Product Information:
It starts with certified organic and fair trade green tea sourced from around the world – we then brew our tea with the most flavorful fruits that are rich in antioxidants and finished with a hint of organic cane sugar for a healthy and delicious refreshment that will enhance your senses. And becuase our farms are Fair Trade Certified™, we ensure equal pay, better health care and equal opportunities for our farmers – so they too can reach new heights as well.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve said before that I’m not the biggest fan of RTD (Ready to Drink) teas that are available in just about any convenience store or grocery store. Most of them are crafted primarily of sugar or other sweeteners. They tend to be so full of sweetener and flavoring that the drinker can’t even taste the tea!
Occasionally, I come across one that’s different or at least, I come across one that seems to promise to be different. This can of Organic Lime Pomegranate iced green tea from steaz says “Lightly Sweetened” on it, and that’s what immediately caught my attention about it. Other eye catching features: “Organic” and “Fair Trade.” Two other things that I appreciated.
So, I’ll give it a try.
The description above states that there is a “hint of organic cane sugar.” However, the ingredient list tells a slightly different tale:
INGREDIENTS: Filtered water, organic evaporated cane juice, natural pomegranate & lime flavors, organic lemon juice, fair trade certified™ organic green tea.
When the ingredient is second on a list five ingredients, that suggests to me that maybe there’s a little more than just a “hint” of sugar in this. Also, after reading the ingredient list, I’m a little disturbed by the fact that the green tea is the LAST ingredient on the list! What?!?
And unfortunately, with this tea, you can taste the ingredients as they’re listed. I taste more sweetener and flavoring than I do green tea.
That said, this drink does have some redeeming qualities. It is a tasty drink. The lime is the strongest of the flavors, but I taste a sweet-tart pomegranate note in there too. While I do taste more sugar than I do tea, it isn’t TOO sweet or cloyingly so. This isn’t as sweet as say … the typical soda pop would be. My teeth don’t feel as though they’ve been coated with sugar as I drink this beverage.
It’s a tasty, refreshing beverage. I do wish I could taste more tea than sugar or pomegranate and lime. I feel like this has been marketed as a tea product and as an organic product for the health appeal without any real focus on the tea. Those who are trying to make “healthier” choices while shopping would probably buy this. This isn’t a drink for tea drinkers, it’s a drink for those who probably have never really tried green tea and think that this is what green tea is supposed to taste like.
Organic Medium Oolong Tea from Arum Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
Full sweet taste with floral fragrance with the hint of honey.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tasted several different Indonesian teas over the years, but most of the teas from Indonesia that I’ve tried have been either green or black teas, I can’t recall having tried an Oolong from Indonesia! So when my package from Arum Tea arrived today, this was the first tea that I tried.
The tea is packaged in tins with simple yet handsome labeling. I like that the tin has a tight fitting lid and inside the tea was in a vacuum sealed pouch, ensuring a fresh product.
The dry leaf looks a lot like a Tie Guan Yin (perhaps a lightly roasted Tie Guan Yin). The individual leaves have been tightly wound into pellets. I measured out one bamboo scoop of the leaves into my gaiwan and using 180°F water, I performed a 15 second rinse before I infused the leaves for 45 seconds. I strained the tea and then infused the leaves a second time for 1 minute. Both of these infusions were combined into one teacup.
The leaves seem to open similarly to a Tie Guan Yin as well – that is to say, they open very slowly! These leaves are waiting for more infusions!
But first, I need to sit back and enjoy this first cup.
The aroma wafting from my cup is floral, reminiscent of orchid. The flavor is sweet – like honey! The honey is a top note, and just below that sweet honey taste I taste notes of roasted nuts and hints of flower. The sweetness remains on the palate from start to finish and lingers into the aftertaste.
It’s a very satisfying taste. The floral notes are not sharp and they are more like a note in the distance … like the air that filters through a far off meadow and then is delivered to you through a gentle breeze. You can experience those flowers but that essence mingles with a fresh airiness.
Those floral notes emerged in the second cup (the combination of infusions 3 and 4). The tea is still sweet but a bit more crisp and slightly astringent. This cup is not so much honey-esque, the sweetness comes from the flower and the sweet nutty tones that are still very much a part of the flavor of this tea. As the cup cools slightly, the honey notes begin to come forward.
Interestingly enough, I found the honey notes to be at their sweetest for the third cup (infusions 5 and 6). With this cup, the floral notes begin to meld with the nutty flavors and this creates a rather sweet taste as well. The flavors are not sharp. The astringency is mild. This cup is smooth and sweet, sweet, sweet!
Given how much I enjoyed the third cup, I decided to try for one more cup to see how it goes. The fourth cup (infusions 7 and 8) was quite similar to the second cup. The honey notes seemed somewhat muted until the cup cooled a bit, but that gave me a chance to explore the floral notes and the nutty flavors that are now much more a unified flavor. Sweet with both floral and nutty tones and the honey notes coming out to play as the temperature dropped a little. This cup was still so flavorful and refreshing!
