Emily Dickinson’s Jasmine Tea Blend – Simpson and Vail. . . .

Now I have to start this off by saying that I am a sucker for author inspired tea blends. So it goes without saying that you are sure to find me reviewing more in the near future. Which shouldn’t be surprising since what is better than a cup of tea and a good book?

Now I think that this tea was simply delightful. It is not too strong and not too subtle, it has a perfect balance in my opinion. As a matter of fact when I was drinking this tea it was like it started to clear my head. Now I don’t mean completely like a lavender tea would do, but to the point where I could think about things. Now since I go to college I began to think about things I could do for my final that is coming up but not only that I can imagine this tea being a perfect companion when I am writing for a more creative venture.

I was also surprised that this tea had little to no dry notes in it whatsoever. And in my experience with jasmine, there would always be slight, somewhat powerful dryness to it.  But I believe that this a soft and balanced tea because of the ingredients. The jasmine tea is a beautiful binder for the rose petals, jasmine blossoms, marigold petals and blue cornflower petals. It goes without saying if you have read any of my previous reviews, that I have always loved the pairing of jasmine and rose. In my book, jasmine and rose will always be the power couple.

Now when I was in the process of brewing my cup I had a look at the tea leaves and apart from the enjoyment of finding little jasmine blossoms I was happy to see plenty of blue cornflower petals. Now, for those who don’t know, my favorite tea of all time is Lady Grey and that contains, you guessed it, blue cornflower. And I believe that the blue cornflower is a perfect addition to this tea for it adds a nice subtle, sugary sweetness to the blend.

On top of the delightfully delicate tasting tea the price is not at all bad either. It is $9.75 for a 4 oz tin but if you don’t want the tin you can save about $3 and pay $6.90 for a bag of the same size. Along with a great price this tea also has deep connection with the talented poet we know as Emily Dickinson. As the description reads on the bottom of this review, this tea was based off of Ms. Dickenson’s garden, which was a place that she got most of her inspiration from for her poetry.

All in all, I believe that this a beautiful tribute to Emily Dickinson and I will be purchasing this for my ever growing collection of teas in the future. (My collection is very expansive. If you don’t believe me, head over to my Instagram and I usually post updates on how big it has gotten.)

See you for the next cuppa!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10th, 1830 and lived in a home that was central to Amherst political society thanks to her father and brothers. Growing up around powerful men prepared Dickinson for a life of the same, but society dictated that, as a woman, she was relegated to seemingly less meaningful ventures. Her anger at this slight comes across in her poetry and letters where she explored complex ideas of meaning and self while examining the smallest details of the world around her. She withdrew herself from society and lived in relative solitude until her death. Only a few of her poems were made public during her lifetime, but four years after her demise, a collection of poems was published and met with popular and critical acclaim. Her poems reveal a complicated mind that examined itself with as much attention to detail as it examined the world. Dickinson’s defiance of categorization and simplification make her a popular poet to study even today.

In the years she spent away from society, Emily Dickinson cultivated an extensive garden. In it, she grew jasmine flowers, cornflowers, roses, and many other flowers, plants and herbs. These flowers appear repeatedly in her poetry so our blend had to be floral. We created a delightful combination of jasmine tea and rose petals that brews to a light ecru cup with long green leaves and rose petal accents. This delicate tea hits you with a strong jasmine taste that’s sweetened and mellowed with the subtle flavors of the rose petals.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

A Cuppa That is Akin to Wilde’s Garden – NovelTea’s Wilde’s Rosy Tea Blend

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”  ~Oscar Wilde

And that is exactly how I felt about this tea. I wanted to enjoy over and over and I couldn’t get enough! And as the title suggests, I feel that when I drink this tea I am enjoying this beverage in a garden full of freshly bloomed roses while the door that leads into the garden has some jasmine incense wafting out of it.

But before I get into my full review here are the specifics. This tea is made up of a lovely blend of organic jasmine green tea and a rose-blended bergamot. The site doesn’t dictate how long to steep it so I just went with my gut and steeped it for a good 3 minutes and that method seemed to work perfectly. Lastly, the price for this tea is not too bad for you only pay $14.99 for a 3 oz bag which is about $3 dollars more than the 2 oz Rose Petal China tea that I have. Now if you want the beautiful “Picture of Earl Gray” novel tea tin that will set you back $29, which includes the 3 oz bag of tea as well.  As a side note, I am honestly obsessed with the tin and I will get it in the near future.

Now to the taste of the tea, which is just beautiful, simply beautiful. It does mimic a black tea with that bitter fruity taste that is the jasmine flower. But don’t fret if you are not a fan of the slight bitterness that the jasmine offers for it is mellowed out by the soft green tea that is paired with. Now to the rose flavor which pairs perfectly with the jasmine. I will just say that I absolutely love roses in my tea.  So the roses in this tea were absolutely delightful. And if you are wondering what roses taste like remember the aroma of a fresh rose and that is how they taste; a weird perfumey, watery sweet.  It is definitely something I urge tasting but then again I am a rose lover so I am a bit biased.

Now as I drank this delicious tea I was instantly reminded of the beginning of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Mr. Oscar Wilde himself:

The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.”

