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!
Organic Tea Flowers from The Tao of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Tea Flowers
Where to Buy: The Tao of Tea
Tea Description:
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) flowers once a year in Fall. This is the time just before the plant produces seeds and goes into winter hibernation.
Yunnan Tea Flowers
These 100% organic tea flowers are from the southern Yunnan province of China and harvested from old growth tea trees indigenous to the area. The native peoples of this region are among the few tea-growing cultures with a history of tea flower harvesting.Jing Mai Tea Forest
Jing Mai Mountain is home to one of the largest Old Growth Tea Forests in southern Yunnan. The area has been called a Tea Forest Museum with trees ranging from 800 to 1200 years old.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Even though I’m categorizing these Organic Tea Flowers from The Tao of Tea as a “fruit/herbal tisane” … it’s actually a product from the Camellia Sinensis plant. And while I do not consider myself to be a caffeine expert when it comes to tea (or any food product, for that matter), I think that because it does come from the tea plant, the flower does have some caffeine in it … probably not very much, but some.
But, I’m not finding it to be very stimulating, which is good because I’m drinking it rather late at night. It’s actually quite soothing. I love the pollen-y taste of this, it is sweet, almost honey-esque with nectar-like tones. It has a smooth taste and feel to it. It has some earthy tones, and some delightful floral notes. It’s light and easy to drink.
I like that it has a natural sweetness to it, making it an enjoyable, sweet relaxing beverage to drink later in the day when I want something that tastes a little bit sweet but I don’t want something that will make me feel guilty later. With this, I can have something sweet without that guilt … and without too much caffeine to keep me awake all night!
At the time of this writing, I see that Tao of Tea is currently out of stock of this product … I hope they get it back in soon … because the flowers age well (like a pu-erh) it is something I’d like to keep on hand and I won’t have to worry about it becoming stale.
Honeysuckle White Tea from Phoenix Herb Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Phoenix Herb Company
Tea Description:
In China, there are over 100 species of wild Honeysuckle. highly prized for its medicinal vale, Honeysuckle is used in China and Europe to cool the body, alleviate headaches, sooth sore throats and contains anti-inflammatory properties. This tea is lovingly made with “White Peony King” White tea and combined with wild honeysuckle blossoms for an enchanting cup of tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Honeysuckle White Tea from Phoenix Herb Company is sweet perfection. Sourced from Shang Tea, one of my favorite tea companies, Honeysuckle White is sweet, relaxing, lovely, scented, and buttery. There is almost this milky mouthfeel to it. Its an enchanting tea. The color is gorgeous! A very light vegetal flavor comes out in the after taste. It is also slightly nutty but each steep brings forth different notes. The vegetal flavor mixed with the buttery milky flavor remind me of buttered green beans. Yes I put butter on my green beans, don’t you? Honeysuckle White is pure ecstasy. That is if your idea of ecstasy is a creamy mouthfeel, sweet florals, buttery light vegetal flavors, and an undertone of nuttiness.
When I was a kid there were a lot of honeysuckle bushes around my neighborhood. You could pick the blooms of the honeysuckle bush and pull out the middle section, the stamen I believe, and there would be this shiny wet dew on the stem of the stamen. This was honeysuckle sap. It was sweet and delicious just like this tea but a natural sweetness of course, no where near as sweet or sappy as honey. This tea evokes those memories for me. A time very early in my youth that followed me into my own children’s youth as they too would learn the secret of the honeysuckle bush! I love a tea that can evoke a memory.
This tea is soothing, calming, almost meditative. The color is so beautiful – a bright sunny golden amber. The aroma makes the eyes open brightly with the lovely smell of honeysuckle blossoms, then the eyes shut with a soothing Ahhhhhh feeling of release. Since this tea is made with the White Peony King tea base you will pick up subtle nuisances of fruity undertones in later steepings.
