I really like carrot cake and I really like carrots in tea. I think they lend a natural sweetness and a bit of a vegetal flair that compliments a lot of blends very nicely. I have had a lot of luck with A Quarter to Tea’s blends lately. I am really in love with this company. They ship fast and they just do a fantastic job with the teas. You can tell a lot of care has been given to the blends and it really shows in the bright and rich flavors.
I only recently found out about genmaicha green tea. It is (usually) sencha green tea along with rice/popped rice. It gives the green tea a starchy and toasted taste. On its own its plain, in my opinion. However, flavored genmaicha is where it’s at. The toasted flavor of the popped rice accents a lot of different flavor combinations really, really well.
I was excited for the frosted carrot cake genmaicha. A little hesitant, though. Some companies tend to over-spice carrot cake blends. Sometimes its just too spicy for me. If you’ve read my other reviews you will know that I really don’t like stuff that’s spicy. Anyways, back to frosted carrot cake. Um, YUM! Yes, yes, I am in love with yet another tea from A Quarter to Tea. I swear I am drinking liquid carrot cake with a vanilla buttercream. The spices are not too strong and do not overpower that sweet and vegetal taste of the carrots, but they actually accent it well along with a subtle cake flavor. Then the flavor of a yummy vanilla frosting comes in at the end. Another win, people.
A Quarter to Tea is rocking this whole “tea blending” thing.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
A cup of well-spiced carrot cake accented with raisins and pineapple for sweetness and a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Cookie Tea With A Green Rooibos Base from Simpson and Vail. . . .
I only recently found out about Simpson and Vail. I have really loved each tea ive tried from them. I’m not usually a huge fan a rooibos though. For me, it is almost always a little too “woody” tasting. However, I couldn’t resist getting a little bit of the Caramel Walnut Shortbread Rooibos. Doesn’t it sound divine? Like, I am now debating making a caramel walnut shortbread cookie because the combination just sounds so yummy!
Last night I was up until 4 a.m with my little one. I have an (almost) 8 month old daughter and I don’t know if it’s maybe the whole daylight savings thing or what, but she has been up at all hours of the night and refusing to sleep. Because of my lack of sleep I was dying for a nap, but of course I needed to make a cup of tea first. This was the perfect time to try out a yummy new rooibos blend, as rooibos is naturally caffeine free!
The smell of the dry blend is totally cookies. Caramel cookies with a hint of nuttiness! Even my boyfriend was like “WOW that smells good.” He could smell it from across the kitchen soon as I opened the tin! Super yum. I brewed this tea for about 7 minutes with near boiling water and added just a pinch of agave to bring out the flavors and sweeten it up just a bit.
The smell of the brewed liquid is definitely still caramel and cookies with undertones of nuts and the woody rooibos. However, upon tasting this tea I was surprised that it was pleasantly smooth and did not have that wood-taste that usually comes with rooibos. The rooibos was mellow and just in the background. Caramel cookies and nuttiness was definitely in the forefront. This was a great after-dinner/dessert blend. It evokes the sense of comfort and makes me want to curl up on the couch with a fuzzy blanket and a good book. Definitely worth trying!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
Featuring another delicious caffeine-free addition to our Dessert Tea line. This new blend was easy for us to agree on. This Green Rooibos blend brews to an amber cup with a nutty, buttery taste and deep caramel overtones. A delectable brew that needs no sweeteners.
When I asked Jim for his feedback on this blend he gave it to me along with this “4 out of 4 people recommend this. I know usually it’s 4 out 5 but we didn’t like the 5th person’s comments so we threw his results out and him in the quarry”. I think this caffeine free blend might be just what Jim needs this afternoon!
Ingredients: Organic Green Rooibos, flavoring, safflower blossoms, and orange blossoms.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Dessert Tea from Tea Source. . .Pistachio Shortbread Style!
Wow. Just wow.
This is another one of the teas I received during my first ever tea-swap. I absolutely love pistachio and I know I have said this in my reviews before. I also really like anything nutty and dessert teas. So, pistachio shortbread was kind of a no brainer choice for me. I can honestly say that this is one of my all-time favorites, hands down, no questions asked. It is definitely my favorite pistachio flavored teas. After my second sip I searched out this company, Tea Source, and tried to see if I could buy more (it is available on their website!!!).
Pistachio Shortbread is a flavored black tea blend. It contains black tea, pistachios, flavor, rose petals, marzipan drops, and almonds. What an amazing list of ingredients, right? Rose petals are often paired with pistachio which I find very interesting, but it is most likely because the floral flavor of the rose really compliments the creamy and nutty flavor of pistachios and even almonds. The addition of marzipan drops is what I think brings this tea to the next level.
The smell of the steeped liquid is definitely marzipan. I can smell the sweet almond and just a slight hint of rose, but mostly just sweet almond and black tea. The first flavor that registered for me was marzipan/sweet almond and the black tea. The almond and marzipan was not overpowering or artificial, though. It was lightly sweet and nutty and reminds me of almond cookies. I can tell that this is where “shortbread” comes in and I do detect a hint of vanilla, which really goes well with sweet almond and rose. The rose follows very quickly. Its not in-your-face with the floral it is just a very small hint. The aftertaste is totally pistachio nut. You can really taste the pistachio upon the finish and it definitely seals the deal for me.
