Blueberry is Super Starling’s New Jam. . . Blueberry Jam from DAVIDsTea. . . . .

by SuperStarling

Are you looking for sweet, dark berries — but they aren’t in season? Or maybe they ARE in season but you don’t want to go outside? Because there are mosquitoes, mud, heat, and other people out there?

This tea is a lovely solution to that issue. This blend is mostly currants, blueberries, and elderberries. At first glance, you might think the blend is rolled into balls like an oolong, then you realize it’s berries! TONS OF BERRIES! There is black tea in this, but not much. This tea is a “1” on the David’s Tea caffeine scale, which means “Low.” (There’s “None,” “Low,” “Medium,” and “Stimulant.”) Black teas tend to be “2/Medium”, but this one has so little black tea in it that it’s a 1. This is great if black tea isn’t your jam (GET IT?) or if you need something less high in caffeine for health or time-of-day reasons.

This tea will also help you find a bridesmaid dress, if that’s what you need.

Seriously.

I bought this tea after a devastating day at the King of Prussia Mall. I’d forgotten to pack my bridesmaid dress for a wedding three hours away and was trying to find a replacement. Nearly in tears, I ducked into the KoP’s David’s Tea for a breather.

Sometimes a person just needs to stand among tea for a few minutes. Especially a David’s Tea store, which has a rainbow of pleasing colors, free things to sip, and, typically, interesting-looking employees.

Today was no exception. There was one cute nerdy girl and one badass punk girl, both of whom were lovely to behold and chat with. We talked about favorite flavors and my aversion to matcha. They let me sniff EVERYTHING. I bought this tea and Lemon Pound Cake (which I’ll also review shortly!).

Then I found a suitable bridesmaid dress replacement right after!

Was it the tea calm that gave me the inner strength to find the right dress?

YES.

PROBABLY.

So, in summary: I looked great in the dress, I like this tea, and I like the store. Win win win!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  DAVIDsTea
Description 

A fruity blend of black tea, blueberries elderberries, cornflowers and stevia.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Black Tea, DAVIDsTEA

RYCBAR by Fandom Teas. . . .

by Sensiblyscript

I’m a Doctor Who fan and, even with the information that this is an “impossible girl” inspired tea, it still took me several seconds to figure out what the name of this blend meant. Maybe my brain was just really slow today? Hopefully you can figure it out faster. 😉

I steeped two teaspoons of this tea in ten ounces of 175-degree water for three minutes.

While steeping, it starts smelling fruity right away. This is a flavored tea (raspberry-pomegranate flavored) and the tea liquid is much darker than an unflavored green tea would. That might be from the raspberry, although it’s not really pink; it’s a sort of clear and handsome brown color with a reddish tinge.

First sip: It’s definitely fruity and sweet. Pomegranate and raspberry are both quite tart fruits, but the tartness isn’t coming through too strongly here, although yes, there is quite a bit of astringency. The fruity flavors complement each other well, and the green tea base sings backup; I’m hard put to it to distinguish its flavor components separately, yet I can still tell it’s there.

With sugar: Sweeter, of course. But surprisingly, I can taste the green tea base a bit more now. The sugar tames the astringency but doesn’t really bring out the fruity flavors like I hoped/assumed it would.

I bet this one would be great as iced tea too, but wouldn’t want to try milk with it because it might be too acidic for that.

All in all a fun tea, and one that I’d like to try iced (or as cold-brew) if I ever have the chance to try it again!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Fandom Teas
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for Doctor Who teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in Fandom Teas, Green Tea

Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong by A Quarter to Tea

by Sensiblyscript
Steeping at 190 degrees for 4.5 minutes as recommended, I prepared this tea with one tablespoon of leaves and around 10 ounces of water.

The high-quality oolong leaves swell and uncurl while steeping–something I always find fascinating (in addition to comforting because I know it means I’m about to drink some excellent tea!)

Once the steeping gets going it smells strongly of chocolate and cherry, which I take as a good sign! Actually it smells almost overwhelmingly of cherry while steeping, but after steeping that abates somewhat. The cherry flavor still hits your nose first but as you keep inhaling you can dig down and find the grounding, comforting chocolate smell too. It’s rounder and creamier. and the oolong lends butteriness and a floral note to the scent.

