I don’t like anything smoked. I tried lapsang souchong once and I could barely get past the first sip. I felt like I was drinking water that had had campfire logs soaking in it for a week. Not yummy. Despite my fear of anything smokey, I decided to go ahead and brew this one up. I read up on this company and apparently this tea is pre-sweetened. Well I still added a couple drops of agave because I didn’t think it was sweet enough but turns out it really didn’t need it, so keep that in mind if you decide to try this yourself.
The company’s description of this white tea blend is really enticing. According to Embrew, “This African white tea comes from the delicate immature leaves of the plant that produce a mild, but sweet fragrance of baked bread and white peach that infuses quickly. The real hero is the Bourbon Smoked Sugar which infuses a subtle charred oak aroma.” I think that this description was pretty spot on The first thing I noticed was a sweet smell- that’s where the peach and baked bread flavors of the white tea come in. Taking a sip, that remains true. The aftertaste, however, has a definite hint of sweet bourbon with a light smokey aspect towards the end. This really was a myriad of tastes and flavors that are very intriguing. This one got me thinking and sipping and thinking again…trying to figure it out. Sometimes I find that reading a company’s description of their blend helps me to decipher what i’m tasting and in this instance it did help a lot and I think that the blend was true to its name. I actually think that I would go onto their website and order this blend again, which is funny to me because if you told me i’d say that before I tried this I would have called you crazy!
Embrew is a must try company. No matter what you *think* you like, there will always be that one blend that changes your mind!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Embrew
Description
This African white tea comes from the delicate immature leaves of the plant that produce a mild, but sweet fragrance of baked bread and white peach that infuses quickly. The real hero is the Bourbon Smoked Sugar which infuses a subtle charred oak aroma.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Steamed Honey Green from Embrew. . . . .
When I was originally taking pictures of the blend (I took it out of the satchel), I was very confused as to what the yellow granules were. I looked it up and found out that it was granulated honey! I’ve never granulated honey before. Also, what a neat concept to have the honey already in the blend. I really enjoy that the company had the predetermined sweetness factored in.
After brewing the blend, there was a grassy aroma from wet leaves. The liquor was very smooth and had a nice subtle grassy flavour with a hint of honey sweetness.
Since there is honey in the blend, it is important to stir the liquor every so often, because it will settle at the bottom if left un-stirred. I really enjoyed this one and I think that it would be great for late afternoons.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Embrew
Description
This is a steamed green tea which gives a smooth, velvety texture with a soft aftertaste and little bitterness. We’ve blended it with a rich granulated honey.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Amber Black Maple from Embrew.. . . . .
I usually drink loose leaf tea so I pulled out this sample teabag with low expectations…until I had the bag in my hands. It felt fat and crunchy! I could tell the leaves were big and whole, and decided to steep this in an infuser so I could have a good look at it. I tore it open and that’s when I saw that there was more than just tea in the bag! There were also coarse grains of sugar. Looking up the company online, I saw that they specialize in teas blended with handcrafted sweeteners and mine just happens to be a maple sugar. SUH-WEET! (Literally and figuratively.) What a great choice to go with brekkie today!
It brews up to a hearty cup. I was concerned it might be too sweet for me since I don’t usually add any sugar to my tea, but it wasn’t. The sugar doesn’t take away from the delicious flavor of the tea at all, and this is a good quality tea right here! It makes a 10-12 ounce cup or mug of tea, whereas most teabags only promise you a decent six ounces.
I often resteep my leaves so I gave that a try. The second steep of these leaves had about as much color and flavor as the first, with just a drop in the sweetness level. You could easily combine the two steeps and have a fantastic pot of breakfast tea for two, and the sugar level would still be enough for folks like me.
I am impressed by the quality of these leaves. It is a great on-the-go tea if you want a little sugar in your cup but the convenience of a teabag without sacrificing quality of the leaf. The black tea itself is hearty with fruity notes, certainly a bold enough flavor for a good wake up.
