Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White and Green
Where to Buy: Trail Lodge Tea
Tea Description:
This is our own holiday creation; green and white tea combined with the flavors of eggnog. The combination of China Green and white tea brews up to a light and sweet liquid that combines perfectly with the flavor of eggnog. Real pieces of vanilla beans and nutmeg turns it into a truly guilt free decadent treat. Be sure to get some for gifts and to sip while you decorate the tree and listen to holiday music. Ingredients: Fair Trade Certified TM Organic China Green Tea, Fair Trade CertifiedTM Organic Pai Mu Tan, and Organic Vanilla, Organic Nutmeg, and Organic Natural Flavoring
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Eggnog from Trail Lodge Tea has a distinct aroma of spices and custard when steeped. From the visual aspect, white tea, is my favorite tea. The dry leaf is beautiful, downy, and whole.
The cup steeps to a golden yellow and is clear.
Trail Lodge Teas are organic and Fair Trade Certified which is always a plus in my book!
The flavor is quite creamy, but the spiced notes do not come out in the taste as much as in the aroma. There is a nutmeg spice in the flavor, its not strong, but there is enough. In the aroma I get more of the clove spice as well.
There is a lacking in the sweetness for me personally, yet I did not try it with any added sugar, so I can’t say if that would have helped or not.
I keep looking for the white or green tea base flavor to jump out at me because it is not as if the spice or other flavorings are overdone, and I do get a touch of vanilla in the flavor, yet I keep straining to find the base tea. I get a tad more of the green base than the white, but I think I would enjoy the tea more if the base were a bit more outstanding.
Overall this is a good eggnog blend and it does indeed taste like eggnog. Its creamy, and it has the right flavors with the spice and vanilla bean. I don’t know if this is one I would personally go right out and order, yet I would suggest if you enjoy this flavor profile to try some. I know Trail Lodge Teas has several other teas in their arsenal that I adore, so now and then I would probably add this to my cart before checking out.
Creamy Eggnog from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Creamy Eggnog is part of our holiday series that encompasses a number of holidays from different religions. Many people might not think of eggnog as their number one choice for a Christmas flavor but Eggnog is particularly important in my family’s tradition of celebrating Christmas. Eggnog always marked the beginning of the Christmas season and was the last thing we would drink before we would try to go to sleep Christmas Eve. As a child, getting any sleep Christmas Eve would have been a miracle. There was always so much excitement and anticipation building. Creamy Eggnog pairs our buttery Organic Huangshan Mao Feng with a rich creamy eggnog flavor. The tea and flavor work well with each other and neither overshadows the other. This tea is sweet with a heavy cream and eggy quality. Add a little brown crystal sugar and the tea becomes extremely creamy, rich, and very much like eggnog. Some vanilla notes become pronounced and so do the egg notes. We added safflower for a touch of red for a festive Christmas colored tea.
Ingredients: Organic Chinese Tea, Safflower, Organic Natural Flavoring
Recommended Brew Time: 4 minutes
Recommended Amount: 2 teaspoons of tea for 8oz of water
Recommended Temperature: 180 FLearn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Creamy Eggnog from Butiki Teas is a tea that I could drink anytime of day, all year long. I don’t need a holiday to sip on this creamy wonder!
There is such a sweet and subtle spice in this tea but the vanilla cuts it so that it does not come off on the palate as a spiced tea at all. I get just a hint of a note of nutmeg in the cup. The tea sits somewhat heavily on the palate and the mouthful is very creamy indeed. So unexpected from such a light colored tea, which is a clear, and pale, sunny yellow.
The base tea, Huangshan Mao Feng has a nutty, buttery flavor that truly compliments this blend.
Completely organic, and vegan this tea is sure to please anyone and everyone who tastes it.
An excellent flavor for the holidays or to satisfy that sweet tooth! Yes you can add rock sugar, or your favorite sweetener to it and it becomes even more decedent but if you are watching your sugar intake you really do not need it as this tea is stands on its own perfectly.
I tell you, this tea is screaming to be created into a latte with some frothed milk or milk substitute sitting on top! Add a little nutmeg or cinnamon – sinful … I’m going to go do that right now!
2012 Fu Ding Bai Cha from China Cha Dao
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: China Cha Dao
Tea Description:
This tea will be 2013 China popular tea***
Fuding Ba Cha is a really healthy tea, it has the effect of medical treatment, lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, anti-oxidation, anti-radiation & anti-tumor. We have customer with high blood pressure and this tea works out really well for him, just have a small cup everyday or every two day, is healthy!
We strongly recommend tea lover to collect this tea, buy a kilo or two, put it somewhere nice clean and dry and store it!
The tea taste sweet and mellow after aged, a lot nice than new tea! Price goes up like puerh as well!
Aroma – Mild, Roast
Flavor – Sweet, Creamy
Soup – Yellow
Suggest use 7 gram for Gaiwan or Teapot, use 3-5 gram in 200ml Glass Cup
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
2012 Fu Ding Bai Cha from China Cha Dao is a lovely white tea. I am not always impressed with white tea, its a little too mellow for my palate, but this one has some lovely character. I really love the creaminess of this one, along with the lovely light vegetal flavor. My first reaction was green beans smothered in butter, which by the way I love my green beans smothered in butter! I am a confessed butter-holic.
