Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
During the manufacturing process jasmine flowers are layered between the green tea leaves. The fragrant flowers impart an ethereal floral character to this Chinese tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As the regular readers of this blog are probably well aware, jasmine tea is one of my favorites. I love the beautiful fragrance of jasmine, and I love the gentle floral flavor that jasmine flowers impart onto green tea. It’s a tea that I like to sip on daily, because it’s so uplifting. It’s my go-to tea when I’m preparing dinner.
Here’s the problem … Jasmine Pearls are not inexpensive. And yes, I do love my jasmine pearls, but, they are not something that I can drink every day. I usually save the Jasmine Pearls for a special occasion, and for my daily tea consumption, I usually turn to a more affordable option, like this this Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea from Culinary Teas.
And this is a really lovely cuppa! The green tea is sweet and vegetative with a flavor that is slightly grassy, but a sweet grassy taste (not bitter!) There is a slight “buttery” tone to the green tea as well … a subtle creaminess that complements the floral tones of the jasmine.
The jasmine is a little sharper than it might be in a “pearl” type jasmine (or a jasmine tea without the flowers present). And while there are some purists that would state that the best jasmine teas are ones without the jasmine flowers or petals in the tea, I kind of like the subtle differences here. And the price is generally better for a jasmine tea with the flowers than one where all the petals and flowers have been removed … making this a lovely choice for daily jasmine tea consumption. (I certainly couldn’t afford to drink pearls every day!)
A really nice tea for the price … and a really nice tea to enjoy with dinner. This one is great iced too. It’s just a really enjoyable tea!
Lady Londonderry Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
A very interesting and flavorful tea (hints of strawberry and lemon). Have a cup and see yourself lounging on a divan at the end of the day. Lady Londonderry is perfect hot or iced.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Very nice! This Lady Londonderry Tea from Culinary Teas has a really lovely balance of flavors – offering a brisk black tea base with notes of sweet strawberry and tangy lemon. It’s a really lovely afternoon tea – and it makes a stunning iced tea too!
Of course, iced tea weather is starting to wane, which is just fine by me, I prefer my tea hot! I still find myself guzzling at least a quart of iced tea daily – and this one really tastes great iced. The black tea has a slightly sweet, slightly earthy, somewhat astringent quality to it, giving it that brisk, refreshing taste that I look for in an iced tea.
And the strawberry and lemon work really well together. The strawberry has enough sweetness to soften the tart lemon to give the cup a really tasty contrast. It’s sweet and fruity, with a nice, tarty tingle toward the finish. And even though it is a sweet and fruity tasting tea … these flavors do not overpower the black tea base … the black tea comes through strong and I like that.
An invigorating thirst quencher! And be sure to check out Culinary Teas’ homepage … they’ve always got specials on their tea of the week!
Rose Congou Emperor Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Congou is a general name for non-broken Chinese black teas. Rose Congou is layered 5 times with rose petals, which give the tea a delicate ethereal rose character.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Until today, I had never tried a Rose Congou tea iced. I had heard so much about how good Rose Congou tea is iced, but, I had not tried it. So when it came time to try this Rose Congou Emperor Tea from Culinary Teas, I figured it was high time that I try it iced!
And WOW! All that I’ve heard – all the hype and praise of Rose Congou as an iced tea – it’s all true! This tea is absolutely DELIGHTFUL iced! It’s a little sweeter, and there’s a tangy quality to it that is … it’s not quite what I’d call “tart” exactly, but, it offers a really pleasing contrast to the aforementioned sweetness. It is actually a little reminiscent of a Baklava that’s been flavored with rose water … at least, that’s what memories it evokes for me.
I really like this Rose Congou … having tried it first hot before allowing the remainder of the pot to cool enough to chill in the refrigerator, I found that this particular rose tea was very pleasant. The rose is soft and delicate and doesn’t taste perfume-y or overly floral.
The rose is nicely balanced with the Chinese Congou black tea, which provides a smooth, rich backdrop of flavor for the rose notes that play on the foreground. It tastes sweet and exotic. A very enjoyable cup hot … made even more enjoyable when served iced!
So, if you’re like me, and haven’t taken the time to stash a pitcher full of Rose Congou Tea in the icebox, do that now! You won’t be sorry. This makes an incredibly refreshing, unique and surprisingly delicious cold drink.
Jasmine Green Decaffeinated Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Decaf)
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
New formulation for our Jasmine Decaf Green Tea! The jasmine notes are perfumy and full floral. You cannot believe you are drinking decaf!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh yeah, I was definitely skeptical when it came to this Jasmine Green Decaffeinated Tea from Culinary Teas. I am immediately leery of a decaffeinated tea as it is, because I’ve had a bad experience or two with some really bad decaffeinated tea. Not recently … it was quite some time ago, before I even started writing tea reviews, but, those experiences stuck with me and now every time I encounter a decaffeinated tea, I’m skeptical … and that’s putting it mildly.
And then to think that this is a Jasmine decaffeinated tea … I worried that I’d end up tasting that horrible chemical-y decaf taste plus perfume-y, soapy jasmine oil or something …that’s the horror that was dancing in my head like some mad krumper. But, this is not at all chemical-y from the decaf … nor is it perfume-ish or soapy from the jasmine … this is really nice.
The green tea flavor is delicate and vegetative. I like that I taste the green tea – it doesn’t taste washed out from the CO2 process (decaffeinating process), it still possesses a very nice green tea flavor, and it has a good, fresh taste to it. The dry leaf almost looked like a Japanese Sencha to me, and in reading the information provided by Culinary Teas, it would seem that this is the case. I found this very interesting, since jasmine teas are typically a Chinese tea.
A really nice decaffeinated jasmine green! Really nice, indeed!
Blueberry Bang Rooibos from Culinary Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tisane Description:
Rooibos is also known as Red Bush or Red Tea. The incredible fresh fruit character of this herbal tea conjures memories of tiny flavorful blueberries. The aroma of Blueberry Bang Rooibos portends a wonderful taste experience.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m really impressed with this Blueberry Bang Rooibos from Culinary Teas. The blueberry flavor is INTENSE … and I’m liking that a lot.
From the moment I tore into the package, I could smell the enticing aroma of blueberries! Such a delightful, delicious fragrance, it evoked thoughts of yummy blueberry muffins. Then I read this information on the Culinary Teas website about “blueberry bang” which … I guess is supposed to be a pancake-y sort of thing … and all the sudden, my thoughts of yummy blueberry muffins made sense.
The blueberry flavor here is strong, and the sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos blends in well with the flavor to create a taste that is very reminiscent of blueberry pancakes or muffins. It’s sweet with just a hint of berry tart. It’s really quite tasty.
This tisane is one that is really good served either hot or iced, and because it’s naturally caffeine free, it’s one that you can serve to your kids without worry that they’re getting too much caffeine. And it’s got a flavor that both kids and adults will enjoy.