Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Nuvola Tea
Tea Description:
The saffron-coloured Muzha Ti Kuan Yin Tea has a light fruity aroma and a melting creamy mouth-feel. The flavors are strong and long-lasting even after several infusions, which leaves a sweet lingering sensation in the mouth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Taiwan Muzha Ti Kuan Yin from Nuvola Tea is a complex, multiple layered taste exploration. It captures flavors of sweet, savory, salty, roasty, creamy, and more. There is an undeniable aroma that really captures the senses and makes you sit a moment, cup close to your nose, just breathing in its notes.
Nuvola Tea has some of the finest teas I have come across in my tea discovery. This is no exception. Hints of nuttiness capture my attentions first, followed by a creamy full mouthful and flavor that is captivating as well. While sweet berry notes dance about on my tongue the roasted backdrop comes into focus, but then the berry re-emerges once again. Its like a ferris wheel of flavors here! Flavor notes go up, then down, then round and round playfully dancing and playing on my palette.
Preceding infusions are just as delicious – I am up to infusion 5 and seem to be going strong even still. The berry notes are not as profound in later infusions but still nice when they peek through.
Granted there is a distinct woodsy flavor to this tea and I adore a woodsy roasty tea, but to me, what really springs forth the most is that wonderful berry note! Its so surprising and unexpected. Okay maybe the berry note does not spring forth the most, perhaps it is just that here I have one of my all time favorite flavor profiles of a dark roasted, nutty, woody, deep, oolong, and then that berry comes and zips in with its fresh note illuminating my cup. I mean its just so hard not to notice! Normally I go for a Dong Ding Oolong as my favorite but I am seriously considering this as a replacement for my most beloved oolong! I do have it on my wish list for future tea orders regardless and I look forward to many more infusions with this leaf to come!
Four Leaves Ripe Pu’er from Mandala Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’er
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
We are proud to offer our very own blend of ripe pu’er tea! We (and our customers) are very happy with the finished product. While we love this tea now, we can hardly wait to see what 2 or 3 more years of aging will bring to the flavor of this tea!
Also available in a 250gram cake!
The four leaves used in our ripe tea are from the Jinggu Tea Factory in Simao. The Jinggu tea factory used to be part of the CNNP state-owned tea factories. They started fermenting Pu’er in the mid-70’s and was the third factory ever to produce ripe pu’er!
The leaf used was spring picked and processed in 2009 and is quite ready for enjoying now. We chose the material and pressed the blend in April of 2010.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
One thing I love about Mandala, other than their excellent quality of tea, is their 5.00 shipping! Its just something note worthy as I know when I am considering trying a new tea company their shipping rates do matter. Also Garret at Mandala is one of the most guanine people I have ever spoken with. He takes time with people. That is something we need more of these days.
Four Leaves Ripe Pu’er is a loose leaf pu’er which for those of you starting your pu’er journey may find a little less intimidating. However you can also get it in a cake as well, which is a condensed version of the tea. Steeping instructions are right on the packaging.
I always give my pu’er an initial rise, okay not always but most always anyway. With this tea I did do an initial rinse.
The initial aromas from this tea when steeped are fruity, and leather. There is a sweetness lurking behind these initial aroma notes.
This tea has a crisp bright mouthful, which surprised me as I was expecting something more rich and earthier from the aroma of leather. The flavor of leather is there but the sip is thinner than I anticipated, thin but not lacking flavor!
The sweet berry note is also noticeable.
One note that jumped out at me that took me completely by surprise was a buttered toast flavor! I swoon at anything buttery!
Now don’t get me wrong, this is absolutely an earthy tea, pu’er as a rule is earthy but the other notes bring forth a delightful cheery cup.
I really feel this would make for a good starer pu’er although maybe not a for your very first pu’er. This would be like a level 2 pu’er. Perhaps starting with something flavored first then working up to this.
On the flip side it is not as complex or mature as many pu’er so for the more advanced pu’er drinkers this may not be as exciting.
There is room for growth in this tea but it is young and as much time yet to develop. It does however have a wonderful starting point and if you are one to buy and store pu’er for later drinking I would absolutely recommend grabbing a cake of this!
Berry Berry Herbal Tea from Culinary Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tisane Description:
A full flavored berry tea. We have added black and red currants, as well as raisins to our blend. A naturally sweet herbal tea.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
The above description forgot to mention that it is also a naturally tart herbal tea. Hibiscus! But, I’m kind of liking the way the hibiscus marries with the currants. It adds an interesting dimension to the flavor of the currants (and there are TONS of little tiny currants in this blend).
I don’t taste a lot of raisin-y flavor to this, especially not when it is served hot. As the tea cools, a sweet raisin note starts to emerge, but it isn’t a well defined flavor. Mostly what I taste is the flavor of currant, which adds a deep, almost-wine-like flavor to the cup, and the hibiscus, which adds tartness to the already slightly tart currant notes. But the hibiscus also does something else here, it gives more of a berry-like taste to the cup.
Yes, currants are a berry, but, they taste more wine-y to me than a typical berry flavor (that is, a berry like blueberry or raspberry or strawberry), and the hibiscus seems to enhance the berry profile of the currants a little bit, which I really like.
I don’t recommend oversteeping this tea – because although it contains no tea leaves (and therefore it’s not going to become bitter or tannic), it does contain hibiscus and when it’s left to brew too long, it becomes syrupy and tart. I brewed this for about 6 minutes, and I’d say that was just about perfect. It added some texture without going overboard, and it added a pleasant tartness without it becoming pucker-y.
