Sip Downs. . . They always make me feel like I’m being productive with my tea stash. It seems like all of a sudden I turn around and my tea has doubled in size. For some time now I’ve been on a buying hiatus but it seems like my stash just doesn’t seem to be dwindling. I have a lot of really great teas in my stash but I just haven’t been paying much attention to them unfortunately. Something I’m about to change.
So today, I said goodbye to one of my all time favorite A Quarter To Tea blends. . .Lychee Daisy!
Lychee Daisy is a vibrant green tea blend that gives you all the candied floral feels you could ask for. . . and then a bit more. This green tea blend is sweet with a romantic floral tone that really doesn’t steer you wrong. Brewed up as a hot tea or a cold brew, the flavor always stays on point and never lets you down.
The tea starts off with this touch of astringency from the green tea and the sweet kick from the sprinkles. Then as the sip develops, you get more of the floral flavors taking over (from the jasmine buds and rosebuds) which translates marvelously into a candied floral finish.
What really elevated the tea was taking a touch of a sparkling flavored peach water and topping my cold brew off. Really delicious, refreshing, and the perfect way to welcome in the spring like weather we currently have coming in.
For me being a green tea and floral fan, this tea is where its all about. Simple yet oh so lovely and tasty. I’m sad that I’m savoring the last little bits of this tea. I will be sad to see it go but A Quarter To Tea always has fun and unique blends to try. Once I’ve drank down more of my stash, I’ll be placing a good size order to see what new blends A Quarter To Tea has made lately.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below to learn more about A Quarter To Tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Love In The Afternoon from Kipers Lil Tea Shop. . .
Well, I should have taken the name of this tea a bit more literally! I saw on the website that they have many movie themed blends, but I didn’t realize just how accurately they try to blend the tea to match the name!
I will list the ingredients of this tea for you here, as it is not available at present on their website. This blend contains green tea, peppermint leaf, spearmint leaf, calendula, cinnamon, and catuaba bark. All of these ingredients were familiar to me save one – the last one. Naturally I did a google search to find out more about this ingredient. Oh me oh my! It is widely used as an aphrodisiac, a treatment for low libido in males, and for neuralgia, including neuralgia following shingles. (Good to know should I ever meet up with that malady.)
So, literally this tea is trying to enhance your “Love In The Afternoon.” All righty then!
Since I will only be drinking one to two cups of this tea, I do not expect to have any medical reports for you, but I can report on the taste of the tea!
The dominant aroma was spearmint, which suits me because I prefer it to peppermint which is actually listed before spearmint on the package.
As for the taste…the mint is actually a little more muted than I would like. The green base was not terribly distinctive, the mint flavor was milder than a Moroccan mint, for instance, and I couldn’t taste the cinnamon at all. I have no idea what catuaba bark tastes like but either it or the green base was lending a light metallic aftertaste.
It wasn’t bad but it isn’t something I would seek out unless I was looking for the herbal benefits rather than just taste. If you love mint tea and want something that isn’t screaming in your face level mint, it might be a good tea for you!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Kipers Lil Tea Shop
Description
This blend is not listed on the website but click below for teas that are!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Farmer’s Market Strawberry from Farmhouse Teas. . . .
Farmhouse Teas aka St Fiacre’s Farm Teas are among some of my favorites. These teas are hand crafted and created with such love that you can literally taste the care in each sip. I have been a fan of their teas for some time and belong to their monthly tea club.
Last month I received a sample of Farmer’s Market Strawberry along with my other goodies. So far I have devoured the majority of the teas I’ve received from the Farmhouse Teas lineup and I couldn’t wait to try this one.
Brewed up my water at 180 and allowed the tea to steep for about three minutes. The moment this tea started brewing you can smell the strawberries and a few of the other inclusions. This tea blend consists of sencha green tea, strawberry leaf, rosehips, hibiscus, licorice root, lemon peel, rose petals and strawberries. The look of this tea is just stunning and I was hoping the tea would taste as amazing as it looks.
Unfortunately for me, I think this tea has a bit more licorice root than I care for. The rest of the tea is simply divine- green tea, strawberry, hibiscus, rose petals, etc but there is this bite that I keep getting and I have a feeling it is coming from the licorice root. Normally licorice root doesn’t bother me too much but I think in this instant since the other flavors are delicate and tart, the licorice root is just shining.
If the licorice root wasn’t so dominant, this tea would be out of this world amazing. The sweet and tart flavors play very well and provide this happy brew that just leaves you smiling. I’m wondering if the licorice root was replaced with marshmallow root if I would like the blend more.
