This tea accompanied me to this season’s Game of Thrones premiere. I figured that the show is on at night (it’s a rooibos!) and has an army of the undead (the title has zombies!). SPOT-ON. THE NORTH REMEMBERS.
This tea’s spicy oranges taste a bit like mulled wine. It’s a little savory, a little sweet, and puts a dash of twinkle in your eye.
I don’t know if this is the influence of the show, but I could imagine this being served at a sturdy, rough-hewn wooden table. Maybe a tavern. Plotting to kill your enemies. Amassing a group of ragtag soldiers, arguing about where to ride the dragons to next, et cetera.
So next time you need something to sip while you’re cuddling your dire wolf, give this a whirl!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Description
A crisp tropical Orange will jump out (no pun intended) with hints of cinnamon. Don’t know if it will make you want to embrace the next zombie while at the beach… but who knows. But PLEASE take warning-If he does want to snuggle against your neck… just run away really fast!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
An Apple Cider Green Rooibos Delight from Design A Tea
You know that episode of Friends where Rachel accidentally combines two recipes and makes a trifle with ladyfingers, jam, and beef sautéed with peas and onions? My favorite part comes shortly thereafter when Joey takes a bite and loves it. With his mouth full, he proclaims “Custard: good. Jam: goooood. Meat: good!”
I promise you, this tea tastes nothing like a custard-y jam trifle with a layer of beef and peas. HOWEVER. I was totally inspired by Joey when coming up with my review. Apple cider? Good. Tea? Goood. Green Rooibos? Good!
This one is a delightful apple cider tea– all that you’d expect to be there is present: cinnamon-y spices, apple, light green rooibos notes. There’s not too much unexpected about this tea, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a solid herbal with great flavors that are exactly what you’d expect from a tea named as such. Or as Joey would say? It’s goooood.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Description
This tea was created on the Design A Tea site.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Angry Pumpkin Black Tea from Design a Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Design a Tea
Tea Description:
A nice hardy blend of pumpkin and nutmeg with a black tea base. Served hot, will fill the room with the aroma of a “beautiful pumpkin”. Those were his words- I know, lame! .
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I hate to admit it, but I have a double standard when it comes to tea names. I absolutely hate it when a company will skirt around what type of tea something is, “It’s a deeply shaded fukamushi sencha harvested in the summer, steamed to perfection.” I get it. Just say it’s a gyokuro already! But when it comes to blended and flavored teas, the more ridiculous the better.
That is why I had to try this tea from Design a tea. I have so many questions. Why is this pumpkin angry? What happened in this tea’s life to make it so furious? Will it make me angry when I drink it? There is only one way to find out.
I brewed up 5g in my 12oz teapot for around 4 minutes. The resulting brew was like an autumn hug. Usually pumpkin flavorings fall short for me, but in this tea, the pumpkin was at the forefront of the brew. Luckily, it wasn’t an aggressive pumpkin. It was sweet and complimented the spices and the black tea base.
I suppose you cannot have a pumpkin tea without putting in some pumpkin pie spices. This particular blend highlighted the use of nutmeg. It was a good idea in theory, but the blend also had cinnamon chips. Yes, it is listed as the last ingredient, but the cinnamon tried it’s hardest to overpower the nutmeg. Throughout all this fighting for attention, what I get is a sweet slice of pumpkin pie. For my first fall-themed tea of the year, it definitely gets me pumped up for more. Bring it on!
I still don’t know what makes this pumpkin so angry, and the other flavors are not that aggressive either. The black tea base is mellow, sweet, with notes of sweet potato. This is a tea with a soothing profile, but I think the name Mellow Pumpkin would not sell as well. Thankfully, it did not make me angry to drink it, and I happily gulped down my pot of Angry Pumpkin to celebrate the beginning of October!
Apr-i-berry Love Child from Design A Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Tea Description:
Apricot has long had her eye on blueberry. Some said it hinged on the verge of an uncontrollable passion! After a long and snowy weekend – trapped in a cabin on the side of a mountain; she made her move! When forbidden love is allowed to flourish… the tastes can be absolutely refreshing.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t too sure about this Apr-i-berry Love Child from Design A Tea when I took my first sip of it. Then I allowed it to cool to an “iced tea” temperature and this becomes a really tasty tea! The flavors of apricot and blueberry play very nicely together, and the black tea base is strong but not overbearing … it’s a really refreshing iced tea.
The black tea base is – as I mentioned already – a strong base, but it’s not an overwhelming taste. It’s balanced well with the flavors of apricot and blueberry. It has some astringency, but, it’s not a bitter tasting tea. I think it could be if it were over-steeped, though, so you want to watch your brew time with this one.
The apricot comes through very well here – sweet and juicy! The blueberry adds a hint of tart to the cup as well as a distinct berry sweetness. I found that the flavors were kind of “muddy” at first, but a pinch of sugar helps to define the flavors a bit better.
I wasn’t all that crazy about this blend hot, but, it IS really tasty when it’s iced. A great summertime treat – and a nice change from the typical iced tea flavors that are out there! I love the combination of apricot and blueberry: it’s different but tasty!
Peach Spice from Design A Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Tea Description:
It’s time to order the best tea you’ve ever tasted. Why? Because you choose the flavors! The concept is simple, choose a base and one or two flavors to blend your own unique tasting tea. Top it off with a personalized name and brag to your friends about your gourmet style or give it away as a gift.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Designing your own tea can be so much fun. Peach Spice from Design a Tea is one of my favorites. It has a lovely flavor, a good oolong base, and reminds me a of a peach beer. In a way there is also a slight banana ester which is interesting since banana ester is something used in beer brewing.
As many of you may know, I love peach lambic. I had Stacy with Design a Tea make me my perfect peach lambic tea blend. However, if you want to give blending a try, and spare the expense while testing out a few concepts, design a tea is an excellent place to begin! Their prices are more than fair and they have a lot of flavors and bases to select from.
I have designed many teas with Design a Tea and Brian, the owner, is a really nice guy. The process is quite simple. If you click the link above you will be taken to a page where you can design your very own tea. Not all of my creations have been perfection, but more often than not I come up with a really great idea. Brian does his part in making your tea the best it can be by adding other items when necessary even if not on the list.
I am sipping my last cup of Peach Spice right now and I will probably get this one mixed for me again. I may ask for a little more spice this time, but that is the beauty of your own creation! You can always tweak it and make it better. At 4.75 USD for 30 grams, its a great deal and a wonderful way to explore those creative notions you have.
Brian has always included coupons with my orders which is a nice touch, I just have to dig one out for a reorder!
