Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea & All It’s Splendor
Tea Description:
If there could be one fruit that best represents a bright summer day it would be passionfruit! So naturally this green tea and passionfruit blend was the perfect fit for this edition.
The light grassy green tea is perfect for carrying the sweet and sour passionfruit floral flavours in a cup. If you’re the type that needs a sweetened cuppa, we recommend a drizzle of agave in this one. The agave flavour is gentle and pairs well with this tea.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Green Passion Fruit from Tea & All It’s Splendor is the third and final tea that I received as part of edition 11 from Postal Teas. And it’s a good one!
The tea leaves appeared to me to be a Chinese Sencha – long, dark green spears that looked almost like blades of grass – and there were some yellow flower petals in the blend. Probably marigold petals. I didn’t see any dried passion fruit pieces but I could definitely smell the passion fruit!
I brewed this in my Breville One-Touch. I measured 2 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket of the tea maker and added 500ml of freshly filtered water to the jug. Then I set the parameters: 180°F for 2 minutes.
The tea is sweet and fruity. The Passion Fruit flavor is well-defined without hitting me over the head. I like the way the flavor is represented here. It’s a strong, distinct flavor of passion fruit but the green tea flavor is the star of the show. I am enjoying a nice balance between sweet, slightly vegetative green tea and juicy passion fruit flavors. Delicious!
I also like that this is a very tropical tasting tea without tasting like every other tropical tea out there. It’s got that tropical flair without tasting like a muddled recipe of mixed fruit.
The tea tasted great served hot but I liked it even better as it cooled – this would be a great refresher for the summer months ahead! If you’re a fan of passion fruit, try this tea!
All Citrus Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Of course, a big icy tumbler of this Tea of the Week is enough to take the edge off a lot of stress, at least it is for me. This week’s blend has our premium black teas with lemon and orange peels, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon myrtle, freeze-dried orange, freeze-dried pineapple, lemongrass and all organic flavors including: lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit and pineapple.
What’s that? pineapple isn’t a citrus fruit? Humbug. Call it an exercise of my tea blending poetic license. Pineapple counts as citrus fruit for this blend, and it adds just the right touch of sweetness to the other citrus flavors.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about Zoomdweebie’s fundraising campaign to reopen the Tea Bar here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t usually get all excited over a citrus flavored black tea, perhaps because it seems all too common and ordinary. I mean, who hasn’t had lemon in their tea, right? It’s the classic garnish for a cup of plain black tea or a glass of iced tea: a wedge or a thin slice of lemon. So when 52Teas posted that this All Citrus Flavored Black Tea was the tea of the week for July 8, I wasn’t all that excited.
But this is no ordinary citrus tea! This tastes like a medley of citrus fruit in my teacup, and they are so “unified” that it becomes difficult to pick out one citrus fruit from another. It is fruity, sweet, tangy and bright tasting … very vibrant! I seem to find myself tasting more orange in one sip than other fruits, and then in the next sip, I notice the grapefruit. With the next sip, I notice notes of lemon and lime. The pineapple adds a really pleasant sweetness all its own.
The black tea doesn’t just sit back and let all this citrus do the work, either. It is a pleasantly smooth, deliciously robust flavor that is delightfully complemented with the citrus tones. This tea is a perfect choice if you’re making a big pitcher of iced tea – everyone will love it! It also tastes great served hot. Juicy and absolutely refreshing!
Another example of how 52Teas can take something that would otherwise seem ordinary and make it quite extraordinary!
And please, don’t forget to contribute to Frank’s (aka the chief Zoomdweebie at 52Teas) campaign to re-open his tea bar (also called Zoomdweebies) in Wichita, Kansas. Learn all about it here.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Licorice Black Chai Blend from Butiki Teas
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Chai Description:
One of our customers, Sasha, challenged us to create a unique licorice masala chai custom blend. We ended up loving her blend so much, that we decided to offer it on our website. The name of this tea is a reference to one of the owner’s favorite authors, Douglas Adams. This soothing tea features licorice; however, the spice notes are also present and linger long after the sip and meld with the licorice notes. With each sip, the licorice and spice notes seem to become stronger yet they are not overly aggressive. While this tea is fantastic plain, this blend shines with a little rice milk and sugar. For a short interview with the brains behind this tea, click HERE.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I love licorice, so when I heard about this licorice-y masala chai, I got very excited. And this tea – So Long, And Thanks For All The Licorice Black Chai Blend from Butiki Teas – is worth all the hype, because it’s AHH-mazing!
First of all, I absolutely love the name because I love Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Then, I open up the pouch and I see big, whole pieces of star anise (one of my favorite tea spices!) and I can smell all the amazing spices and most of all I can smell the licorice! This is very licorice-y! This tea takes licorice to a whole other level. If you aren’t a fan of black licorice, this tea is not for you. But, if you love licorice, you’re probably going to love this chai like I do.
The base is Butiki Teas’ Organic Guranse, and it provides a nice, earthy richness to the cup. And while the licorice is very strong in this tea, I like that I do taste the other spices in the chai. I taste the cinnamon, a hint of clove and cardamom, and a slight nutty tone from the nutmeg. It’s truly a wonderful and unique chai – unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before … but am really glad to be tasting it now, because I LOVE licorice!
This is easily one of the best (if not the best) licorice-y teas that I’ve ever tried. In fact, I can’t think of one at the moment that even compares. This is truly a treat for this licorice lover.