Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Le Palais Des Thés
Tea Description:
A green tea enlivened by flower petals and delicately scented with pieces of white peach, kiwi and watermelon. The green tea and the juicy freshness of the fruit are wonderfully balanced. Can be drunk hot or iced.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Hello tea lovers!
During the UK’s persistent heatwave the craving for fruit tea has gotten the better of me. That’s when I pulled this one from my shelf to try. I adore watermelon and peach in a tea and considering this has both it made for an easy purchase. Plus with this being described as good for ‘hot’ or ‘iced’ tea it makes it all the better. This will be a ‘hot’ review but I plan on steeping it in my iced tea bottle later today to see the outcome. My curiosity is totally piqued!
The raw tea blend has large green tea leaves with yellow flower petals mixed in, if you look close enough you will find small cubes of fruit among the blend.
As I open the packet I am met with a peach scent which is sweet and very natural smelling. Among that is the slight perfume of grass and flowers. Beautiful in every way.
Steeping parameters – 1 tsp of leaf in my ceramic mug with removable filter and lid. (Around 250ml/9oz of water). Temp: 80C for 3 minutes.
Once steeped the tea is fairly dark yellow/green and bares the same beautiful peach scent as it’s raw form.
In flavour this is soft and sweet with buttery, toasted grass notes followed by smooth but sweet peach that feels like it melts in my mouth. Behind that there is another level of fruit and perfume, a little dry but ideally so, blended so well that I cannot distinctly taste the watermelon or kiwi. Not that the peach overpowers per say, it is soft but distinct, more that they are blended so well ie they work well together, that it combines as one.
As it cools the green tea thickens but remains grassy and pleasant, while the flowers also thicken to combine with them.
‘Yet still the peach sings her perfect sweet song on my tongue,
and my taste buds wiggle and dance.
For this blend does each and together belong,
forever to be sipped and enjoyed by chance.’
I’m glad that I pulled this out of my stash this morning. It’s been the perfect start to my day, and I can see myself sipping on this tea a lot in the near future. It tasted better than I expected as I do not usually favour flavoured tea, but the chance was well worth it with this one. The balance was perfect, the strength was refreshing and right, the flavours to me were divine and when I drink fruit tea this had everything I am looking for.
Happy Steeping Everyone!
Wu Yi Oolong from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Wu Yi Oolong is from China’s Fujian province and is known for its light sweet cup with a fragrant orchid finish. When steeped, the mature semi-fermented leaves expand to a full lively cup with more body than a green tea but less body than a black tea
Learn more about their month subscription box here.
Taster’s Review:
I am a newbie when it comes to some oolongs. I’ve had a few here and there but I have mainly spent my time with either flavored oolongs or really any other tea. Straight oolongs I’ve had on occasion but I seem to not pick them up as often as I would a green or black tea. No real reason. I have been wanting to educate myself on oolongs for some time. So when my last box from Simple Loose Leaf arrived, I was happy to see this in the box. I was so excited I grabbed my new bottle from Simply Good Tea and promptly poured the contents of the package into the bottle. Put the bottle in the fridge and twenty minutes later I took my first sip.
Oh mama. That is the good stuff. I can’t believe that I haven’t dug more into oolongs. This tea was heaven to my taste buds. I literally have been drinking this tea for 24 hours and I think I have finally exhausted the leaves. I loved watching them dance around in the water while they produced a beautiful cold brewed oolong tea for me to enjoy.
This tea was bright and crisp. I could pick up different aspects that reminded me of black teas and green teas both. The first infusion, I really picked up more of a dark roasted black tea quality. Towards the end, I was greeted with a nice bright silky like almost green tea flavor. There was a sweetness and well rounded note throughout the entire time I spent with this beauty. The dry leaves themselves had a nice roasted like fragrance.
Love it. Love it. Love it. For more first experience with this type of oolong, I’m very pleased. This was fantastic. I’m excited now to dive into more oolongs and really take some time with them. Great job Simple Loose Leaf.
Maui Mango Tea from Mountain Witch Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mountain Witch Tea Company
Tea Description:
Our Maui Mango black tea will wow you with amazing mango flavor and real dried mango chunks. This tropical delight is great hot or iced.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow is it hot today. Like crazy smoldering hot. The kind of hot that makes you feel icky and gross as soon as you step outside. So today is a stay inside and catch up on projects sort of day. Oh and drink lots of tea. So that is my new plan. Drink lots of tea and do some reviews.
