Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black, Green & White Teas
Where to Buy: Newport Skinny Tea
Tea Description:
Malibu Beach Beauty Tea has ingredients that soothe inflammation in your body, especially your tissues, and regulate the hormones that cause acne and skin irritation to show up on the surface. Ingredients in it strengthen collagen production, eliminate excess water trapped in your tissues and reduce the look of cellulite. After using the tea bags, you can place them on your external skin to reduce redness and inflammation of acne, keep away from your eye area.
Learn more about this tea blend here.
Enter to win a Newport Skinny Tea 21 Day “TeaTox” Pack!
Taster’s Review:
Before I even brewed this tea, I read through the description card that came with my sample of this Malibu Beach Beauty Tea and browsed the ingredient list and this tea has a lot going on! Check it out:
Ingredients: Earl Grey Tea, Young Hysson Green Tea, White Tea, Calendula, Lavender Flowers, Red Clover Blossoms, Peppermint Leaves, Rose Flowers & Hips, Linden Leaf & Flower, Elder Flower, Chamomile, Lemon Peel & Oil, Gota Cola, Honeysuckle Flower, Blackberry Leaf, Privet Fruit, Stevia Leaf, Mangosteen Peel, Natural Flavors.
See what I mean? There’s a lot going on. I hope that it’s not too much going on! But I won’t know until I try it. So, I’m off to go brew it in my Kati Tumbler. I’ll use 2 teaspoons of tea in the Kati basket and add 12 ounces of hot water (but not boiling). The parameters on this description card suggest boiling water but with that many herbs plus green and white teas, I feel that boiling water is going to be too hot. I’ll opt for a lower temperature: 180°F, and steep it for 4 minutes. Let’s see how it goes!
Hmm … interesting. It’s an interesting flavor – in a good way! And as I said, there IS a lot going on. Because of that, the result is a flavor that’s a bit more like an herbal tisane than a tea. But that isn’t a bad thing. I like that I’m tasting the lavender and lemon and honeysuckle! I like that I am picking up on the flavors of peppermint and elder flower and rose! And I can still taste notes of bergamot (which are highlighted by the lemon notes) and the black, green and white teas.
I like that there is a lot going on but it all seems to work together in a way that pleases my palate. When I take a sip, my palate is intrigued and interested in what its experiencing. I find myself wanting to sip more rather than push the cup aside – which is, quite frankly, what I feared! I thought I’d take one sip of this and say NO! No like! But that’s not what’s happening. Yeah, it’s different. Yeah it’s a busy tea. But I like it!
The prevailing note here is floral. The lavender and honeysuckle and rose and linden and elder flowers give this a very floral flavor, but it doesn’t cross the line into perfume-y. It doesn’t even really toe the line because there’s other flavors going on to help it take a couple of steps back and keep it tasting floral/herbaceous without going into the icky area of floral/perfume-ish.
This is something I can see myself wanting to drink on a regular basis. It’s a got a really interesting flavor that compels me to continue drinking.
If the idea of beauty from the inside out interests you, check out Newport Skinny Tea’s complete line of teas. You can even enter their raffle – they’re currently giving away a 21 Day TeaTox package!
Secret Garden Rooibos Tisane from The Secret Garden Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Our secret, scrumptious blend. Perfect afternoon tea or as a digestif after a heavy meal.
Ingredients: Rooibos, safflower and rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavors
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This – brewed – smells AMAZING. I am picking up on distinct vanilla notes. Creamy and luscious!
And it tastes delightful. I’ve never made any big secret about the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of rooibos. I’d much rather sip on camellia sinensis. But, when I shouldn’t be drinking caffeine (later in the evening) but I still want something “tea-ish,” rooibos is a good alternative.
To brew this tisane, I went with my go-to temperature for rooibos: 195°F and I steeped the tisane for 10 minutes. Because rooibos doesn’t have the high tannin content of camellia sinensis, you can steep it longer to get the most out of the flavor. I brewed this in my Breville tea maker, using 2 bamboo scoops of tisane to 500ml of water.
Now, most tea purveyors will tell you that you can (or should) use boiling water for rooibos, but I recommend dropping the temperature slightly. I find that when I steep rooibos with boiling water, the flavor becomes “funky.” It has a weird taste that I want to describe as “sour wood.” Like a tisane that was made out of steeped sour wood and sweetened with saccharine. I’m not a fan of sour wood (not that I’ve actually tasted it, so I guess I should say that I don’t think of myself as a fan of it) and I really don’t like saccharine. So, I did some experimentation, and I found that by lowering the steep temperature a little, the saccharine-y sour wood flavor goes away and then I experience rooibos as a sweet, nutty, slightly woodsy flavor that I much prefer to the saccharine sour wood.
I noticed the delightful vanilla fragrance immediately as I began to pour the liquid into my favorite teacup. And this has a delicious vanilla flavor. I taste light floral notes as well and hints of berry. And of course, I do get some notes of nut and honey from the rooibos.
It all comes together in a very delicious way. It’s smooth and creamy. The vanilla notes meld with the natural nutty flavors of the rooibos. The hints of berry tickle the tip of my tongue in the aftertaste.
It’s a very relaxing tisane, and it has a dessert-y taste to it, making this an ideal tisane to choose for after dinner. (A fat-free dessert substitute, perhaps?) It’s sweet but not too sweet.
I like this one best served hot. It doesn’t need any additions, it has a nice sweetness to it without adding anything. A splash of milk might be nice if you want to enhance the creaminess of it, but I found it to be really pleasant and creamy without the addition of dairy.
