Wow look at those curls of fresh coconut! There’s more flaky, white goodness in this tea blend than all the snow we have had in this New England winter. Teana Colada is a simple blend with a cute name and quality ingredients: red rooibos tea and coconut chips. Brewed hot, there is so much coconut, the buttery blend is almost savory, like butter on toast. As it cools, the tropical notes of the coconut shine through and mingle with the nutty red rooibos. This isn’t a true pina colada blend, as there isn’t any pineapple or fruity flavors, but it is a coconut dream tea.
As a cold brew, the rooibos comes through more strongly, making the blend taste like a creamy, vanilla rooibos tea. On its own, the cold brew is a little one-note, but it might be a winning secret ingredient in a tropical iced tea summer blend. The upside of a rooibos blend is that it is naturally caffeine-free, so you can steep a cup of this blend at any time in your schedule.
This is a tea for nutty coconut fans, or someone who is looking for an exceptionally creamy, buttery rooibos blend. If you really want to take this tropical theme to its height, drink Teana Colada out of a tiki mug with a big wedge of pineapple on the side!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea Geek’ery
Description:
This herbal tea is naturally sweet with hints of cream & nuts. Phenomenal blended with ice & your favorite coconuttie adult beverage.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cocteau from August Uncommon. . . . .
Tea swaps are a thing of beauty. They really and truly are. Switching out your unwanted teas for hard-to-find favorites or samples of new blends…what’s not to love? And sometimes if you are lucky, tea swaps can lead to making tea friends. You know…the people who you meet up with to exchange teas and talk about your lives. Now, if you are REALLY lucky, you might even find a tea twin. For me that person is the wonderful Roswell Strange, a former Sororitea Sister. Her and I started our tea journey at the same time and quickly learned we liked the same flavors. We began to swap teas constantly since we knew the other would love everything we sent (or at least appreciate the opportunity to try it). Swaps grew to gifts and now, even as our tastes have grown apart, we have maintained our tea twin love and continue to share our tea stashes.
More than just tea, we have realized we share other interests as well and as Roswell Strange decided to make her tea drinking an experience by adding song pairings, she graciously gave me the opportunity to partake as well. My awesome tea twin took the time to not only pack up a bunch of tea samples but she provided me a song pairing for each, creating a mix tape of sorts. Now for those wondering what I mean by this, Roswell Strange picks a song that she thinks matches the tea in some way, thus making for a heightened and more focused tea drinking experience as you combine your tea sipping with a complimentary song.
For this particular blend, she picked the song Electric Feel by MGMT. Now, while most other songs she picked were new to me, this is an old favorite of mine (it might even be my ringtone). Knowing the song, I definitely expected some whimsy from this tea and the dry scent with its creamy citrus and light vanilla showed promise. So I got my song ready to go and my tea brewed up and began.
The first thing I noticed was the smoothness of the tea. With strong flavors like grapefruit, mint, and vanilla, it seemed like there should be more of a disconnect but everything blends into one harmonious taste. This to me reflects the song since there is also a lot of different components that come together to make up one awesome whole. Yet, if you focus, you can detect each distinct flavor hiding in the mix or lingering in the aftertaste. The slight tang of the grapefruit starts the sip, and just like the intro of the song amps you up for whats coming. The vanilla slides in and levels everything off, just like the vocals of the music coming in and taking over the music. Well the mint lingers underneath it all, like the base note, adding depth and keeping the beat going under the vocals. And even though this tea should be harsher, it is calming, which is what has always been my thoughts on this particular song. I mean just listen to the lyrics about being “shocked like an electric eel” and yet the melody is almost poetic in how relaxing it can be. In my mind, like the song, this is not something that should work but it does. It definitely does!
Thank you tea twin!! And for those who don’t know the song, check it out here.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Rooibos/Honeybush Blend
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description
A dazzling synesthetic experience where sound is like temperature and color has flavor. Warm and cool sensations move in textured rhythms. The myriad of tastes and scents wind and twist like shifting colors of an opal. With each sip there is a distinct, dreamy dominant note. One moment, it’s pale yellow vanilla, then another, electric pink grapefruit. Yet another time it’s bluish green mint, then brick-red earthy rooibos. Beauty is not always linear.
