Black Tea, Orange Pieces, Blackberry Leaves, Safflower Petals, Lemon Balm Leaves, Strawberry Pieces, Calendula Petals, Sunflower Petals, Elderberry Pieces, Raisin Bits, Hibiscus Peals, Apple Pieces, Rosehip Bits, Passion Fruit Pieces, Kiwi Pieces, Raspberry Pieces, Rose Petals, Cornflower Petals, & Peppermint are the ingredients that went into ImmorTaliTea from Cup of Love. Therefore a LOT of time and effort went into this flavor combination!
It has a nice balance of fruity, spicy, mint, sweet, and sour! The black tea base is NOT over the top darker than dark or stronger than strong but it leaves enough room for the other ingredients to come out and play! I mean take a look at the FRUIT in this tea! Orange, Strawberry, Elderberry, Raisin, Apple, Passion Fruit, Kiwi, and Raspberry! YUM!
Then for the herbal side of things you will notice in both aroma and taste the Blackberry Leaves, Lemon Balm, and Peppermint! Refreshing!
Let’s NOT forget the the floral side of things…Safflower, Calendula, Sunflower, Rose, and Cornflower. Fine and Fragrant!
But the amazement doesn’t stop there! There is the tart of the Hibiscus and Rosehip Bits that tickle your taste buds, too! There is a LOT going on but each and ever ingredient plays its part here!
I prefer this one cold but it’s pretty tasty hot, too! ImmorTaliTea from Cup is one of those teas that will certainly keep you guessing!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Cup of Love
Description:
Black Tea, Orange Pieces, Blackberry Leaves, Safflower Petals, Lemon Balm Leaves, Strawberry Pieces, Calendula
Petals, Sunflower Petals, Elderberry Pieces, Raisin Bits, Hibiscus Peals, Apple Pieces, Rosehip Bits, Passion Fruit
Pieces, Kiwi Pieces, Raspberry Pieces, Rose Petals, Cornflower Petals, & Peppermint
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pocketful of Posies Herbal Tea by Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
A relaxing, naturally caffeine-free herbal tea blended from blackberry leaves, chamomile, peppermint, hibiscus, lavender flowers, and rose petals.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is an herbal tea from Adagio’s Sunlit Blooms collection. It’s a floral blend, containing whole chamomile flowers, lavender and rose petals. It also contains peppermint, hibiscus, and blackberry leaves. Judging by the dry leaf, the main constituent is blackberry leaves, which are green and fluffy, rather like raspberry leaves. The other ingredients seem rather sparse.
I used 1.5tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is yellow-green, which is doubtless testament to how little hibiscus is actually in this blend. The scent is deeply herbal – predominantly chamomile and lavender as far as I can discern.
To taste, this is a mild, lightly floral blend. Rose is clearly there, and lavender, although both are less pungent than might be expected, and don’t make the cup taste “perfumey” in the way they sometimes can. Half of me appreciates this, as teas with heavy perfume-like flavours can be rather cloying. The other half is wishing for a bit more flavour, as the overall effect is rather thin-tasting. The chamomile emerges a little towards the end of the sip, adding a honey-like sweetness that works well with the floral flavours. It’s a pleasant enough cup, if a little bland and weak. It’s like this tea is lacking in personality.
I’m really not sure what the blackberry leaves are adding to this blend, other than bulk. I appreciate that they have reputed health benefits, but I would have liked to have seen the other ingredients in greater quantity, as they impart the flavour this blend is sadly lacking. This one would make a pleasant pre-bedtime cup, if you’re after a caffeine-free blend with mild, relaxing flavours, but it’s not really one I’d purposefully seek out at other times of the day.
Summer Solstice Herbal Tea from Tealux
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Tealux
Tea Description:
Summer solstice is the name for the mythical night of the 21st of June ‘ the shortest night of the year. Midsummer is often described as a pause in-between a change in nature and provides us with the opportunity to pause for a moment in order to align ourselves with the energy changes of the natural forces. We have united the taste of ripe sun fruits and fresh herbs with the Swedish midsummer tradition of blossoms, in order to keep the rays of sun a little while longer in your cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s not quite the Summer Solstice yet, but the weather is definitely getting warmer! Perhaps that’s why this particular blend really spoke to me today. It’s hard to tell from the description exactly what you’re going to get, so I jumped right in and brewed up a cup. The first thing of note is the size of the fruit pieces contained in this blend. There are whole raspberries, generous slices of freeze-dried strawberry, and large pieces of apple, pineapple and papaya (about 1 inch square.) There are smaller pieces of hibiscus, small flakes of nettle leaves, and a scattering of sunflower blossoms. The blend as a whole is bright and colourful – very summery-looking. It smells quite rich and fruity, rather in the manner of fruit cake.
I used approximately 2 tsp of leaf, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. It’s by no means easy to measure, due to the large leaf size, but I did my best! The resulting liquor is golden brown, and the scent is mildly fruity – I’m picking up blackberry and coconut primarily.
To taste, the raspberry and strawberry are a lot more prominent than I thought they might be. They’re juicy and natural-tasting, sweet initially and then a little tart. The more “tropical” flavours develop in the mid-sip; a lot of coconut, a hint of pineapple, and a slight pepperiness from the papaya. It’s a slightly odd combination, like two halves of two different teas have been unexpectedly brought together. It’s not unpleasant, but the transition from summer berries to tropical fruit is a little jarring. The fruit flavours linger well into the aftertaste, and I can detect a splash of blackberry at this point. It’s tart and a little sour, but again incredibly juicy, and I could see this working well with the initial strawberry/raspberry combination. Somehow, though, it’s not quite what I wanted after the tropical explosion that preceded it.
