Eventhough, Frogula Fruit Blend from Stylin’ Tea Blends, is no longer listed on their site I thought it was still worth a mention because it made a mighty fine iced tea!
The ingredients of this rooibos and honeybush blended base also contained apple pieces, raisins, candied papaya, carrot, beetroot, pumpkin pieces, cardamom, cinnamon, close, rose petals, nutmeg, and vanilla bits.
The honeybush and rooibos played nicely together and made it to you couldn’t really tell that one was overpowering the other. This leads me to believe that if the ratio wasn’t 50/50 it may have been pretty close.
The spices were mellow. Just a hint or spec of each. This also worked well. The fruit is what shined here! The two fruits that were more prominent were the apple and candied papaya. I found that I really liked this flavor duo.
The vanilla bits, rose, pumpkin, and beetroot hung out in the background and seemed to contribute to the aftertaste more than the first taste.
All-in-all I enjoyed this one. Iced Tea – for me – was key!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Where to Buy: Stylin’ Tea Blends
Description
No description is available but click below for all of the tea blends that Stylin’ Blends currently has to offer.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Birthday Cake Infused Hot Chocolate/DAVIDs Tea
DAVIDsTEA’s Birthday Cake is actually the very first tea that caught my attention. It is the tea that got me curious about teas and made me drive my mother crazy until she drove me over to a DAVIDsTEA store. It is the tea that started it all and if I am being honest, I didn’t even like it that much when I first tried it.
The idea of a Birthday Cake tea just sounded too good to pass up. I mean, all the flavor of delicious birthday cake and none of the calories…Who could say no to that?! So, I went to the store and since I had no clue what I was doing I bought about 50 grams of the Birthday Cake tea and 50 grams of about 15 other teas. Of course I tried Birthday Cake first and only tasted sweet rooibos and was left disappointed. Among the 15 others, I found some I loved and some I didn’t but I found myself always coming back to Birthday Cake. Even though it wasn’t the best tea, it was the first and for that reason alone it had a special place in my heart.
When I discovered cold brewing, that is when my love for the Birthday Cake tea really bloomed. Cold brewing pushed aside the rooibos flavor, making room for the vanilla frosting deliciousness to shine. Cakey and amazing.
Well, DAVIDsTEA has taken now their beloved Birthday Cake tea and made it even more lovable. They infused their tea in a chocolate cube filled with sprinkles that sits at the end of a stick. Atop the tea-infused chocolate cube is a colorful confetti marshmallow. Submerge this delight in a cup of hot milk and stir until the chocolate is melted and the marshmallow begins to melt. What do you get? A super fun hot chocolate. And, if you are anything like me, you add just a touch more fun with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Yum!
As for the flavor of this hot chocolate…well, it is creamy and rich. It has a smooth, melted milk chocolate flavor that you can only get from real chocolate. More than the chocolate though is the birthday cake flavor. I was skeptical of whether it would actually come through but between the sprinkles and the marshmallow you definitely get a burst of birthday cake sweetness and a touch of vanilla caramel frosting from the tea.
Marshmallowy and full of sprinkle sugaryness, this might be a bit on the sweet side for most but this could make for a very special treat for any kid…or kid at heart.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This combo of tea/chocolate is not longer available but the loose leaf tea is.
This sweet and festive rooibos tea brings the taste of birthday cake to your cup any day of the year – rainbow sprinkles and all. Its creamy vanilla twist is just as craveable as the real dessert. And with all the goodness of rooibos and next to no calories, this caffeine-free infusion lets you have your cake and eat it too.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Birthday Cake Rooibos Herbal Tea: UNICORN VIBES/Tea Vibes
Just the Facts
Caffeine Level: None
Brewing Instructions: ½ teaspoon tea for every 6 ounces of water.
Brew 3-5 minutes (longer for iced tea). Aroma: fresh baked vanilla cake, with moments of citrus and berries.
Color: Amber Color
Ingredients: rooibos, flavors, cornflower petals, confetti sprinkles. Vegan. Description: Caffeine-free magical rooibos loose leaf tea infused with vanilla berry birthday cake and rainbow sprinkle vibes.