While the taste is still on the light side it gives me a feeling of looking into a reflecting pool – just staring into it gazing for that little glimmer of a koi swimming by, or a frog that leaps out unexpectedly from the greenery around the pond. It has its subtle nuances and surprises within the cup. It is also so dreamy, relaxing, and mellow.
To explain what I mean, there is a light spicy note to the sip, like a sparkle of cinnamon on the tip of the tongue. The after taste coats your mouth with the flavor of ginseng and honey!
I don’t know if I would trust myself to store such a tea, I would either drink it all up or I fear I would store it improperly but I will say that a tea like this – it is so worth getting! Especially at right under 15.00 for 8.8 ounces!
Jerry Ma of China Cha Dao got his start as an Ebay seller and I had ordered from him before via Ebay but I am so happy that he has a tea site up and running so that more people will be exposed to his fine selection of teas. You can learn more about Jerry here.
2012 Fu Ding Ba Cha has many layers of flavors that peek out and keep bringing me back to my magical reflection pool, just now I was sure I tasted something rather smokey. Perhaps it is the haze left behind by the waters as they cool from the setting sun or perhaps it is just the tea cooling a little. Either way this tea is quite dreamy.
2009 Shou Mei from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Tea Description:
Production Year 2009
Production Season Spring
Production Region Fujian
Style Traditional
Also known as Sow Mee or Longevity Brew
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
2009 Shou Mei from Life in Teacup is a light, juicy, white tea that has a lovely buttered vegetal after taste and an almost earthy note in the sip.
In the aroma is this very subtle essence of jasmine but that does not translate into the flavor. It has a sweet and lightly creamy mouthfeel but leaves you feeling refreshed and your thirst quenched.
There is also a light and lovely toasted marshmallow flavor that just touches your taste buds gently on the initial sip but does not stick around long.
This is a very forgiving tea! My first steep I spaced out preparing to write this review and over steeped it by far too much. I was certain I was going to have to dump the cup, but alas it tasted lovely! My second steeping – with new leaves – also provided a delicious cup as well. I noticed very little difference in the two cups. This would be an excellent tea to put in your travel thermos for many infusions throughout the day without having to take the leaf out!
I love the look of the dry leaf! Its so wild and natural looking! It appears as if someone scooped up fallen leaves from the forest floor! I love the uninhibited appearance of this leaf, so care free, so low maintenance yet so beautiful. The colors are striking from deep tones of brown to variegated shades of green, even some lighter almost white tones in my leaf.
I would not say this is a “to-die-for” cup or anything, and I’m not really that into white teas as a rule, but they do have some wonderful health benefits and this one is quite pleasing.
I would purchase this again.
As per a note on Life in Teacup’s website
Our web store is temporarily closed and we aim at re-opening it in February 2013. Meantime, please feel free to send any inquires to admin@lifeinteacup.com. Thank you and have a great holiday season!
I do hope they open back up soon as I have been eyeballing many of their teas!
Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee from Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Skip the “real” bubbly and go with this gorgeous tea instead!
We start with our Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling – the “champagne” of teas – and add a touch of wild strawberries and whipped cream for a cuppa that’s fantastic hot or cold and with or without cream and sugar. You’ll love figuring out which way of prepping it you like best!
A perfect tea to enjoy with (or in spite of) that special someone….
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee from Cuppa Crew Tea Company is simply perfection, divine, delicious, creamy, strawberry, goodness!
Cuppa crew may not have the largest list of teas yet, as they are still building their site and tea collection, however what I have tried form them thus far have all been stellar!
I love a really well done strawberry tea. Before this cup, I had two stash staples of strawberry tea. Now I have three! I also love a really good champagne inspired tea. I always have one or two of those in my stash as well. Usually I run into champagne and strawberry blends featuring white tea, but this one is with a lovely Darjeeling black base. First of all, Darjeeling, YES PLEASE! Second of all, who said I can’t have champagne in the morning? Well, Cuppa Crew understands my needs! A wonderful black base of really fine Darjeeling, with a creamy soft strawberry flavor and that sparkling like essence of champagne. I am in heaven!
This tea is everything I want in my strawberry tea and my champagne tea. The funny thing is I never really knew I wanted a creamy champagne tea before this cup! Its like having an iced Italian champagne soda with delightful and quite flavorful strawberries.
There is not one bit of astringency, no bitterness, and I even over steeped my first cup! The strawberry flavor is not tart but rather quite sweet and juicy. It tastes like creamer has already been added and a touch of sugar, but not too much as this is not a cloying cup.
It is sweet all on its own and does not need any added sugar, or creamer, or anything. All I have to do now is roll out of bed, stick some tea in my strainer, add boiling water, and I am good to go. However I could see this tea making you want to stay in bed just a little longer, dreaming of laying on rose petals with a handsome man or pretty lady next to you. Its a romantic flavored tea and PERFECT for Valentine’s day which is fast approaching!
Right now, Cuppa Crew has a sale going on as well and you better believe I am grabbing some more of this up RIGHT NOW!
See ya, gotta go get in on that deal!