Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yabao & Green Tea & Tulsi
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Unique and unexpected. This version of their amazing Eight Treasures Winter blend has been altered to emphasize the surprising similarity with a Valentine’s tradition – candy hearts. If you break the flavours down, this blend is complex – sweet and almost candy-like,with lively citrus, warming vanilla and natural wood and pine.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I probably say this every month, but I’m always so excited when my Amoda Tea box arrives! I was especially excited for this month’s tea box because I had read on Steepster that this would be a “special” blend box, similar to what we received in December. This month, Amoda Tea teamed up with another one of my favorite tea vendors: Verdant Tea!
And this special Eight Treasures Valentine Blend from Verdant Tea is the first tea that I’m tasting from this month’s Amoda Tea Box. Having previously tried their Eight Treasures Yabao Blend, I felt pretty confident that I’d enjoy this Eight Treasures too.
The ingredients of this blend are similar to the previously tasted and reviewed Eight Treasures, with a few notable differences: this blend has juniper, tulsi and burdock, while the previously reviewed tea has goji berry, marigold and honeysuckle. The result is a drink that tastes slightly warmer … spicier. The previous tea had a more floral and fruity taste – I’d liken it to a “springtime” sort of flavor, while this tea that sits before me has more of a warm “wintertime” kind of flavor to it.
I taste notes of marshmallow from the yabao and these mingle nicely with the vanilla notes. The above description suggests a “valentine hearts candy” sort of taste, and I get that. It does have a sweet taste that is vaguely reminiscent of those little hearts that say “Be Mine” or “Kiss Me” on them.
I also taste the woodsy notes that the description suggests and these notes give it a very winter-y kind of taste: imagine a cozy fire crackling in the fireplace and sipping on tea with your valentine! This tea inspires thoughts like those.
I found that my second infusion was even more delicious than my first – the sweet notes seemed more intense and those “candy heart” notes were better defined in the second cup.
This is a really delightful blend from Verdant, and this box from Amoda Tea makes me a happy subscriber once again.
On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent Me This Tea …
Day Eight finds us revisiting an old favorite. When I contacted Della Terra Teas this year to inquire about their 12 Days of Christmas collection, my question for them was would it be a different box than last year. As many of you know, I used to do another 12 Days of Christmas countdown, however, with that company, I subscribe to their teas, so, all of the teas that are in the box are teas that I would have tried. I wanted something NEW which is why I changed to this box from Della Terra Teas. Don’t get me wrong, I love the other company too (Hey, I subscribe to them so that I get every tea they offer, I must love them, right?), but for the Christmas countdown is something that I want to be somewhat new and fresh whenever possible.
So, when Della Terra Teas got back to me – promptly too, I might add, they have great customer service! – and told me that all the teas would be new teas except for this one, I was OK with that … for one reason and one reason only. The tea that this “old” tea is.
Eight Candles
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
On this, your eighth day you will have Eight Candles, lit brightly in your cup. The eight maids a’milking will be a bit jealous with this one!
Caramel and marshmallow flavors abound in this perfectly blended black tea. Sip after sip the magic of this season is tasted within!
Taster’s Review:
I LOVE this tea. This is – by far – my favorite tea from Della Terra Teas. And based upon the response on Steepster, I’d say that I’m not the only one who thinks that this is a pretty amazing tea. So, needless to say, I didn’t mind it when I was informed that this would be the one “old” tea in the collection. I didn’t mind it a bit.
Since this was in last year’s 12 Days of Christmas Teas box from Della Terra Teas, I have reviewed it, so I don’t guess I need to review it again, do I?
But I will say that this tea is every bit as good as I remember it being. Sweet, gooey, marshmallow-y happiness in a teacup! One thing I did note about brewing this cup … there was some “oily” spots that rose to the top of the cup which I must admit are never appetizing to see, but, I was able to look past them. If I were to change anything about this tea at all, it would be the oil slick, but, if that means that the flavor of the tea is changed, then forget about it, I’d rather see spots and enjoy the caramelized marshmallow-y joy that is this tea.