This tea is absolutely lovely and I’m really glad that I had this amazing opportunity to try it. I would recommend this to any Oolong lover (especially those of you who love Tie Guan Yin) because it’s a little different … a change of pace. It is familiar enough to a Tie Guan Yin but also deliciously different to keep things exciting for the palate.
Organic Vanilla Almond Black Tea from Boston Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Boston Tea Co.
Tea Description:
As you open the envelope of this certified organic tea, the luscious scents of vanilla will surround you. A silken sachet filled with our premium organic blend of Chinese and Inidan black teas, slices of organic almonds and vanilla. This tea will soothe your soul with every sip.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Vanilla Almond Black Tea from Boston Tea Co. is certainly fragrant! The scent of vanilla and almond is getting my taste buds happy! I steeped one of the pyramid sachets in 8 ounces of boiling water for three minutes, and this produced a flavorful, aromatic cup.
The black tea base is a blend of teas and it’s a rich, full-bodied cup that not only supports the strong flavors of almond and vanilla well, but is able to stand out and be tasted in the presence of the flavors. There is some astringency to the cup, I’d categorize it as a moderate, dry astringency.
The vanilla and almond are well matched. It’s sweet, nutty, and warm, evoking thoughts of autumn – and at this point with all this way too warm weather, I’m wondering when autumn will finally get here! I’m ready for it and this tea is reminding me of how much I miss it.
The flavor combination of almond and vanilla give this an almost “cookie” like flavor, and the smooth, delicious flavor of the tea complements that profile. This is a tea that is strong enough to serve as the first cup of the day and would take the additions of milk and honey well if you want to add them (I liked it just fine served straight up though!) It would also make a nice afternoon cup or a tea to serve to guests. It’s a warm, welcoming type of flavor.
This tea tastes alright iced, but I think I prefer it hot. Especially since the taste is so cookie-like! I like my cookies when they’re still warm, and I prefer this tea when it’s still warm too.
Just Naughty ‘Nilla Black Tea from Just.Organic.Tea.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Just.Organic.Tea
Tea Description:
We start with our premium black tea. Then, we add a generous amount of vanilla. Top it off with carob, and you’ve got the perfect dessert tea. Luxuriously rich and inviting, you’ll melt into vanilla heaven with hints of caramel-chocolaty goodness. Organic certified.
Taster’s Review:
This Just Naughty ‘Nilla is a blend that Just.Organic.Tea. offered when they were running their Kickstarter campaign (which did successfully fund, yay!) but it does not appear to be available at this time.
It’s a tasty blend. Not my favorite vanilla tea that I’ve had, and I suspect that the main reason for that is the carob. I’m not a big fan of carob, if you want chocolate-y flavor, go with cacao shells or nibs. (Shells provide the best flavor, in my opinion.) Carob just imparts a fake chocolate flavor.
That said … this is a tasty blend and with a few tweaks to it, I think that Just.Organic.Tea would have a successful tea. The black tea base is a rich, well-rounded, full-bodied tea. Notes of malt. It’s a robust black tea that would make a nice morning tea and with the vanilla addition, it makes it just a little dessert-y for breakfast. Who doesn’t want a little dessert for breakfast?
I love that this is an organic tea, and I do appreciate Just.Organic.Tea.’s ideas about social responsibility. It’s a great company and I have enjoyed most of the products that I’ve tried.
Just Charming Chai Blend from Just.Organic.Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Just.Organic.Tea
Tea Description:
Spicy and full of flavor. Our premium black teas mingle with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and orange peel for an intense full-bodied flavor. If you like your chai spicy and rich, pick this blend. Or, for more tea flavor and less spice, mix with our Oothu tea to fit your taste. Fair trade & organic certified.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Just.Organic.Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a good, spicy chai, so when I read the description above, that’s exactly what I envisioned. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite as spicy as I hoped for.
Oh, it’s still very good! Don’t get me wrong.
It’s just not quite as boldly spiced as I thought it would be based upon the description above. The spices are nicely balanced, though, and I like that. I taste cinnamon, cardamom and clove. These three spices have been assembled in a way that no one spice overpowers the other. It’s a warm medley of spice. Very nice.
I also taste hints of orange from the orange peel. When I first read that this tea has orange peel, I thought that this might just be their Just Outstanding Orange Spice packaged under a different name. But they are two different teas. Here the orange is a very subtle touch of flavor, whereas the orange spice blend has a much more pronounced orange flavor.
This is really quite a tasty blend. I think that if they want to really go bold with the spice though, Just.Organic.Tea should consider adding some black pepper and ginger to the blend. That will give it a really nice, zesty kick. As it is, it’s a nice chai, on the mellower side of chai, but not quite as spicy as the above description would suggest.
This blend is one that I didn’t find on their website, perhaps it’s a blend that’s being rethought? I would love to see this company have a chai blend though, because I do love chai! In the meantime, I think their Outstanding Orange Spice blend is really good, and I also noticed that they have a Pumpkin Spice Chai – oh! I’d like to try that one!