Regardless, I’m super happy I was able to try this blend and hope to try more Farmhouse Teas soon. I’m eagerly awaiting my March package of tea goodies!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Farmhouse Teas
Description
Welcome to our FarmHouse Teas line! Earthy Sencha Green Tea paired with Oregon Strawberries straight from the local farmer’s market! This is the tastiest way to enjoy Oregon strawberries year around. This tea offers light strawberry notes followed by a hint of citrus. Great brewed hot but perfect for summer time iced tea brewing as well.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 9-Spoilers!
Day 9!
The 12 Teas of Christmas are counting down! Day 9’s blend is Chestnut Praline Green tea. This tea is the epitome of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Tightly rolled green tea leaves bring a bit of smoke and a bit of natural nuttiness to form the base of this blend.
The forward flavors are all brown butter and roasted chestnuts. This tea reminds me of every old-fashioned candy that tastes best this time of year, like toffee or butterscotch. Using a green tea base lets more of the nuttiness come to the forefront, instead of competing with a bold black tea.
This tea is smooth yet crispy, with warming notes and a hint of saltiness that makes you think of peanut brittle. If you can’t eat these old-fashioned desserts, just brew a cup of this tea blend instead.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
For our Ninth Tea in our Holiday countdown, I created this tea – inspired by the newest member of our family, Jimmy! I asked him for some ideas for a Christmas tea and he listed off a bunch of different flavor ideas, and two of those flavors were Chestnuts and Pralines – I’ve not done a Praline tea yet and I also didn’t have any chestnut teas planned for the season, so I thought it would be perfect to combine the two.
And YUM! This is a delightful flavor combination!
I started with a blend of organic Chun Mee and Gunpowder green teas. I added chestnut and praline essences (don’t worry – this is nut free!) and a little bit of cinnamon for some seasonal warmth. Then I tossed in some calendula petals for a little color to the blend.
This is sweet, smooth and nutty and deliciously holiday-ish!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Spa from Tea Vibes. . .
A few months ago, I found myself stuck in on a plane in Detroit due to a wicked thunderstorm. The delay caused myself and basically the rest of the plane to miss our connecting flights. There was a silver lining though, while on the plane I met this incredibly interesting lady who was a podcaster and we started talking about the blogs, podcasting and all sorts of geeky subjects. Of course the conversation turned to tea and she told me about an interesting tea company that she had recently been introduced to via her podcast. Fast forward a few months, that same tea company reached out for SororiTea Sisters to review their teas. I was ecstatic!
The first tea I tried was literally the first tea I grabbed from the sample pack. Spa- a blend of green tea, mint, cucumber, and citrus vibes. This tea called to me in many different ways and I will admit, I’m a sucker for a cool crisp mint cucumber tea. Of course as soon as I parceled out my sample from the pouch and into my tea pot, I had to stick my nose right in and take a big whiff. I was instantly enamored with the gorgeous pops of citrus cucumber aromas with a minty undertone. No lie, my kettle couldn’t prep the water fast enough. Brewed with water right under boiling and allowed to brew for right around 3 minutes, I took my first sip and I’m not going to lie, my heart sank a little.
Though I could get these bright pops of citrus, cucumber, mint, green tea. . . I also tasted stevia. Unfortunately, I am not one that enjoys stevia in my tea and usually have found that stevia over takes the tea in general and I’m sad to say that is what has happened with this blend. Being one that typically doesn’t add any kind of sweetener to her tea, I went to Tea Vibes site and noticed that this blend did in fact have stevia. Not a bad thing and there are some blends that stevia does seem to work, but for me this wasn’t one of those blends.
But I will say, thru the stevia, I can taste these awesome flavors that scream relax vibes with authority. So if you are one that doesn’t mind stevia in their tea, I highly highly encourage you to check out this blend. Their site is so appealing and their packaging is different than what I have been seeing for other companies, along with the unique palm tree being built into their logo. So even tho this one go may not have been for me, I’m excited to dig thru the rest of the samples Tea Vibes sent us to see if I can find a tea that is more to my taste buds.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Vibes
Description
An invigorating loose-leaf green tea infused with mint, cucumber and citrus vibes. Add one of our infuser accessories to complete your Vibe.
Ingredients: organic green tea, peppermint, green tea, cucumber, lime pieces, lemon peel, lime juice, flavors, stevia, lemon myrtle, lemon juice, sea salt, citric acid, malic acid. Blended in a facility that processes nuts (coconut). Vegan.