I quite like this one, purely for it’s accurate fruit flavours and sheer juciness. It’s a great thirst quencher on a warm day. I would have preferred it to be either berry or tropical, though, rather than both. The two flavour sets aren’t a brilliant match to begin with, and nothing is gained when they have to compete with each other for dominance. Still, it’s a pleasing cup on the whole, and I can imagine it working well iced in the warmer months to come.
Children’s Hospital Vanilla Black Tea from The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
A playful blend of baby rosebuds, vanilla, and bergamot that reminds us of childhood tea parties. Proceeds go to BC Children’s Hospital.
Ingredients: Black tea, rosehip pieces, rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavors.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
After reading the ingredients listed and then opening the sample pouch of this tea, I was a little surprised to immediately recognize a chamomile blossom. I see the rosehips and rose petals and blackberry leaves, but they need to update their ingredient list to also include chamomile.
This is a tasty blend. The black tea base has a robust flavor and it melds nicely with the notes of vanilla to create a really rich, creamy flavor that is both malty and vanilla-y sweet. The sip starts out really smooth yet strong, and it remains smooth to the finish where I pick up on a slightly dry astringency.
The bergamot is a little less distinct than the vanilla and even the floral notes in this blend. When one reads the description of this tea, they might be led to believe that this is a “Earl Grey Creme” type of tea, but I wouldn’t call it that. It’s more of a flowery cream type of tea than it is a creamy bergamot type of tea.
The floral notes are soft and sweet. I like the way they contrast with the silky vanilla tones. I don’t taste a lot from the aforementioned chamomile blossoms, not even that distinct apple-y flavor that I usually pick up on when I drink something with chamomile. The strength of the black tea and other flavors seems to cancel out the chamomile – but that certainly doesn’t disappoint me. What I do taste is the rose and it’s quite a nice flavor. It starts out rather delicate and by the time I made my way to mid-cup, I was noticing more and more rose essence emerge in every sip.
I’m also so pleased to find that this tea is a tea that benefits the BC Children’s Hospital. I like that Secret Garden Tea Company has found a few favorite charities and offers help to them through the sales of their lovely tea blends.
This is a really nice tea. It has many different layers of flavor and what I think I’m realizing now that I’ve just passed the mid-cup point is that every sip seems to be just a little different than the one that preceded it. I might notice a really strong presence of the black tea in the first sip and with the next sip, I pick up on more vanilla. The sips that follow allow my palate to explore other flavors: hints of bright bergamot notes, a rose essence that develops, and the creamy-malty flavor of the vanilla and black tea flavors.
It’s quite an interesting tea – I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for a blend that’s a little less ordinary!
Apple Embrace Black Tea from Monarch Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Monarch Tea Co. or Monarch Tea Co. on Etsy
Tea Description:
This warm and inviting blend brings memories of sitting fireside with a good book. Notes of apple, cinnamon and spice come together to warm and soothe. Ingredients: black tea, dried apple, cinnamon pieces, blackberry leaves, safflower petals, natural flavours.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to receive my Postal Teas box today. This box is actually September’s subscription – which arrives in October. Kind of confusing. Maybe I should just call it October’s box?
Anyway, this month’s featured tea company is Monarch Tea Company. I was excited to see that this is the featured tea company this month, because I had noticed that this company was featured earlier this year, before I became a subscriber. I’m glad to have this opportunity to try some of their teas.
The first tea that I am trying is this Apple Spice Embrace. Perfect for this evening for two reasons: first, it’s a cold and wet day here in the Pacific Northwest and a warmly spiced tea suits me just fine on a day like this. Second, my daughter is visiting this evening and its a tea that I think she’ll also appreciate.
I notice the packaging right off the bat. The teas are in Kraft, foil-lined pouches and they are “sealed” with a bit of whimsical black polka dot fabric tape. The front of the package has a label with the name of the tea and the ingredients (all the important stuff to know), and the back of the pouch is marked with the elegant Monarch Tea logo. I like the combination of whimsy and elegance and simplicity.
When I opened the pouch, I inhaled deeply to take in the fragrance. I notice a “black tea” aroma with notes of cinnamon. The cinnamon isn’t overpowering and I kind of expected it to be (it seems that in blends like this, the cinnamon is the main event, and I like that it is a gentle presence here.) There is a light apple-y scent beneath the notes of cinnamon.
I brewed this tea in my Breville One-Touch, pouring 750ml of freshly filtered water into the jug and measuring 3 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket. Then I set the temperature for 212°F and the time for 2 1/2 minutes. When I poured my cup of tea, I enjoyed the scent: hints of apple mingling with notes of cinnamon and a front note of black tea – much like the dry leaf, although it isn’t quite as aromatic.
This is a tasty cup of tea. The black tea notes are prominent. A brisk tasting tea – I suspect a Ceylon – but there are some subtle malty notes to this as well. It’s smooth and moderately astringent. A sweet, honey undertone that complements the apple notes.
The apple note isn’t in your face. It’s a subtle taste of apple, offering a slightly sweet, delicately tart flavor that reminds me of the flavor of an apple pie filling, complete with a light touch of cinnamon. I think that the cinnamon is my favorite part of this tea because it is a rather light touch of the spice. All too often when it comes to cinnamon in a tea, it’s been added with such a heavy hand that it becomes all about the cinnamon. Here, the cinnamon softly accents the tea. It’s a gentle warmth. Lightly sweet, lightly spiced.
Overall, a really pleasant autumnal tea and as I eluded to at the start of this review, it’s just perfect on a day like today when it’s cold and wet. I like that I’m curling up to a warm cup of apple-y spiced goodness.
