Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Tea Description:
The mellow green teas in this blend are the perfect base for a light version of a glass of eggnog and praline cookies. This tea is creamy, sweet, light and refreshing all at the sametime. Lightly roasted pecans mingle with the vegetal note of the green tea that we are glad wasn’t covered up. Dare we say it – this tea tastes just fantastic sweetened up.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE that Amoda Tea treated their subscribers with three unique Butiki Teas for their Christmas tea box? Every month, Amoda Tea sends me an exciting collection of three tea samples, and I’m very happy to receive each and every box – some boxes are more thrilling than others! – but this box just may be my favorite thus far.
And that’s because all three teas in this box are not only from one of my favorite tea companies – Butiki Teas – but each of the teas have been created exclusively for Amoda Tea for this box. You can’t get these teas anywhere else! How seriously awesome is that?
This Eggnog & Pralines Green Tea Blend from Butiki Teas is the second tea in my special Holiday box that I’m trying. And it’s amazingly good. That, of course, comes as no surprise, because Butiki Teas blends their teas to please the palate – and they succeed every time. I can’t recall a time when I’ve been really disappointed by a tea from them. Again, some teas are better than others, but even those that are not my favorites, I can usually find something worthwhile to enjoy about those teas.
The green teas used in this blend are organic Mao Jian and Glenburn Estate green teas. The flavor of the green tea shines through nicely here, with notes of sweetness and a slight vegetal tone. There is a buttery note that melds harmoniously with the eggnog notes. Very creamy!
The flavors add a hint of custard-y flavor that’s sweet and luscious. The praline notes are a little less distinct, but they’re there and just as the description suggests, it’s a little “cookie-ish.” I drank this tea with just a little bit of turbinado sugar to pump up the volume of the flavors. It’s delicious without the sweetener, but, with a half a teaspoon of raw sugar, the notes of praline really POP!
With this tea, you don’t need to leave milk and cookies out for Santa – just a cup of this tea! It’s a perfect treat!
Nutmeg Cream from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Tea Description:
A wake-you-up Indian Breakfast tea with a round mouthfeel, light astringency, amazing malt and nut character and even some notes of baker’s chocolate. And of course the main feature: nutmeg with the taste of cream. Simply put, this tea tastes like Christmas. Sweeten the pot if you want something more decadent and a taste of orange.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This month’s Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea is a little different from the boxes that I receive the other months of the year. How? Because this year, Amoda worked with Stacy at Butiki Teas to create three custom blends JUST for Amoda Tea … just for this month’s box! (You can read more about that here.)
This Nutmeg Cream from Butiki Teas is the first tea that I’m sampling from the assortment of three new and exciting teas that we were sent in this month’s box. Here are the ingredients:
Khongea Golden Tippy Assam, Organic Sourenee Second Flush Dinjoye Assam, Organic Kundaly, Organic Calendula, Organic Nutmeg, Organic Natural Flavoring (Vegan).
What an unusual and delicious cuppa this is! It tastes unlike any tea that I’ve ever tasted. I love that nutmeg is featured prominently in this blend, and I love how the natural nutty notes of the tea accentuate the nutty, earthy flavors of the spice. It’s warm but not spicy. As the description above suggests – this simply tastes like Christmas. More specifically, it reminds me of the flavors that are coming out of the kitchen during the holiday season like freshly baked cookies as well as other sweet treats and warmly spiced beverages.
The black tea is rich and offers a very solid background of flavor. It’s a very full-flavored, well-rounded taste that fills the palate with the robust taste of black tea, with notes of earth and caramel-y undertones. It has that sweet, bake-y sort of flavor that I like in a breakfast blend type of tea. There is a strong malty note to this as well, and it melds beautifully with the nutmeg and cream notes.
This is really so, so good. THANK YOU to Amoda Tea for such a lovely holiday gift to your subscribers. At first, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a product information sheet like I’ve found in my previous boxes, but, the flavor of just this tea makes up for no product sheet. I’m so glad that you chose Butiki Teas for your holiday box this year, because this is the best box thus far!
Detox Tea from Naked Teas Galore
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Functional Tisane
Where to Buy: Naked Teas Galore
Tisane Description:
This is crafted ever so carefully to ensure that no one ingredient overpowers another. Wow! What a blend. Balanced spice, herbaceous nettle and a subtle apple-like flavour brought by the chamomile. Soothing mint and sweet liquorice to finish.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t all that excited to try this Detox Tea from Naked Teas Galore. For one thing, it’s an herbal tisane, and for another it’s a functional herbal tisane. Two strikes against it right from the start, and then it’s a chamomile blend too. Yikes!
