I was lucky to discover Roasted Almond Chai from Fava Tea Company thanks to a tea trade with fellow Sororitea Sisters, and now this is one if my favorite chai teas.
This is a decaf blend, so I find it most satisfying as a sweet treat to ease me through a rough afternoon or evening. This tea is perfectly both sweet and spicy. The dry leaf in the bag smells exceptionally creamy and a touch fruity, like marzipan candies. In the loose leaf, there are cloves, cinnamon, and huge cardamom pods, promising more spice in the brew.
Brewed, this blend is surprisingly pink, and I had a moment of worry: pink?! Is there hibiscus in here? I read the label again and saw beetroot as an ingredient but no hibiscus. Taking a sip, I was relieved. The pink color was clearly from the beetroot which added a wonderful natural sweetness that did not get in the way of the other flavors.
The one change I would make is to rename this blend Marzipan Chai, instead of Roasted Almond Chai. There is not much in the way of tasted flavors or pure nut-like flavors. The beetroot and almond make for a blend that is sweet like a cake with creamy frosting. This tea is driven by its candied almond taste, coupled with the warming spices of cinnamon and cardamom. Even without milk, this tea is so smooth and creamy, a perfect dessert. I will be stocking up on this chai the next chance I get!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fava Tea
Description:
This is the sweet taste of almond magically blended with rooibos and chai spices. Smooth, delightful and a perfect compliment with dessert. Or in place of dessert! Either way, enjoy!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Up Beet from Teapigs. . . . . .
Beets were a contentious part of my family dinners. Every Easter my grandmother would make a cold beet salad and our seating arrangements had to be coordinated to put certain beet-haters at the other end of the table from the beet salad. I was firmly on the side of the beets, and couldn’t get enough of grandma’s beet salad. Needless to say, I was excited to try a beet tea.
Up Beet from Teapigs is a green tea blend with hibiscus, beetroot, ginger, and carrot. The green tea is really just a base to carry the bolder vegetable and herb flavors. I didn’t think any flavor could hold up against powerful hibiscus, but beetroot is a formidable ally in this blend. The sharp hibiscus is balanced out by the iron-sweet earthiness of the beets. Carrots bring their own natural sweetness alongside the beets, and the ginger adds a hint spice to give more texture to the flavor palette. The longer I let the tea brew, the more ginger heat and mineral beet flavors came to the forefront.
Punchy, strong, and sweet, this is truly a unique blend. If you enjoy fruit and veggie juice blends, you should try this tea. It is a sweet and savory blend, with the umami-earthiness of the beets, the lightly sweet carrots, and the fruit-punch hibiscus, all coming together for a bold, full-flavored cup of tea. As a beet-lover, I’m happy to have this tea on my shelf anytime I’m craving their bold, earthy flavors and I don’t have grandma’s beet salad at hand.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Description:
This blend will give you the kick you need to jump into your lycra, tie up your trainers, skip to the gym and throw that scary giant kettle bell way over your shoulder. This blend of beets, spice and hibiscus which helps give you extra energy, is fruity and punchy (enjoy with or without lycra!).
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Beauty & The Beet White Tea from Lemon Lily
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Lemon Lily
Tea Description:
Organic, delicate, earthy but not grassy. This blend of organic white tea is gently paired with organic beetroot Powder, organic lavender, organic passionflower, organic rosehip, organic rose buds Dry, it’s beautiful to look at. Steeped and allowed to rest for about ten minutes and you really start to taste the floral notes. But the touch of earthy sweetness from the beetroot balances out the floral, keeping it from tasting soapy.
Learn more about this month’s Postal Teas shipment here.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
The photo above doesn’t really show the beetroot powder. When I received my pouch of this tea in my Postal Teas box this month, I was kind of surprised by the hot pink dust that had settled to the back of of the pouch. It kind of looked like freeze dried lipstick that had been pulverized into a powder.
