I don’t eat a lot of chocolate. Mostly because in the area I live there aren’t many dairy-free chocolate store-bought options. Therefore, I choose a cup of Cacao Shells or nibs instead. That is exactly what happened recently with this cup! Cacao Tea from MiCacao is pretty awesome – I have to say!
Herbal chocolate tea made from the shell of the cacao bean. This Cacao Tea is 100% cocoa based and is completely natural, preservative free, and without any artificial flavors or starches. It’s also Sugar-free, Organic, Gluten-Free, and Vegan-friendly!
It’s naturally sweet, naturally chocolaty, naturally creamy, and naturally…WONDERFUL! I guess one COULD add a non-dairy milk of their choice to this but I didn’t find it necessary! It’s great by itself!
I’m super stoked that companies are offering this more now! But I have to say when a company SOLELY offers this – you know it has to be good! I mean – they are throwing ALL of their efforts in THIS offering!
The bagged product is currently sold out but they have the loose product available for purchase on their website – as of the date I am writing this review – that is! I can’t help but wonder if they will be doing flavored Cacao. Wouldn’t THAT be something? Right away I can think of Strawberry paired with this. Orange – perhaps! Vanilla? WOW! And if you are looking for some culinary ideas – take a look at their website – and get those creative cooking juices flowing!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: MiCacao
Description
MiCacao uses 100% organic cacao beans to create a delicious tea that is both healthy and natural. Also known as chocolate herbal tea, Cacao tea comes from a drink that natives of tropical regions in Central and South America have been drinking for centuries. It’s light with a hint of chocolate and is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals – everything you need for a healthy mind and body.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Blue Green from Mad Hat . . . . . .
This alone got me through all my presentations for finals week.
The mix of rooibos and MeiLu green tea means a naturally sweeter cup with lower caffeine. I make it both hot and iced depending on the weather. I do have a lot more fun smashing the dehydrated berries after they’re heated though, and watching the indigo lines swirl into my peach colored brew. This tea also has a great resteep value, hot and iced, although I seemed to get more hot brews.
It looks like there is a lot of lemongrass in the dry mix, but my first impression of the infusion is the inviting berry scent. It tastes like a summer shandy, crisp and fruity. It leaves my mouth feeling refreshed with a mellow lemon aftertaste – aha that’s where it went!
Yep, now I’m seriously considering brewing this in beer later this summer.
I’m all about supporting local Pacific NorthWest businesses and This company is literally right up the street from my school, so win-win!
The Mad Hat Tea Shop is celebrating their 10th anniversary right now, as if you needed another excuse to visit.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos/Green Tea
Where to Buy: Mad Hat Tea
Description:
We don’t know who came up with this one, but we are glad they did. Blueberry and Lemongrass taste amazing together and with the backbone of Mei Lu Green you have a terrific cup of Tea. The Rooibos gives it a richness that rounds it out nicely. Besides, how many times do you have the opportunity to taste Blueberries and Lemongrass. You’re welcome.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Creamy Honey Oolong – Embrew Tea
I will start off this review by saying that I am not the biggest honey fan in the world and I was not at all excited to review this tea. But, who knows I may be surprised.
Now the tea was definitely creamy not an ounce of bitterness to be had. Now the only thing that I didn’t like about this tea was, you guessed it, the honey. Now I will say this, the main reason why I don’t like honey is because of the sickly sweet taste it has. And that taste is overpowered when it comes to grocery store honey so I knew that my taste buds were aware of the low-quality honey it has had before. Now this tea was a more downplayed sweetness to where the honey flavor was. In other words, this tea had a nice and soft honey flavor.
Now to the specifics of this tea. It is kind of pricey for $15.95 for a 10 tea bags, so about $1.60 per cup of tea. But I think the price is somewhat justified for on their product page (found here) the honey that is used is 100% real honey granules and it seems that they use only the finest oolong that can be found.
Now, will I ever purchase this for myself?
Probably not. But I definitely know a couple of people who would love this tea. For it is a great tea for honey lovers for it is not too much honey. It seems like the perfect cup to have when you need a pick me up and it would be fantastic when you are under the weather with just a drop of lemon.
See you for the next cuppa!
