Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: iHeartTeas
Tea Description:
A light and fruity handcrafted green tea blend with pieces of sweet raspberries and delicate bits of apricot. Wonderful both hot and cold.
Recommended Steeping Parameters: 1 tsp of tea at 175F for 2 mins.
Steeping parameters are recommended based on the way I enjoyed this particular blend personally. Feel free to play and discover how you enjoy it best.
Ingredients: green tea, natural raspberry flavor, raspberry leaves, raspberries, rose petals, apple pieces, natural apricot flavor, apricots, and marigold flowers
Learn more about this tea here.
Totally unexpected delight. First of all the aroma of this tea is of warm vanilla sugar and berries. The smell was so warm, so inviting, so sweet, and so natural smelling. It really reminded me of the caramelized sugar on top of a creme brulee with wild berry glaze on the side.
The very fist sip was that of raspberry but it quickly faded into a warm sugared apricot flavor but not a sticky sweet sugar, rather a very natural sugar flavor.
This tea is JUICY! It makes your mouth water and the flavors are really quite wonderful! I could not detect any artificial flavors even if they are used and I am pretty sensitive to artificial flavorings.
Finally, an apricot I can fully appreciate, as I have had issues with finding an apricot tea I like recently. I like the sweet raspberry – not tart, which really helps to mellow the usually more pungent earthy apricot and while I do like earthy teas, apricot and I do not normally get along.
This is an inconspicuous tea, it does not force you to take notice, rather allows you to simply meld into its splendor! I found that none of the flavors fought one another for attention. While vanilla was not mentioned in the name or ingredients of this tea I swear I could taste a hint of natural vanilla!
There were actual pieces of fruit in the blend just as stated on the site!.
No sugar is needed to add to this tea its really quite perfectly sweet and balanced all on its own and I can only imagine adding sugar would make it all the more decedent or dipping some sugar cookies into it but I have had my allotment of cookies for today lol.
I loved the fresh tart apricot, the sharp but sweet raspberries, and the wonderful green tea base. A sweet, succulent tea that truly is a delight!
It does not hurt one bit either that Rachel of iHeartTeas is such a sweetie herself!
White Christmas from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
Tea flavored with white chocolate and apricot, conjuring up images of baked Christmas sweets.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I received a bagged sample of this with my Lupicia Magazine this month. You get the “magazine” which is more of a leaflet when you place an order of thirty dollars or more with Lupicia. Once you qualify for the magazine you receive it for one year. In each issue is one free bagged tea sample. I have found several new Lupicia tea favorites this way. More information on the magazine and samples here.
This tea has an okay aroma. I have to note here that I am not too fond on anything apricot flavored. I am not sure why but the flavor and aroma just turns me off. I don’t mind fresh apricots, but as a rule I have only found maybe one or two apricot flavored teas I enjoy. With that said, this tea does have that “off putting” apricot aroma. Yet there is also something else here I find pleasing. The chocolate perhaps as Lupicia does have many well flavored chocolate teas.
Upon the initial sip this tea is quite pleasing. There is a nice robust black tea base which is detectable in flavor even with the apricot and chocolate flavors. The apricot flavor in this tea does not come across as off putting as the aroma for me. That is a plus. I would also note that the white chocolate does taste like white chocolate and not that of milk or dark chocolate which gets points from me as well.
I am noticing as the tea sits a little the apricot aroma I was not enjoying has settled down and blended nicely with the chocolate aroma and that of the tea itself, no longer off putting. That is interesting.
I walked away from my tea for a few moments to let the flavors mingle on my palate and I was surprised to notice how long the flavors lingered. No bad aftertaste was detected – rather a quite pleasing one!
The mouthfeel is somewhat thick, and creamy. Close to a hot chocolate mouthfeel but not quite. I could however see younger people enjoying this tea during the holiday season because of the feel and flavor.
It is definitely a sweeter tea but does not have unnecessary sweetness and is not cloying.
Overall a nice cup. I don’t think that I am in love with this tea, and if I were not a hound for Lupicia’s collectable tins I probably would not rush to grab this one, but it is nice, and I think many of the younger people, and non tea drinkers in my family will enjoy this over the holidays. I can also see this tea being tweaked for other holiday drinks, with or without alcohol. I think this would be a good purchase regardless.
White Tea Riesling from Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Description:
Inspired by Riesling, we blended natural ingredients to create a white tea blend that is light, aromatic and playful. Honeysuckle, jasmine, apricot and lemon combine to celebrate a few of the unique characteristics of Riesling.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m no connoisseur of wine. I could not tell you the difference between a Riesling and a Merlot, except that I think that the Merlot is a red wine and a Riesling is a white wine. But even that I’m not certain about! I can’t tell you the last time I’ve had a Riesling wine … because I don’t even know if I ever have!
But I am enjoying this White Tea Riesling from Vintage TeaWorks. It’s very light and crisp and flavorful, just as I would expect a white wine to be. It has a very enjoyable fruity foreground note of apricot that marries very nicely with the floral background notes of honeysuckle and jasmine.