Ingredients: south african green rooibos, south african honeybush, grapefruit peel, peppermint, flavoring
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Top of the (Blueberry Lemon) Muffin to You! A Curiositea Blend
Blueberry Lemon Rooibos from Curiositea makes me think of muffins– top of the muffin to you!
The nutty rooibos paired with these fruit flavors remind me of blueberry muffins with lemon peel, or a delectable lemon poppyseed cake. The lemon of this blend is more creamy than tart, and comes through slightly stronger than the blueberry.
There is a darker sweetness in the undertones of this brew that keeps the lemon from getting too sharp, and I must credit this flavor to the blueberries.
When iced, the flavor combination in this blend could pass for blueberry lemonade rooibos. There is a perfect balance between deep, sweet blueberries and bright, citrus lemon.
The flavors help keep this blend super smooth and drinkable, even for a rooibos base. This is a versatile herbal tea and has quickly become a staple in my decaf selections.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Curiositea
Description:
This tea doesn’t appear to be in season on Curiositea at the moment, but they have several other intriguing rooibos flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Wellness Tea-Bone Repair from The Virginia Tea Company. . . .
It is the beginning of a new year and I’m sure if you are like me, you are seeing a ton of detox and healthy wellness teas in your social media feeds. I’ve never been a big fan of good for you herbals but I’ve always enjoyed herbals that are full of dried fruit. Recently I’ve noticed my taste buds are starting to change. I’m no longer craving the floral teas like I used to but am finding myself really craving herbs and spices like ginger, spearmint, peppermint, chamomile, and so on.
So today I thought would be a great day to try Bone Repair from The Virginia Tea Company. I am a huge advocate for natural herbal remedies to cure what ails you. Not that I don’t grab OTC drugs when I’m in need, but I do prefer to try out a more natural approach for certain body issues I have.
Bone Repair is a mix of nettle, St. John’s Wort, chamomile, dandelion, ginger root, and peppermint. All are organic. This tea’s description on the site goes something like this:
High in vitamins and helpful bone minerals, these herbs make this tea a wonderful enabler for strengthening your body’s skeleton.
Regardless of the health benefits, I have to say this tea is amazing. Herbal teas to me always have that herbaceous feel to them and this tea doesn’t really have it or maybe I should say that feel isn’t overwhelming.
There is a light sweetness mingled with a hint of spice surrounded by a refreshing cooling mint aftertaste. I can’t say that I’ve ever had such a smooth herbal tea like this before. I have literally had four cups of this tea today alone (resteeping the same bag even!).
I haven’t had some of these spices and herbs before so I can’t say if what I’m tasting is from this or that. All I can say is even if I am not in need of bone repair specifically-this tea delivers a refreshing, soothing, and calming flavor that could be enjoyed any time of the day.
Really happy with this one and I have a feeling that this will be a re-order for me. Plus, there is a cool option to get tea accessories added in for just a bit more. You have to love that option!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: The Virginia Tea Company
Description
High in vitamins and helpful bone minerals, these herbs make this tea a wonderful enabler for strengthening your body’s skeleton.
Ingredients: Organic Nettle, Organic St. John’s Wort, Organic Chamomile, Organic Dandelion, Organic Ginger Root, Organic Peppermint
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Calming Decaf Cup to put you on Cloud Nine from Autumn Bear Herbals
Smooth vanilla rooibos tea is a regular caffeine alternative of mine, though I will admit that red rooibos can be an acquired taste.
If overstepped, it can have medicine-like tones, but in a best case scenario, the rooibos has notes of caramel and nuts. Cloud Nine from Autumn Bear Herbals is driven by its vanilla rooibos base, though the ingredient list boasts a larger variety of flavors: sour jujube seeds, fragrant rose petals, lush chrysanthemum blossoms, and more.
The dry leaf is strongly scented with vanilla and rooibos, and looks bright and beautiful in the bag with rose petals and giant chrysanthemum blossoms. Brewed, the blend is still dominated by vanilla rooibos, though as the tea cools, more of the sour fruit and floral flavors are able to shine through.
This herbal blend will be a favorite for lovers of rooibos or when you need a decaf vanilla cup for a calming evening.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Autumn Bear Herbals
Description:
An uplifting organic herbal tea designed to enhance mood, soothe the nerves, and lift depression. Drink this blend to balance your Mood & elevate your Spirit!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!