Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
TeaDescription:
The subtlety of the added flavours is what we love about this tea! The white peony is the star with its delicate hay, fruit and floral aromas. You have the leaf’s natural round mouthfeel coupled with the coconut flakes that makes for a creamy cup of tea. Hints of the dried mango and tart hibiscus = a seriously delicious tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very happy when I received this month’s Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea and discovered that Indie Tea was the featured tea purveyor for July. Indie Tea is one of my favorite tea purveyors because I love their fun, fresh and funky attitude toward tea! Their packaging is fun and their blends are deliciously different – with cool names to match their unique flavors.
One of the teas that was included in this month’s box – Lover’s Lane – is one that I’ve previously tried and reviewed. So, I won’t be writing another review for that tea, but, I am certainly happy to be tasting it again! In the meantime, I am going to tell you a little bit about this blend that I’m sipping right now – The Road to Hana White Tea Blend from Indie Tea.
And it is YUM! It’s got a great tropical flavor to it with the coconut and the mango notes, as well as the hibiscus. (Which is also quite tropical!) The hibiscus, gratefully, is not overdone here. It didn’t even really color the brewed tea very much … there was a slight pinkish hue but really, this looked more like a white tea than a hibiscus-y tea.
And it TASTES more like a white tea than a hibiscus-y tea too. And I’m very happy about that.
The white tea has a soft, delicate flavor (no surprise there, right?) and lends an earthy, sweet base for the additional sweetness of the fruity mango and creamy coconut notes. The hibiscus adds just a hint of tartness and it’s just enough of a contrasting note to offset the sweeter tropical fruits. Indie Tea has managed to achieve a nice balance of tart and sweet that leans more toward the sweet than the tart.
This has a nice mango flavor. The coconut is more “creamy” than coconut-y tasting … and I like the creaminess as it complements the white tea nicely. The result is a sweet and creamy cup of tropical lusciousness that has just a subtle tart note. Tasty!
A really nice choice by Amoda Tea. I like this one, and I’m glad I got to try it.
Organic Goddess Tisane from Shuswap Infusions
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tisane Description:
Strong hibiscus and cassis on the nose transforms to a delicious sweet blueberry and sour currant on the tongue. Sweet to start, tart to finish and herbaceous all around.
All organic ingredients: raspberry leaf, hibiscus, rosehip chips, dried currants, blueberries, natural flavour.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! Where did June go?
This is the last of the three teas/tisanes that I received in Amoda’s June Tea Tasting Box: Organic Goddess Tisane from Shushwap Infusions. After reading about this tisane on the Amoda website, I decided to follow their suggestion and ice the tea … so I hot-brewed it and stashed it in the fridge until it got nice and cold.
This tea was included in the Amoda box to celebrate the coming of Summer. I’m not exactly sure I see the connection yet – I mean, berries, yes those are summertime … maybe that’s it. I’ll reserve my final judgement until the tea cools and I’m sipping on some iced tea.
The dry leaf smells a bit like wine to me. Like a sweet, fruity wine. That gave me some hope for this one, unfortunately, no amount of hope could really … save this tisane.
Meh … I gotta be real, this one isn’t doing a whole lot to inspire flowery prose from me. I taste the berry notes, but mostly what I taste is hibiscus. It isn’t overly hibiscus-y, fortunately, because I didn’t steep it too long. It has a tart-sweet flavor and reminds me a bit of Kool Aid.
Not all that exciting really. It’s not horrible, and I’ll be finishing the pitcher of it that I brewed. It is light and thirst-quenching. But I do think that this could really benefit from … something. Perhaps the addition of some peppermint or spearmint … or even some cinnamon, ginger, or … something. It lacks “umph!” You know what I’m saying? It lacks that excitement factor. It lacks that something that makes me want to keep sipping it.
This is the first tisane that I find myself truly disappointed by from the Amoda Tea Boxes, and since I’ve been subscribed since November, I guess that’s pretty good.
Pony Goal White Tea Blend from The Teologist
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
The White Peony base tea offers a sweet and mild profile perfect for soft flavours. This teas gives an amazing vanilla and cream aroma. When sipped, you can taste the sweet hay and floral notes of the white tea and the orange peel just after. This tea saves the best for last – vanilla and a lingering creaminess that’s almost nutty in flavour.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with my first infusion of this Pony Goal White Tea Blend from The Teaologist. I mean, it was alright … but it just wasn’t the great blend I was expecting … especially since I am generally pretty pleased with Amoda’s selections for their tea boxes, and the last tea that I tried from The Teologist I enjoyed. My first brewing attempt with this tea wasn’t what I expected from the Teaologist … or Amoda.
And I suspect that the reason I was less than satisfied with it is because I brewed it according to the brew suggestions on the package (180°F for 2 – 3 minutes) instead of my usual “go to” steeping parameters for a white tea (160°F for 5 – 7 minutes).
