Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Jestha Jasmine begins with Nepal’s premium Pokhara green, a light, clean and crisp tea with beautiful full leaves. To this is added fragrant jasmine blossoms and orange peel to create a very serene cup of tea. Jestha Jasmine tea is perfect for warm weather and makes a really nice iced tea!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
25% of profits from our Nepal teas will be donated to the ‘Nepali Tea’ Restoration Fund for earthquake relief. Learn more here.
Taster’s Review:
I was intrigued by this Jestha Jasmine Green Tea from Nepali Tea Traders. I’m usually not all that excited to try a non-Chinese jasmine tea because I’m usually disappointed by them, but, I can’t recall having been disappointed by any teas from Nepali Tea Traders so I decided to go into this experience with an open mind and who knows? I might actually find a jasmine tea not from China that I like!
I brewed this in my Breville One-Touch. I usually steep jasmine teas in my gaiwan and then strain the tea into my Yi Xing mug that is designated for jasmine teas, but because this also has orange in it AND because I wasn’t so sure if I’d actually enjoy it and want the flavor to taint my jasmine mug, I decided to just use a ceramic mug and brew this tea in my Breville. I poured the entire contents of the sampler from Amoda Tea into the basket of the Breville and then added 500ml of water to the jug. Then I set the temperature to 175°F and the timer for 2 minutes.
Joy! This is the way that a jasmine tea that hasn’t been processed in China SHOULD taste. It doesn’t have that artificial jasmine flavor to it. I suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that the jasmine notes come from the addition of the jasmine blossoms rather than the use of jasmine oil. The jasmine tastes delicate and natural – not perfume-ish! It has a lovely floral essence without tasting like soap.
And I really like the touch of orange in this blend. It adds a pleasant juicy, citrus note that isn’t overwhelming and the orange and the jasmine complement each other very well.
The green tea base is quite enjoyable as well. It’s soft and has a hint of creaminess to it. I like the way the creaminess of the green tea plays to the other flavors in this tea. It softens the floral notes so they aren’t too sharp and adds a lovely sweetness to the tangy citrus flavor.
A really surprising Jasmine tea! I’m very picky about my jasmine – and I’m enjoying this. I’d recommend this to other jasmine tea drinkers too!
Mimosa Black Tea from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia USA
Tea Description:
A black tea is scented and inspired by mimosa flowers that denote the arrival of spring. Floral and refreshing citrus aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
They say that America runs on Dunkin’, but I think that old saying needs to be updated. I manage a small breakfast-oriented restaurant and if I am not mistaken, the humble mimosa reigns supreme. Nothing like a slab of bacon, a couple waffles and a mimosa to cure a hangover. We oftentimes sell more mimosas on the weekend than coffee.
Even though, I still love the smell of orange juice and cheap champagne. It smells like breakfast to me. I don’t care for alcoholic beverages in any way, but I like the flavor profiles. The idea is much more romantic than actual execution and resulting effects it may have. When I stumbled upon the funky gold tin on Lupicia’s website, I was completely sold. tea. Now if only I could get it in bulk to sell it in my restaurant… the possibilities!
The tea leaves give off an aroma that is so eerily exact to the combination of fresh squeezed orange juice and champagne that it’s a bit confusing at first. I wouldn’t have thought that a black tea would have been the best choice for a such light and effervescent drink. But when I steeped this tea in a small teapot, it turned into a surprisingly delightful drink. Comforting, bright, it’s got that great orange zest flavor and a slightly boozy tang of the champagne. I have tried this tea both hot and cold, and while the hot version is quite nice, i like my citrus-flavored black teas iced much better.
Sometimes certain special and limited edition teas on the Lupicia website are rather hard to find. You really have to dig if you want to find any interesting or different blends than what you’d see at first glance. There is a treasure trove of cool teas and beautiful tins just waiting to be taken home and loved forever. This is a great find, and I can soundly recommend it for those of you who enjoy a great citrus flavored black tea.
Caramel au beurre Oolong Tea from Dammann Freres
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Dammann Freres
Tea Description:
Natural velvety notes of an oolong tea here combined with those sweet and savory of a caramel aroma. A subtle balance between vegetal notes and the greedy notes of toffee that many will taste with treat in a delicious and gourmet cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Caramel au beurre sale from Dammann Freres is quite a fragrant tea. It smells like a caramel lovers heaven. I count myself as a fanatic of the caramelized sugar crowd, so consider me on cloud nine. The tightly rolled dark green nuggets of oolong goodness looked almost like a dark roast in the package, which got me worried. I am not a huge fan of dark roasted oolongs. But brewing this up in my gaiwan, the hot water turned these nuggets of pure magic into bright green leaves, almost exploding out of the cup.
This tea is, in short, like drinking liquid gold. I am, of course, assuming that gold tastes like the best, creamiest, richest, homemade caramel you have ever tasted. The tea soup is thick and smooth. The oolong base is well-paired with the flavors of the rich caramel. The smooth floral notes of rose and lilac sing out with the sweetness of the caramel. And don’t even get me started about the aroma. It’s so good it would knock the whole town of Werther, Germany off it’s feet. (In case you did not know, Werther is the name of the town in Germany where the Werther’s caramel hard candies were named after.)
