Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Loved by anyone who tries it, this tea is a must-try. There is a perfect balance between the fresh, grassy taste of a Sencha (a Japanese green tea) and the sweet tropical pineapple. Very natural & authentic fruit flavour and a buttery creaminess make this tea an example of how flavoured tea should taste! Great as a cold-steeped tea.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was really excited to find Pineapple Sencha from Den’s Tea in the March box from Amoda Tea! It’s a tea that I’ve been hearing so many positive things about on Steepster and one that I’ve had on my mental list of teas to try but one that I’ve not yet gotten around to ordering for myself. So, I’m really happy to have this opportunity now to try it.
The dry leaf looks very much like what the picture above depicts – it’s bright, jade green Japanese Sencha tea leaves with bits of dried pineapple. Some of the pieces of pineapple look a little darker – almost orange – and it almost looks like maybe that could be papaya or mango instead of pineapple. The ingredients list only Sencha, pineapple pieces and flavoring, so maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me.
But rather than actually sampling a piece of the fruit, I just poured the contents of the packet into the basket of my Breville One-Touch tea maker and added 500 ml of water to the jug and set the parameters: 170°F and 1 1/2 minutes.
This produced a very light tasting cup of tea – subtle but lovely! The pineapple is a prominent flavor but I can also taste the light, fresh notes of the Japanese Sencha: slightly grassy and with a hint of butter. There is a nice sweet and savory contrast going on between the two profiles.
And because this is a Japanese Sencha, you know I went in for a second infusion!
The second infusion is even stronger in flavor than the first was. The first was somewhat delicate and with this second infusion, the flavors have developed. The pineapple is well-defined. Sweet, juicy and very true to the fruit. There is no mistaking that this is pineapple! It doesn’t taste candied or artificial. It tastes bright! It tastes like fresh, delicious pineapple! YUM!
The Japanese Sencha adds a compelling contrast to the sweet pineapple notes. The Sencha adds a little bit of savory to the cup, balancing out the sweetness. It also offers a slightly creamy texture to the cup which is quite pleasant.
Overall, a spectacular tea – one I’m really happy that Amoda Tea chose for this month’s box! Thank you, Amoda!
Honey Citrus Raspberry Green Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
M&K’s own unique blend! We take Chinese green teas, blend them with three citrus fruits, licorice root roasted in honey, and actual raspberries! Not too fruity, not too simple, it’s a perfect blend of green tea and fruit. We use local honey from California beekeepers and local California orange peel.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After having tried quite a few different teas from M&K’s Tea Company, I must admit that this one isn’t my favorite. And I thought it would be one I like quite a bit because the name offers quite a bit of promise! Citrus, Honey and Raspberry flavors in a Green Tea? Yes, please!
But the execution is a little off for me and I can’t really pinpoint it yet, so maybe in the process of writing this review, I can figure it out.
To brew this tea, I measured 1 bamboo scoop of the loose leaf tea into the basket of my Kati Tumbler. Then I added 12 ounces of 175°F water and let the tea steep for 2 minutes.
The green tea base is pleasant: it’s a combination of two Chinese green teas: gunpowder and Huangshan Maofeng. Together they give the tea an enjoyable texture – soft and creamy – and a smooth, lightly buttery taste with hints of smoke and vegetation.
The citrus note is subtle to this and most discernible when the tea is slurped (this helps aerate the liquid on the palate and it “enlivens” the flavors for your palate). I taste tart and tangy notes of citrus with a light sweetness of the honey. I also get a hint of bitter from the citrus peel.
Then I pick up on the sweet notes of licorice. Because the licorice root has been roasted in honey, the flavor of the licorice has been softened – I’m not getting that sharpness that I often get from licorice root. I think that this works for this particular blend because if the licorice root hadn’t been softened somewhat, it might have taken over the blend and we’d have Licorice Citrus Raspberry Green Tea instead of Honey Citrus Raspberry Green Tea.
Instead the licorice just adds a hint of almost candy-like sweetness to the cup that I actually enjoy. It might be my favorite thing about this particular blend
The raspberry is also quite subtle and I think that is what I’m thinking is off. I feel like I’m tasting more hibiscus and raspberry leaf to accentuate the raspberry than I’m actually tasting raspberry and that’s unfortunate.
So, there you have it, I’ve pinpointed my issue with this tea: I’d like the flavors of citrus and raspberry to be a little more prominent in the blend. I do like that the green tea is a dominant flavor here and I like the little contrast that the licorice root adds, but I think that because this tea is called Honey Citrus Raspberry Green Tea that I’m wanting a little more focus on the citrus and berry notes.
It’s not a bad tea but it’s not as great as I thought it would be. I’ve enjoyed many of M&K’s blends though, so I won’t hold this against them, because while it’s not my favorite tea that I’ve had from them, it’s tasty. It’s good, just not as great as some of the other M&K’s experiences that I’ve had.
Prickly Pear Black Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Tea Description:
Prickly Pear is a cactus fruit native to Mexico and the Southwest Desert of the United States. Its succulent flavor compliments our Indian black Nilgiri tea to create an astoundingly rich and delicious regional tea. This tea serves wonderfully hot and creates a beautiful iced tea to sip on those warm, Southwestern afternoons.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
I received this Prickly Pear Black Tea from Simple Loose Leaf some time ago but I put off reviewing it in favor of the teas in their subscription program. As I was going through my stash of teas, I found the unopened, still sealed package of tea so I decided that NOW was the time! I apologize to Simple Loose Leaf for the length of time it took me to get to reviewing this tea!