The second time I infused this tea … I went with my go-to parameters and … what a difference! Yes! Now this is good!
The flavors are all present. The Bai Mu Dan is sweet and creamy, which is further accentuated by the vanilla notes. The citrus emerges toward the end of the sip, giving the palate a “creamsicle” sort of taste to enjoy. The notes of strawberry and pomegranate come through, but these are delicate flavors. I notice the pomegranate in the aftertaste more than at any other point.
This tea is tasty served hot, but it is definitely better as it cools. The creamy vanilla tones really POP when it is cool. The strawberry and pomegranate is more distinct when it’s cool too. The citrus notes seem to soften somewhat in the cooling process, but I still get that creamsicle-y kind of finish with this tea and it’s really YUM!
So … it just goes to show you that if you’re not successful with the first attempt with a tea, it’s worth trying again … tweak your parameters and see if you can make the tea work for you! It was definitely worth it to take some time and work with this blend … because it’s really quite good!
Fu Man Chu Tea Blend from SerendipiTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong & Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
Here is a contradictory and complex tea to expand your horizons. Jasmine scented pouchong gives us a beautiful sweet, fresh and floral flavour and pu-erh offers up its earthiness. Pouchong and pu-erh are such opposites, but somehow blend so nicely together in this cup.
This is our Father’s Day Tea. One of the Amoda dads texted that he wanted something “not too fancy, just some jazzman tea”. So, we set out on a jasmine journey and kept coming back to this tea that was so unique, but not too “fancy” for dad.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Before brewing it, I had my doubts about this Fu Man Chu tea blend from SerendipiTea. I wasn’t sure how I would like it – I mean, I love jasmine so I had every confidence that I’d enjoy a Jasmine Pouchong … but – I thought to myself – why did they have to add Pu-erh to it? I’m not always a fan of Pu-erh, and I worried that by adding the Pu-erh to this blend, SerendipiTea may have very well ruined a perfectly good Jasmine Pouchong.
I’m happy to say that I was wrong! This is really quite good.
The aroma of the dry leaf is more jasmine and Pouchong than it is Pu-erh. I can detect only faint earthy notes in the fragrance of the dry leaf, but the lovely notes of jasmine are abundant and absolutely delightful to the nose.
And the flavor … is very much the way the scent suggests! The Jasmine Pouchong notes are the strongest flavors, with mere hints of of the earthy flavor of Pu-erh. As I continue to sip, the notes of Pu-erh develop somewhat, but they are always more to the background, allowing the sultry beauty of the Jasmine to shine through along with the soft, silky taste of the Pouchong.
This is an extremely well-crafted blend by SerendipiTea. I’m very impressed, and very glad I got to try it. I love it when I get a tea like this from Amoda Tea – something that I probably would not have purchased on my own because I honestly would not have found myself interested or curious about a blend of Jasmine Pouchong and Pu-erh … but now that I have tried it … I’m really happy with the cup I have before me! This is great!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Citrus Earl Grey Caramels from Bad Girl Chocolates
About Bad Girl Chocolates:
Learn about Bad Girl Chocolates on their Facebook Page.
Product Description:
These little beauties are our latest creation – Citrus Earl Grey Tea Caramels. We made them for our newest friend Amoda Tea.
Bad Girl won’t be selling these delicious caramels ourselves, so the only way to get them is to hop on over to Amoda Tea and subscribe to their subscription tea service this month.
(Note: these were in the May Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea)
Taster’s Review:
As I mentioned in my Rooibos Chocolate Tisane from Forsman Tea company review, May’s tea tasting box from Amoda Tea is my favorite box that I’ve received from them thus far. But really, I’ve enjoyed just about every box I’ve gotten from them. It’s a lot of fun to receive the subscription box, too! To learn more about subscribing, click here.
One of the reasons why I enjoyed this box so much is that in addition to three really great teas/tisanes, there were four tasty caramels from Bad Girl Chocolates. These caramels were infused with the Citrus Earl Grey tea from Naked Teas Galore – which was featured in Amoda’s April Tea Tasting Box. And I have a sweet tooth, so, one of the easiest ways for a tea company to make me happy is to add sweets to the box when they ship something to me.
These caramels are smooth and creamy and caramel-y delicious. The Citrus Earl Grey tea notes are subtle at first, but as I continue to allow the flavors of the chewy caramel to develop on my palate, I notice more of the citrus-y, bergamot-y flavor, with notes of black tea in the background. The tea adds a nice depth of flavor to the caramel.
Absolutely YUMMY! Thank you, Amoda Tea, for this lovely Mother’s Day “gift” inclusion in my May box! I wouldn’t be sad if there were more in my June box, because I want more!