Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Monarch Tea Co. or Monarch Tea Co. on Etsy
Tea Description:
The powerful duo of lemon and green tea combine in this refreshing and detoxifying blend. Detox and refresh while boosting your metabolism through the power of green tea.
Ingredients: green tea, lemongrass, dried lemon.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea looks a lot different than I expected it to. The green tea looks almost like a CTC black tea. The leaves are very small and darker in color than most green teas that I’ve encountered. I studied them before brewing and again after brewing to see if the teensy tiny leaves would “open” – if these were in fact very small gunpowder green tea leaves that have been rolled into pellets that are the size of a small grain of sand or if they’re just very finely chopped leaves. The wet leaves do not appear to have “opened” at all so I think that these are just very finely chopped leaves.
Tossed with these tiny bits of green tea leaves (that look more like black tea leaves than green!) are pieces of lemongrass and very small bits of dried lemon. The aroma is earthy and vegetal. Like green tea. I don’t smell much from the lemon or lemongrass.
To brew this, I used my Breville One-Touch tea maker and put about 1 1/2 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket. Because this is such a fine CTC tea, you want to measure out a little less than you normally would because there is more surface area to be exposed to the water and because more tea actually fits in the scoop with such a fine cut. Using more tea would have resulted in a very strong tea. I found that the 1 1/2 scoops made a very tasty tea with 500ml of water, 175°F and 2 minutes brew time.
The brewed tea is light greenish-yellow and smells a bit more lemon-y than the dry leaf did. The lemon notes are still rather subdued, I smell more “green tea” than I do lemon.
And this remains true for the taste: the lemon flavor is delicate. I taste more of the lemon in the aftertaste than I do in the actual sip. During the sip, there is a very subtle note of lemon. It’s tart but softened somewhat by the presence of the buttery lemongrass. The aftertaste is tart and tingly.
The green tea is the real focus of this blend. It’s a sweet, refreshing green tea flavor that’s very lightly vegetal. It’s more earthy than vegetal, and it has a gentle smoky quality to it. It’s got some drying astringency toward the tail and I find that this dry sensation accentuates the aforementioned tartness of the lemon in the aftertaste.
As for the “detox” part, I am not sure how true that is. I don’t generally drink tea to detox. I drink tea for enjoyment and I find that this tea is quite enjoyable to drink. The lemon-y notes are not fake or artificial tasting, rather, it tastes as though I added a thin slice of lemon to my cup of green tea. It’s pleasant. It’s an uplifting drink.
Secret Garden’s Secret Black Tea from The Secret Garden Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
One of our bestsellers! Vanilla and a secret sweet ingredient. Fruity and dessert-like, it pairs wonderfully with raspberry cheesecake, almond trifle, chocolate mousse, and other sweet treats.
Ingredients: Black tea, natural flavors.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf smells delicious with soft notes of vanilla and a fruity, berry essence. The brewed tea smells more like black tea. I can pick up on faint notes of vanilla, but none of the fruity notes that I could smell in the aroma of the dry tea.
I brewed this secret tea in my Breville One-Touch. I added 2 bamboo scoops of the tea into the basket and poured 500ml of water into the jug and set the timer for 2 1/2 minutes and the temperature to boil (212°F).
Mmm! This is tasty. I taste strawberry! I also taste a very subtle chocolate note along with the touch of vanilla. The strawberry is sweet but has that tart berry note toward the end of the sip. The vanilla softens the cup, giving it a smooth and delicately creamy taste and texture. The chocolate is very subtle. There’s just enough chocolate in there to make your taste buds perk up and say, “whoa, what was that? Was that chocolate?”
The black tea has some lovely notes of malt to it. It’s a rich black tea with a medium-to-full-bodied taste. There are hints of flower within the layers of flavor from the tea and it has a certain robustness to it – I think that I could reach for this as my first cup of the day and be quite satisfied with it.
I love the way this tea teases and tempts the palate. I taste strawberry and then it hides from me because the next sip is where I pick up on chocolate. It’s a fun tea to sip. And there is another note in this … almost nutty. I’m not sure if it’s a nuance from the tea or if it’s another secret flavor, but every once in a while, I pick up on a slight “nutty” tone.
After the tea cooled slightly, I could pick up on more of the rich chocolate-y notes and the nutty notes. It’s really quite a delicious and a fun tea to drink. I’m really glad I tried this one!
Rhubarb + Custard Rooibos Blend from Bluebird Tea Co.
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Tisane Description:
Hardy British super fruit, much loved vintage cartoon characters, top boiled sweet and crumble of the gods… Rhubarb + Custard really is a pairing made in heaven. This naturally caffeine free, antioxidant rich rooibos tea blend will satisfy your sweet tooth with less than 1 calorie p/cup! Sounds like a super sweet deal to us!
Ingredients: Rooibos, Rhubarb pieces, Calendula, Stevia.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I am sure I’ve probably mentioned this before with previous “rhubarb” teas, but I have never actually eaten rhubarb. At least, not that I can remember. But I’ve had rhubarb flavor in a couple of different teas and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve tasted.
To brew this tisane, I put 1 bamboo scoop of tisane into the basket of my Kati Tumbler and then filled it (12 ounces) with water heated to 195°. Then, because it’s a rooibos tisane (with no hibiscus in it, yay!) I steeped it for 10 minutes.
The aroma: I definitely smell the custard! As I’m not very familiar with rhubarb, I don’t know if I smell it or not. I do smell vague notes of rooibos, but mostly what I smell is custard!
