Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
Here’s a blend of caffeine-free honeybush with freeze-dried peaches and apricots and cinnamon chips. This is one of those blends that is bound to make you happy inside whether you prepare it hot or iced.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I usually approach the tisanes from 52Teas with a certain amount of tired disinterest. Not because I haven’t enjoyed the tisanes from 52Teas, but because that’s my general attitude when it comes to tisanes (and not just those from this company!) I – quite simply – prefer blends with camellia sinensis in them. That’s just me.
And even though I tend to find myself sort of bored with tisanes, I usually enjoy them once I get around to actually brewing them.
And that’s true of this Cinnamon Peach & Apricot Honeybush from 52Teas. This is actually quite good, much better than I expected it to be. The peach and apricot are a naturally delicious combination. For example, I love peach cobbler, and I love apricot cobbler … but even better is a peach-apricot cobbler! The two fruits just taste better together.
And this tisane – when served warm – tastes a little bit like a peach and apricot cobbler. The naturally nutty, sweet notes of the honeybush offer a “crust” sort of flavor to the cup, while the cinnamon offers just the right touch of spice.
But where this tisane really shines is as an iced drink. It is fruity and sweet, with just enough zesty cinnamon to offset that sweetness and give the cup some balance. The nutty flavors of the honeybush seem to subdue as the tisane cools, and I taste mostly fruit and spice. It’s a refreshing, tasty beverage that both my daughter and I enjoy.
This tisane doesn’t really need any sweetener to enhance it, but if you do decide you want a little extra sweetness to it, try adding a little brown sugar to it. This really amplifies that peach-apricot cobbler taste I mentioned earlier. And a splash of milk or cream will give it a really decadent, creamy flavor that is absolutely YUM!
So even though I started out kind of feeling lackadaisical about this tisane, it proved to be a really tasty treat.
Secret Garden Tea Blend from Kaleisia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black, Green & White Teas
Where to Buy: Kaleisia Tea
Tea Description:
The most popular blend of all times. This blend consist of white peony white tea, sencha green tea, darjeeling black tea, gunpowder green tea, dragonwell green tea, jasmine pearl green tea, mango, pineaple, papaya, orange peels, strawberry, red currants, sour cherry bits, and apricot bits. A very well rounded fruity tea that is sure to please anyone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Secret Garden Tea Blend from Kaleisia Tea has a little bit of EVERYTHING in it! White tea, green tea, black tea … fruit bits … and a whole lot of flavor!
Since this blend seems to be primarily green tea, I went with a lower brew temperature (185°F) and steeped the tea for 2 1/2 minutes in my Breville One- Touch. And the results are tasty!
Fruit flavor hits the palate first, although … it is more like a “medley” of fruit flavors rather than one specific fruit note. Kind of like a bite of ambrosia salad where you taste several fruit notes all at once and it’s difficult to pin-point exactly which fruit you’re tasting. It’s a very refreshing fruit taste though!
As far as tea flavor goes, green tea is what I taste most. That sweet, sort of leafy/grassy note that is very fresh and crisp. It’s a nice contrast with the sweet and sour fruit notes that tantalize the palate at the start of the sip. There is a sweet, creaminess to the tea notes as well, is that the white tea or the buttery notes from the Sencha? I can’t be sure, but, I like the way it comes together with the fruit notes. I don’t taste a whole lot of white tea here, nor do I notice much from the Darjeeling black tea, although I can’t say that this blend would taste the same without those tea leaves being a part of this blend.
As I continue to sip, I realize that I’m tasting mostly a “tropical” sort of taste: notes of pineapple, mango, and papaya, with a strawberry background note. I taste the sweetness of the apricot too. The sour tones of the currant and the cherry come through near the finish, but these are not very strong flavors. The fruit notes, overall, are more “melded” together as a unified flavor … like some kind of “ultra-fruit” but, if I aerate the sip by slurping, I can pick out individual fruit notes.
I like that this blend is more sweet than it is sour, because I’m not a huge fan of the sour taste as I’ve said many times. While this does seem to be a rather “busy” blend … I find it enjoyable. I like it better iced than hot, so, I’ll be brewing more of this later for my iced tea pitcher and enjoy it all day long tomorrow!
Momijigari Black Tea Blend from Lupicia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia Tea
Tea Description:
Vibrant autumn leaves are blended into black tea. A sophisticated flavor of apple and apricot is limited to the autumn. Limited Quantity & Period Only
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I sit here, smelling the wonderful aroma that wafts from my teacup, I am reminded of autumn. This Momijigari Black Tea Blend from Lupicia Tea smells … like autumn! Like the smell of the air and the leaves and the apples. There is a distinct wine-like character to the fragrance as well, with the faintest hints of smoke.
