Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tisane Description:
So smooth, full-bodied and creamy on the tongue. Nothing’s vying for attention here. You reach for this tea when chocolate’s on the mind. Red rooibos, with it’s honeyed, caramel & woodsy notes is a natural mate for the deep notes of chocolate.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This Rooibos Chocolate Tisane from Forsman Tea Company is the third and final tea from my May Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea. (Although I will be reviewing the caramels that we received in that box soon!) I have to say that I’m thrilled with the fact that Amoda Tea seems to have listened to me when I requested fewer tisanes and more tea in their boxes. I am not completely opposed to tasting tisanes … but when two or all three teas in the box are tisanes, I feel a little let down.
Fortunately, for the month of May, we got two amazing teas and just one tisane … and hey, the tisane is a CHOCOLATE tisane … and then we got caramels too! Woo hoo! I have no complaints about the May box! (And now am eagerly anticipating what might be in June’s box!)
And this is one very good chocolate rooibos tisane! The chocolate is a rich, flavorful, STRONGLY flavored chocolate! That’s what this chocoholic likes!
The rooibos are distinguishable in the cup, but, the naturally sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos melds quite nicely with the chocolate-y tones. I even taste a hint of caramel as the description mentions … which is something I rarely ever take note of when I drink rooibos blends. The caramel-y note is certainly welcome here though!
This is one of the better chocolate rooibos blends I’ve come across … if you’re a chocolate lover like I am, you should try it!
Bravo, Amoda Tea! May has been my favorite month from you thus far!
Citrus Earl Grey Black Tea Blend from Naked Teas Galore
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
There’s a whole lot of tang in this tea: orange peel, lemongrass, bergamot oil. The Ceylon (Sri Lankan) base tea can also have a tangy character. This is a smooth, medium-bodied cup. Obviously, the citrus in this tea is bold, but it’s not aggressive or bergamot-heavy.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This Citrus Earl Grey Black Tea Blend from Naked Teas Galore is the second of the three teas I received in this month’s Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea. I really do enjoy these boxes, and this month, they did things a little different. Instead of providing three different teas/tisanes from three different tea vendors, they chose just one vendor to focus on, and selected three different teas from them.
I kind of like this change … it gives me the opportunity to try not just one tea from a tea company, but, three! Let’s just hope that the company they choose will be a new-to-me company – like this month’s vendor, Naked Teas Galore.
I am very happy with this particular selection – Citrus Earl Grey. Of course, Bergamot is already a citrus, but Naked Teas Galore really zoomed in on the citrus notes by adding Lemongrass and Orange Peel. These additional citrus flavors soften the sometimes sharp bergamot flavor and create a sort of “medley” of citrus-y flavor … sort of like a citrus punch, if you can imagine that. The bergamot is still distinct, of course, but just … more mellow. Smoother. Sweeter! The orange peel and lemongrass do not offer a strong, specific flavor of their own in the brewed cup; instead, these ingredients contribute to the aforementioned “citrus punch” like taste.
The black tea is sort of a mellow-tasting black tea that sits off in the background, content to let the citrus-y flavors play. It is a solid black tea flavor, but it is definitely off in the background. It is not an aggressive flavor, but I think a stronger black tea flavor would have interrupted the citrus-y notes that I think Naked Teas Galore was trying to hone in on with this blend. It might be interesting to see how a stronger black tea base would have tasted here, but as it it, I find this to be a really tasty tea, perfect for one of those lazy afternoons, when you just want to sit and contemplate the joy of tea!
Peach Matcha Green Tea Blend from Naked Teas Galore
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
This is a sweet treat
The powder smells peachy, that’s for sure. The first whiff caused fear that we were soon to be drinking fuzzy peach candies, but the green tea aroma comes out once you add water. Slurp it to get a full taste of the matcha flavour. It’s the rich vegetal character of matcha that balances the sweet peach flavour. Juicy hot or cold.
Learn more about this Matcha here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had a few things to say about Amoda Tea and their Tea Tasting Box subscription … some good, and some not so good. For example, when I receive my monthly box and it contains mostly tisanes, I’m a little perturbed. And then, sometimes, I receive a box that has three teas … and I’ve not tried any of the three teas inside it. That’s when I do the happy dance. And even the months when I’m just a little disappointed, I still find myself thoroughly enjoying the teas and/or tisanes that were included in the box. So, really, even though there are moments of disappointment, overall, I am really VERY thrilled with the monthly boxes that I receive from Amoda Tea.
This month when I received my tasting box, I did the happy dance … because, check it out: Not only is there an Earl Grey variation (which I will review later this month) … but there is MATCHA! This Peach Matcha Green Tea Blend from Naked Teas Galore that I’m sipping now! Yay! MATCHA!
The insert with the teas this month suggests to me that this month’s box is based upon cravings – sweet, salty and sour. OK … I get those kind of cravings now and again, so, I can appreciate this month’s approach. This Matcha tea is a sweet craving. It is the first tea from Amoda that I’ve received that is pre-sweetened. I don’t usually sweeten my Matcha teas – even the flavored ones – because I think that Matcha has a sweetness to it that doesn’t need to be overpowered by the addition of sugar. And the sugar in this blend does make this rather sweet … like peach candy! I’m not finding the sweetness to be too much, but, it is rather startling because I’m so used to not having the sweet there. Does it overpower the Matcha and its natural flavor? Maybe a little, but not so much that I’m finding myself put off by it.
