Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Green
Where to Buy: Adagio
Tea Description:
You’ll lose your head over your loyalty to this kingly brew!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
WARNING: POTENTIAL GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS
(But really this is season one so if you’re not aware of this you might be living under a rock…)
I have to say, I’m quite happy I watched enough GoT to understand the character reference here! I’ve really only seen the first two seasons and part of the third. I think the ingredients picked out by this blender are pretty well thought out too; though I do think there might just be a bit more “Fire” than “Ice” – although to be fair there certainly are a lot of very visable candy cane pieces in the dry leaf. Aun-Juli Riddle is a pretty good blender; in particular her Doctor Who blends tend to be pretty good and well thought out.
This is essentially a Chai, though an unconventional one, so I wasn’t the most excited about this blend because I’m not a Chai fan myself, but it came out pretty tasty! The clove is easily the strongest flavour here, and since that’s the one ‘conventional’ Chai spice that I personally feel you can never have too much of that works very well in my favor.
The rest of the flavour is pretty nice too; there’s an even dispersal of ginger, cardamom and cinnamon with just the faintest little touch of smoke from the Lapsang. It’s not enough smoke for people who are fearful of Lapsang to be worried about, though. The candy cane isn’t as strong as I expected given how much I could see in the leaf and the fact that this is inspired by Ned Stark which obviously ties into the whole “Winter Is Coming”/Ice thing. It is present, but subtly so and it’s more acting as a sweetener than really contributing any strong mint flavour. The finish is a little bit peppery, with maybe a touch too much cardamom.
Overall I think this is better than most Adagio fan blends though; they tend to get pretty muddled because blenders pick out ingredients that are either too similar so there’s no contrast or playing off one another or they pick ingredients that fit the ‘character’ but clash with one another/don’t compliment each flavour. This kind of avoids that for the most part, while still being fairly thoughtful.
I definitely wanted more “ice” – but maybe it’s poetic irony that the “fire” was the most dominant thing…
Lemongrass & Ginger from Chiang Rai Tea House
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Chiang Rai Tea House
Tea Description:
Two excellent herbs, not only for their health benefits, but for their intense flavor and aroma, come together as the ideal hot beverage for when you feel under the weather. The spiciness of ginger, combined with the lemony taste of lemongrass, makes this a zesty combination that is guaranteed to make you feel good almost immediately! And, of course, both are organically grown.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not generally excited when it comes to trying a tisane. Oh, I like most tisanes alright but if given a choice between a tisane or something with Camellia Sinensis in it, I’m going to choose the tea every time.
But there are times when I reach for a tisane, particularly later in the day/evening when I want to reduce the amount of caffeine I’m consuming. And since it is evening now, I started sorting through my stash of teas and tisanes until I came across this Lemongrass & Ginger from Chiang Rai Tea House. I decided that this would be my caffeine free choice for this evening.
The aroma wafting from my teacup right now is intriguing. I smell very faint notes of citrus and notes of ginger, but I also smell a distinct note of pepper. Black pepper, to be precise. It smells as though someone had freshly ground some pepper in my teacup. Not a fragrance I expected from this tisane!
I don’t actually taste black pepper, but I definitely smell it. I smell it so distinctly that it gave me cause to check the ingredients:
Ingredients: 100% Organic Lemongrass and Organic Ginger.
No pepper. Now, granted, ginger does have a peppery note to it, but I usually taste more of a peppery note than smell it.
But as I said, I’m not tasting a strong peppery taste. What I taste is what the label promises: I taste lemongrass and I taste ginger. I like the way these two ingredients are balanced.
The ginger is warm and zesty. The ginger has not been overdone here – I don’t feel too much heat on my palate or in my throat as I drink it. It’s gently warming, but not hot or spicy.
The lemongrass is soft, sweet and delicately citrus-y. Not tart but there is a hint of tangy to this. It reminds me a bit of the lemon-lime taste you might experience if you were to be drinking a lemon-lime soda – but without the sugary sweetness. There is a smooth, lightly buttery/creamy flavor to it and I really enjoy how the lightly sweet, creamy citrus notes meld with the lively ginger notes.
The combination is a simple one: ginger and lemongrass. But it’s really tasty!
Ginger Peach from theBeesTeas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black Tea & Rooibos
Where to Buy: theBeesTeas
Tea Description:
Black tea and peach red rooibos blended with ginger root, peach, and apricot. Ginger is known to help with stomach ailments, and act as a great digestive aid, It’s also great for helping to ward off illnesses such as colds, as it can aid the body in eliminating toxins in the body. This is a warming blend in the Winter as a hot tea, and a refreshing blend in the Summer as an iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As much as I try to like teas that have red rooibos in them, that weird medicinal flavor just destroys teas for me. I really wish I liked them. There are some amazing sounding teas that sound so good and then I see that they have red rooibos in them and its all over for me. Green rooibos on the other hand is fantastic.
I steeped this one up in my One Touch Breville (212F-2 scoops-2 cups of water) and was excited to try this one hoping I could see past the red roobios. Unfortunately that isn’t the case.
