Sparkly tea!!! I love teas that sparkle. It’s not like the sparkles do anything flavorwise but I am a sucker for them anyways. They just bring a touch of fun to the whole experience. In fact, DAVIDsTEA’s Glitter & Gold, the first tea I tried with sparkles, happens to be the first tea that truly captured my heart (because I liked the flavor, though the glitter didn’t hurt).
This tea is a light, fruity delight. It’s like a liquid orchard with definite stone fruit flavors. Sweet and smooth. I think I get more peach than I do pear but the fruitiness of this tea is quite nice, and certainly summery in its vibe. The base is also contributing a slight vegetal note which is actually complimenting the fruity flavors.
I could see this being quite a nice tea pop actually. The soft stone fruit might really pop when carbonated. I could see it being reminiscent of a cider. Though the sparkles might be part of the reason I have this idea since they remind me of little carbonation bubbles.
Flavor wise this is subtle and if you are looking for a strong flavor, you won’t find it here. However, the flavor it does have is just the right amount of fruity. Plus, who could say no to more sparkle in their life?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Tea & Tins
Description
Loose leaf green tea, nicknamed Spritz of Glitz!
Ingredients: green tea, succulent peach and fresh pear with a glitzy spritz of sparkling sugars!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sensiblyscript’s Tasting Notes on Passion Berry Jolt by Tiesta Tea. . . .
I steeped 1tsp tea for 4 min. in one cup of water at 200-205 degrees, which produced a cup of tea with a nice dark amber color. Though there’s no berry coloring, there’s plenty of berrylike fragrance. The tea leaves themselves are attractive, with marigold and cornflower petals providing some nice color contrasts.
The berry smell blends with the black tea fragrance surprisingly well. (On a side note, I’m glad they used a high-quality black tea for this blend, as I tend to tire easily of “black tea” bases that have no actual tea flavor so that all you can taste is the flavoring.)
First sip: Not too astringent or acidic, which is nice. There is a bit of astringency, though. The berry flavor I’m finding in this tea is a bit friendlier, somehow, than most berry flavored teas I’ve tried. Perhaps a bit smoother? I’m sensing a rich, strawberry-like flavor here, and maybe a bit of raspberry as well. Maybe that’s why it’s less astringent and acidic than other berry-flavored teas that are heavy on the raspberry and blueberry. (It turns out that the strawberry-like flavor must have been from the “natural passion fruit flavors” in this tea. I guess I’m just not that familiar with passion fruit.)
It’s also not bitter at all, which I appreciate.
While the black tea flavor is present and isn’t overwhelmed by the berry flavor, it’s not super prominent either and doesn’t overwhelm the berry flavor. They exist side-by-side rather elegantly.
When I add milk, it tastes like berries and cream just as I’d hoped. MMMMmmmm! I like it best this way. (Okay, that’s not really a surprise.)
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tiesta Tea
Description
Ingredients: black tea + natural passion fruit flavors + cornflowers + marigold petals + raspberry bits
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Miss Figgy from Tea and Tins
So, I have to say this first: the piggy sprinkles are DEATH-DEFYINGLY cute! (I think that’s a thing?) Also, I appreciate the fact that this is an extra-punny tea: not only is the name a pun, but the tea itself is both figgy AND filled with sugar-based figgy piglets. (Yes, the sprinkles do absorb fig flavor over time. I checked.)
Although you can smell the sweet flavor of figs through the packet, it gets even better while steeping. After steeping, the tea is a nice hazy cedarish amber color. The overall taste is a bit less figgy than I expected from the smell, though the flavor does build up towards the end of each sip. This tea is sweet enough to not need sugar, although it’s good with sugar too! And it’s quite smooth, with no more than a teeny hint of astringency.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Teas and Tins
Description
Loose leaf black tea, nicknamed Miss figgy!
Ingredients: black tea, fig taste with dried figs and pink pig sprinkles.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Strawberry Guava White Tea from Simpson and Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
This delicate pink cup is truly scrumptious! Our Pai Mu Tan white tea is the perfect base for the delicious guava and strawberry flavors, with their complex, fruity aroma and full flavor. Delicious hot or cold!
Ingredients: White tea, organic hibiscus, cornflower petals, marigold flowers and Guava and Natural Strawberry flavors.
Brew: 2 tsp tea in 8 oz. water (at 175°), steep for 4 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Strawberry Guava White Tea from Simpson and Vail is a lovely strawberry tropical treat for the hot days of summer. White flavored teas can be very hit or miss. Sometimes the flavor is spot on, other times, not so much. White tea has such a delicate flavor that sometimes adding different flavors just muddies the flavor.
The look of the dry leaf is something to behold. Gorgeous blue and yellow pops of color amongst a green background. I scooped a few heap fulls into my infuser and steeped the tea. They recommend steeping this tea at 175 for about 4 minutes. I’ve found those recommendations to be pretty spot on.
First sip and this tea is a pretty marvelous example of a flavored white tea. Delicate yet full of flavor. Light floral notes mixed with strawberry tones and a subtle tartness that actually adds a lovely contrast and definition to the tea. This is one of those teas that needs to be shared with others with gorgeous matching cups and saucers. This tea is dainty yet full of flavors. Really great example of a flavored white tea.
Simpson & Vail has a really unique concept on their site. They encourage their customers to create new and different foods using their teas. From this particular tea, a customer created a jello. A great idea and one that I can’t wait to try!
