Check out my first Let’s Go Bananas tea posting.
It’s no secret I love the flavor of bananas. I like the taste in pastries, candy, breakfast, the fruit itself, and of course, the taste of bananas in tea! Here is another round of tasty banana inspired teas I’ve tried lately
Banana Split from The Necessiteas
Leaf type: red rooibos
This red rooibos blend has all three essential components of a banana split, with pieces of strawberries, bananas, and carob bean (“chocolate”). The strong red rooibos compliments the sweet and tart fruit pieces in the blend. The chocolate is an undertone, taking a backseat to the driving banana and strawberry flavor combination. The blend benefits from sweetener and milk to make it feel more like a dessert and bring out more of the bananas.
Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis distributed by Amoda Tea
Leaf type: green rooibos
This tropical green rooibos blend has pieces of dried banana, pineapple, and coconut. All three fruits are prominent, and no one ingredient takes the lead. Banana and coconut are the sweet components, bringing creaminess and body to the blend. The pineapple adds a much-needed pop of tartness to balance the blend. This tea is the most refreshing as an iced tea, and drinking it iced helps support its summertime tropical vibe.
Banana Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha from 52Teas
Leaf type: green
52Teas has a whole host of delicious flavored genmaicha teas. Being the sucker for banana that I am, this was one of my favorites. The sweet cream of the marshmallow pairs well with the banana, almost like a banana cream pie. The toasty flavors of the puffed rice help this blend from being too sweet, and if keeping with the pie analogy, the rice makes up the crust-like component of the blend. All the warm, roasted flavors of puffed rice and gentle green taste of genmaicha with creamy marshmallow fluff and banana.
I know there are still banana teas out there that I haven’t tried, so I’ll need to fill up my mug and go bananas for banana tea all over again!
Nature’s Candy – Coconut Chamomile from Petali Teas
Fruit is nature’s candy– a phrase I heard said by many health-nut, earth-loving parents. But it might just be true in the case of Coconut Chamomile from Petali Teas. I got a taste of this blend from my Amoda Tea subscription. With rainbow colors and fun shapes, this tea almost feels like a handful of candies. It includes green kiwi pieces, pink hibiscus, red rose hips, yellow apple pieces, almost-purple cherry slices, and bright white coconut.
The fragrance of this tea blew me away as soon as I opened the bag, giving me a strong whiff of the fruity, sugary, pop of cherries and berries. There are huge slices of dried cherries, bright curls of coconut, and the little round blossoms of chamomile. This blend smells like sour cherry straw candy, or even a bit like traditional, pink bubblegum. The fruit flavors are very forward, but the chamomile base and some creamy coconut help smooth out the tartness into something super sweet and relaxing. The only downside is that this tea is best when brewed with lots of leaves, so I only got two cups out of my sample.
Part of me wants to make sure I always have this blend on hand, like the omnipresent dish of hard candies at grandma’s house. Something simple and sweet to offer the occasional passerby that gets stuck for a while in my living room.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Amoda Teas
Description:
A beautiful herbal tea with large pieces of fruit you almost want to eat! Floral flavours of chamomile, delightful fruit, hints of coconut and a perfectly sweet finish. Sip this in the evening and let the chamomile relax you.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Golden Turmeric Ginger Tea from Amoda Tea . . . . .
Maybe you have guessed I am a Turmeric Fan. In case you didn’t…well…I guess today you’ll learn something new about me. It’s true…I LOVE Turmeric! Today I would like to tell you all about my experience with Golden Turmeric Ginger Tea from Amoda Tea.
I have been drinking more and more Turmeric teas and tisanes over the last couple of months! I LOVE that it’s catching on at a rapid rate! As for Golden Turmeric Ginger Tea from Amoda Tea, specifically, I will say the very fine powder is light and fluffy but potent in aroma and flavor.
I really appreciate that Amoda uses all Organic Ingredients in this including turmeric powder, fennel powder, true cinnamon powder, ginger powder, anise seed powder, vanilla powder. What I found different about this flavor as opposed to others I have tried is that I could taste the fennel and anise more than the other ingredients. The vanilla was more subtle. I may try this again with 1 or 2 drops of vanilla extract and/or vanilla flavored stevia. A squirt of maple syrup or flavored Agave might be another nice addition.
I tried this straight up and also tried this with almond milk. I will say that I liked it with the almond milk better than stand alone with water. The key for me was the hotter the better. I also just used a spoon to stir it in but I would like to try blender recipes with this as I think you could get really creative in the kitchen with this product!