I guess I could have said it looks like powder blush in the pouch, but, I couldn’t see anyone wanting to wear this particular shade of pink on their cheeks, but I could see it on someone’s lips or possibly their fingernails. Then again: freeze dried nail polish that had been pulverized into a powder – that seems like it would be a lot more effort to pulverize nail polish into a powder than it does lipstick.
Anyway … this blend has been dusted with powdered beetroot and it’s a vibrant shade of pink. And when you steep the tea, the tea becomes a ruby red color. It almost looks like it has hibiscus in it. Almost. Fortunately, beetroot doesn’t taste like hibiscus. I prefer beetroot.
This is one of the more interesting teas I’ve reviewed lately. First of all, love the name. Love it. And I can’t recall having a tea blended with beetroot powder. I may have. It’s just nothing comes to mind immediately. And you would think that something as unique as beetroot powder would stick in the memory, you know?
Similar to the Maple Leaf tea that I tried a few days ago from the same company, this tea is very floral. I am tasting notes of lavender and rose distinctly. The passionflower is a bit more demure in this blend, which is not surprising as it tends to be rather mild tasting. I like how the beetroot softens the flavors of the flowers a little and brings it’s own unique flavor to the cup. It’s sweet and I can taste a hint of the vegetable flavor of the beet.
The white tea is a little less discernible in this blend, but I do taste it. The light, airy, hay-like note of the white tea seems to complement the floral notes. This tea is earthy (which also complements the floral notes), floral, very slightly vegetal, and very enjoyable – albeit different! – to drink.
I steeped this in my Kati Tumbler and I chose to steep it in this cup for one reason: the beetroot powder. I didn’t want to have to scrub the jug of my Breville One-Touch after beetroot powder had steeped in it! It’s a lot easier to scrub my Kati Tumbler!
After shaking the pouch thoroughly (to redistribute the powder that had settled), I measured out 2 bamboo scoops of tea into my Kati and heat the water to 170°F and steeped the tea for 3 1/2 minutes.
Postal Teas recommends letting these teas cool a bit to let the flavors develop and I agree with that. As this particular tea cools, the flavors not only develop but the texture develops too. The beetroot seems to thicken somewhat to create a pleasant, brothy type texture to the cup (without it feeling syrupy the way a hibiscus blend would).
I’m really happy that I had this opportunity to try this tea! Thank you, Postal Teas!
Orange Red Carrot Raw Green Bush Tea from The Republic of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Product Description:
Spot of Sunshine Herb Tea Blended with orange peel, sweet carrot and beetroot bits, raw green rooibos takes on a fresh wake-up flavor. If you could taste sunshine, it just might taste like this. Low in tannins, it steeps a unique, gratifying cup – hot or iced.
Taster’s Review:
This tisane is part of The Republic of Tea’s “Raw Green Rooibos” collection, and it was one I was definitely excited to try. I love carrots, and I’m always intrigued by teas or tisanes that are carrot flavored.
And I’m very happy to say that I’m not the least bit disappointed by this blend! It’s really good. The green rooibos has a more fruity taste to it than the typically nutty-woody tasting red rooibos, and I appreciate that difference in this blend. The sparkling fruity tones to the rooibos accents the orange flavors nicely.
The beets give this a beautiful reddish color as well as a fair amount of sweetness (in fact, if you’re one who routinely sweetens their tea before tasting, I would recommend tasting this one first, because you may find that it is sweet enough on its own). The carrot flavor is sweet and earthy, while the orange flavor lends a hint of tartness and a juicy taste to this – it almost tastes like a breakfast smoothie (but without the thick, ice-y texture!) and is just as refreshing. It also has a very revitalizing quality to it. It is naturally caffeine-free so it’s a great way to get that energy boost without caffeine.
I’ve really enjoyed the three varieties of The Republic of Tea’s Raw Green Teas that I’ve tried – and I think this one might just be my new favorite. It’s awesome!