Kara
Pumpkin Juice Green Tea from 52Teas. . . . #allthingspumpkin
When I was in University, my roommate and I used to like to host themed potlucks. Something about putting a theme on it encouraged people to really go all out. One of our potluck was fantasy-themed. We encouraged our friends to bring foods inspired by their favorite books, TV shows, movies, etc. Harry Potter was definitely a popular inspiration for many. Personally, I made Butterbeer while others brought Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties. One friend even brought cupcakes decorated as the Golden Snitch, complete with wings. Pumpkin juice didn’t make an appearance though so this is the first time I am trying a real life interpretation of this Harry Potter drink…
Now that I am drinking it, I can see where 52 Teas was coming from when they created this flavor. It is light but still tastes like pumpkin. Not just pumpkin spice but actual pumpkin, sweet and smooth. Though, pumpkin spice does trickle in nearing the end of the sip, ginger lingering in the aftertaste. The pineapple, however, is the key. It provides some much needed sweetness and brightness to elevate this to a “juice”. That to me is what sets this apart.
When this tea sample arrived from CuppaGeek, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t know if this is exactly what I pictured when reading about pumpkin juice in the books, although I don’t think it was ever described so much as just mentioned throughout the series which means it is open to interpretation.
With that said, it is certainly a tasty tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and have been for a lot of years so this year as my Halloween offering, I decided I wanted to celebrate my favorite books with a tribute to one of the wizarding world’s favorite juices: Pumpkin Juice!
Having never actually tasted pumpkin juice, I googled “pumpkin juice” for some ideas on recipes for it. There are a few different recipes online for pumpkin juice and each of them were a little different. Some were a combination of orange juice and pumpkin juice – which sounded interesting! Another included dried apricots instead of the orange juice – also interesting! Others were made with peach or pear juice. But the recipe that appealed to me most was one that combined pumpkin, apple juice, pineapple juice and spices. I thought that the apple would add some pleasant sweetness to the savory quality of the pumpkin and the pineapple juice would add some brightness to the overall flavor.
I started with a base of fair-trade, rainforest alliance certified Satemwa estate green teas (OP1 & Zomba Steamed) and added chunks of dried pumpkin, freeze-dried apples and pineapple, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and touch of freshly shaved nutmeg. The fruits do soften the flavor of the pumpkin somewhat however, the overall flavor is quite autumn-y and delicious.
Taster size is approximately 15g.
ingredients: fair trade green teas and pumpkin.
organic ingredients: apples, pineapple, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Few ChariTeas To Check Out. . . . . . .
Over the years, we’ve started to notice a trend of tea companies who are giving back. We are currently working on creating a page on the site to give these tea companies their kudos, but we couldn’t wait to share the info.
You can play a vital role in bringing hope to children displaced by ISIS when purchasing this tea. Proceeds will go to support the building and operation of a school for Yazidi children in a northern Iraq refugee camp. Without education in this critical time of their lives they might likely end up being a part of the very group that caused them to flee from their homes in the first place. Together we can make a difference!
CuppaGeek’s Thoughts: Storehouse Tea provides quite a variety of hand blended fresh high quality teas to choose from. They have been a favorite of The SororiTea Sisters for sometime.
Each month, Tease Tea sponsors a women’s charity and helps raise awareness through support and funding.
To learn more about the charities Tease Tea supports, click on the link below.
Tease Tea Chari’tea Spotlight Page
CuppaGeek’s Thoughts: Tease Tea is a newer tea company to me, but I hope soon I’ll be able to check their teas out and add a few teas to my personal stash.
Chai Kai Tea Co has partnered with Make Lunch a charity working on tackling child poverty in the UK. To learn more click here.
CuppaGeek’s Thoughts: I recently reviewed Chai Kai Tea Co’s Jasmine Green Tea and the tea yielded such a wonderful soul soothing flavor. Their hand blended teas are top notch and a few of them are now on my personal wish list.
Wise Ape Tea was founded with a purpose and a mission.
Click here to find out more about who they are, how Wise Ape Tea was created and what they support.
“WISE APE IS MORE THAN JUST A TEA, IT’S A TRIBE OF LIKE MINDED INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE FOCUSED ON SELF-EVOLUTION WITH AN ALTRUISTIC ATTITUDE.”
CuppaGeek’s Thoughts: This is one tea company that I’m quite obsessed with lately. A full review will published soon on their Performance Tea.
The Love Tea Company was created with the thought of purposeful purchasing-meaning Love Tea Company was created to help bring awareness to mental health issues. To learn more about what The Love Tea Company is doing and will be doing, click here.
CuppaGeek’s Thoughts: The Love Tea Company offers a unique way for tea drinkers to spread the love with others. Their #TeaItForward program helped me share the tea love with several of my SororiTea Sisters, friends, and family members. They all enjoyed the lovely care package and I highly encourage others to check out this service.
These are just a few of the many tea companies who are giving back. If you would like to be mentioned on our ChariTeas page, drop us a note at sororiteasistersblog@gmail.com and we will make sure to add you to the list!