As I sip this, I find it enjoyable, but I think it could be more enjoyable if a few spices were added to it as it infuses – maybe some cinnamon or some cloves might add a warm dimension to the flavor and make it a bit like mulled wine. Or, you could add some hot apple cider (perhaps at a 1:1 ratio?) to give the apple cider a delicious berry taste while lightening the flavor of the berry tea.
This is a tasty tisane. It’s not what I’d call a favorite, but, it’s not bad. I like it served warm by allowing it to cool somewhat after it’s been brewed. When it’s too hot, the hibiscus is very prominent. But as it cools, the flavors mellow somewhat and it’s much nicer.
Acai Tangerine from The Whistling Kettle
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Pu-erh
Where to Buy: The Whistling Kettle
Tea Description:
Inspired by Dr. Oz and Canadian natural health guru Bryce Wylde, our pu-erh/white tea blend is designed to shrink fat, burn deposits, and prevent new fat from depositing. Tastes excellent hot or iced. The rich smoothness of pu-erh is contrasted with delicate notes of white tea, and accentuated with flavors of acai, tangerine, and chrysanthemum.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
According to the description on The Whistling Kettle’s website, this tea was inspired by Dr. Oz and health guru Bryce Wylde. To tell the truth, I don’t know who Bryce Wylde is, and I don’t really put a lot of stock in what Dr. Oz says. I don’t drink tea because it’s healthy or because it is supposed to enhance weight loss. I drink tea because I like the way it tastes. If it is also good for me, that’s a bonus, but not one I allow to influence me one way or the other.
And this tastes good! I’m not usually a big fan of the tart Acai berry, but, when combined with the sweetness of the tangerine, the tartness mellows somewhat, making this a very enjoyable drink, indeed.
There is so much flavor in this cup. From the deep, mellow, earthy tones of the Pu-erh, to the crisp sweetness of the white tea… combined with the sweet-tart notes of fruit and the hint of floral taste from the chrysanthemum, this cup has a taste that is very palate pleasing. These different flavors all come together in a way that is very well-balanced. Nothing competing with anything else, nothing overpowering the cup. Just smooth, mellow, delicious flavor.
The Pu-erh is what I notice first, but what stands out about this Pu-erh from some others that I’ve tried is that it doesn’t taste overwhelmingly earthy. It does have an earthiness to it, it is somewhat peaty with a woody note. It is very mellow, and the softness of the white tea curbs the flavor so that the earthy tones of the Pu-erh do not come across as too strong. The white tea is not as prominent a flavor, but then again, it shouldn’t be. White tea has a delicate taste. But I can taste it: light, fresh, almost hay-like. The flavor is slight but where the white tea is primarily noticeable is as a softening agent to the Pu-erh.
The tangerine and acai seem pretty evenly matched. In one sip, I seem to notice more tangerine, and in the next, I’ll taste a little more berry. It’s quite lovely the way these two flavors play with one another, very enjoyable, especially for this taster who often finds the tartness of acai to be a bit much. When paired with the sweet taste of tangerine, it becomes much more palatable.
I’ve tried a couple of blends from this company – The Whistling Kettle – and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve tried. And I’m liking this blend a lot! It’s also really good iced!
Organic Berry Bomb from The Rabbit Hole
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Rabbit Hole
Tea Description:
Delicious, ripe raspberries explode with blueberries and strawberries to create this beautiful berry brew. Works well hot or iced up with a dash of honey if you like it that way. The perfect afternoon pick me up.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As summer slowly comes to an end – a bit too slowly for my liking, really, I mean, come on! I’m ready for the cooler weather already! – I find that this tea is ready to remind me of all the delicious flavors that summer offers. Really, is there any food that says summer more than fresh, juicy berries? And this tea embraces three of my favorite berries – strawberry, raspberry and blueberry – In one tasty cup.
The moment I opened the package of this tea, I knew I was in for a berry delicious treat! The berry aroma was so delightful and strong … YUM! The fragrance of the brewed tea is softer than that of the dry leaf, but it still smells incredibly yummy.
This is one of those teas that tastes best if you’ve given it a few moments to cool down to a drinkable temperature … and it gets better the more it cools! When drunk very hot, the flavors are not easily discerned in the sip, but, definitely explode in the aftertaste. Delicious berry flavor … sweet and tart and juicy! But after it’s cooled to a still-hot-but-not-piping-hot temperature, the berry flavor really comes to life.
The berry flavor is quite remarkable – I taste each of the berries, and usually with these berry medley type teas I find that the flavors become sort of jumbled into a super-berry kind of flavor where I taste notes of each but they all sort of meld together into one unified flavor. That doesn’t happen here.
Instead, I taste the strawberry. It is sweet and luscious and reminds me of those days in the summer when I rush home after visiting the produce market and buy a bunch of the berries … I have to grab a few immediately because if I don’t, they’ll be gone (I have a tween-ager daughter who loves the berries more than I do!) And I taste the blueberry, juicy and just a little bit tart. And I taste the raspberry: sweet, intense flavor with a tangy, tarty finish that tickles the tongue.
And even though the berry flavors are absolutely divine, this IS a black tea and this tea won’t let you forget that. It has a pleasant, full flavor that is brisk yet mild enough to let the berry flavors come through. A pleasing, mellow cup that would be very enjoyable as an afternoon cuppa – alone or with friends!
But where this tea really shines is as an iced tea. It is sweet and flavorful enough to serve straight – with no additions at all – but a little bit of sugar goes a long way to perk up the flavors a bit (or perhaps a drizzle of honey as suggested by Rabbit Hole!) And as I sip this, I wonder how wonderful it would taste with a sprig of mint!
A lovely tea that reminds me of the beauty of summer.