This blend really was done so well. I cant say enough good things about it! If you like biscottis, pistachio ice cream, shortbread, or marzipan you will definitely be into this blend. And if you are unsure whether you like those things or not, you should still try this blend and I guarantee you will be won over. That’s how good it is!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tea Source
Description
This black tea blend is smooth, rich, sweet, and silky, with notes of pistachio coming through.
Contains: black tea, pistachios, flavor, rose petals, Marzipan drops, almonds.
CONTAINS NUTS
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Chiffon from The Love Tea Company. . . . #teaitforward
I got this tea as a surprise! It came in a “Tea It Forward” box, which is a program where you buy a box of 3 teas as a surprise for a friend, and the proceeds go to charity. The wonderful Cuppageek sent this to me as a gift for my general awesomeness! Here’s a pic of what I received.
Tonight’s pick is Lemon Chiffon. This rooibos/honeybush blend allegedly tastes like my grandmother’s cake. Since I didn’t have grandmothers that made this dish, I’m going to just have to wing this.
The lemon in this is strong, and a tiny bit bitter in a way that tastes “authentic.” It doesn’t have a fake sugar-lemon flavor. There’s also some lavender and pomegranate mixed in here, which lives it a little bit of a berry/flower kick.
I doubt that a grandmother would have mixed in pomegranate. But she should have; it’s a cool idea.
Overall, I think this blend is a tiny bit too tart for my tastes, but I think with a little bit of milk/honey, it’d be perfect. Give it a try!
Or help charity out and “Tea It Forward” to a friend who needs a pick-me-up!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Company
Description
There’s a reason why we call this a brilliant blend. Remember that Lemon Chiffon cake that Grandma made? It’s like that, without the cleanup or pinches to your cheek. A rooibos blend that smells like you could eat it straight out of the jar. Since it has no caffeine, it’s the perfect compliment to any after dinner treat.
Caffeine Level: None
Steep 2 teaspoons @ 195° for 3 – 5 minutes
Luxury Ingredients: rooibos, rooibus tea, honeybush, lemon myrtle, lavender flowers, marigold petals, natural lemon and pomegranate flavor.
Allergens: None
**Priced for purpose means we cost-average our overall inventory and charge a single price per size for our fine quality teas. Our pricing is entirely based upon our mission to donate 25% of net profit to The Flagg Foundation for Mental Wellness. Due to the density of teas, weighted amounts vary from jar to jar. Every purchase of Love Tea is a direct donation to improving human health and happiness.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Roasted Almond Chai from Fava Tea Company . . . .
Snowy days always make me want to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot chai and a really good movie. Come to think of it, every day makes me want to do that i’m not going to lie. So even though there is a raging blizzard outside, not much has changed I suppose. Tea, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings is my favorite way to relax when I’m not chasing after my 7 month old daughter! So what better way to use my free time than to dig into the awesome tea swap blends that I received the other day?
I used to like chai a lot more than I do today. I used to order chai lattes like they were going out of style! Its interesting how your tastes change, especially when you are constantly trying new flavors when it comes to tea. The reason why I am no longer a huge fan of chai at this point in my tea-journey is because I don’t really like things to be spicy or hot. You know those red cinnamon candies? Yeah, I hate those. I don’t like hot cinnamon and I feel like a lot of chai’s taste this way, they just are too spiced. So in order to “wow” me by your chai blend, it cant be too overpowering.
When I received my first ever tea swap package and I saw Roasted Almond Chai by Fava Tea Company, I was intrigued. I love anything with nuts, especially almond. Ive never had a nut chai before. Ive had cinnamon chai and vanilla chai…but not almond chai. I could imagine that it is pretty delicious though, cinnamon and almond tend to go very well together. So, I opened up the sample bag and could smell the delicious sweet and nutty almond and chai spices. Yum! This stuff smells like Christmas. I brewed up a cup and took a sip. Not going to lie, the chai spices are very present. However, the sweet almond tones them down so they really aren’t overpowering. Fava did a great job with the almond flavor in this one. It isn’t artificial, it is sweet and nutty.
This is a rooibos blend, so the woodiness from the rooibos mingles well with nutty almond and chai spices. It is a delectable cup that is great for a snowy evening! I wish they made a black tea version so that I could drink it throughout the day for a caffeine boost, but it is just as good as an after-dinner dessert tea. If you like Forever Nuts by DAVIDsTEA and if you like chai, you will definitely like this blend. It honestly tastes like a chai and Forever Nuts had a baby and that baby was named Roasted Almond Chai! I definitely suggest you check this out.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fava Tea Company
Description
This is the sweet taste of almond magically blended with rooibos and chai spices. Smooth, delightful and a perfect compliment with dessert. Or in place of dessert! Either way, enjoy! Blends well with Yoga, Toasted Caramel Rooibos, Chocolate Cream Rock Sugar.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!