The taste: I definitely taste rooibos. I am tasting that honeyed, nutty flavor from the rooibos. The stevia adds a little bit of sweetness and I’m finding that I am not minding the presence of the stevia as much as I normally do in teas/tisanes where stevia is an ingredient. For those of you who read my reviews regularly, you’re probably aware that I don’t like it when tea companies add stevia or other sweetener to the tea because I like to decide how much – if any! – sweetener I’m going to add to my tea. But here, I don’t taste a distinct stevia taste and the sweetness is gentle and seems to be curbing some of the rhubarb’s tartness so I’m not minding that the stevia is there.
I can taste the rhubarb here. My first few sips, I didn’t really recognize the tartness of the rhubarb, but as I continued to sip, the flavor of the rhubarb developed. It is especially noteworthy in the aftertaste where I’m experiencing that tingly, tarty sensation on my tongue.
And I can taste the custard! It is sweet and creamy and it (together with the stevia) softens the rhubarb’s tart.
This is actually quite a tasty treat. At first, (about my first 1/3 of the cup, really), I wasn’t really sure what I was tasting but I was enjoying it. Now that the tartness of the rhubarb has become identifiable and the custard notes have become more noticeable, I’m really enjoying this custard-y, rhubarb-y tisane.
Another winner from Bluebird!
Balancing Ayurvedic Tea from TeaVeda
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Veda Company
Tea Description:
Organic decaffeinated black tea lovingly mixed with delicate flavors of jasmine and bergamot blissfully soothe and stimulate with our “Balancing” tea.
Learn more about the teas from TeaVeda here.
Taster’s Review:
Of the different teas that I received from The Veda Company, this was the one I was timid to try. I mean, you know that I love bergamot and jasmine, however, I can recall a couple of bergamot/jasmine blends that have been less than successful as far as I’m concerned. And this blend has a decaffeinated black tea base and I’ve had a few decaffeinated black teas that I’ve not been crazy about. So, a few of my ‘red flags’ popped up when I read the description for this tea.
But it’s actually alright. Maybe even a little better than alright. Yeah, this is definitely better than alright. It isn’t the best tea that I’ve ever tried but I am enjoying it.
The bergamot here is on the subtle side. It’s a little citrus-y, but not really a distinctly crisp, tangy bergamot note that I’d usually expect from a typical Earl Grey. Perhaps the presence of jasmine softens it a little. The jasmine offers a delicate floral note to the cup.
I am noticing a slightly ‘thinner’ flavor from the black tea which is a typical “side effect” from the process that decaffeinates the tea. It doesn’t taste as rich or robust as a typical black tea would. But I don’t taste that “chemical” aftertaste from the decaffeinated tea and that earns this tea big points.
It’s not my favorite from TeaVeda/The Veda Company, but I enjoyed it. It’s a tea that I’d drink again if it were offered to me. It’s pleasant and has a nice balance of flavors. It tastes good served hot and it’s also nice as it cools.
Vanilla Almond Black Tea Blend from The Secret Garden Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
One of our staff favourites! Pair with desserts such as marzipan pear tarts, lavender shortbread, and chocolate bon-bons for a decadent treat.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This Vanilla Almond Tea from Secret Garden is so smooth!
By the time I started writing this review, I was more than halfway finished with my first cup! It is just so tasty and so unbelievably smooth and easy to drink that it began to disappear quickly.
The dry leaf is quite appealing to the eye with lots of almond slivers and bright orange-yellow petals (calendula and sunflower) mixed in with the dark brown tea leaves. To brew this tea, I used my Breville One-Touch and added 2 bamboo scoops to the basket and poured 500ml of water into the jug. I set the temperature to 212°F and the timer for 2 1/2 minutes and I let the machine do it’s thing.
The tea brews up dark and sweet smelling. I can pick up on delicate notes of almond and vanilla but mostly what I’m smelling is the black tea. It’s not an overly fragrant brewed tea but I still find the aroma quite pleasant. It reminds me a bit of freshly baked cookies!
But the real treat is in the sip. As I mentioned above, it is one of the smoothest teas I’ve tasted lately. There is very little astringency, especially the first few sips. Now that I’m nearly finished with my first cup, I am picking up on more astringency than I experienced at the beginning of the cup. It’s a slightly dry sensation that I’m experiencing but it’s quite slight especially in comparison to other black teas that I’ve consumed.
This is so smooth from start to finish. It starts out smooth and creamy, I pick up on the vanilla immediately. As the sip progresses, I notice the almond and the sweet, nutty flavor accentuates the creamy, sweet vanilla tones beautifully. These two flavors were made for one another!
The black tea is a smooth, even-tasting black tea. It’s probably a Ceylon. It isn’t an aggressive, astringent, bitter or overly robust black tea. It is smooth. It melds amazingly well with the flavors of almond and vanilla. There is a slight caramel-y undertone to the black tea that further highlights the sweetness of this blend. I like that it is a sweet drink but not cloying.
Because it isn’t an overly sweet or cloying tea, I think it would make the perfect tea to serve along with dessert. You really wouldn’t want something too sweet paired with dessert because the dessert is already sweet. This is smooth, not too robust nor is it bitter or overly astringent. It wouldn’t detract from the delightful confection that you’re enjoying for dessert.
It would also make a lovely afternoon tea. A great tea to choose for a tea party or perhaps something to serve to guests after dinner. I find it to be a very “welcoming” sort of tea. When I sip it, I feel like it’s communicating to me: “Welcome home.”