Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Herbal
Where to Buy: AstroloTeas
Tea Description:
An intuitive dance of flavors to open the imagination, inspire compassion, and dive deep into the dreams of The Fish.
Every sign rules a different part of the body, Pisces rules the feet, immune system, hormones and circulation. The Pisces tea, a deep and spicy blend with a high fruity note, is like a full-body jolt of inspiration.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Looking for a strong cinnamon spiced tea to bring on the fall days? Check out this one.
This tea is very cinnamon flavored tea, almost to the point of mouth drying. This isn’t the sweet kind of cinnamon either, but the more robust spiced flavor. The base of this tea is an Assam and it is delicious. The cinnamon mixes well with the base giving this tea an almost chai like feel with out the clover and ginger flavors. I don’t really pick up any of the rosehips flavor or the other ingredients mixed in.
I find myself almost longing for a touch of sweetness or maybe even a dollop of cream or milk to kick this tea up and give it a sweet spiced contrast.
Not loving or hating this tea, more or less thinking this would be killer as a latte with caramel and whip cream on top. That would be an awesome fall latte for sure. This may not be my favorite AstroloTea but this is still quite tasty.
Inner Fire from Urbal tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Urbal Tea
Tea Description:
This blend helps you burn fat and promotes weight loss by boosting your body’s ability to metabolize.
100% herbal quality ingredients: Dandelion leaf, Chickweed, Bilberry, Horsetail, Fennel, Yarrow, Eleuthero, Burdock root, Green Rooibos, Cinnamon, Rhodiola root, Dandelion root, Wuyi Wulong Oolong, Ginkgo, Yerba Mate, Green Mate, Licorice Root, Red Clover, Tulsi, Hibiscus, Blueberries, Cinnamon, Calendula flower, Corn Flower, and natural flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh my goodness! I have been on the hunt for the perfect herbal tea forever and I may have just found it! This tea is it!
Urbal Tea is a new company to me that focuses on herbal teas to get your body healthy. I was super excited to try Inner Fire, a tea with Yerba Mate and Green Rooibos. I have such a thing for green rooibos yet I haven’t found a red rooibos blend that I really like yet. I couldn’t wait to steep some of this up. This herbal smells like sweet honey apple cinnamon loving right out of the pouch!
Brewed this up with my Sei Sei Tumbler and boiling water, let it steep for about 10 minutes. Allowed the brew to cool for a moment and took a sip. Because the dry mixture was simply amazing, I had high hopes and wishes that this tea would translate into a marvelous flavor. And it has!
This tea is everything you need and want out of an herbal tea. The sweet honey like flavor from the green rooibos provides a lovely base flavor. The cinnamon gives that spice flavor that is more is leaning more to the sweet side. Yes, there is hibiscus in the mix but it provides a well needed contrast to all the sweetness going on in the cup. This is one of the best herbal teas I have ever had to be perfectly honest. The flavors are spot on and scream fall. I would love to try this mix with an unflavored black or green tea to see if I can create a lovely fall apple cinnamon tea. I’m excited to play around with this mix and see what I can come up with as a cold brew too. Glad I have a big bag of this one!
But as it sits, this tea makes you long for days when you can snuggle with a book, grab your favorite sweater and blanket, and lose yourself for a few hours. Seriously, this tea is that good!
Rou Gui Oolong from Tao Tea Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tao Tea Leaf
Tea Description:
Rou Gui is treasured for its cinnamon flavour as well as its impressive stamina. This tea also has the unique ability to keep its distinct flavours after multiple steepings upwards of 7 times. Rou Gui comes from the historic WuYi mountains in the Chinas Fujian Province. This area is also famous for producing other famous teas like Lapsang Souchong and the famous Da Hong Pao. Rou Gui has a medium and very smooth body with hints of floral orchid with a lovely honey-like finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve only tried a few different Rou Gui oolongs before, most of them from Nannuoshan, but so far I haven’t found one I dislike – the wide range of flavours experienced with the different infusions very much appeal to me so this Rou Gui oolong from Tao Tea Leaf is just going to further my exploration of the class. To stay consistent with the other Rui Gui I’ve tried I had a Gong Fu session with this one using my gaiwan.
The leaves for this are very dark, almost charcoal or black, and decently large. The smell of the dry leaf is very roasty with some fruity sweetness layered underneath. It’s perhaps a touch peachy? I did a ten second wash with this one; as the water hit the leaves my kitchen was instantly filled with a very robust, borderline earthy and roasty smell.
Infusion One: 10 Seconds – This is surprisingly sweet right off the bat despite quite strong toasted barley notes. It’s a little nutty and definitely has some stonefruit notes as well; like dried peach drizzled with honey. There’s maybe some cinnamon too, but not much. These notes comprise the start of the sip and the body. The finish tastes of corn chips and flax to me with a very intense presence of raisins in the finish. I’m usually quite anti-raisin but I actually like the way it tastes here. The taste of the raisin lingers in your mouth for a very long time after swallowing; minutes. For the most part it’s very smooth though it did leave my front two teeth feeling very dry. Leaves are barely opened up at all and smell quite roasty with cinnamon notes and something maybe vaguely like coffee grounds?
Infusion Two: 15 Seconds – Still tastes strongly of roasted barley but it a bit more nutty and has woody notes at the start as well as much more defined cinnamon notes. The body is comprised mostly of rich peach and raisin notes. The honey notes have also gotten stronger, and are tightly tying in with the raisin. Some floral notes have begun creeping in as well. I’m almost reminded of a roasted trail mix with dried fruit/raisins mixed in. This subtle transition of flavours is keeping true to what I’ve observed with other Rou Gui. The leaves smell subtly fruitier.
Infusion Three: 30 Seconds – Ooh! This was not a good pour; I spilled tea everywhere. The flavour is really starting to turn. I’m observing a dramatic decrease in roasted flavour. Definitely strong peach/raisin notes; the strongest so far. The peach is less so a dried peach flavour now, and closer to something fresh. Significantly more floral with more defined floral notes like orchid. Almost seems buttery. Leaves are almost completely opened up and smell sweet like honey and quite floral. There’s absolutely no dry feeling on my teeth from this infusion.
Infusion Four: 40 Seconds – There’s essentially no barley, nut or roasted flavour left. The liquor tastes quite floral with strong raisin and honey notes. The peach has faded quite a lot which is actually kind of disappointing; now that the focus is more on the taste of the raisin I’m losing interest. Also, it’s definitely very buttery. This is the lightest and most watery infusion yet. I’m sure I could probably get a decent fifth infusion but for my own personal tastes the leaves may very well be spent. They are, however, fully opened and smell sweet like honey and flowers.
This is definitely similar to the other Rou Gui/Cassia Teas I’ve tried but unique in its own right too – I definitely experience some more unique notes with the first steep like corn chips and flax, and I don’t remember really tasting raisin with the others I’ve tried. It’s definitely something I’d serve to other people and I would totally drink it again myself.
