A couple of years ago my daughter and her husband treated me to dinner at a restaurant new to me – P. F. Changs. They asked me to choose the tea and since tangerines have such a bright, fresh flavor, this was my choice.
A small cast iron pot was brought to the table and there was a large bag in it steeping. We all poured a cup and more hot water was brought and we resteeped that bag and I fell for the tea. So did my daughter, who even went online and ordered the exact cast iron pot they used because we just had to.
At the time, I didn’t what company made it, but I perused the menu and recognized the names of some of the other teas on offer and assumed they would source from just one company. But when I went online to the Revolution website there was no Tangerine White listed!
I called their customer service line and got some great help. It turned out this flavor was made especially for wholesale clients but they offered to ask for special permission to sell me a case. Revolution – “Ma’am, a case is a LOT of tea.” Me – “You don’t scare me!” (The words of a hopeless tea addict on fire for the latest passion.)
A week later a case of Tangerine White is at my door and family and friends are lining up to take some home since a whole case is a little extreme even for me, especially since I already had about 150 teas on hand already.
What’s so great about it? I have a small cast iron pot and I can put the bag in and steep just ONE BAG for the whole pot PLUS resteep it. Easy peasy.
Also, it tastes great. When I was a kid, we pretty much only got tangerines at Christmas in our stockings. So they taste like happiness to me. This tea makes me smile. Fresh tangerine and hallelujah nothing else. They didn’t feel compelled to add the usual done to death spices with the citrus. It is fresh and light and wonderful. It tastes refreshing in summer and brightens a winter day. The tangerine flavor tastes natural and isn’t overwhelming or sour, it is just right. And the white base is the tiniest bit brisk…or is that the citrus?…and nicely balanced.
The happiest news is that this flavor has been added to the regular retail line up now and you, yes, you, can order JUST ONE BOX if you wish! And people won’t look at you and shake their heads as you desperately rearrange your cabinets to make room for your remaining half case.
By the way, I don’t make it by their recommendations. I go with my usual 185F for three minutes as I do most white tea. Try it both ways and see what you like best.
P.S. – It is not surprisingly sold out at the time of this writing, but will hopefully be back in stock before my stash gets too low!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Revolution Tea
Description
This healthy, light, fragrant tea bursts with the flavor of juicy, fresh-picked tangerines and provides high amounts of antioxidants.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Polka Dot Bikini/Fraser Tea. . .
Our family loves puerh tea, so I saved this organic offering as a special treat for our next gathering. I have had chocolate puerh, rich and dark. I have had dried orange puerh, dark tea with bright citrus notes. I expected this to be a combination of the two.
Well, it wasn’t at all what I expected, but I loved what I got! The scent was very sweet and candy-like, and the tea color and body were both light. The puerh is pretty subdued in scent and taste.
The aroma was strong, and it finally hit me. It smelled like orange-flavored baby aspirin chewables, those tiny pills I loved as a child! Seriously, they should make those for adults! The chocolate is the pure chocolate taste you get from cocoa nibs, not the cloying candy kind, and it goes great with the orange.
Everyone loved it and we were able to resteep the leaves several times with great results.
The tea is called Polka Dot Bikini and it just might help get ready for a spring and summer packed with activities all day long. Puerh is traditionally used to aid digestion, lower cholesterol, and alleviate symptoms of a hangover, and is considered a weight loss tea in China. In Asian traditional medicine, eleuthero is used for increasing chi (energy) and has been studied as an adaptogen. If it works, it will keep that beach volleyball game going all afternoon.
There is fennel in this, also used as a digestive aid, but it was very light. I wouldn’t have known it was there if I hadn’t seen the ingredient list, but I am sire it is contributing to the overall silky, sweet, bright flavor of the blend.
I loved this tea hot, and I think it is a safe bet that would make an awesome iced tea to accompany all your summertime activities.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Fraser Tea
Description
For a delicious treat that is ripe with many health benefits, try Polka Dot Bikini Organic Pu-erh Tea. Believed to help break down fat cells, organic pu-erh tea is blended with fresh cocoa nibs, orange peel, fennel, and powerful eleuthero root to bolster stamina.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Perseus/Thè Ô Dor. . . . .
Sometimes a tea makes such an impression on you that you can’t stop thinking about it. There are many flavored teas that substitute easily for one another because they are so similar, but then a tea comes along that has a special something that makes it unique and nothing else will do.
That is how I felt immediately when I tried Perseus. It was an Earl Grey type, and I am not an Earl Grey person with the exception of a few particular ones. I do not like the sour orange on a lemony tea base like Ceylon most of the time, preferring it on a Keemun base and even then, it must be just so.
But this Perseus is not an ordinary Earl Grey. Yes, there is bergamot, but also orange peels, yuzu, plum, everlasting flowers, and carrot. That’s right, carrot. All of this is mixed with a tea base blended from Sri Lankan and China black teas.
The final result is a tea, an Earl Grey type tea, that tastes like candy to me. I have great self control most of the time with sweets but those little guava flavored hard candies get me every time. That is what Perseus does. Once I have a cup, I want more. More. MORE!
The fruits are nicely blended and balanced, no sugar ever need lace my cup, and the brisk tingle at the end lingers with the sunny citrus flavors. This will be a lovely ray of sunshine as I wait for these short winter days to give way to the blissful longer days of spring, just around the corner.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Thè Ô Dor
Description
An Earl Grey tea reviewed with impertinence
This creation is an invitation to look at the stars, holding a cup of tea in your hands, thinking about savoring your Earl Grey tea, this one reviewed by an Impertinent Parisian who wanted to make it his.