This tea is a forgiving tea in the sense that you can play around with brew times if you wish to have your tea a bit stronger or a bit lighter. I steep mine for a good 3 to 4 minutes on the first steep and 5 or more on the following steeps, yet you can go as little as 1 to 2 minutes and still get a lovely flavor. Note the directions to bring water to a boil, then let rest one minute before immersing leaves to steep. You will find this tea can easily be steeped 3 to 4 times and still give a high quality enjoyable flavor palate for your palate!
This playful tea has the quality to be snobbish yet lets everyone enjoy its bounty, at 8.15 USD per ounce which I consider a fair price for such a lovely tea. Every time I enjoy this tea I will think of the years past, running around my neighborhood, picking honeysuckle and lapping up the sweet nectar of life and remembering times doing the same with my own little saplings!
Thé des Moines from Le Palais des Thés
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Le Palais des Thés
Tea Description:
An ancient legend tells of how the Tibetan monks would prepare this blend of tea, plants and flowers in the greatest of secrecy. After several days of soaking, the leaves were carefully plucked out and put to one side. By this mysterious alchemy, the monks turned the tea into gold and gave it its exceptional scent.
Black and green tea blend.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
With my first few sips of this The des Moines from Le Palais des Thés, I kept trying to figure out what that familiar flavor was. It tasted kind of like bubble gum, with notes that are reminiscent of grenadine, and hints of citrus, vanilla and jasmine. Then I thought … this is like a Monk’s Blend!
Then I read the description (above) and it would seem that it is indeed a Monk’s Blend, but with one significant difference … the base of this tea is composed of not just black tea leaves, but also green tea leaves. Recognizing the green tea leaves before I brewed the tea, I decided to brew this at a lower temperature than was recommended on the packaging (I went with 185°F instead of the recommended 205°F) and brewed it for 2 1/2 minutes.
And I like the difference that the green tea brings to this cup. The base is lighter and crisper than the usually stronger, slightly more astringent taste that I might experience from a typical Monk’s Blend. And this allows me to explore the floral and fruity notes just a little more. This tastes more bubblegum-y to me, sweet and juicy and tasty … evoking thoughts of childhood … but without having the sugary gum stuck to my teeth!
I recommend tasting this tea before sweetening … I found it to be plenty sweet without any sweetener, and I think if I had added anything it would have ended up being way too sweet! This is really quite enjoyable as is.
A very pleasant Monk’s Blend type tea … but with a nice twist!
Osmanthus Oolong Tea from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Osmanthus Oolong combines high quality Jin Xuan variety loose leaf tea with fresh osmanthus flowers to produce a most spectacular tea. Handmade and scented using only natural methods this is an example of an aromatic tea that tastes as good as it smells.
Learn more about this Oolong tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tried a few Osmanthus Oolong teas … but I think that this one from Driftwood Tea might just be the best one I’ve tried thus far! It is sweet, creamy and absolutely DREAMY!
The dry leaf is very aromatic, and just opening the pouch fills the nostrils with a delightful fragrance that is part fresh cream, part flower, and part sweet fruit! Once brewed, the tea smells sweet, with floral notes and a scent that reminds me vaguely of a milky Oolong. The fruity aroma is less apparent in the brewed tea than it is with the dry leaf.
The flavor … oh the flavor is amazing. Ahh-MAZ-ing! It is sweet but not cloying. No bitterness whatsoever. Smooth and supple mouthfeel, with a slight astringency toward the finish. The aftertaste, I taste a floral note, but during the sip, I taste mostly fruit and cream, with mere hints of flower. It’s very much like peaches and cream, and yes, I find myself in agreement with my sister Azzrian, there is a similarity to White Rabbit candies. Imagine those candies with a sweet peach … you would have what I’m tasting here.
But what I love is that even though this tea tastes of candy and sweet, luscious fruit, it doesn’t get sickly sweet on the palate. The faint astringent note at the tail cleanses the palate … so the aftertaste doesn’t taste overly sweet, and my mouth feels ready for another sip!
This tea is pure enjoyment … something that I could easily drink on a regular basis … YES please! An absolute pleasure to sip! And be sure to take this one through its infusions … I got six very flavorful infusions from one measurement of leaves.