This is one of the more unique flavored teas that I’ve tasted … and it truly tastes like autumn to me. It has notes of apple and apricot in the flavor – two fruits I think of when I think of harvest. I like that while these are distinct flavor profiles here, they do not overpower the cup.
I’m also tasting a wine-like flavor – it is rustic and warm – like mulled wine without the spices. I taste the faintest hints of smoke … reminiscent of the air that I would experience in the autumn as the air begins to cool and smoke is wafting from the chimneys.
And the black tea is not absent here either. There is a warm, earthy tone to the background … not an aggressive or strong black tea flavor … but just enough to support the other flavors.
This is a very enjoyable cuppa from Lupicia Tea!
Stone Fruit White Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Stone fruits are so named because they have a large pit in their centers. They include peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries–in other words, a cornucopia of yumminess, all of which is represented in this blend.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
When it came time for me to try this Stone Fruit White Tea from 52Teas, I knew I had to try it iced. It just seemed to me to be the perfect kind of tea for iced tea. So, I brewed an extra large pot of this tea, and after straining a small cup of tea for me to try as a hot tea and with which to start this review, I strained the rest of the pot into my iced tea pitcher, and then re-infused the leaves to top off the iced tea pitcher. Yumminess in the fridge for tomorrow!
Served still-piping-hot-from-the-teapot hot, I found the flavor was not quite everything I wanted it to be. I took a sip or two, and then I decided to wait a few minutes for my next sip … which was considerably better. Give this tea a few moments to cool – it doesn’t need a long time, but just a few minutes will give the flavors a chance to really pop.
This tea blend is beautifully flavored. The white tea base is soft, sweet and earthy. Notes of hay, and of fresh air, it tastes clean and fresh. These flavors seemed to meld well with the sweet, lush notes of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot and cherry.
And I like that I can taste each of those flavors in the cup in front of me. It tastes a bit more like a medley of fruit flavors rather than distinctive, individual notes … but I can taste each of them. The peach and nectarine are the most prominent – and it really is difficult for me to tell the difference between one and the other when it comes to these two fruits, when I was young, we had a peach tree and a nectarine tree, and when it came time for “peach” cobbler, my step-mother would combine the two fruits in the cobbler, and really, it just tasted like peach cobbler. They’re both so similar.
Even though the peach and nectarine are the strongest notes, I also taste the plum, which adds a nice, tangy note to the cup. And the cherry adds a hint of tart. The apricot adds a smooth, sweet undertone. It is – as I said – much more like a stone fruit medley than the individual flavors of five stone fruits.
This white tea blend from 52Teas is a stone groove (sorry, I don’t know why I felt the need to say that, I just did.) And it’s even better iced than it is hot! The flavors REALLY POP once it’s chilled and become more distinguished. I taste more natural, juicy sweetness from the peach, nectarine and apricot … and more sharp tartness from the cherry and I like this contrast. The plum flavor really shines through as well.
So delicious, naturally cooling and just … pure refreshment from start to finish! YUM!
Apr-i-berry Love Child from Design A Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Tea Description:
Apricot has long had her eye on blueberry. Some said it hinged on the verge of an uncontrollable passion! After a long and snowy weekend – trapped in a cabin on the side of a mountain; she made her move! When forbidden love is allowed to flourish… the tastes can be absolutely refreshing.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t too sure about this Apr-i-berry Love Child from Design A Tea when I took my first sip of it. Then I allowed it to cool to an “iced tea” temperature and this becomes a really tasty tea! The flavors of apricot and blueberry play very nicely together, and the black tea base is strong but not overbearing … it’s a really refreshing iced tea.
The black tea base is – as I mentioned already – a strong base, but it’s not an overwhelming taste. It’s balanced well with the flavors of apricot and blueberry. It has some astringency, but, it’s not a bitter tasting tea. I think it could be if it were over-steeped, though, so you want to watch your brew time with this one.
The apricot comes through very well here – sweet and juicy! The blueberry adds a hint of tart to the cup as well as a distinct berry sweetness. I found that the flavors were kind of “muddy” at first, but a pinch of sugar helps to define the flavors a bit better.
I wasn’t all that crazy about this blend hot, but, it IS really tasty when it’s iced. A great summertime treat – and a nice change from the typical iced tea flavors that are out there! I love the combination of apricot and blueberry: it’s different but tasty!