All in all regardless of if you are a fan of Wilde or not this tea is delicious and refreshingly different compared to the other rose teas that I have tried.  I am now officially a lover of this blend and I look forward to seeing what else the brand comes out with! My hopes are that there will be a Jane Eyre or a Lovecraft inspired blend.

See you for the next cuppa!

Kara


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: NovelTeas
Description:

The delicate flavorings and novel-inspired decorations of The Picture of Earl Grey™ may deceive you at first. This tin and tea provide for an exquisitely deceptive and Wildely elegant experience for any new collector. Organic jasmine green tea and a rose-blended bergamot radiate hedonism and reflect your eternal beauty as you sip.

Inspired by Irish author Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ it makes a great gift for the book lover in your life.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Be wary of the Wendigo …… Wendigo Green Tea

For those of who know the legend of the Wendigo (and those of you who played the video game Until Dawn) know that the tale is a terrifying one. To sum it up, a Wendigo is a creature that has an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Yes, it does sound grizzly but this tea is the exact opposite!

The Wendigo green tea is definitely a lot more pleasant than the creature by the same name.  It has a fresh earthiness to it but it is not too in your face. And since I am more partial to black tea myself I thought this green tea was a nice change of pace. So I believe this green tea will be perfect for black tea drinkers who want a something green but not to the matcha levels of green. And with a teaspoon or so of sugar, this tea had the perfect subtle sweetness to it.

Now on to the price and the steeping specifics of this tea which I believe is pretty fair given the quality of the tea. It is $11.99 for 2 oz and $27.99 for 5 oz.  This is also very quick to steep as well. For 1-2 teaspoons it takes about 1-2 minutes to steep. I recommend using boiling water that is to the point of steaming and not to where the kettle whistles. That is about 170 degrees Fahrenheit for all of you perfectionists out there.

Now if any of you are like me, you would be very curious as to why the name of this company is Wendigo Tea Company. Well, I happened upon the “origin” portion of their site and I was happy to find an enthusiastic man named Sky White.  His reasonings for starting this company were simple: he wanted to drink the very best teas in the world and I can absolutely relate. And if I say so myself, based on my opinions of his Wendigo Green Tea, he is guaranteed to have another customer for I am very curious on what else he has to offer. Now throughout this whole entire section, he doesn’t mention where he got the inspiration to call his company by the name of Wendigo. But I believe that since Mr. White has a desire to be different from other tea companies naming your company after a Native American legend would be a great way to stand out from the crowd.

All in all, I like this green tea and when I run out I will definitely restock. It has a great mellowness and flexibility to it that I can actually see myself drinking this as iced tea as well.

As always I will be posting pictures of this tea and others to my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (official_karatics)

See you for the next cuppa!

Kara


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Wendigo Tea Co.
Description:

I am Wendigo Green Tea -behold my beauty and greenness. Imagine picking up the planet Earth and licking a big green part of it in the middle of spring. That is what you can expect out of a glass of my greatness. Once you have tasted my naturally smooth-yet-complex flavors, you will crave nothing other than to get your hands on more.

My leaves are organically grown, clipped from the highest-quality tea plants, and packaged without any additional flavors or preservatives. Drink me, and you are drinking nature itself.

I am perfect for brand-new tea drinkers, lovers of green tea who want to experience a higher quality than they are used to, and purists seeking something special alike.

You could call me a Premium Grade Pure Organic Japanese Sencha… if you must. But none before me have a taste quite like Wendigo Green Tea.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Topsy Turvy Tea Blend – DisneyParks Tea

Hello, all! At first, I like to start off by introducing myself. My name is Kara and I am incredibly excited to be included in this delightful tea family! I have been a tea lover for a good 14 years and counting and I look forward to including my opinion with all of these amazing ladies! And if you would like to keep up with me I have my social media links down below.

Now on to the tea! I will not lie but when I saw this tea I gasped in delight! For Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite classic Disney movies. And the packaging is adorable and it encompasses everything that I love about Wonderland. First, I will start off with the specifics. The ingredients are as follows; bergamot, black tea, and citrus.  The (adorable) instructions recommend to steep it for 3-4 minutes. And if you on the hunt for this tea it is, unfortunately, a Disney Parks exclusive but I am sure you can find a seller on Amazon or eBay.

Now the taste of the tea – which took me by surprise. Now I am used to the flavors of this tea because my favorite is Lady Grey but just like Wonderland, this tea was not what it seemed. The color and the smell of tea was also alike a perfect cuppa but when I took a sip I was hit with a slightly fruity flavor aftertaste. Now I can’t put my finger on it but it was either a blueberry or raspberry taste. And to my amazement, I thoroughly enjoyed it. For I usually don’t like teas that have fruity notes. And before I knew it, my cup was empty.

All in all, this tea is very reflective of that classic and kooky Wonderland that I grew up with. I couldn’t help imagining myself at the Mad Hatter’s table drinking this blend while singing the “Very Merry Unbirthday” song.  I definitely want more of this tea and this will be a purchase (if I can find it) that I will make in the future.

P.S. I will have pictures of this magnificent packaging posted on my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (official_karatics) respectably.

See you for the next cuppa!

Karatics


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Disney Parks
Only available at Disney Parks.