Today’s blend, Warm Fuzzy, comes from Etsy shop PaperBoxGoodies. This teabag came with a cute tag and tea charm, helping remind me that each bag is hand-filled by the small Etsy shop.
Warm Fuzzy lives up to its name, With fuzzy chamomile blossoms and green tea, this is a cozy, relaxing blend. The grassy green notes pair easily with the floral, lemony chamomile. For a tea with blend of herbal ingredients, this was gentle and sweet, definitely not bitter or medicine-like. I think this blend is best with touch of honey to bring out the natural sweetness in the chamomile. I prefer teas with a bit more spice or boldness, but this is a kind, comforting brew for when you need to calm down and drink something nice-and-easy.
I don’t see Warm Fuzzy in stock on PaperBoxGoodies’ Etsy shop, but there are other intriguing flavors with names like Purple Snozberry, Bluesfest Green, or Passionmint Green. After the quality of Warm Fuzzy, I look forward to trying other blends from PaperBoxGoodies.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: PaperBoxGoodies
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Top Leaf from Mellow Monk . . . . . .
Within this past week, I have come down with the slight flu. Resulting in which I couldn’t for the life of me taste anything for my nose was not cooperating in the slightest. So when I became able to taste something that wasn’t my mentholated cough drops I looked to tea for a safe hot beverage to soothe my illness. I turned to Mellow Monk’s Top Leaf tea blend.
This tea is a sort of Sencha (fukamushi, which means deeply steamed in Japanese) and compared to the sencha I have had in the past this tea is a softer variant. It was a nice cup to soothe my stomach and a pleasant change to my taste buds, other than crackers and soup. I would have to agree with the description that is on the Mellow Monk’s site for this blend has a slight earthiness to it but just enough to have a modest sweetness. Now I don’t seem to catch the grapefruit overtones that is described but that could be because of my previously deadened taste buds.
Now on to the price of this tea. It seems to only come in one size and that is a 100 gram (3.5 oz) bag retailing for $15.95 which is a little over four dollars per ounce. Which I believe that is pretty fair compared that I usually pay $4-7 for an ounce for other loose leaf blends.
In closing, I believe that this is a good blend for any green tea/Sencha lover. It is moderately priced for the amount you get, it is direct from the source, and if this has any leverage with you dear reader Top Leaf won first place in its category in the 2011 North American Tea Competition. As for me, I don’t think I will be picking this up anytime soon but I will definitely keep this blend in mind for the future. I may even explore their other blends from Mellow Monk.
See you for the next cuppa!
Kara
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description
This is our top-of-the-linehoncha, or traditional green tea. Top Leaf™ Green Tea, a fukamushi (deeply steamed) sencha, is specially pampered in its own separate corner of the tea orchard. Not only does this tea receive extra fertilizer (organic, of course) during the growing season, but at harvest time, the growers pick only the top layer of young tea leaves. The result is a distinctive, more subtle, gentler flavor. This tea is alwaysfirst flush.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mint Lemonade Organic Green Tea from Fraser Tea. . . .
Fraser Tea was one of my favorite “new to me” tea companies from 2017. I instantly fell in love with their teas and loved the selection they have to pick from. A few orders later, I’m still enjoying their teas almost on a daily basis.
Mint Lemonade Organic Green Tea is a unique blend of green tea, spearmint, turmeric, and other organic ingredients. I can’t say I’ve seen another offering like this one for a green flavored mint lemonade tea. So this pretty much was a “I have to have this now” sort of tea.
Brewed up with water around 190F and allowed to steep for 4 minutes, this tea definitely strives to be a mint green tea with a lemon and herbal twist. Smooth, refreshing, and completely addictive. The green tea, lemon, and mint flavors come across in this wonderful melody. As much as I enjoyed the tea, with the long list of ingredients this tea blend contains, I had this feeling that cold brewing this bad boy would be the way to go.
Cold brewed over night, this tea is sensational! Fresh pops of lemon really come across with this minty green tea base. You get this almost herbaceous and spicy hint here and there that really elevated this tea. Sunshine in a glass for sure!
If you haven’t taken a look at all that Fraser Tea has to offer, take a moment and check them out. So far I have been super impressed with the teas I’ve picked up. I have to drink down my tea stash a bit but as soon as I do, Fraser Tea will be getting another order from me.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Fraser Tea
Description
Enjoy a glass of invigorating Mint Lemonade Organic Green Tea for a pleasing summer refresher any time of year. Green tea unites with spearmint, peppermint, turmeric, and lemongrass to create a citrus explosion. Relax with a glass of iced Mint Lemonade Organic Green Tea for its health benefits and refreshing flavor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tropical Flip from 52Teas. . . .
HELLO FROM THE TROPICS, MY LOVELIES!
I type to you from my cabana, where a fella with a GIANT leaf is fanning me in addition to the Bahama winds. My skin is tanning, not burning. I have a floppy hat. My hubs and friends are frolicking on the shore, leaving me alone with a novel, some tea, and the giant-leaf-guy. I feel their joy, but do not have to stand up. Ahhhhh.
Oh wait. That isn’t happening at all. I just FELT that way because of this tea. Only the tea is real.
Today’s sipping buddy is Tropical Flip Green Tea by 52Teas, which they sent me in a special sneak-peak-for-reviews package. (They do not, at this time, send out island vacations.) I will not allow the free nature of this tea to sway me; I genuinely love this tea. (Though, for the record, if someone sends me a vacation package, I will say literally anything you want about your teas. I’m open to a cruise, with a meet-a-dolphin excursion and unlimited alcohol.)
Tropical Flip tastes like a pineapple, coconut, and banana smoothie. Sweet and bright. Usually I think that bananas belong on their own, or in breads, not as a flavoring for something else. But here it works. It adds a little bit of a tang that counters the pineapple’s.
I think that the difference between banana-candy (ick!) and this tea (yeah!) is the ingredients. There’s nothing artificial about the flavor at all. I suspect that it’s because there are freeze-dried actual bananas in there instead of some kind of chemical that Mr So-And-So cooked up in his pharmaceutical company’s basement.
So if you want to briefly dip your toes in the sand without actually paying money or shaving your legs, give this a sip. You might be surprised at how transported you’ll be!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Don’t judge a tea by it’s company name! Jasmine Green from Chai Kai . . . .
Honestly I was feeling a little unsure about Jasmine flavored tea from a company named CHAI Kai, but this departure from their standard has good company with a group of other tempting flavors in their shop, so I’m putting my trepidation and bias aside… for now.
Looking at the loose leaf here the green tea leaves are finely rolled and I see small delicate Jasmine blossoms but there is a definite, not overpowering, floral scent to the blend. These little buds really pull their weight!
The leaves expanded a great deal after being brewed for three minutes at just under 160F and have a slight nutty scent to them. Will all the flavors remain after a resteep?
The liquor is a caramel color and is less fragrant than the dry leaves, hopefully the infusion trapped the flavor in the water! Without sweetener it has a gentle earthy green tea flavor with a short floral aftertaste. The jasmine impressively survives resteeping, FLOWER POWER!
Despite my misgivings from it’s name, this blend really does the Jasmine/Green tea genre justice. I guess that’s why they say “don’t judge a tea blend by it’s company’s name”…
If you’re enticed by British teas like this that defy preconceived biases, they’re offering 20% off EVERYTHING in their store with the coupon code: WINTER20!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chai Kai
Freshly picked Jasmine Blossoms are placed in layers amidst the leaves of this beautifully made Chinese Green Tea, imparting their sweet, perfumed aroma as they dry. Also available in Teabags.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
