It is hot and humid and hasn’t been a very fun day. Harrumph. I looked to my samples stash to find something light to cheer me up. Bubblegum sounded perfect!
This is a green tea with long, lightweight leaves and my second teaspoonful had a REAL GUMBALL in it! Be sure you scoop enough leaf for this one or go by weight instead of spoonfuls, leaving the gumball off the scale!
The instructions says to use water “just under boiling” but I went with my usual green tea temp and used 175F water for three minutes. Of course when I retrieved the infuser basket from the pot, I had to check to see what happened to the gumball! The color and hard coating were gone and a smaller sticky globe was there. Perhaps hotter water would have melted it entirely.
I drank a cup of this hot, and it was good, fruity, but not really screaming GUMBALL at me. It was just a pleasantly fruity green tea with a very light sour or brisk edge barely there. I didn’t add anything to it.
I put the rest of the tea in the fridge to chill for supper. I think I like it even better this way. The edge I tasted when it was hot is gone, and I am left with a light, refreshing, fruity green tea. I have enough leaf left for one more pot, and I will go unsweetened iced tea all the way with the balance of it.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
We all remember that sweet pink bubblegum flavor as a kid. Contests with your best friend to see who could blow the biggest bubble and then having it pop and stick to your entire face. Chewing it for hours until our jaws ached or falling asleep with it in our mouth which meant waking up with a big sticky mess in our hair! This blend takes me back to all those childhood memories and will be loved by adults and children of all ages. Feel free to steep the actual gum balls or pop one in your mouth and work on your bubble blowing skills while your tea is steeping!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
*gifted in exchange for review*
Cherry Blossom/DAVIDs Tea
It is late at night and I am already sleepy. I want something light and sweet as a bedtime treat, so I chose Cherry Blossom. Although it is primarily labeled as a white tea, this is a actually a blend of white and green tea with cherries, coconut chips, rosebuds, and natural and artificial cherry flavoring.
Cherry flavor can so easily go wrong. So many cherry teas (and other cherry flavored things) taste like cherry cough syrup, which is NOT what I am looking for. Remember Luden’s Cherry Cough Drops? Now THAT I could handle, or real sweet cherries, but not something that tastes like actual cough syrup. (Not a rooibos fan as a general rule because it tastes like cough syrup to me. It takes throwing in a ton of flavoring to make it palatable for me.)
Happily, this didn’t go wrong. The coconut is giving it body and creaminess, the rose adds a little sweetness but honestly not a ton of floral flavor, and the main event is definitely sweet cherry without the cough syrup BLARG.
This one has really been a hit with family and friends, and I think the next step is to try it iced and see what happens!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White/Green Blend
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pre-Ming Dragonwell /Mei Mei Tea
A few years ago had you had asked me if the time of year matters for when you plucked a leaf I would have shrugged my shoulders. But once you really delve into the world of tea it’s amazing what you will learn.
Pre-Ming for example is any tea harvested before a specific date, this being the Qing Ming festival. In this year of the Dragon 2020, the festival falls on April 4th.
These teas are usually considered higher quality. I could go on forever about this but go look it up and you’ll see what I mean. Once you do you’ll understand a bit more about why I am excited to drink this tea.
Without further ado and because I can’t stand sitting here any longer staring at this package, let’s steep!
The dry aroma is very slight. Maybe because this is only a small sample. But have no fear the wet aroma is fantastic.
Sweet, grassy, with some hints of indistinct florals. The liquid is silky on the tongue. Oh heavens that is nice. Slight astringency with overwhelming (in a good way) grass and hay notes.
This is the first time I’ve done a dragonwell Gong fu style and I must admit it is tough. But so worth it. Oh unique! With the second steeping, I am getting an aroma of asparagus. The flavor remains the same. Maybe a bit more grassy then before.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mei Mei Tea
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
photo/logo credit: Mei Mei Tea
Organic Green Tea/Newman’s Own- The Good Ole Standby. . . . .
Sometimes you just have to drink a bagged tea and honestly when it comes to a bagged green tea I find this one ‘not too shabby’.
I tend to have this one ‘on hand’ for the Green Tea drinkers in my office. It’s a good ole standby. I haven’t had a complaint yet from those who have sipped on it.
Personally, my favorite way to drink this Organic Green Tea from Newman’s Own is to have it ‘on ice’. It’s easy to add natural flavorings to it, too, such as freshly squeezed lemon.
If you haven’t tried a bagged tea in a while – or if you are looking for something for the ‘grab and go days’ – give this a whirl. You might be surprised!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Newman’s Own
Description
Organic Green Tea
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
The Tea That Smells Like Lemon Drops. . . Green Lemon/Newby Tea
“If a cup of tea won’t fix it, you really do have a problem.”
I don’t remember where I read that recently, but it seems pretty true at times. I was in a bit of a grump and decided to have a cuppa. This one is new to me, not just the flavor but the brand itself. Mine is an individually wrapped tea bag but the company also sells sachets and loose leaf.
Green lemon had the potential to go bad, very bad. Green tea can be pretty astringent and raw, and lemon can be puckeringly sour, so a combination of the wrong types of those two could be a mistake of epic proportions. Okay, it could turn out to be a bad cup of tea, but when you are in a grump, that is a pretty big mistake.
Instead, I started singing as soon as I picked up my cup. “Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that’s where you’ll find me!”
This tea smells just like lemon drops! Which I love! Bright and sunny, sweet and happy! Yes, it is a little brisk as most green teas are, but it tastes great and I feel the sun peeking out from behind the clouds. No puckering here, just a smile.
Since I needed tea fast, I appreciate the instructions that said to only steep for one to two minutes, and I kept it short. I could handle cup after cup of this. It is so lemony good you might almost hope for a sore throat just for an excuse to sip it all day long.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Newby Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for blends that are.