Wildberries Flavored Green Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Wildberries = Blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, elderberry, and black currant. Premium Organic green tea with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Here it is … my first review of one of Southern Boy Teas green tea creations. I was excited to learn of SBT’s expansion into other tea types – they’re not just black teas anymore – since I usually prefer green or white iced teas (I find them more refreshing than black tea).
And this Wildberries Flavored Green Tea is VERY refreshing. Mmm! It’s bursting with berry flavor. My first sip I could really taste the elderberry and black currant flavors. In the aftertaste, I started to pick up on the other berry flavors, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry are the flavors that seem to tickle the palate in the aftertaste, with an emphasis on the raspberry notes.
The blueberry is a little less conspicuous.
As I continue to sip, I start to notice more of the berry flavor throughout the sip, not just the elderberry and currant. Now I’m tasting more blackberry, strawberry and raspberry throughout the sip, and I can even pick up on some blueberry notes.
And the green tea base is ideal for these flavors because it’s a lighter tasting base. I feel that a black tea base might be a little bit too much. It could work, and I’d certainly be more than happy to try it, but I like the softer flavor of the sweet green tea with light buttery notes and how the green tea allows the berry flavors to really express themselves fully, while not hiding off in the background. I still taste the green tea, but it doesn’t intrude upon the berry notes. It’s a very lovely balance that’s been achieved.
To brew this, I went ahead and used the “hot brew” method. I filled my kettle with one quart of water and heat it to 175°F. Then I allowed the sachet to infuse for 1 1/2 minutes. Then I poured the hot liquid into my tempered glass pitcher (to temper it, I just run it under hot tap water for about a minute to get the glass warm so that the hot liquid doesn’t shock the glass and cause it to break). Repeat with another quart of water heated to 175°F, this time allowing the sachet to steep for 2 full minutes. Then I stashed the sachet in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator to see how a resteep would taste.
The verdict: The resteep is still VERY flavorful. Almost – if not just as – flavorful as the first half gallon that I prepared. This tea is a winner! It’s one that I’ll be getting more of!
Black n Blue Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
You can also learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I was so happy to see that this tea – originally released as a 52Teas’ tea of the week – brought back for one of the SBT iced tea blends. It was one of those ‘memorable’ blends, and I knew that it would make a killer iced tea!
Now that I have my new Breville One-Touch (I really, really missed this appliance for the two weeks I was without it. I can’t begin to express how much I missed it.) I hot brewed this large tea bag, steeping it for 2 minutes for the first quart, and then steeping it for 2 1/2 minutes for the second quart to make a half gallon of iced tea. Chilled it overnight, and now I have a pitcher full of deliciousness.
And it is delicious! When I first opened the pouch, I could smell the blueberry and blackberry. It’s a strong, distinctive aroma that I can smell now that I have a chilled glass of iced tea in front of me. It’s not quite as fragrant as a hot cup of tea would be, but I can still smell notes of sweet, juicy berries.
This is really good. I believe it’s as good as I remember the original tasting, which is quite a thing because usually the original teas from 52Teas are at least a little better – sometimes, it’s the reverse, but more often than not, the original 52Teas release is better – but this tastes every bit as good as I remember the original tasting. The blueberry and blackberry flavors are strong and they taste like sweet, fresh, ripe berries with just a hint of that berry tart that tingles on the tongue in the aftertaste.
The black tea is also discernable – it’s a brisk and refreshing black tea. It’s strong without overpowering the flavors, and this is one particular blend where I don’t want the flavors to be overpowered because there really is a very pleasing balance between blackberry and blueberry.
As I said before, the original version was one of those memorable black tea blends from 52Teas – it was one that I sort of hoarded for a while so that I could steep it for iced tea because it was such an incredibly good iced tea! I generally am very happy to share any of my teas with people because I have a lot of tea.
No, seriously, I have a lot of tea. Go into your nearest Teavana and see their tea wall … I have more tea than that. Not joking.
So, it’s a rare moment when I find a tea that I’m reluctant to share with others. But the original of this blend was one that I sort of kept to myself so that I could get as much iced tea out of it as I could. That’s how yummy this is. I’m so happy that 52Teas ‘accidentally’ recreated this for the Southern Boy Teas line!
Forest Fruit Black Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
As I start a tea to steep, I find myself wondering – anticipating? – what the tea will taste like. This Forest Fruit Black Tea from Tea of Life has the flavors of strawberry, blackberry, black currant and cherry, so obviously I was expecting a very fruity tea.
But, what what surprised me – happily! – is that this tastes more of tea than it does of fruit. Oh, the fruit flavors are there and they’re loud and clear, but, the black tea base is robust and has a strong, solid black tea flavor. It doesn’t take a back seat to the fruit notes.
Instead, I taste a medley of fruit notes that sit just beneath the black tea notes. Strawberry pops out first with a sweet-tart cherry note coming in just after. The blackberry notes seem to weave their way in and out of the sip and are sometimes more difficult to discern than the strawberry and cherry. The black currant is most recognizable at the finish, when I notice a sort of tart note, and the astringency of the black tea makes that more distinguishable. It’s almost “wine-ish” at the finish. The aftertaste is like a blend of the four fruits, with a prominent berry tingle on the tongue.
An enjoyable black tea blend from Tea of Life: it’s sweet, fruity and flavorful. I find it especially nice as it gets cooler, making this an ideal choice for iced tea.