Eight Treasures Yabao Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh & Green Tea
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Yabao is an incredibly intriguing tea, evoking marshmallow sweetness, spice, and even cooling cedar notes. By combining it with a light sun dried green jasmine from Yunnan, and whole vanilla bean, this brew steeps up perfectly smooth, thick and velvety. The floral elements of the vanilla and honeysuckle are extended to the aftertaste with marigold and rose petals, and the spice of the yabao is sharpened with goji berry. This well-integrated take on the traditional “Eight Treasures” is sweet but nuanced, and great hot or iced.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This Eight Treasures Yabao Tea from Verdant Tea is absolutely delightful! Then again, I was expecting nothing less from a company like Verdant Tea. I can’t recall ever being disappointed by a tea from them!
This blend takes the natural creamy sweetness of a Yabao tea and combines it with vanilla bean to enhance the rich, creamy notes and the decadent sweetness. These two components together would be enough to send this tea drinker into a blissful tea experience, but, this is EIGHT Treasures … so Verdant Tea didn’t stop there.
The jasmine green tea adds a little bit of a vegetative taste and a distinct jasmine note. The floral tones are further accentuated with the addition of marigold and rose. I don’t notice the marigold a lot, but, the rose has a distinguished flavor. The tasting note from Verdant Tea suggests an “orchid” note and I am getting that here, although I find that I taste more jasmine and rose than orchid.
I taste the goji berry and the berry adds a tart, tingly sensation toward the finish that offers a nice contrast to the smooth, creaminess of the vanilla and marshmallow notes of the Yabao, and the sweet flowery tones. My first few sips I noticed a slight “resinous” taste … and as I continued to sip, and after reading the tasting notes from Verdant that suggest a Cedar note, I realize that this is the resinous note I was noticing at the start. Slightly woody, slightly earthy … with an invigorating crisp, cool sensation.
The most surprising thing about this tea is just how good it is iced! I was astonished by it’s iced flavor. It is sweet and fruity and very refreshing! The next time you place your order with Verdant … add this tea to your shopping cart – you won’t be disappointed!
Eight Oasis Blend from Praise Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green, White & Pu-erh Teas
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Tea Description:
Our combination of Sencha, Gunpowder, Mini Tuo, Chun Mee, Pai Mu Tan, Lung Ching, Snow Bud, Pi Lo Chun, candied pineapple and strawberry takes you to an oasis of delight. Delectable both hot and cold. Try some with white crystal sugar. Indulge your taste buds.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After a quick glance at this tea’s ingredient list, I thought that this tea may just have a little too much going on. It smelled intriguing, though, with its delicious notes of strawberry and pineapple, so I decided to give it a try.
And somehow, this massive list of ingredients works together very well! While it is next to impossible to pick out each individual tea’s characteristics, I can taste the fresh, vegetative flavor of green tea, a light earthy quality from the tuocha, and I can even taste notes that are very much like white tea – notes of hay and that crisp, airy quality that is often noted in white tea.
The strawberry and pineapple notes are less distinctive than the flavors of the tea, but, that’s alright. In fact, I find it to be quite refreshing to have the tea as the center focus in this cup, and have the fruit flavors to serve as accent notes to enliven the overall flavor. The place where the fruit really stands out is in the aftertaste, where I can taste the flavors of both the pineapple and the strawberry.
This tea does have a natural sweetness to it, so I would recommend tasting before you sweeten. I did end up adding just a pinch of sugar which helped to enhance the fruit notes more than sweeten the cup. Without the sugar, the fruit notes fall a little flat … they’re still present, but, just not as lively as with a pinch of sugar.
This one makes a nice iced tea too. I recommend steeping it at least twice, as it is even tastier with the second infusion.