Springtime feels like the time for Alice in Wonderland: flowers blooming, spending more time outside, feeling a little more whimsy after the winter blues. I’ve seen a few new teas popping up this time of year, themed for just such an occasion.
I recently tried the Lewis Carroll blend of black tea from Simpson and Vail. In case you don’t know, Lewis Carroll is the author of Alice in Wonderland, among other works. Alice in Wonderland tends to be a favorite among tea fans for the famous tea party scene featuring the Mad Hatter, not to mention all the cute tea cakes that wreak fantastical havoc for Alice’s adventures.
This Lewis Carroll tea blend features an Indian black tea base, combined with Chinese Rose Congou black tea, highlighted by added violet fragrance and flavoring. All these flowers are meant to put us in a fantasy world, whether in the queen’s roses, or in the garden beside the tea party. There are lots of blossoms in the dry leaves, and the brewed cup smells as sweet as a blooming garden.
I enjoy the fragrance of this tea, but strong floral blends aren’t my personal favorite when it comes to taste. I found I enjoyed the tea more with a touch of milk and sugar, which helped mellow out the strong floral flavors and made the brew more like a flower-scented dessert.
This is a great tea to put you in a springtime mood, perhaps sipped while out-of-doors after a dreary winter. If you’re one for having fancy tea parties, this may also be a great choice, whether it fits your Alice in Wonderland theme, or just because it feels fancy and ladylike, and makes the flowers on your teacup smell like they are alive and fresh!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:
A tea party plays a memorable role in Carroll’s most celebrated novel as the setting for Alice’s nonsensical meeting with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. “A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden” where, as the Mad Hatter told Alice earlier, “it’s always tea time.” To make our Lewis Carroll blend, we added our fragrant violet flavor to an Indian Black tea and Rose Congou tea, a China black that has been scented with rose petals during the drying process, to create a deep amber cup with an incomparable bouquet and a flavor that is absolutely heavenly.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jelly and Ice Cream from Teapigs. . . . .
I recently tried a cheeky box set of tea samples from Teapigs, and their packaging and labels were so cute and irresistible. One flavor that wasn’t available in the box set was a blend made in honor of the Teapigs 10th anniversary in 2016. It was meant as a limited edition blend, but it made such a hit that you can still place fresh orders for the blend today.
Jelly and Ice Cream was such an unusual flavor name and profile, I just had to check it out. This is an herbal blend, made with lots of fruit pieces and natural flavoring. The dry leaf smells both fruity and nutty, almost like sugary cereal, and brings to mind sticking your nose into a box of Crunch Berries. The blend brews up as a rich, amber-pink color and tastes much like its scent, only smoother and sweeter. The great news is that even though the tea is pink, there’s no sour hibiscus petals, so fruity-tea lovers of the world can rejoice that this blend isn’t overpowered by hibiscus tartness.
The flavors are just balanced enough to give me a full taste of both the jam-like raspberries and strawberries, and the sweet-cake tones of vanilla, cream, and biscuits. Despite the dessert-like name, there’s something bright and breakfast-oriented about this blend, like toast with jam, or fruity cereal in milk. This blend entices me to make it part of my balanced breakfast! Besides, it makes me feel whimsical and like a kid eating dessert-first.
Not being British, I’m not sure if this tea is based on a type of dessert in real life, but no matter what side of the pond you’re on, it’s hard to argue against flavors like jelly and ice cream and cake.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Description:
In 2006 the Iphone didn’t exist, the Kardashians were not a (big) thing, nobody #HASHTAGGED anything, people asked directions, smoking in pubs happened, Lance Armstrong was liked, Desperate Housewives ruled our lives, Woolworth’s pick’n’mix ruled our kids lives, avocado’s were not cool and teapigs was launched. We celebrate 10 years of great quality tea with this blend of strawberry jelly & ice cream. Grab a mug and raise a Birthday toast to teapigs!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
On the Rebound – Teavana-Styled Rebound Teas from Adagio Teas. . . .
Late last year, Adagio teas offered a free set of “rebound teas” for recent customers of David’s Tea and Teavana. While David’s Tea isn’t going anywhere as far as I know, Teavana has been closing its doors and sold out of the final stock in its online shop. Adagio’s rebound teas were blended to be familiar to tea lovers from those other shops in the hopes of encouraging these tea-fanatics to try out more teas from Adagio’s selection.
Now, I am a little biased because I got my loose-leaf start with Adagio, but I feel as though different tea suppliers have different specialities, and I’ve enjoyed tea from both David’s Tea and Teavana. David’s Tea and Teavana tend to have more specialized themed blends. They are a great choice when you want a tea that tastes like a peanut butter cup or an over-the-top tropical peach iced tea. Not to mention, they have some very cute tea tins, mugs, and accessories to jazz up your tea shelf.
Adagio’s Rebound Sampler featured 5 teas (though they are adding new rebound blends all the time, see their listing of comparable teas here)
Teavana had a few popular peach teas, so this sampler has two peach teas of its own: Peach Bellini and Peach Serenity. They are subtly different, with Peach Bellini focusing on more tropical flavors like mango and papaya, and Peach Serenity with more herbal ingredients like lemon verbena and chamomile. In both blends, the strong peach flavoring drives the smell and taste. I think these would be best suited for cold brews, where the sweet candy peach flavor can add sweetness without sugar. These teas are great if you are a fan of peach rings candy. I’m always in favor of having more herbal blends, but I think I prefer the more subtle peach taste in Adagio’s peach black tea or peach oolong.