And now that I’m tasting this tea, I’m really sorry that I put off trying it until now – this is fabulous!
There’s a really pleasing balance between tart, savory and sweet. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a prickly pear tastes like, it has a sweet-tart taste that reminds me of a raspberry. More accurately, it tastes like a combination of raspberry and melon, so it’s a little sweeter than a typical raspberry and a little more tart than a typical melon. And this tea has captured the flavor of prickly pear quite well!
The sip starts out sweet and fruity. As the sip progresses to mid-sip, I pick up on some of the robust flavors of the Nilgiri black tea base. It’s a sweet, malty tasting tea. It’s smooth with very little astringency, and what astringency I do experience at the tail plays really well with the tartier notes of the prickly pear flavor. It’s not bitter. It has an invigorating quality to it but it’s not overly aggressive.
As the sip approaches the finish, I taste more of the sweetness of the cactus fruit. At the finish, I get some of the tart notes. The aftertaste is tart and tingly, sort of like what I’d experience if I ate a raspberry: that tingly sensation on the tongue.
As the above description suggests, this tea tastes great served hot or cold. I had a glass of it over ice with dinner and found it very refreshing and thirst quenching. For a mid-day cup of tea, I enjoyed this hot and found that the flavor was much more defined served hot. So for a more pronounced flavor, serve it hot – for a sweet, delightful glass of refreshment, serve it iced!
This is a tea that Simple Loose Leaf isn’t carrying at the moment, I do hope they’ll bring it back because I’d love for my readers to get an opportunity to try it! It’s really tasty!
Red Grey Tisane from Pipers Loose Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Roiboos
Where to Buy: Pipers Loose Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
A caffeine free version of Earl Grey using the finest Rooibos enhanced with organic Sicilian bergamot oil resulting in an absolutely delicious rich, flowery tea with bright citrus notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve sampled some decent tasting Earl Grey inspired rooibos blends and some not so decent tasting Earl Grey inspired rooibos blends, and I think I’ve probably tried more not so decent ones than decent. So when it comes to trying one that I haven’t yet tasted, I tend to be a little hesitant because the memories of the not so decent ones outweigh the decent ones.
So, I was a little hesitant to try this Red Grey Tisane from Pipers Loose Leaf Tea – but fortunately, this tea surpassed my expectations. This is really quite good!
The sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos complements the bright citrus notes of the bergamot really well. The bergamot is not overdone and I think it’s important to note that because with bergamot, when overdone, it can end up tasting soapy. Here, there is just enough bergamot flavor to add a tangy-sweet flavor to the cup without it tasting soap-ish.
And while I’m not often a fan of the flavor of rooibos, I like the way the nutty flavors go with the bergamot. The earthy flavor of the rooibos balances out that zesty flavor of the bergamot nicely. Hints of flower add some dimension to the tea.
Overall, a very pleasant cuppa.
California Sweet Peach Herbal Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Sweet orange peel roasted in honey, real grade-A Madagascar vanilla beans, actual peaches! California Sweet Peach is our signature herbal infusion. We are proud to roast our own orange peel in local honey and use peaches straight from California! Our natural peach flavor is supplied by Silver Cloud Estates and is a blend of different natural extracts and oils, enabling us to boost the taste of peaches. This blend is part of the Original 20 M&K’s Blends. Note: California Sweet Peach contains no tea, as it is an herbal infusion. We chose to include the term “herbal tea” in the title due to its categorical popularity.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This California Sweet Peach Herbal Tea from M&K’s Tea Company is an interesting tisane. As I sit here, sipping it, I’m trying to determine whether or not I like it. I can’t say that immediately upon taking my first few sips that I was blown away by it. At the same time, I can’t say that immediately upon taking my first few sips that I wasn’t intrigued. I felt the need to keep on sipping. It’s interesting enough to keep me sipping but there’s something about it that hasn’t yet ‘won me over’ – at least not yet.
I like that the hibiscus is not a strong presence in this cup. Normally, when I am about to taste a tea or tisane with hibiscus, my thought is “why?” Why hibiscus? But, after drinking about half a cup now, I can see why the hibiscus is in this blend. It adds a little bit of body to the cup (but I wouldn’t recommend steeping it longer than 6 minutes or so to avoid having a thick or syrupy body) and the little bit of tartness that it brings to the cup adds balance to the warm notes of the licorice and the sweetness of the peach, honey and vanilla notes.
The star of this cup is – obviously – the peach. I like the flavor of the peach here and I think that’s what’s keeping my interest. The peach is a genuine peach-y note. It doesn’t taste chemical or artificial. It tastes true to the fruit. I also like the orange in this. The orange adds a touch of bright flavor to the sweet peach notes.
Now that I’ve finished the cup I can say that I enjoyed this. It had a strong peach flavor but there was enough other stuff going on in this that it didn’t end up being all about the peach. I liked the different flavors going on. And even though this does have hibiscus in it – like so many other fruit/herbal tisanes to – this is not your ordinary tisane.
Just as an aside: it’s something when I finish the tea before I finish the review. Take that for what it’s worth, but it doesn’t happen often. I must have enjoyed what I was drinking!
Yeah. I’d drink this again. I enjoyed it. This one has earned my approval. Even if it does have hibiscus in it!