The ginger and peach are the front flavors that you taste and smell when you first start to sip. But that after taste is that weird red rooibos flavor that I just can’t get past. I was really hoping that the peach, ginger, and apricot flavors would mask the red rooibos. Sadly. . no. The flavors that you taste are really good. This tea without the red rooibos blended in, I think, would be amazing and very good. There are no hints of articial-ness with this one and everything tastes fresh and tasty.
If you like red rooibos and a ginger style tea with a touch of fruit, I could see this being a winner for some. It just wasn’t the case for me. Can’t like ’em all.
Ginger Apple Swirl Tea from Pooki’s Mahi
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Rooibos.
Where to Buy: Pooki’s Mahi
Tea Description:
The latest craze in cocktails inspired the infusion of real fruit, herbs, and flowers with tea. Pooki’s Mahi Ginger Apple Swirl martini is a light and delicious tea cocktail. The novo martea’ni is fresh on the palate blending green rooibos, cinnamon, ginger, and Yunwu into a sweet “bomb.” Apple bits contribute a zesty tart green apple flavor while cornflowers eases sweetness without losing the crisp finish. Pooki’s Mahi Ginger Apple Swirl is one libation no one should miss after a hard day at the office.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Since starting with the SororiTea Sisters, I have been trying to make myself try teas that I normally wouldn’t. Ginger and I have not always been friends and it is in so many teas. It limits what I have tried in the past. I think my tastes are starting to change though. I have been finding teas with ginger that I’m finding myself starting to crave. This is one of them.
I stumbled upon this company on Amazon the other day. I had never even heard of them. From what I’m learning, this company is mainly into coffee or that is the first reaction you get when you check out their home page. They have quite a nice line up of single serve coffee blends that I will probably pick up for my boyfriend (who is addicted to our Keurig).
After gandering the coffee selection a bit, I hopped over to the tea selection. Wow, they have quite a selection. It looks like they even have some award winning teas. Unfortunately a lot of these teas have red rooibos in them. So I was happy when I found the Ginger Apple Swirl that had green rooibos in it. (We seriously need a green rooibos revolution!) This instantly went into my cart.
Upon opening the package, the tea smells just like apple cider. Like the kind you get at our local orchard. I steeped up the tea per the instructions on the package but I did put in an 2 extra tsps. I knew I wanted this iced. After the tea finished steeping for 3 minutes, I dumped the tea into a big cup of ice. The smell of this tea steeping just screamed Apple Cider.
Took my first sip, yep. Apple Cider tasting as well! Very good. All of the flavors play together nicely and create the taste you would want after smelling the tea. The apple flavoring is the main flavor with the ginger following suit. A tea that tastes exactly like it smells and the name. I was very pleased. I know this is more of a fall flavor, but the flavors are so bright and crisp, I’ll be drinking this one all the time. The only down side is that it is pricey if you go through the website. Amazon seemed to have cheaper prices so I’ll have to stock up here and there when I see a sale.
After looking at the site some more, I noticed that this is a tea you are supposed to use to make a cocktail. This would be amazing made up like a martini or add in some flavored vodka.
I know what I’ll be drinking later tonight.
Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Description:
Naturally caffeine free, the Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tea is a refreshing and invigorating infusion that balances the lemon and ginger flavours.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Do you ever go through that moment when – as you’re brewing a cup of tea – you think to yourself: what was I thinking, choosing this tea? I actually go through that sort of moment more than I care to admit to.
And I experienced that moment as I was brewing this Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas. I mean, I like lemon and I like ginger and I actually enjoy the two together quite a bit. But ginseng? I think I’ve mentioned more than once here on this blog that I’m not a fan of it. So, what possessed me to grab this tea to try it?
I don’t know. But, now that it’s brewed, I might as well try it, right?
I brewed one bag in 6 ounces of hot water (195°F) for 5 minutes.
The aroma offers a strong lemony note with hints of ginger. I also detect an earthy ginseng aroma. Ugh.
Fortunately, the ginseng smells stronger than it tastes! Happy day!
The lemon is the strongest flavor of the cup and it’s bright and invigorating. It’s not overly tart, it’s more of a sweet lemon note with hints of tangy. But I’m not puckering here.
The ginger is somewhat subdued, it’s not an overly peppered flavor from the spice of the ginger. It’s warm enough to offer some contrast to the zesty flavor of the lemon but not so spicy that it distracts from the lemon. This cup is really all about the lemon!
I can also taste the slightest hint of a cinnamon-y flavor to this. It’s very slight and it complements the ginger in a very enjoyable way.
What I don’t taste a lot of – thankfully – is ginseng. Even when I attempt to focus on the ginseng flavor to determine how much of it I actually do taste, I don’t taste a lot. A slight earthiness – that’s it! And the earthy notes meld favorably with the earthy notes of the ginger and cinnamon.
It really is as I said earlier, this tea is really all about the lemon. This would be something nice to keep on hand for those times when you’re feeling a bit under the weather and want something lively to sip. It would go nicely with a dollop of honey and would be soothing on a sore throat.
It’d also be nice if you’re cold-brewing some basic black tea – add one of these tea bags in along with the black tea and you’ll have a pleasant lemony flavor to your iced tea.
Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by this tea!