Honeybee from Shanti Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Shanti Tea

Tea Description:

This Green Rooibos blend infused with honey essence makes a particularly fragrant iced tea and works very well as a concentrate.  Mix in some organic honey when boiling the tea for even more honey flavor.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

It’s late.  Actually, technically, it’s “early” … as in 4:30 in the morning early.  I am not able to relax and get to sleep, so I headed for the kitchen and grabbed a tisane … hoping it would calm me and help me sleep.  This is the tisane that I grabbed … let’s hope it does the trick!

I’ve probably said this more than once about a rooibos blend … but I’m going to say it again:  This is one of the nicest rooibos blends I’ve had.  And it’s also one of the more unique rooibos blends I’ve come across.

First of all, we have the green rooibos base, which is not a typical rooibos base.  The un-oxidized leaves of the rooibos plant give a lightness and a pleasantly sweet, fruity taste to the cup.

Then, there is the hops.  I don’t find hops in many blends … and I’m really surprised that more tea blenders don’t utilize this herb.  I suspect it is because of the bitterness that’s often associated with the hops flower.  However, I love hops for it’s unique flavor.  I do taste a bit of the bitterness but because of the natural sweetness of the rooibos, the bitterness is offset just enough to keep it from tasting off-putting.  Instead, what I notice is not the bitterness of the hops, but malty flavor and a rich taste and texture that is rather unusual for a rooibos blend.  Rooibos blends tend to be a bit thin … but not this blend!

But what I taste more than anything with this cup is the delicious honey notes.  This tastes like a thinned honey, and with the malty notes from the hops, it gives it an almost honey-ale kind of taste.  Very different, and very enjoyable.

I really like this, and I also like the fact that the hops is having a soothing, relaxing effect on me.  I might just be able to get to sleep tonight, after all!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Rooibos, Shanti Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea

Renaissance Black Tea from Shanti Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where To Buy:  Shanti Tea

Tea Description:

A well travelled, enlightened black tea blend, with the malty strength of a morning tea, but the soft, floral touch of an an afternoon cup. A perfect blend to set the mood for a purposeful yet relaxing day.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is a wonderful black tea blend – it’s one of those that would work nicely for that important first cup of the day because it has a robust, bold flavor, but it would do equally as well as an afternoon pick-me-up because it has a certain softness to it.  Light and crisp, but with a bold, malty flavor.  I love it!

It also tastes great as an iced tea which is how I’m enjoying it now.  I had a cup of it earlier this morning, tasting it first without additions and then deciding that I wanted a creamy latte with my breakfast and it was very satisfying.  I decanted the rest of the tea and stashed it in the fridge, and it is fantastic as an iced tea – full of rich flavor, but there are so many lively floral notes to give it a lighter touch.

A really nice “all-in-one” type of black tea blend, this one will serve as your breakfast blend as well as your afternoon tea and a very refreshing iced tea too!  This would be perfect for those who (like me!) find that their space for tea is limited – this one takes the place of three different teas, and it’s delicious too.  What more could you want?

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea, Shanti Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea

Blueberry Matcha from Shanti Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green (Matcha)

Where to Buy:  Shanti Tea

Tea Description:

Matcha tea is kind of like a super-powered green tea—since you’re ingesting the whole leaf instead of just the brewed beverage, you get up to ten times the antioxidant effect and nutritional value of your standard green. Matcha’s rich in antioxidants, as well as chlorophyll and fiber, and has been found to have natural mood enhancing effects. All in all, matcha’s got no match when it comes to healthy teas.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This Matcha really delivers on the flavor promised in its name.  This is really BLUEBERRY!  The flavor of blueberry is so vibrant, and it doesn’t taste fake.  It tastes bright and sweet and juicy, just like a fresh, ripe blueberry.

I really like the way the flavor of the powdered green tea and the blueberry mingle here:  the two components emphasize each others sweet notes, and the blueberry has a way of bringing the fresh, vegetative notes of the Matcha in a very agreeable way.  I taste no bitterness, just fresh, sweet berry and the lush “greenness” of the Matcha.

The Matcha is very smooth – not chalky or gritty.  It whisks up frothy – and it achieves this froth very easily.  I had barely begun to whisk when I noticed a very rich froth sitting atop the Matcha.  Nice!  Now that I’m more than halfway finished with my bowlful of Matcha, the froth has subsided quite a bit, but, the tea is still very well incorporated in the water – I haven’t really noticed any separation or sediment.

Really good – this is a tea I’d recommend to all the blueberry fans out there!  It packs a lot of YUM into every sip!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Green Tea, Matcha, Shanti Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea

Wildberry Matcha from Shanti Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green (Matcha)

Where to Buy:  Shanti Tea

Tea Description:

Matcha tea is kind of like a super-powered green tea—since you’re ingesting the whole leaf instead of just the brewed beverage, you get up to ten times the antioxidant effect and nutritional value of your standard green. Matcha’s rich in antioxidants, as well as chlorophyll and fiber, and has been found to have natural mood enhancing effects. All in all, matcha’s got no match when it comes to healthy teas.

Learn more about this Matcha here.

Taster’s Review:

I could smell the berry in this as soon as I opened the package!  I knew I was in for a treat!

I prepared this the way I would most Matcha, except that I didn’t sift it.  I’ve had bad luck with sifting flavored teas in the past, so I leave the sifting to pure Matcha.  Instead, I used the back of a spoon to help break up any lumps (there were only a couple) and then added some hot water to my chawan, and used my chasen to whisk the Matcha into a thick paste.  Then I added a enough water until the Matcha reached the desired consistency.  I don’t usually measure any more, I’ve been making Matcha long enough that I can just eyeball it.

The Matcha whisked up nice and frothy, and has a thick, creamy texture.  It tastes buttery and vegetal and sweet.  I was happy to find no chalky taste to it, not even in the aftertaste or when I reached the bottom of the chawan!

The berry flavor is sweet and tart, with the tartness tingling on the tongue in the aftertaste.   It tastes kind of like a combination of blueberry and blackberry – sweet and juicy!  YUM!

The berry flavor started out rather subtle, much more subtle than I expected with the strong berry fragrance that the Matcha possesses.  But with each sip, the flavor intensified, and by the time I reached the last bit of Matcha in my chawan, the berry flavor was delicious and strong without being so strong that the flavor of the Matcha was overwhelmed.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Green Tea, Matcha, Shanti Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea

Smoky Jasmine from Shanti Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Shanti Tea

Tea Description:

A nice compliment to jasmine green teas, this smokier version is made with a Chinese green tea that has a distinctively stronger profile. A perfect tea for after meals, goes well with unsweetened pastries.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is a very unusual jasmine tea.  Unusual, but I like it.  Of course, I expected it to be unusual, based on the name.

The smoke here is light … and with the first few sips, I was of the opinion that the name Smoky Jasmine is a bit misleading, because there really isn’t a strong, smoky presence in this cup.  There is a light smokiness that presents itself at the start which develops as I continue to sip.  By mid-cup, the smokiness is more apparent.

And the smoky notes offer an interesting contrast to the sweet flavor of the jasmine flower.  I find that it seems to emphasize some of the sweeter tones of the jasmine, offering a flavor that is sweet, almost dessert-like, but still very much jasmine.  No soapy taste, no sharp tones.  Just a new way to explore the lovely essence of jasmine.

I am really glad I got a chance to try this jasmine tea.  I don’t know that it is my favorite jasmine tea, but, I do enjoy it for it’s interesting twist on the classic.  Nice, and something I’d be very happy to drink again!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Green Tea, Jasmine Tea, Shanti Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea