Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Caraway Tea Company
Product Description:
Juicy aromatic currants paired with the delicacy of white tea leaves delivers a smooth flavor profile with a deeply fruity finish. There’s a lot of flavor is this healthy white tea.
Ingredients
China Pai Mu Tan, China Cui Min, rose hip peel, freeze-dried blackcurrants, flavoring, mallow blossoms, cornflower blossoms.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about UniqTeas here – UniqTeas is the “sister site” of Caraway Tea where you can create your own unique tea blend!
Taster’s Review:
Oh yum!
As I was preparing this review, I had the teacup sitting just under my nose (well, about a foot from my nose) and I enjoyed the fragrance of the tea. It smells really yummy. And as I was enjoying the aroma, I started thinking: there really aren’t a lot of currant flavored white teas. I’ve encountered quite a few currant flavored black teas and maybe a couple of currant flavored green teas, but I think I’ve only tried a couple of currant flavored white teas.
And that’s a shame, because I think that the tart with a touch of sweet flavor of currants seems really well paired with the crisp sweetness of white tea.
What I’m drinking now – this White Currant Tea from Caraway Tea – tastes a lot like a sweet wine, only without the tannic quality of a wine. Sure, tea has tannins too, but I find white teas to be less tannic than black teas. Perhaps this is because I brew my white teas at a lower temperature. Or perhaps it’s because they’re just less tannic. I don’t know.
Disclaimer: I’m not a tannin expert.
So, imagine if you would, a sweet red wine without the tannins. Now, imagine it … served hot. That’s what I’m tasting now. Since I don’t usually drink wine hot, I’m thinking that this tea is a stunner served iced. (Then again, I don’t drink wine much at all. Hot or otherwise.)
The currant flavor is lightly tart – not puckery – and there is a pleasant sweetness to it too. The white tea is not overpowered by the flavors of this tea. It is light and refreshing with delicate vegetal notes and a sweet, airy quality. I also notice a hint – just a hint! – of a warm, gentle spice to this too. Like a slight peppery kick. It’s a nice contrast to the tart and sweet fruit notes and the light sweetness from the white tea.
A really good tea. This is one that I’d happily drink again!
Lavender Cancer Fighting Tea from Georgia Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Green Teas & Rooibos
Where to Buy: Georgia Tea Company
Tea Description:
Our signature blend, designed to boost the immune system and helps fight cancer. Boosts interferon production to help the body fight off infection while going through chemotherapy. Contains high concentrations of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Made with only the best white, green and rooibos teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Lavender Cander Fighting Tea has a lot going on: it’s a white tea, a green tea, a rooibos and an herbal. So to brew it, I decided on a fairly low temperature (I went with 175°F) and steeped it for 3 minutes. I’m happy with the results!
This is tasty! It has a really lovely flavor! The lavender is strong enough to be a lingering presence throughout the sip, but it isn’t overpowering. Lavender is one of those flowers that when overdone, it imparts a soapy or perfume-y flavor to the tea. That didn’t happen here. The lavender is sweet and quite wonderful here, and I love the way it melds with the blueberry flavor. This is not a flavor combination I would have thought much about before trying this tea, but the fruit and the flower are quite compatible.
The tea has been nicely crafted, because I can taste each of the components and the way it has been blended, it would seem that the best of each ingredient is captured. It tastes quite nice. I get a sweet, nutty flavor from the rooibos without that sometimes funky, sour-wood kind of flavor. I taste a light freshness and lightly brothy texture from the green and white teas. I’m getting a lovely note of lavender and the blueberry is sweet and juicy. The currant adds just a hint of tartness to bring some balance to the cup.
The way the green and white tea come through with the floral notes of lavender and whispers of rose evokes thoughts of walking through a garden – the taste of the air as a gentle breeze carries the essences of the flowers and surrounds the garden with it’s soft perfume. It’s quite enjoyable.
This tea has been crafted to be help prevent cancer. Now, I’m not a doctor nor do I pretend to be or claim to have all the answers when it comes to tea’s health benefits and how it helps to fight cancer/prevent cancer. I don’t really even know if it does. I’ve heard that it does. I don’t drink tea because it’s a healthy drink, I drink it because I enjoy it. But, if these ingredients also offer me some health benefits, then why not drink something that is both tasty and healthy?
Peruvian Spiced Berry Tisane from Inca Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tea
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tisane Description:
This is our Original blend to characterize the true ancient Incan recipe.
INGREDIENTS: Hibiscus Petals, Elderberries, Currants, Purple Corn, Apple Pieces, Pineapple Pieces, Cinnamon, Cloves and Natural Flavors. This is the tea that the founder Ryan came across during his hike. Its is an enlivening herbal, fruit tea blend of purple corn, berries and spices.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t sure exactly what to think about this new tea made with purple corn! Weird, right? But, I decided that I had to give it a try. It was just weird enough. Not so weird that I’m put off by the thought of it, but weird enough that I’m really intrigued!
The aroma of the dry leaf is spicy and sweet. I can smell the cinnamon and cloves, and the sweet notes of pineapple and berries. I steeped the pyramid sachet for 6 minutes (I don’t usually go over 6 minutes with hibiscus blends because I don’t want the tisane to become too syrupy) in 195°F water.
The brewed liquid is a dark plum color (hibiscus!) and smells of spiced fruit. The cinnamon and cloves are still a dominant scent to this, but I like that it’s not overwhelmingly spicy. The fruit notes come through nicely, smelling a bit like a spiced berry compote.
Tasty! Really tasty!
This Peruvian Spiced Berry is the first of the teas created by Inca Tea. It’s their “original.” And it certainly is original, because as I said, I can’t recall ever encountering a tea that is made with purple corn. And Inca Tea’s original is a tasty offering! I am really enjoying the combination of berry flavors and spice.
I taste a bit of corn in this too! The corn adds more of a nutty, grainy sort of background note than a strong, obvious “corn” flavor. This ends up tasting a bit like a liquefied spiced berry cobbler – YUM!
Yes, there’s hibiscus and rosehips in this, and this would ordinarily make for a tart cup, but the warmth of the spices and the sweetness from the apple and pineapple soften those tart notes so that the tartness of these herbs does more to accentuate the berry flavors rather than stand out on their own. There’s still some tartness, but it’s a berry tart rather than a hibiscus tart that I’m tasting.
There is some texture to the cup too, but it’s not coming off as syrupy. It’s pleasantly thick without feeling as though my tongue is coated with hibiscus syrup.
I really enjoyed this – my first experience with Inca Tea! I will be trying more from them – and I’m looking forward to it!
Wildberries Flavored Green Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Wildberries = Blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, elderberry, and black currant. Premium Organic green tea with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Here it is … my first review of one of Southern Boy Teas green tea creations. I was excited to learn of SBT’s expansion into other tea types – they’re not just black teas anymore – since I usually prefer green or white iced teas (I find them more refreshing than black tea).
And this Wildberries Flavored Green Tea is VERY refreshing. Mmm! It’s bursting with berry flavor. My first sip I could really taste the elderberry and black currant flavors. In the aftertaste, I started to pick up on the other berry flavors, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry are the flavors that seem to tickle the palate in the aftertaste, with an emphasis on the raspberry notes.
The blueberry is a little less conspicuous.
As I continue to sip, I start to notice more of the berry flavor throughout the sip, not just the elderberry and currant. Now I’m tasting more blackberry, strawberry and raspberry throughout the sip, and I can even pick up on some blueberry notes.
And the green tea base is ideal for these flavors because it’s a lighter tasting base. I feel that a black tea base might be a little bit too much. It could work, and I’d certainly be more than happy to try it, but I like the softer flavor of the sweet green tea with light buttery notes and how the green tea allows the berry flavors to really express themselves fully, while not hiding off in the background. I still taste the green tea, but it doesn’t intrude upon the berry notes. It’s a very lovely balance that’s been achieved.
To brew this, I went ahead and used the “hot brew” method. I filled my kettle with one quart of water and heat it to 175°F. Then I allowed the sachet to infuse for 1 1/2 minutes. Then I poured the hot liquid into my tempered glass pitcher (to temper it, I just run it under hot tap water for about a minute to get the glass warm so that the hot liquid doesn’t shock the glass and cause it to break). Repeat with another quart of water heated to 175°F, this time allowing the sachet to steep for 2 full minutes. Then I stashed the sachet in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator to see how a resteep would taste.
The verdict: The resteep is still VERY flavorful. Almost – if not just as – flavorful as the first half gallon that I prepared. This tea is a winner! It’s one that I’ll be getting more of!
A Day in Provence Rooibos Blend from Tay Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tisane Description:
Soothing and relaxing with a tangy kick that screams at you to make iced tea. As a hot tea, this is still a delight. Layers of red berries, tart currants, lavender and rooibos with subtle hints of rose. The texture of this tea is amazingly soft on the tongue and the lavender persists all the way through each sip.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really lovely! Despite the suggestion above to make this into iced tea, I opted for a hot tea – there’s just something about lavender that tells me to make hot tea and since it would seem that A Day in Provence Rooibos Blend from Tay Tea has a strong lavender presence I figured hot tea was the way to go this evening. And as I said … it’s really very lovely!
The lavender is a strong, well-defined essence but it never tastes too floral, perfume-ish or soapy. The lavender (and the rose) have been added at just the right amounts so that the flavors are present in every sip without tasting of Aunt Mildred’s favorite perfume.
And as much as I enjoy lavender, what I’m enjoying most about this particular cuppa is that I’m not tasting a strong rooibos flavor. I taste subtle notes of a woody flavor and hints of nutty tones and that familiar honeyed note, but it isn’t a really powerful presence.
Instead, I taste notes of currant and this gives the cup an almost wine-like taste, and the rose and lavender are very complementary to the wine-ish flavors. I taste a sweet-tart berry note. Overall this has a very indulgent, beautiful flavor that I am finding very nice.
I’m really happy that this tea was part of this month’s Amoda Tea Box! Usually, I approach the rooibos/herbal blends with a certain amount of skepticism, but, this is one with which I’m quite pleased.