Of course, we will rediscover the warm flavor of bergamot, the one we love, the one from the sun, with flavors from Italy, but it will not be the only citrus fruit composing this black tea, divine creation created for the artistic professions launched at the Grand Palais in Paris.
No, not only a bergamot flavored tea since we also rediscover the Japanese delicacy of a yuzu, this citrus fruit coming from the Land of the Rising Sun which is not without reminding us of our vitamin mandarins, and the flavor of a crunchy plum as much delicious.
Black tea is here made sublime by pieces of carrot, sprinkling it and making it unquestionably unique and beneficial. It is not a wink to this vegan creation, of course, but for the properties that are attributed to it, the one to make skin sublime, that its presence may be justified.
To conclude, you will notice, while looking at the blend, that it is idealized by the presence of a few yellow flowers, these are rarer petals of everlasting flowers, here concluding the artistic inspiration of the creator.
Just like the two other creations from this unseen “Some among them are contemplating the stars” tea collection, it takes its inspiration from the constellation of the same name, and reveals to you its story through a harmony of flavors which are going to carry you to the borders of stars.
A flavored tea, a unique creation…
Silky and wide in your mouth, this flavored tea offers a delicate and transparent amber-colored beverage and is continued on notes of bergamot. Above all, zest flavors of citrus fruits are distinguished on your palate, with the light sourness of the yuzu.
Inside its pretty box, in tin or inside the traditional THEODOR loose Parisian tea bag (available in size M or L), ‘Perseus’ will offer its delicious flavors as from the opening and will bewitch your senses all along its tasting.
A yuzu and bergamot flavored black tea which is going to accompany your tea time for a cup of mystery, of flavors and above all, to keep your head in the stars.
And for the palates in search of citrus fruits and coolness, discover the ‘Petite Ourse’ flavored green tea, to be savored hot or cold according to your mood!
What the legend of Perseus says… inspiration of this tea
If you look up to the sky towards the northern hemisphere, you will find the ‘Perseus’ constellation.
‘Perseus’, hero of Greek mythology, was born and raised in secrecy until his own cries revealed himself to his father. He who saved and married Andromeda, captive of a sea monster, he whom Zeus, supreme God of this mythology, had placed among the constellations in the sky.
It is this secret of Perseus that is offered to us today through notes of yuzu and plum, which respond to the flavors of orange and bergamot, combined together to a black tea sprinkled with everlasting flowers, to offer on the palate a tea made of secrets and mysteries.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jasmine Snow Bud (Mo Li Xue Ya)/Teavivre. . . .
My favorite jasmine teas have come from Teavivre, a tea company located in the Fujian Province in China. My number one jasmine to keep on hand is their Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearl tea, as well as their Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearl, which is a favorite with guests. I think I have owned nearly every type of jasmine tea they have ever carried!
I also kept their “economy” jasmine tea on hand for serving with food, because the meal masks the high quality of the other teas and it made sense to go with something less expensive when I couldn’t taste and enjoy the tea fully. But I really preferred the others for special tea times and gong fu steeping.
Jasmine tea is a great de-stresser for me. It is as effective as a bubble bath, if not more so, for making tight muscles relax and tense nerves mellow. I love to make a pot when there is a lot of hubbub, like lots of guests and mad holiday cooking going on full speed ahead. So when I found out they have added new jasmine teas to their line up, I had to try them!
This snow bud tea is a loose tea that is first scented repeatedly with fresh jasmine flowers and then finally, more strongly scented jasmine flowers are added to the leaves and left to impart even more flavor.
Does this make it too flowery? Too soapy? Not at all. This costs about the same as the economy grade jasmine I used to buy but is far superior to it, in my opinion. At this price point, I will gladly serve it with food, but the flavor and smoothness of the base is so good that I can happily enjoy it all by itself or with a treat. It is a worthy addition to the Teavivre jasmine collection.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Rich jasmine fragrance with sweet aftertaste
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
China Bancha/Herbie Organic. . . . .
This is intriguing! Bancha usually refers to Japanese tea, specifically the second harvest from the same tea bushes that produce sencha. Bancha is considered to be an every day tea grade rather than something to reserve for special occasions, so I am drinking this as my after brunch cup.
This tea is harvested in China but is processed like Japanese bancha. The leaves are not terribly long – not like Hou Kui – but they are similar in that they are pressed flat. They are quite dark green in color.
The steeped tea is a rich gold color, not pale at all. It looks a lot like apple juice! My first sip gave the impression of mint, but the more I drink, the more I realize it is a very light briskness that builds over time. It is not creamy, buttery, or very vegetal. It is not sour when sipping. There is a bit of mineral flavor. By halfway through the cup, my tongue is feeling rather dry. And dry makes you want to drink more.
As is so often true of brisk tea, the follow up to the sip is a slight rising sweetness. There is only a hint of that here and it seems to come and go, being the most noticeable in the very back of the throat. Once the aftertaste establishes itself, though, it does linger well.
With its palate cleansing tendencies, I think this is a tea I would serve with or immediately after a meal. It is not a favorite for me, as I tend to like highly vegetal or buttery green tea, but is the sort of thing my daughter loves.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Herbie Organic
Description
Green tea produced by combining the best Chinese and Japanese tea making traditions. Grown on the northern side of the River Yangtze at altitudes of up to 250 meters, pressed and long leaves give this green tea light and gentle taste and a mild character.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!