Tasting Notes: fresh baked birthday cake, browned butter, whipped cream, vanilla, ice cream, citrus, blueberries, blackberries, honeycomb.
The Review
Unicorn Vibes is a name that induces images of limitless whimsy and flavor-filled fun. So, while I approached the tea with the giddy enthusiasm of a ten year-old with a hula hoop in one hand and a bubble wand in the other, my adult skepticism told me to quell my inner child.
As of late, most rooibos teas with exciting names seemed to overpromise and underdeliver. I tend to like my tea on the medium-strong side so I increased the steeping time to 6 minutes. The moment the infuser hit the water a light amber hue began to emerge, deepening in tone until it became a deeper peachy amber color at the final steeping time. Initially, as the tea steeped, the aroma of vanilla gave way to a vanilla-berry scent that caused me to salivate.
I had never been this excited for a rooibos in my life! My inner child was winning, she knew this was going to be good and couldn’t wait to get her hands on it. I tried the brew without any sweetener and was astonished at the natural sweetness it exuded. I then tried the tea with regular sugar and then honey. Honey overpowered the vanilla and made it cloying. White sugar made it sweeter than it needed to be but was pleasant enough.
My favorite way was definitely au naturel since I could easily see this being great as an iced tea and a starter tea for children. I couldn’t stop drinking the tea in part because the flavor was as exceptional and unique as the name it bore. Mostly, my inner child kept goading me to have a little more as memories of childhood tea parties with friends, ice cream trucks circling the block, making cupcakes doused in sprinkles and the local candy shoppe came flooding back with each sip.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea Vibes
Description
UNICORN VIBES is a caffeine-free magical rooibos loose leaf tea infused with vanilla berry birthday cake and rainbow sprinkle vibes. This is such a unique tea because it’s part of our “dessert tea” line. That doesn’t mean it’s super sweet; it just means it’s naturally sweet in a subtle way.
When brewed, UNICORN VIBES is a gorgeous amber color and gives off the comforting aroma of a fresh baked vanilla cake, with moments of citrus and berries.
Steep a cup or two of this dessert tea at night time or after meals to help fight sugar cravings. The creamy finish of vanilla, berries and citrus satisfies your sweet tooth and your mind will be like “That cake was delicious!” – but guess what? – with no calories. We highly recommend this tea with a splash of milk or cream for the full “cake effect”. Enjoy!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cinnamon Squirrel/Totem Tea
Hi Tea Friends! Today I will be reviewing Cinnamon Squirrel from Totem Tea which is an apple and cinnamon Rooibos blend. This particular sample is bagged though it is also available as loose leaf. Let’s just take a moment and mention the packaging, how adorable! It’s an orange smiley squirrel face that makes me smile with the cuteness overload. The teabags are pyramid shaped biodegradable bags.
Totem Tea guarantee that all of their teas are: • Certified Organic • Whole Leaf • Ethically Sourced • Vegan Friendly • Free from artificial flavourings • All packaging is eco friendly
A little more on that packaging, what does eco friendly mean these days? Well Totem Tea state that the cellophane bags, pyramid bags and the pouches are all biodegradable. Plus as always the paper labels can be recycled and are actually made from recycled paper. Not only that but all orders are packed in recycled materials such as cardboard boxes and paper packing materials.
Now that is what you call eco friendly! How fantastic!
Back to the tea. Opening the bag (which we now know is biodegradable) I can smell a strong yet sweet cinnamon, Rooibos and fruit blend that bursts with sweetness. It was actually the strongest of the three samples I received l, or at least the first one that caught my attention. I couldn’t tell it was apple fruit wise but it clicked once I read the ingredients.
Ingredients: Rooibos, apple, mango pieces, cinnamon sticks, fennel, clove, liquorice root and natural flavouring.
One bag in my tea cup will steep for 9 minutes thanks to the steeping information on the back of the cute squirrel face.
