Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Sometimes you want to sip tea and contemplate. Sometimes you want tea to kick your backside and get you going. For those times, this is your tea. It’s got muscles.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh Geeky Teas! How I love and adore you!
Geeky Teas is the perfect amount of fandom sprinkled into your tea. I have always said this but there is something so very satisfying about drinking a tea dedicated to your fandom. Just makes you love the tea even more!
This particular tea is based off of Ash, my first love when it comes to my love for horror movies. Bruce Campbell is my favorite actor and the Evil Dead series are among my favorite movies, so of course a tea dedicated to these loves, I would be all over.
This tea is a lovely tightly rolled gunpowder that once you add your water and allow the tea to brew, the teas uncurl and dance in the water providing you with an amazing brew. Brewed up with water at 180F and allowed to steep for about 2 minutes, this tea was just fun to sit and watch.
Finally it was time to try the tea and oh, yes. This tea is exactly how it showed me. Strong, to the point, with that whole mouth feel. This tea really delivers a gorgeous flavor that has a slightly nutty yet slightly smoked flavor that is so satisfying with a touch of astringency coming about. So smooth and well balanced! One of those teas that make you sit back and really indulge yourself in the tea. Or a tea that will get you prepped and ready to take on the day.
I am just loving it and can’t wait to try this tea as a cold brew or an iced tea mixed with some fruit. I bet the flavor combinations will be amazing!
If there was ever a tea to represent my beloved Ash, this would be it!
Organic Breakfast from TEABOX
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: TEABOX
Tea Description:
A harmonious blend, this is the kind of tea you turn to when you need a hearty cup before the start of a day.
Beaming with smooth, sweet flavors of dates and honey, and refreshing bite of coriander, every sip satiates you a little more than the next. It has just the right amount of astringency to toggle the smoothness of the tea without distorting the balance, rendering, thus, a gratifying experience.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
If you are looking for one of those eye opening brisk teas to drink in the morning, look no further! This tea is exactly what you are looking for!
Organic Breakfast is a really nice solid breakfast/anytime tea that gets your blood pumping. The caffeine is pretty high in this delight but wow is it ever tasty!
I brewed this tea up per the instructions on the pouch and was excited to try it out. The malty almost bread like notes were making me eager to try the first sip!
I was greeted with sweet bread like notes of honey. Almost a malted bread honey if that makes any sense. This is one of those teas that gives you that whole mouth feel. Really good and was hitting the spot this morning. Definitely perked me up!
Word to the wise tho, this tea becomes incredibly astringent when it cools. To the point where I had trouble drinking it. If I hadn’t been at work, this tea wouldn’t have even had a chance to cool. I would have gobbled it up right away!
Glazed Donut by 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
A VIT! Very Important Tea
I originally blended this tea as part of the Breakfast Inspired Sampler Add-On for the start-up Kickstarter campaign, but I do have a few packages of this tea remaining.
This tea was crafted with a very special tea base (a Thyolo OP1 from the Satemwa estate in Malawi). It’s a fair-trade and rainforest alliance tea – and it’s seriously good stuff!
I used this tea as the base for flavors to create a Glazed Donut like experiencece – and all I can say about this is YUM! So good!
Ingredients: single estate black tea, organic calendula petals, organic all-natural flavors.
This tea is no longer available, but check out 52Teas other black teas!
Taster’s Review:
A Glazed Donut Tea. This is one of those tea blends that had me at the first word. Glazed. Seriously. As long as it didn’t have rooibos in it, I’m in! And was lucky and received a taster pouch of this and then screwed up an order recently with 52Teas and exchanged a blend for a larger pouch of this. I am so glad I did.
This tea is the perfect way to curve your sweet tooth. I’ve drank it cold brewed, hot brewed, and as iced cubed tea, all tasting amazingly sweet and delicious!
For Hot: I brewed this tea up with fresh boiled water and allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes. There are definite sugary notes that I could pick up, almost vanilla like. I took my first sip and was in heaven! This doesn’t exactly taste like a glazed donut but what it does taste like is the glazing that is used for donuts! Warning, this is a very sweet tea, but it isn’t overwhelming crazy like what you would get at a restaurant. Very similar to the same sweet note you would get from eating a donut. The black tea base is very hidden and I really didn’t pick up any real hints of there being a black tea in it. Quite a nice tasty treat for after dinner when you are craving that sweet treat.
For Cold Brewed: I cold brewed this tea in my new Mason Jar Cold Brewer and let it sit overnight. In the morning I was greeted with a lovely tea that just made me smile. Again, first sip in and you get that glazed taste with notes of vanilla. The black tea is there but very subtle, more prominent than when I brewed this tea hot, but still very gentle.
