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!
Beards Hollow from Beach House Teas. . . .
Every time I saw this tea in my stash I would think of Gilmore Girls. I don’t know why because Gilmore Girls takes place in Stars Hollow and this is Beards Hollow. So out of curiosity I looked up Beards Hollow and it seems to be a national park which fits much better with the flavors of this tea than the little town of Stars Hollow does.
Comprised of organic lapsang souchong tea, organic blackberry leaf, wild forged hemlock needles, organic juniper berries and organic pure extract the tea has a very earthy quality. It is a touch sweet from the berries and a lot smokey from the lapsang. Like memories of a campfire in the woods. Plus, the hemlock needles give it a really woodsiness to help sell that concept.
This is not the type of tea I usually reach for since I more go for fruity or sweet or dessert-like teas. This is not that and though it is nice to change it up every now and then, I don’t think I personally will reach for this. With that said, for those that enjoy the more herbaceous/woody teas, this has a great balance of flavors and could be a good choice.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description
This tea appears to no longer be available from Beach House Teas but click below for other black tea blends that are!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Poppyseed Muffin from A Quarter To Tea. . . .
“Malty rolled Yunnan tea with sweet lemon pastry and a vanilla glaze”. With a description like that, I was drooling long before I cut open the package to get into the Lemon Poppyseed Muffin Tea in A Quarter to Tea’s teabox. Easily one of the most underrated muffins, people don’t think much about the Lemon Poppyseed flavor until its put in front of them. And yet it’s always a pleasure when you have it so I was definitely intrigued to say the least.
I opened the package and was immediately enveloped in the smell of lemon poppyseed muffins. Bright and fresh yet also a touch sweet…and that’s just the scent of the dry leaf.
Upon my first taste, I’m impressed more than anything at how this captured “muffin”. It’s not baked goods. It’s not pastry. Somehow this is 100% a distinctly muffin tea. Not just any muffin either. It’s a fresh baked lemon poppyseed muffin, just out of the oven on a Sunday morning. The black tea is the perfect bready base while the lemon is soft and sweet. Somehow even the mouthfeel is thick enough (without being overwhelming) to sell the concept of “lemon poppyseed muffin”. Plus, the touch of vanilla is the icing on top of the cake…well, muffin. Smooth and gently creamy.
Honestly, this tea so accurately captures its namesake that I am half expecting to have to pick poppyseeds out of my teeth later. While some lemon teas can border on the edge of cleaning products, this manages to keep everything so perfectly balanced. It is a blast from the past and yet it’s making for one tasty present. Yum!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
This tea is sold out but more information can be found below.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bananas! from 52Teas. . . .
Banana is a flavor that 52 Teas does well. Very well. So when I saw they had a new banana tea, Bananas!, I was itching to buy it. Lucky for me I did not have to since I won a Steepster giveaway and got this tasty sounding tea in a subscription box. Thank you, 52 Teas!
I brewed up this black tea per the recommended steeping parameters, 3 minutes at 200F. I let it cool as I read the ingredients and wrote a yelp review about a burger joint I tried the other day. The ingredient list is short and simple: single estate black tea, banana, and natural flavors.
Just like the list of ingredients, the flavor is simple too. Black tea with banana flavors. Neither in-your-face and both nicely balanced. This has a fresh banana flavor that is not too sweet and pairs nicely with the gentle malt of the black base. It is a flavored tea that is not so flavored you could grow tired of it quickly. A nice everyday sort of tea you can skip on while doing other things since it does not demand much attention.
Some of my favorite banana blends from 52 Teas have been Banana Pudding, Anne’s Gone Bananas…and a Little (Coco)Nuts, Buttered Banana Bread, Banana Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha….this list goes one. However, what this list has in common is that they are banana blends with a little something else. This tea is just bananas and while I definitely recommend it for purists who might want more simplicity, I think personally I prefer some of the other blends more.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
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!