The fruit notes are complex here. The apricot is the strongest flavor, and it’s noticed not just in the taste but also in the delightful aroma of the brewed tea (as well as the beautiful dry leaf!) I taste notes of lemon as well as hints of crisp apple in the fruit notes, as well as the subtlest whisper of sweet grape. As I continue to sip, my palate tingles slightly from the sweet-tart notes of the fruit in this cup.
I think I’m enjoying the fragrance of this tea as much as I’m enjoying the taste, the apricot notes remind me of a homey, comforting apricot cobbler. But examine the bouquet even further and I notice a beautiful airy, floral background that brings out the fresh notes of the fruit in a really lovely way.
The white tea marries very well with the other flavors, and becomes almost a seamless part of the wine-like tastes. I think that is what makes these blends by Vintage TeaWorks so inspired – the tea bases that they select to blend with the flavors work so harmoniously with the concept of the wines they’re attempting to “reinterpret” through tea. Here, the white tea becomes part of the wine flavor … just as it seemed to happen with the Chardonnay and the Merlot varieties… and the others!
As the tea cools slightly, I begin to really taste the wine-like connection with this tea. This is really a beautiful tea, as are the others in the Vintage TeaWorks collection. I have truly enjoyed tasting each of these teas … I recommend them highly!
Brandied Apricot Upside Down Cake Honeybush from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
Buttery yellow cake, sweet brandied apricots in caramelized brown sugar, all in a caffeine-free calorie-free African honeybush. Is this a dessert or a tea? Maybe it’s both. Only 52teas could bring you such a delicious and decadent treat.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I was excited to try this honeybush blend from 52Teas. As I’ve mentioned once or twice before, Frank (the chief Zoomdweebie at 52Teas) has a way with honeybush that’s quite unlike any other tea artisan that I’ve come across, and I’m always pretty impressed with his honeybush blends.
And let’s face it, the idea of a Brandied Apricot Upside Down Cake sounds pretty incredible, does it not?
This is really very good. The apricot flavor tastes does not taste fake to me, it has a very authentic flavor, and what I’m tasting is what I’d imagine fresh apricots, simmered in brandy, and then caramelized in butter and brown sugar might taste like. Now, I imagine that decadent flavor spread into a cake pan and topped with cake batter and baked until golden brown and delicious. Yeah… that’s what’s in my cup right now!
I taste all those notes that are suggested in the name of this tea: I taste the brandy … but it doesn’t taste too strongly of brandy. I taste the apricots, this flavor lends a bright, fresh taste to the cup. I taste brown sugar that’s been caramelized in butter, and a sweet, bake-y, cake-y taste. I even taste just a hint of nutty flavor from the honeybush. These flavors all come together in a very delicious way, tasting very dessert-y without tasting too sweet or cloying.
As I write this, I see that there eleven more pouches of this tea available. That may seem like a plentiful amount, but given how quickly 52Teas can sell out of delicious blends like this one, I wouldn’t put off ordering one for too long if I were you. And this one is worth splurging on … it’s a delicious, decadent, naturally caffeine free treat!
Doke Thunder Second Flush from Rare Tea Republic
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Rare Tea Republic
Tea Description:
Ripe apricot, butternut squash, sweet finish.
A juicy ripe apricot aroma leads to an exceptionally flavorful liquor with vegetal undertones of cooked butternut squash and a lingering finish. .
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I bought a sample of this, along with about 12 others, from Rare Tea Republic a week ago and today I picked it from my grab bag of RTR teas to taste.
This is an Oolong? I had to check three times to be sure. I was extremely sleepy when having this as my morning wake up cup, I thought perhaps because I generally have a black tea in the morning, and that is what I thought I had grabbed I thought that I must have been mistaken when I went to Rare Tea Republic site and saw it was an oolong! Surely that was a mistake on their site. To me, this tastes like a black tea.
I am even a little surprised by the flavor palate of this tea – again to me it rings more true to a black tea.
Regardless, letting go of all that and just allowing myself to sink into the tea itself, submersing my distractions of what this tea is supposed to be and just appreciating the tea in and of itself I could not be more pleased.
This tea reminds me of walking through our local fruit farm in the fall. Today’s weather here in my town could not be more perfect. Its like the weather had planned my tea selection this morning. Its cool and crisp outside, leaves are gently blowing around, my yard is the neighborhood’s catch all for fallen leaves, and I LOVE it! The aroma and flavor from this tea are fresh butternut squash, apricots that are a bit over ripened and reduced for quick sale, (the juiciest), autumn leaves, moist air and wet leaves, all indicative of the weather we are having today. Yesterday it was sunny, balmy, and hot, but hey I live in Kansas, as they say if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes, it will change! My local fruit farm which is down the road from me, is chalk full of the very things this tea evokes at this time of year.
Also there are wonderful flavor notes of syrup, and malt. This is like no other oolong I have ever experienced! The astringency is even aligned with a quality black! I can’t get past the fresh squash note. It is so spot on, so perfect. What a lovely treat on this cool October morning!
Surprised, yes, but delighted for sure! This is one enjoyable cup with wonderful flavor notes that are sure to please!