For Ice Cubed Tea: I’ve started to make tea and pour it into my silicone molds for a really cool ice tea cube that I just plunk out of the mold in the morning and toss in some water. During the day the iced tea cube will melt, and I’m left with lovely tasting iced tea. Here is how I make them. I just brew up hot tea but use about twice as much tea as I normally do and then I pour the tea into a silicone ice cube mold. In the morning I have a glorious hunk of tea that I pour cold water over to enjoy iced tea all day long. Thru the day I just add more water and the ice tea cube just slowly melts turning my ice water to ice tea.
So how did this tea fair with this method? Wonderfully! Probably my favorite way to make the tea actually. You can actually taste the marvelous black tea base and note hints of what tastes like a donut where and there with that some glazed sweetness still there but toned down a notch. I’ve been drinking this tea all day and loving it.
Overall, this tea is just plain delicious and one of the reasons why I love 52Teas so much. Even tho this blend is sold out, I highly recommend you check out the others that are on the site now. I’m excited to dive into the rest of my order to see what lovelies await me!
Palampore from The Tea Shelf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Shelf
Tea Description:
This whole leaf tea comes from the beautiful Kangra Valley nestled in the lower slopes of the Dhauladhar Range in the Himalayas. Wiry, green and olive, these short vermicelli shaped leaves exude a distinct aroma of mountain flowers, with a prominent lavender nose. Once brewed, it envelops you with delicate citrus notes and an explosion of flower bouquet, with a delightfully long after taste. A special tea with a lot of depth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow. Just Wow. This is going to be a memorable tea for sure.
If you aren’t familiar with them, The Tea Shelf was founded in 2014 by a team of tea lovers who wanted to convert the world to tea drinkers. A very worthy mission indeed!
The Palampore is a lovely black tea that gives you the warm fuzzies from the very beginning. If I hadn’t read about the tea, at first glance, I would have thought this tea was a green/black tea varietal. The tea leaves are very reminiscent of those blends.
Brewed up per the instructions on the package, I allowed the tea to cool for a few moments before diving in and getting into the brew. What hits you first is the malty notes with a slightly astringent tone. Next is this smooth well balanced silky feel coats your tongue. Towards the end of the sip are slight hints of a floral notes. I am not really picking up the citrus notes like the description says but I’m a-ok with that. This tea is marvelous. One that really gives you the tea fuzzies and makes you remember why you love tea so much. The taste really envelopes you into a soothing and calming setting giving you a moment to really sit back and enjoy the moment!
Nepal Oolong from Simpson & Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
Located 6000 feet above sea level, in the misty hills of Pashupatinagar, Ilam, is this family owned Organic (EU) and ISO certified garden. The teas grown here are of some of the most interesting and spectacular teas that will tempt your taste buds into new levels of enjoyment. This garden is the first one in Nepal to use the technology, machinery and expertise available from Japan. The Aarubotay tea bushes are a combination of Japanese, Chinese and clonal varieties that produce the best of Nepalese teas. Try some today and, from the first smell of the dry leaf to the taste of the brewed tea, you will be convinced that this family has achieved success!
An enchanting Oolong experience! The dark brown, twisted, tippy leaves brew into a pale amber cup with mild, mellow, well-balanced flavors and delicate peach/apricot undertones. (Note: This crop was picked earlier in the year and is lighter tasting than the 2014 Oolong.)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am a huge fan of Simpson & Vail. Their teas are delicious, fresh, and always ones that you can rely on. I had never tried any oolongs from them so I was excited to check out their oolong offerings.
This oolong was nothing less than exceptional. I brewed this up with fresh water at about 190 degrees or so for about 4 minutes. I sat and watched the gorgeous leaves swirl around in my steeper. I couldn’t wait to for the tea to finish brewing. The dry leaf had such a nice and refreshing note about them with a slight touch of being roasted.
And that is exactly what this tea tasted like! A slightly vegetal amazingly light and refreshing slightly roasted oolong. So many gorgeous flavors in each and every sip. There was a stonefruit sweetness that I could pick up here and there, but it wasn’t a solid note throughout the tea. So well balanced and such a great tea to keep you company all day. I’m on my third infusion and am devouring this tea like crazy.
Such a great tea from such a great company. If you haven’t checked out Simpson & Vail, I would encourage you too. They are wonderful to shop with. I just love a tea company that provides amazing teas and amazing customer service!