I do think that the sweetener here does affect the product though … as I had a hard time achieving any kind of froth with this Matcha. Not a huge deal, of course, but, I do think that if you’re going to introduce tea drinkers to Matcha (which is what Amoda Tea seemed to want to do with this, their first Matcha offering in their monthly box) they should choose a tea that will froth up. Maybe it’s just me, but, I love that foamy, light froth that sits atop my bowl of Matcha!
The peach notes are really wonderful here. Sweet and yes, like I said before, peach candy-like. It reminds me of peach Jolly Rancher candy. But I like that I can taste the slightly vegetal tone of the Matcha as well. It is somewhat subdued in the presence of the strong flavoring and the sweetness of the cane sugar, but, it’s still there. The citric acid is also noticeable, especially in the aftertaste … I taste a tangy note at the end. Like peach slices that have been sprinkled with a little bit of lemon juice to keep them from browning. The flavor is still primarily peach, but there is just a touch of citrus that is noticeable toward the end.
Overall, this makes a sweet, creamy treat … and I can see how this fits within the sweet craving category. Very enjoyable, and I’m glad that Amoda Tea has decided to venture out in Matcha offerings as well … I look forward to what they’ll include in the future as far as Matcha goes!
Chiran Sencha from O5 Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Amoda
Tea Description:
Sweet, thick and full-bodied. A grassy and vegetal green tea with
refreshing astringency and light cream aroma.From grower Furuichi Shoji. It is grown in the old Samurai town Chiran, in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. Here, the climate is ideal for tea – warm air mixed with cool breezes from the Bay of Kagoshima.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Chiran Sencha from O5 Tea brings us something slightly different in a sencha. My SororiTea Sister Anne reviewd this tea here.
The reason I am pointing out her review is so that you can understand this is in fact a really good sencha, but I am not as in love with it as my sister is. Its good, its very grassy, but for me, I always appreciate the buttery note that is lacking in this one. I suppose I’m stuck in my ways but I say “bring on the butter” okay confession time… I’m a butter addict. I love butter, I’d eat a whole stick of the stuff if I knew it would not be terrible for me, but I digress, the only think truly lacking in this sencha is the butter note. So with that said, this is a really great sencha! It is in fact one of the greenest, freshest tasting sencha I have ever tried with the longest lingering after taste.
I will say this however, for those of you like myself who want that buttery sensation, wait for it. Really, wait for it, the buttery comes out when this tea gets to be around room temperature, depending on how cool you keep your home anyway. This would be a lovely iced sencha and I typically do not like sencha iced!
Be sure you have a really fine strainer when brewing this as I had quite a bit of bits in the bottom of my cup, but I really do need to invest in a new strainer. The color of the liquor is really pretty, a light almost limey colored green. It is not murky at all though even with the particles laying on the bottom of the cup, I can see them all. Hummm this is inspiring of a tea leaf reading when the tea is gone!
Kiwi Cherry Bonanza Fruit Tisane from Tiesta Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tisane Description:
Kiwi lovers rejoice, your tea is here. Non-kiwi lovers rejoice, you’ll love it too. This tea smells sweet and tastes sweet (not a huge surprise since it’s a blend of different fruits).
There’s a hint of spice courtesy of the ginger bits that gets ya mostly in the delightful cherry ginger finish.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
OK, I didn’t have my hopes too high for this Kiwi Cherry Bonanza from Tiesta Tea – the third of the three teas in this month’s Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea. I enjoy fruit tisanes on occasion, but generally, I find them to be pretty weakly flavored infusions, and kind of boring, really.
Not so with this tisane! This tisane has a lot of flavor to it! It is definitely one of the better FRUIT tisanes I’ve had (that is, a tisane that is primarily fruit and not so much herbs, hibiscus and other stuff). The only non-fruit ingredients this tisane has is carrot, which is my favorite vegetable so I’m all for the carrot being in there; and ginger, which adds a pleasant hint of spice to the cup … a really nice contrast to the sweet and tangy flavors of kiwi and cherry.
The apple plays a big role in this cup, which is often true of fruit tisanes like this … and that’s one of the reasons that I typically am not a big fan of fruit tisanes. The apple is often all that I can taste in fruit tisanes, and it ends up tasting not like apple juice or apple cider, but a washed out, weak apple water. But, again, this tisane is NOT like fruit tisanes I’ve tasted in the past. The apple here is strong, but, it doesn’t leave the cup tasting like a weak apple water. It enhances the overall cup, adding a little bit of body to the cup as well as sweetness to amplify the flavor of the cherry and especially the kiwi.
I love the cherry here. It is a little bit tart and a little bit sweet, and it is the star of this cup. I like the role that it plays. The cherry steals the show with it’s flavor, brightening the cup with tangy notes and a sweet, juicy cherry taste that is not at all medicinal the way many cherry flavors can taste in teas and tisanes.
The kiwi flavor is what I was most excited to experience though, because there really are very few kiwi teas and tisanes out there. And I love the kiwi! Here, the kiwi flavor is sweet and tastes a little subdued in the midst of the stronger cherry and apple notes, but I find that the kiwi comes through especially well toward mid-to-end of sip, I notice that sweet, distinct kiwi note. YUM!
This is really much, much better than I anticipated it to be, and I’m really glad I got to try it. Despite my woes with having too many tisanes in these tea tasting boxes from Amoda Tea that I mentioned in my Amoda Tea Box post, I really quite enjoyed both tisanes that were included in this month’s box. Sure, I would like very much to have more teas than tisanes in these boxes, BUT if Amoda keeps picking winners like they did this month with tisanes, I would still say that I’m a very satisfied Amoda Tea subscriber.