When you purchase tea from Grimoire Tea, they arrive in the cutest little bottles with the most unique labels giving the name and description of the tea purchased. You can tell that she takes the time to really think about what she is representing when coming up with her labels. The top is reinforced by a solid layer of colored wax. This company could not have been more unique with their packaging! I just love her presentation!
I was immediately able to smell the green tea but it was also incredibly floral due to the jasmine and rose petals. There was also a mild fruity sweetness that I attributed to the elderberry. It was a very pretty tea to look at.
Thorns and Roses steeped to a pretty rose gold color. I really enjoyed the steeping process of this tea. In the beginning, it was a pale yellow, as most green teas are when they steep. As the tea continued to steep, it slowly began to change color as the elderberry warmed up.
The flavor was very floral with a soft, sweet aftertaste. The elderberry was able to soften the rose and jasmine which, for me, made it even more enjoyable. I did not add any sweetener to this tea but you absolutely could, if you wanted to bring out a little more of the elderberry sweetness.
This would make a really nice evening tea to help you relax at the end of the day. Jasmine is known to help relax the senses. While this may not be a tea I would keep on hand, I did enjoy the sample. If you enjoy floral green teas you will love Thorns and Roses by Grimoire Tea.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Grimoire Tea
Description
This tea does not appear to currently be available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Minty Fennec/Totem Tea. . .
Howdy!
Today I will be drinking the wonderfully named Minty Fennec, a Moroccan mint and green tea blend.
Mint is a wonderful herb and it happens to be one of my favourites. I guarantee if I have a stomach ache or feel generally run down a mint tea is what I run to first. My second preference would be a green tea as it can help with energy levels. A combination of the two sounds right up my street!
Opening the pouch with a fennec cute face on the front I am met with a fresh, strong and absolutely beautiful spearmint scent. It was so defined I could easily pick the type of mint, and as luck would have it spearmint is my favourite. It’s very sweet and fresh, it’s so refreshing. Even my nose tingles to the minty power of this blend.
In appearance the leaves are rolled up in traditional gunpowder green style and they form a good sized ball. It looks good, size and colour is pleasing to show a decent quality. Low quality tends to be tiny pieces ie broken leaf and the colour is very dark green. These however are a medium/large size and contain a dark green and a lighter grassy green which contrasts and bares a shine.
Steeping parameters: 1 tsp. 75c water. 3 minutes.
Once steeped the resulting tea is yellow and bares a sweet and very refreshing, pure spearmint scent. I use tons of spearmint essential oil and it reminds me exactly of that in terms of strength and purity. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that’s how the tea is scented for this blend.
The first few sips revealed a sweet and mildly refreshing spearmint flavour that coats my mouth and lightens into a dry, grassy but creamy after taste. The spearmint is not as strong as the scent but you can taste it easily, a nice balance actually as too much spearmint can be bitter.
My only complaint is that after I gulped the rest of my tea (it was gone before you could blink as I couldn’t stop myself) it did leave a dryness in my mouth. Not powdery but still rather dominant, probably from the tea. And that’s a personal issue, dryness doesn’t bother some people. Either way of the three Totem Tea blends I have tried (Very Berry Bear and Cinnamon Squirrel) the Minty Fennec is by far my favourite.
In terms of a mint tea it’s delightful. Minty flavour and creamy/buttery tones with little astringency or bitterness. It actually does appear to be the best of both worlds in the balance of green tea and mint.
I’ve dithered on enough, needless to say it’s definitely worth a try if your a fellow mint tea lover.
Thank you very much Totem Tea. It was an absolute pleasure reviewing your teas.
Happy steeping friends!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Totem Tea
Description
Start your own Morrocan ritual with this refreshing organic green tea. Savour the moment when water meets the fragant spearmint and releases the magic into the air. This is your special time in the shade of the palm tree; don’t rush it.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orange Fluff/The NecessiTeas
This is one of three NecessiTeas I won in an Instagram giveaway about a year back. I was really excited to try it and yet for some reason I have not gotten around to doing so until now.