But I tried to remain positive and give it a try. After all, Amoda Tea has been pretty good at selecting teas and even tisanes that make me happy that I’m a subscriber. I mean, hey, if I wasn’t happy as a subscriber, I would have cancelled the subscription a long time ago. (Speaking of subscribing, I highly recommend signing up for December’s box … it sounds like it’s going to be a winner!)
But, let’s get back to this Detox Tea, shall we?
This is actually a lot tastier than I thought it would be. Normally, when I think “Detox Tea” or even “Functional Tisane,” I think that I’m in for a medicinal, herbaceous tasting drink. Fortunately, this tastes neither medicinal or herbaceous to me. The spices here are in the foreground, tasting more like cinnamon, cardamom, cinnamon and licorice than it does nettle or chamomile.
Oh sure, I can taste notes of the chamomile, and even hints of the herbaceous character of nettle and peppermint and dandelion root. I taste notes of citrus from the lemongrass. And all the flavors meld together in a way that is very tasty and not at all medicinal.
I like that the apple-y notes of the chamomile marry with the citrus tones of the lemongrass and the bright goji berry to create more of a “fruity” quality than distinct individual notes of each of these. The same is true of the spices. It doesn’t taste too much like any one of the spices, instead, I taste a medley of warm, zesty spice.
One of the nicer Detox tisanes that I’ve tasted … this is a detox I can stand behind, because this tastes really nice!
Lu’an Guapian Green Tea from SwanSisters
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: SwanSisters
Tea Description:
Delicately vegetal and floral. This is a green tea that stands out from the rest. Lu’an has a roasted note that is reminiscent of an oolong, The toastiness creates a stronger flavour that you will find in other greens. Smooth, nutty and sweet with a round mouthfeel and a long finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Lovely! What a wonderful tea for Amoda Tea to include in their tea tasting box for November! Just when I thought that they only understand flavored teas, they pull out something like this Lu’an Guapian Green Tea from SwanSisters, and prove me wrong. (But please don’t tell my husband I said that!)
This is sweet and has a texture that is like a nourishing broth: thick and smooth. The above description mentions a round mouthfeel and yes, that’s it exactly. It is very well-rounded. It is not quite as vegetal as you would expect from a green … and again, as the description above suggests, this is more like an Oolong.
The nutty tones make the taste sweet and creamy. It’s not overly “toasty” or roasted in flavor, but, I can see how Amoda Tea made that comparison, because the nutty tones do taste like freshly roasted nuts.
A very enjoyable tea. This is the first tea that I’ve sampled from this company, and my interest is piqued! I hope that I’ll have the opportunity to try more soon!
Orange Oolong Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Aromatica Fine Teas
Tea Description:
Taste the richness of the oolong at this tea’s base. This darker, roasted oolong presents upfront toasty notes and a hint of chestnuts. The orange is natural and balanced, but builds to a stronger citrus finish. Together, this is soft and smooth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Yay! My Amoda Tea Box for November arrived yesterday! I’m always so excited to get this special parcel in my mailbox every month. I’m expecially excited about this package because all three teas are ones that I’ve not tried before. The first tea that I’m tasting is this Orange Oolong Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas.
The dry leaf has a very strong orange aroma. It smells as though I had just cut into a ripe, juicy orange! The scent filled the room as soon as I opened the pouch. Ordinarily, I will brew a flavored Oolong in my Breville One-Touch tea maker, but, I decided to grab my gaiwan to fully enjoy the strong, amazing orange fragrance. The tea brews up a dark yet transparent chocolate brown color and the aromatic wisps wafting out of the teacup are beckoning me to take a sip.
The first cup is very flavorful and has a nice balance between Formosa tea flavor and sweet orange notes. The tea has a pleasing earthy flavor that is slightly woodsy and warm with notes of roasted nut. There is a background note of fruit that is slightly peach-like, and I like the way this melds with the bright citrus notes.
Subsequent infusions were also quite flavorful. I found that as I continued to infuse this tea, the flavors became smoother and almost seamless. The orange notes remained a “sunny” kind of flavor in the cup, while the Oolong maintained it’s earthy, slightly nutty tones, but everything melded together in a very pleasant way.
A delightful and complex tea.