Great job, Embrew!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Embrew
Description
This sweet, robust black tea from Nepal is double-roasted resulting in sophisticated cocoa and molasses flavors. We’ve added pure granulated maple syrup from a family farm at the base of Mount Mansfield, Vermont to round out the cup.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Oolong +Sweetner in One Convenient Tea Bag. . . . #Embrew
I was immediately intrigued by this tea as soon as I saw it sitting in my sample box. I’d been hearing about Embrew from my fellow Sororitea Sisters for the last few weeks– they’re a new company, packaging loose leaf tea into bags with the sweetener already added. A far cry from my early tea drinking days, I don’t usually sweeten my teas now, but will occasionally when it feels like they need a little oomph (or for homemade tea lattes, because #treatyoself).
This particular brew, Creamy Honey Oolong, sounds right up my alley. Brewed, it’s a beautiful light gold liquor, with a distinct honey scent. And just like the name implies, I get it all in one sip– honey, cream, light and floral oolong. It’s a delightful cup!
As far as the sweetener-in-bag? It’s pretty cool, but I don’t find it revolutionary. I did notice that by the time I pulled my bag out of the water (it was in about 2 minutes so as not to oversteep), there were still noticeable honey granules that hadn’t dissolved. Kind of a bummer on the design, but it ended up working well regardless, as I think if this tea had been any sweeter, I’d have lost a lot of the flavor nuance. The leaves unfurled fairly well for being Oolong-in-a-bag, which was impressive. Final thoughts? Definitely a great option for on-the-go sipping, when you need to make a cuppa without all the hassle of perfectly concocting your drink, or if you’re not a fan of having to take multiple steps to brew + sweeten your loose leaf tea.
I’ve got a few more samples from Embrew calling my name, and after this one, I’m eager to see what else they can do with this neat little idea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Embrew
Description
This green oolong has a natural subtle creaminess brought on by the unique cultivation that emphasizes the soft, milky quality. We’ve paired it with pure granulated honey to further bolster the rich sweetness.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Steamed Honey Green from Embrew. . .Sweetener and Tea All in One!
A few weeks ago, Embrew contacted the SororiTea Sisters to see if we were interested in reviewing their tea bags. I for one was intrigued but also curious on how I would like their teas. Let me explain.
Embrew offers tea in a unique way- in a tea bag with a sweetener already in. So there is no need to add any additional sugar or honey, unless you want to. Being one that typically only adds cream to my tea, I wondered how much I would enjoy their teas or if I thought they would be way too sugary.
Steamed Honey Green had my name written all over it. I’m a huge green tea fan and if I’m going to sweeten a tea, I’d prefer to have honey added in instead of stevia. I did find out later that there is also refiners sugar in this blend as well.
Prepped up like a green tea, I allowed this tea to steep for 3 minutes. There are caution notes of oversteeping this tea so I made sure to pay attention.
After allowing the tea to cool for a few moments, I took my first sip and was greeted with this really lush smooth honey green tea flavor that wasn’t too sweet but just right. I was surprised by how much I actually liked this tea spiked with sweetness. The honey really provided the much needed contrast to the green tea. And the green tea was just delicious and one that I would love to try without the added sweetness.
I can see this tea being one that you use in the afternoon for that sweet tooth craving instead of heading for a sugary snack. I was able to get a couple infusions out of the tea and the longer the tea steeped (yes, I broke their 3 minute steeping rule the second infusion. oops!) the sweeter the tea became. I was expecting more of a bitter note to come through but that wasn’t the case at all.
Before I decided I was completely done with this tea bag, I threw the bag into a cup of ice water and allowed the tea to brew for a bit. The green tea definitely played second fiddle to the sweeteners when prepared like this, but this was also the third infusion so I can see how that happened.
All in all, this is an interesting way to enjoy tea. With the different flavors Embrew offers like Creamy Honey Oolong, Amber Black Maple, Bourbon Smoked White, and Lavender Chamomile Kick, there is enough teas to keep my interests for some time. The price tag is a bit higher on these teas. For example the Steamed Honey Green is about $14 for 10 tea bags, but if you are able to take into consideration the fact that this is something different and can be infused few times over, the price doesn’t seem too bad.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Embrew
Description
This is a steamed green tea which gives a smooth, velvety texture with a soft aftertaste and little bitterness. We’ve blended it with a rich granulated honey.