My plan was to make it hot but the package itself recommended making this iced. So I prepared it both ways, steeping both the hot and iced tea in 175F water for 3 minutes. The iced tea just got poured over ice.
The hot tea, which is not particularly hot anymore, is really quite good. The green tea was fragrant after steeping which made me worried this would taste like grass but my fear was obviously unwarranted because the flavor of the hot tea is more akin to the scent of the dry leaf, which is basically like a delicious creamsicle, except more marshmallow than vanilla. There is just so much bright and candy-like orange flavor mixed with fluffy and sweet marshmallow goodness. I personally haven’t tried an Orange Delight, the inspiration of this tea, but now I know I want to because this is delicious!
The iced tea, on the other hand, is not as much to my tastes. I find the green tea base comes out a lot more at the expense of the marshmallow flavor. Personally, I am not a fan of green tea so for me, this is a step down from the hot cup. The orange flavor still comes through strongly, but without the marshmallow it is more dull and in line with the fruit. So this iced tea is more an orange green tea and the hot tea is more Orange Fluff, a more sweet/candied flavor.
Personally I will be enjoying the rest of my 2 ozs of this tea hot because despite the company recommendations, I think that is the way to go. This is yet another successful NecessiTeas blend that I would recommend and will for sure be sharing with friends. It’s a good one, and I am especially impressed given it is almost a year old and still packs a flavor punch.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is currently not available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Blackberry Custard Tart Green Tea/52Teas. . . . .
I have seen a lot of praise for 52 Teas banana flavoring. There is also a lot of amazement over the 52 Teas coconut, which never seems to go bad no matter how old it gets. What you don’t hear a lot about is the 52 Teas blackberry flavor, which is a shame because it is awesome!
I had a cup of 52 Teas’ Blackberry Dumpling tea not too long ago and it was delicious. However, I had only a one-serving sample so after finishing that mug I was left with a blackberry tea void…until I remembered that this tea, Blackberry Custard Tart Green Tea, was part of the most recent 12 Teas of Christmas box.
While green tea is not typically my favorite, I am still smiling as I sip this because, like Blackberry Dumpling, the blackberry flavor is once again the super delicious star of the mug. There is the faintest vegetal note from the base but mostly it highlights the fresh and juicy flavors of the blackberry. I am not getting too much custard or tart but it is there, light and subtle and adding just a twinge of creaminess. Probably also keeping things on the sweeter side.
52 Teas just nails some flavors and blackberry is one of their more underrated skills. This is yet another delicious blackberry beverage, even if it doesn’t quite capture its namesake.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
BeauTea Bomb/Blend Bee
Up until recently, I’ve been a fairly skeptical green tea drinker. So many of the greens I’d tried before were super grassy or a little bitter. But as I’ve been reviewing here at our beloved SororiTea Sisters, and getting to try more green tea samples and expand my palate over the years, I’ve come to learn that– whoa. I actually DO like green tea, you guys.
This particular blend from one of my top-five favorite tea companies does my green collection justice and more. It’s light and slightly vegetal, but also robust and fruity from the rose hips, hibiscus, and fruity extracts. As always, I adore how Jamah at Blend Bee combines incredible, medicinal herbs with teas and add-ins to make a blend that’s not just tasty, but healthy, to boot. I’ve been finding myself obsessed with this one iced, and have been sipping cup after cup straight from my fridge. Even my husband, a skeptical fruity-tea drinker, found this one the perfect balance of fruit and sweet with herbs and tea.
Another winner from Blend Bee, and a great addition to your summer-sipping that will be upon us soon!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Blend Bee
Description
This fruity fresh blend contains amazing ingredients designed specifically for gorgeous hair, skin and nails. We also kept anti-aging in mind while formulating this blend. Crafted with a medium amount of caffeine, and can be enjoyed throughout the day. Bomb-tastic!