Once steeped the resulting orange tea bares a sweet Rooibos scent that is somewhat thick with a hint of cinnamon. Less sweet and fruity than the raw form. The first sip reveals a delicate Rooibos flavour that thickens in the after taste, leaving a well of creamy apple and just a hint of cinnamon.
The Rooibos is dominant of the flavours but it’s clean tasting and not too powerful, though there is some dryness in the after taste. It’s also got a refreshing feel which is possibly the clove and licorice root coming into play.
It’s a pleasant blend that is rather inoffensive, and in personal taste I find this a drinkable Rooibos blend for someone that tends to dislike it. Rooibos has always been hit or miss with no in between for me but perhaps the organic nature and flavour of this blend makes it more likeable due to its soft nature.
I can only ponder, but for now I will admit this was a nice blend that I know will happily be added to my tea cupboard. Look out for two more Totem Tea reviews coming very soon!
Until then, happy steeping!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Totem Tea
Description
This naturally caffeine-free rooibos has been blended with real pieces of apple and cinnamon sticks. Just like a scrumpious home-made baked apple pie…in a cup!
12 biodegradable pyramids, freshly hand prepared for optimal scent and taste.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Psychocandy from August Uncommon. . . .
I made this Psychocandy tea by August Uncommon a while ago with the intention of writing a SororiTea Sisters blog review about it. At the time, I had high hopes for this tea because it smelled so decadently of caramel that I couldn’t help but be excited. Unfortunately life got in the way and not only was I unable to review the tea but I didn’t even get a chance to drink it until it cooled right down. By the time I could take a sip it had gotten so sickly sweet that it didn’t even taste like anything and most of my mug got dumped down the drain.
At that time I noted that perhaps hot, it would be better. I am happy to report that my suspicions were spot on. Though this is still very sweet, you can actually make out flavors here that give this more depth and keeps things interesting. Caramel is certainly present and harkens back to the caramel syrup, made by Smuckers, which somehow just appeared in the family cupboard and was used to make DIY sundaes at home. That caramel syrup that was just a little sweeter than it should have been but you were a child and thus didn’t care. Yet there is more than just caramel. There is vanilla here too. One that might get lost among the other, stronger flavors but every so often pops through with some creaminess. Pumpkin is adding yet another layer of sweetness here which is true to actual pumpkin flavor, a welcome alternative to the more typical pumpkin spice found in pumpkin teas. Plus, with just a bit of focus, apple can also be tasted floating about.
This tea was very well received by many of my tea friends and honestly I can see why. First of all, it is a pumpkin tea that has ACTUAL pumpkin, something that is much rarer than you’d expect. Plus it actually highlights that pumpkin by focusing on its naturally sweet flavor as opposed to hiding it under spice. Second, it is a unique tea in that it combines ingredients in such a way that they are familiar and comforting and yet the combination is still new and fresh. Third, the ever-hated rooibos base is nicely hidden underneath all the sweet, only slightly contributing to the overall flavor but in a way that helps to ground everything. And finally, the mouth-watering scent of caramel is just so good and it lingers in the air as if someone was creating tasty confections in your kitchen all day.
With that all said, this does have sweet on top of sweet on top of sweet which frankly for some people could be too…well…sweet. Personally, I would remove the sweet blackberry leaf if I could just to remove one element of sweet. Also, this is not a tea I would recommend cold by any means. Like I said before, it cooled down and basically just became a cloying jumble of yuck which ended up getting dumped down the drain. So though I recommend trying this one, I recommend with that warning. Drink it hot and drink it fast and know that you’re basically drinking candy in a glass. At least calories won’t be a concern so this could be a nice way to satisfy even the most insatiable of sweet tooths. And the fact that it is caffeine free means it can be the perfect substitute for a late-night dessert.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description
Psychocandy is all pumpkin, no spice. We married the creamy sweet depth of real pumpkin flakes with earthy rooibos. Even before you taste it, the heady aroma will intoxicate you. Each sip has a long lingering caramel finish that remains long after the cup is empty. Adding milk turns the creamy sweetness up to 11. Makes a knockout tea latte.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
