to this cup that I find appealing, it’s the kind of tea that I want early in the day to keep me going.
This is really quite lovely on a day like today, when the weather is getting just a little cooler. Not a lot cooler yet, but, I’m certainly ready and eagerly awaiting more signs of autumn to appear! But this tea definitely has an autumnal sort of flavor going on and I like it a lot.
Another cup of AWESOMENESS from Cameron Tea!
Taiwan Sun Moon Lake Assam Black Tea (Premium Grade) from Cameron Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cameron Tea
Tea Description:
Sun Moon Lake is located at altitude of 700m, surrounded with mountains and lakes with remarkable environment and typical climate. Heavy moist and stable yearly average temperature make the tea trees grow thick and rich tea leaves which produce carmine and perfectly clear liquor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I previously reviewed Cameron Tea’s Competition Grade of the Sun Moon Lake Assam Black Tea from Taiwan, so I was eager to also try this Premium Grade of the Sun Moon Lake Assam. I also found myself curious to know what the difference was between the Premium Grade and the Competition Grade teas. Here’s how Cameron Tea explains it in their FAQ section:
The competition grade means the tea leaves are being specially prepared (normally by selecting with extra fine leaves) to the highest standard for regional tea competitions. The competition grade only means that the tea has the same process treatments as the competition ones, it does not necessary mean that the tea has entered/won the regional competitions. The premium grade also uses carefully selected leaves, therefore sometimes the difference between “competition” and “premium” are very minor.
So I don’t know if I’ll be able to notice much difference between the two teas. But, as the Competition Grade of this Sun Moon Lake Assam Black was a really outstanding tea, I’m really looking forward to trying the Premium Grade!
The leaves look very much like I remember the Competition Grade looked: each is long and curly and each is a dark, rich chocolate-y color. They smell sweet and fruity. The brewed tea has less of a fruit smell and more of a sweet molasses-y scent.
And it tastes very similar to what I remember from the Competition Grade: Sweet, lighter in body than a typical Assam but still rich and flavorful. There is a lovely note of malt that marries beautifully with a caramel note. The result is a rich, satisfying taste and texture. I also find myself appreciating that this has neither the astringency of a typical Assam – the astringency is soft here – nor does this have the slight twinge of bitterness that an Assam often carries.
Notes of molasses, honey and cacao! I taste an earthy quality to this: notes of leather and a slight woodsy note. It’s smooth and it has a thick texture – very satisfying! – and while it would make an enjoyable morning cuppa … this may be the tea that you want to save for those mornings where you don’t have to rush off. This isn’t a get up and get going type of tea. This is the type of tea that you want to sit back and enjoy for a while.
I loved the Competition Grade of this tea, and I’m loving the Premium Grade too! This is a tea that … is just worthy of LOTS of love! It’s a really great tea.