First sip: The butteriness from the oolong and the sharper floral, also from the oolong, and the fruity cherry notes hit all at once. The chocolate flavor seems to have melded with (and mostly been superseded by) the oolong butteriness. The chocolate itself is more of an aftertaste now. And yet sometimes you can detect it mingled with one of the other flavors.
Color: the tea is dark, but brown-tinted. Mahogany, perhaps; not really chocolate-colored though.

 

With milk: the cherry and the creamy oolong flavor come to the front along with a green-tea flavor (possibly from the houjicha?), the combination of which really reminds me of a matcha latte (not a bad thing at all). It’s not too astringent this way and not at all bitter.
A Quarter to Tea has come up with a great flavored blend here, and the company has great values too; not only do they use vegan ingredients but they also avoid using gluten, and try to avoid using potential allergens as well. While this blend is fun and satisfying, chocolate is not necessarily the dominant flavor here, so it’s important to be aware of that and enjoy this tea for itself rather than feeling like you’ve been tricked into drinking a not-chocolatey-enough tea. <3

 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Oolong
Where to Buy:  A Quarter To Tea
Description

Roasty enough to appease the coffee lover in you! The blend of hojicha and oolong makes a robust, coffee like base without the jitters. Mellowed out with chicory, chocolate, and cherries.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in A Quarter To Tea, Oolong

Honey Pear Tea by Nelson’s Tea

by Sensiblyscript

Following steeping recommendations, I steeped 1 tsp of this with about a cup of water at approximately 195-200 degrees F for 3 minutes.

My first thought was that this tea smells like bee pollen, although I don’t actually have all that much experience with bee pollen, lol. But when I looked up the ingredients I discovered that bee pollen is actually one of them so I guess I was right!

It steeps up a nice golden/amber color, but interestingly cloudy. Instead of a clear amber like many teas are, it had lots of tiny specks like golden dust floating around in the depths. (That would be from the bee pollen, I guess. It’s a great special effect.) The fragrance is probably also courtesy of the bee pollen, so if you know what that smells like, just imagine that. At any rate, it doesn’t smell much like black tea when steeped (or before steeping either).

The first taste is mostly of pollen-ish honey flavor. It’s got a hint of pear but not a lot of conventional “fruity” taste. It doesn’t taste overly sweet either; I mean, it’s a bit sweet but not as sweet as I expected from something honey-flavored. It also doesn’t have an overpowering black-tea flavor.

After trying it plain I added sugar, about a teaspoon, and now it’s way too sweet for my taste. It definitely tastes of honey rather than sugar though, which is interesting given that I just put a bunch of sugar in. So then I added some milk to balance it back out again and now I’m finally catching a hint of the “black tea” flavor; still, though, it mostly just tastes of warm honey-milk and a slight fruity depth from the pear (which is quite nice but not very conspicuous; you don’t really notice it unless you’re trying).  It’s very warm and comforting and great for rainy afternoons.

So I’d say overall my impression of this tea is that it’s quite subtle (other than the cool dissolving-pollen bit). There’s a lot to appreciate if you’re willing to take your time with it. I’m thinking of steeping it up more strongly next time to see if I like it better that way or not.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Nelson’s Tea
Description

Just like biting into a sweet, succulent pear, this tea is sure to please.  Enjoy it hot or iced!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Nelson's Tea, Uncategorized

Passion Berry Jolt from Tiesta Tea. . . . .

by SuperStarling

This tea is FIERCE. It’s a black tea with super-vibrant raspberry/passionfruit flavor. The tea is robust. The flavor is spiky. The flower petals are lovely.

You know how Rihanna had that red hair for a while? And it was really hot and bright and worked on her? That is this tea. It’s like Rihanna, turned into a tea. It’s a fast-paced hip-hop album of a tea.

This tea will not mince words with you and tell you that the dress works when it does not.

This tea will not pretend to like that guy you’re dating if he’s a wasteoid.

This tea will show up when you are sick with the entire boxed set of Sex and the City and a bottle of booze. For herself. She’d stay all weekend.

This tea will stand up for you.

This tea will pay for the entire check while you’re in the restaurant bathroom.

This tea is the spunky best friend we all wish we had. In liquid form.

Give it a try.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Tiesta Tea
Description

It may look robust, but this tea is light on its feet and has grabbed raspberry for a dance partner. If you need the energy of a black tea but want that fruity flavor, cut in and give this a whirl.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Tiesta Tea