Another thing I can’t help but think about is using Coconut Milk and/or Coconut Crystals since I have been having a lot of success with coconut products in lattes, too! The possibilities are really endless! Don’t be surprised if you see more recipes using this and other Turmeric based products in the near future!
Turmeric is one of those things that has been used for hundreds of years and history is starting to repeat itself and it’s being appreciated and used again! I, for one, am overjoyed! The more Turmeric the Merrier
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Description
How We See It:
A potent and warming anti-inflammatory blend of spices that helps with muscle recovery and digestion. This blend is also packed with antioxidants, helps lift your mood and your immunity. Great as a tea, turmeric milk or latte. Try as a coconut milk or almond milk latte with coconut oil. Just add all ingredients to a blender and blend up!
Formulated and blended in-house. Developed in consultation with Acupoint Wellness Centre and their Chinese Medicine Practitioners.
What’s In It:
All Organic Ingredients: turmeric powder, fennel powder, true cinnamon powder, ginger powder, anise seed powder, vanilla powder
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Yomogi from Amoda Teas November Subscription Box
Yomogi is the Japanese name for the herb, Mugwort. (Yomogi is also a fun word to say, and I’ve been saying it all week since I tried this tea.) There’s more than Mugwort in this blend, including Japanese black tea, green tea, and lavender. The dry leaf smells most strongly of lavender, with subdued tones of nutty green tea beneath the floral tones.
Brewing instructions for this tea called for cooler water and short steep times, and I made a few infusions of this blend with successful results. The tea brews light green/yellow in color, and tastes strongly of apricot and melon. This blend reminds me of an oolong due to its sweet stone fruit flavors, without being too grassy or sour like some strong green teas. There is a crisp mouthfeel, like fresh garden cucumbers, and a bit of toasted nuttiness that rounds out the experience.
The namesake of this blend is mugwort, though I don’t know which flavors derive from this herb. Mugwort has been around the block a bit, apparently being used as flavoring for drinks throughout history. Online you’ll find references to mugwort in all sorts of medicine and magic, from acupuncture, to insect repellent, to use in herbal spells, to being worn as a crown to protect against misfortunes on Saint John’s Eve. (I have Baltic ancestry myself, so we usually wear oak leaves for the occasion, maybe I’ll have to switch to mugwort and see if my luck fares any better).
If you’re a fan of Japanese teas, or just looking to ward off some bad mojo, do yourself a favor and brew up a cup of Yomogi tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black and Green
Where to Buy: Unfortunately this blend isn’t available online at this time, but there are plenty of other teas to choose from at Amoda Teas or in their monthly box subscription!
Description: We also found a more modern blend of Japanese black tea, green tea, lavender and Japanese mugwort. Mugwort! a.k.a. Yomogi.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pacific Coast Lavender from Winterwoods Tea Company Courtesy of Amoda Tea
Herbal tea can be a great before-bed comfort, especially as the weather gets cooler. Composed of sweet and savory herbs and naturally caffeine-free, it’s hard to go wrong. Usually, my one complaint with herbal tea is that the flavor is mild or too delicate, but wow! Was I proven wrong on this blend! The lavender is so fresh, fragrant, and plentiful– it all but knocked me over when I first got a whiff of the dry leaf. This is a tea with simple but powerful ingredients, each one vibrant and visible in the blend.
The health benefits of these herbs are all the positive usual suspects: lavender and chamomile for relaxation, rose hips for health-boosting vitamin c, and cool, stomach-calming peppermint. When brewed, the lavender definitely takes the spotlight, lighting up my whole room with its warm, floral scent, and filling my senses when I bring my mug up to my face. Beneath all the lavender fragrance, the chamomile and peppermint play well together, producing a mellow, grassy, lemon-mint brew. The rose hips are harder to pick out. Traditionally, rose hips tend to be strong and sour, more like orange or hibiscus, but in this blend they appear only as a little fruity note at the back of each sip.
While I might not be in the mood for this tea every night, it definitely comforted me, reminding me of herbal teas I would drink when I was home sick or staying warm on a snowy day. Not to mention the lavender was out of this world: I have yet to find another lavender tea that can even come close to competing with this one.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Description:
Making this tea your evening ritual through Fall and Winter can be a great way to help naturally boost your mood if you’re experiencing wet grey days. Lavender can calm emotional stress, peppermint can invigorate your mind and chamomile will help soothe.
This tea is no longer on the site but others from Winterwoods Tea Company are here!