Raja Oolong is an oolong blend with lots of delicious inclusions like chicory, ginger, and cocoa nibs. Likewise, White Ayurvedic Chai is a white tea with a long list of flavorful spices and fruits, like cloves, pineapple, lemongrass and cinnamon. Despite the varied ingredient listing for both blends, the strong cinnamon flavoring takes over. These teas would be great for fans of Adagio’s hot cinnamon spice tea, or for fans of Hot Tamales candies. I’m all for a spicy tea, but I wish there was more variety in the spice. It would be great to have some sweet ginger heat or herbal black pepper spice share the spotlight. I would recommend trying Adagio’s original White Chai blend as another take on the white tea and spice combination.
Samurai Mate is a sweet and tropical mate blend, with lots of sweet papaya flavoring. The fruit pairs well with the green yerba mate, but it is a little one-note. This might be more subtle when iced, not to mention a cold brew would suit the tropical fruit theme. Not the blend for me, but a very striking fruity blend.
If you were able to take advantage of the rebound deal, I hope all the Teavana and David’s Tea fans out there enjoyed your first taste of Adagio. I think Adagio’s strengths lay with their more naturally flavored or unflavored teas. Let’s not forget their lively fandom blends where customers design themed flavors using the tea blender tools. If there’s a discontinued tea flavor that you’re missing, why not try your hand at creating a signature blend of your own to bring it back?
Here’s to a healthy rebound in your loose leaf tea life!
Here’s the scoop!
Where to Buy: Adgaio Teas
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Daily Support from Lipton Teas . . . . .
Lipton, yes that Lipton with the red tagged black tea bags. Lipton has a series of new wellness teas and the SororiTea Sisters are checking them out. This time, I’m tasting Daily Support blend. This blend features turmeric, echinacea, ginger, and green tea.
Turmeric seems to be everywhere when the new year rolls around and people make new resolutions about living healthier and cleaner for the new year. Turmeric comes up as one of those spices with lots of healthy properties like reducing inflammation and boosting antioxidants. I’m not a doctor, but I like trying new tea flavors so I took the plunge and brewed a cup.
Tumeric on its own can be a bit too strong and bitter. It is spicy, but more reminiscent of curry powder than chai spices. I find I like tumeric best when paired with ginger, like it is in this Daily Support blend. Their spiciness compliments each other, bringing out the sweet heat in the ginger and the earthier spice of the turmeric.
I’m a spice-lover when it comes to tea, so I would say that this blend could use more ginger and turmeric to suit my tastes. However, if you’re not into a hot-spiced blend, this might be a nice surprise. The ginger is at its sweetest, with gentle honey and lemon undertones, and just a hint of the more savory turmeric in the aftertaste. The green tea itself gets lost under these two powerhouses, but you don’t miss it.
I’ve had great success with tumeric ginger lattes at my local coffee shop. I’ll have to try this tea with some frothy milk next time for a cozy, creamy cup of spice. No matter how you brew it, this is a perfect warming cup for turning over a new leaf and giving your body and mind some Daily Support.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green tea
Where to Buy: Lipton Teas
Description:
Conquer the day with new Lipton Daily Support Herbal Supplement with Green Tea, which contains Turmeric, Echinacea, and Ginger. As an excellent source of Vitamin C, this herbal infusion helps support your body’s natural defenses*. Carefully selected botanicals are blended with green tea and orange essential oil that make every cup delicious. Enjoy a cup of Lipton Daily Support to supplement your varied, balanced diet.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Greek Mountain Tea from Kilo. . . .
My sample of Organic Greek Mountain Tea from Kilo looked so unusual in the bag I had to give it a try. It looks a bit like sage or a white tea, grey-green in color and fuzzy to the touch, with a chain of full, yellow blossoms. I needed my big infuser to handle all the lush stems, leaves, and blossoms of this tea.
I followed my usual pattern for lightly flavored herbal teas and steeped these leaves with boiling water, lots of leaves, and waited a good ten minutes.
Brewed the tea is very fragrant, vegetal but sweet, almost like brown sugar and okra. There’s a hint of something in the scent that reminds me of savory dishes in the kitchen, like black pepper or oregano: herbal but spicy.
The taste of this tea has some of the familiar lemon and chamomile notes, gently floral, sweet and bright. But this tea goes behind the chamomile flavors and has a more fermented great tea base beneath all that sweet lemon. The sweetness is worth noting, there is a very forward, almost-caramel note in the scent and aftertaste.
This was a unique blend in looks, smell, and taste, not to mention it is an herbal tea packed with good things to help you live a long and healthy life. Unless you go into the mountains to pick some more tea and encounter the gods of Mount Olympus, that is. Safe travels and happy brewing!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Kilo
Description:
This variety, Sideritis Scardica, comes from the legendary Mount Olympus, in the Balkans, situated between Thessaly and Macedonia. It has been tested for antioxidants by Brunswick Labs, (www.brunswicklabs.com) the leader in bio-analtyical testing. It has a mild and very pleasant taste and aroma.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!