The French do a great job with flavored teas. They are gaining quite a following throughout the world. Even countries that have been producing their own classical teas have been exploding with growth in these areas. These tea boutiques provide the aesthetic that looks like wealth. Drinking French tea in an English style teapot is a fashion accessory the same way a Burberry coat and a Coach handbag displays wealth. While I do not own either, I am happy to sip my fancy French tea from my chipped gaiwan. Whenever I feel the need to be fancy, I will put on my pop-bead pearls and sips this tea daintily!
Topsy Turvy Black Tea from Disney Wonderland Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Disney World! (You can also find it on Ebay/Amazon)
Tea Description:
You’ll fall head over heels for this premium blend of black tea with a delicious citrus and fruity flavor. Hurry up before it disappears from your cup!
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
For someone who isn’t all that crazy about Earl Grey I’ve certainly been drinking a lot of it this week…
It’s about time I tried this one; my Mom was nice enough to hunt for it for me when she went to Disney last year and it took months to make it from her house back to me; and then months again for me to actually try it.
At least it not only was in a sealed tin (an absolutely gorgeous one by the way) but in a vacuum sealed foil back as well. Also, I don’t know why I thought this was Earl Grey and rose, because it’s not – maybe since the tin is covered in pink script with tons of decals of roses on it? But it doesn’t actually say rose anywhere so I should’ve known better than to assume.
Dry this smells very, very citrus heavy with more of a fresh peeled orange scent than a distinctly bergamot one. And, it actually does come off a tiny bit floral too. I prepped this as a cold brew because I thought since the orange seemed to be quite strong that it would brew up fairly sweet.
It actually does taste a little more like plain orange than bergamot, though the bergamot is significantly stronger in taste than it was in the smell. It’s kind of weird though; it doesn’t taste like the bergamot oil has turned or spoiled but it is clashing a little bit with the orange, which is more of a candy orange than a natural one and with the faint taste of floral notes, which are natural tasting, things aren’t fitting together seamlessly here.
What it ends up equating to is a fairly average Earl Grey that I think you’d find yourself drinking more for the Disney/Alice in Wonderland aspect than for the taste of the tea itself. And that’s perfectly ok because if we’re being honest here I think that’s who it’s ultimately marketed for anyway.
I’m quite happy I finally tried it though!
Pandan Chiffon Green Tea from Ette Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Ette Tea
Tea Description:
Inspired and named after a local favourite dessert cake, Pandan Chiffon is a blend of roasted green tea, pandan leaves, osmanthus blossoms and cinnamon.
It is reduced in caffeine and we recommend to drink Pandan Chiffon on its own and without sugar.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently I had the opportunity to take part in a group order from Ette Tea, a relatively new company based in Singapore. They only have six blends currently, but they all appear to be very well thought out and the range of diverse flavours is impressive. Being able to take advantage of buying smaller sample sizes was the nail in the coffin on what probably would’ve been an inevitable order anyway.
This isn’t one of the blends I was initially more excited about; but it smells very good! Quite sweet with cake like elements and a playful touch of spice. I’m definitely getting notes from the dry smell that remind me of caramel or lightly burnt sugar. Mmm! And, because this is one of the lighter blends I ended up with a lot more of it than any of the other samples so I’m taking advantage of trying this one in a different way than a lot of the people from our group order appear to have done; cold brewing! That is my go to, after all.
I’m surprised by how sweet this is; though I don’t necessarily know why. Every other run in I’ve had with ‘chiffon’, be it tea or in real life, is sweet so I should have expected as much from this even though it doesn’t have ingredients that necessarily go hand in hand with more dessert-like teas.
There’s a lot going on but it’s harmonious; I’m picking up sweeter top notes like caramel and vanilla and a pastry-like cinnamon (like cinnamon sugar, sort of) which together are reminding me of Stroopwafel! That’s definitely not what I was expecting to get from this blend but it’s wonderful. I’m also getting some light roasty notes from the hojicha, though not as dominant as I anticipated. They’re great support though and keep this tea from tasting too sweet. There’s also a sweet, starchy taste present: in part I think that’s what making me think of the “waffle” part of the stroopwafel flavour going on, but it also reminds me loosely of sweet potato.
The osmanthus is somewhere in the middle; not as strong as the sweeter notes but not as light as the roasty/potato notes either. It doesn’t tie in the the Stroopwafel thing I’ve got going on, but what it DOES do is really, really round this tea out and give it a lot of depth. My only complaint is that this left quite a bit of sediment/fannings in the bottom of my brewing vessel. But even then it’s not a huge deal with cold brews anyway.
For my first tea from Ette Tea I’m very impressed! If all the others are half as good and interesting as this one it’ll be one of the most successful tea orders I’ve ever made. Yeah, this definitely set the bar high for the others. I don’t know if that’s for better or worse. I really want to try actual Pandan Chiffon now! I don’t know if there’s anywhere in town to get it…
I need a hookup ASAP!