I thought this would be a good one to start with. The dry leaves had a nice sweet mango fragrance that just called to be made up like an iced tea. So that is exactly what I did. Brewed this up like I would a traditional black tea (212F-3 min) and then allowed it to cool. Added ice and took a sip.
Yum! Sweet tropical paradise. This brewed as an iced tea had such a nice subtle sweet taste. You could still taste the fantastic black tea base but there was a sweet mango flavor in there too. This is a great simple mango black tea. Not a knock you in the face sort of mango, just hints of mango. So nice. I was very pleased. This is exactly want I was wanting today. I can’t wait to take the rest of the loose leaf I have and try this as a cold brew. That is exactly what is accompanying me on my way to work tomorrow. Can’t wait!
Another fantastic tea from Mountain Witch Tea Company.
Caramel Apple Almond from Full Leaf Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Full Leaf Tea Company
Tea Description:
This black tea blend steeps to a rich caramel color with subtle hints of apple to the taste.
The tea in Full-Leaf is a mix of marigolds, apple bits, caramel bits, and almond chips
Country of Origin: India
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love discovering new companies and new tea company owners that really care about what their customers think. Matt@ Full Leaf Tea Company is just that kind of owner. He cares about what his customers think and really takes the time and care to listen. When I come across that kind of a company, I tend to keep going back. On top of the awesome customer service you reciceve, there is also an amazing selection of teas to try. And I have tried several.
Recently I had their Caramel Apple and Almond Black Tea. I couldn’t wait to try this one. Threw some tea leaves into my Breville One Touch and set this up with the black tea setting (212F-3 min). The dry leaves had a slight almond like aroma with hints of a sweetness. Didn’t exactly smell like caramel or apple but you can tell there was something there. You could actually see the caramel bits, apple bits, and the almond chips right in the blend. You have to love that!
Poured myself and Jason (my boyfriend) a cup. Brewed up hot, this had a very pu erh flavor and smell. The tea was very earthy and I couldn’t taste any of the caramel, apple, or almond. We both thought this tasted like a pu erh blend so much that I actually emailed Matt and asked him if pu erh was in the black base tea. He said there wasn’t. I was a bit confused by this.
Typically when I don’t like a tea brewed hot, I will enjoy it cold brewed. Threw some leaves in my cold brew bottle and let it steep overnight. In the morning I had a fantastic blend of sweet and earthy caramel apple tea. The earthy flavor was still there but the flavor blended so well with the sweet caramel apple. I didn’t taste the almond but I have a feeling the almond was more subtle and aiding in the rich earthy flavor.
I think I just need to go back and play with the steeping parameters on this tea. I have a feeling that the 3 min steep was too long and maybe should go with a 2 min steep when trying to brew this up hot. I also want to try and steep this up in my glass tea pot instead of the Breville. This is a tea that just needs a bit of experimenting to bring out all of those lovely flavors and I am up for the task. Just need to get some more.
Prickly Pear Herbal from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
A remarkable tea that shines with desert pride and spotlights one of our most unique herbal teas. Hibiscus and Rose Hips are blended to create the vibrant magenta base for our one-of-a-kind Prickly Pear Herbal Tea.
Hibiscus, Rose Hips, Chicory Root, Chamomile, Dried Prickly Pear Fruit, Natural and Artifical Pear Flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s monthly plan here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently I received a promotional email from Simple Loose Leaf announcing a sale. Their monthly box that is typically $15 a month. I couldn’t pass up the deal. I jumped on the sale and a couple weeks later my box arrived. There were 4 tea blends in the box. This one was the one that I couldn’t help but tear right into. Mountain Witch Tea Co has an amazing Desert Mojave Prickly Pear that I just adore. So much so that I picked up a 4 oz pkg of that tea without hesitation. Since that particular tea, any tea that I see has prickly pear in it, I’m sold.
What I love about these monthly subscription boxes is that you just get enough of a tea to “wet your whistle” but not add a ton of tea to an overflowing tea stash.
Brewed this up like a herbal-212F-5 min in my One Touch Breville. Let the brew cool for a few minutes and took my first sip. Wow, can you say tart? This blend not only has dried prickly pear but also has quite a bit of hibiscus. I love my hibiscus but this was even too much for me. I continued to try to drink this and hoped other flavors would become present. That never happened. To me this tasted like a straight hibiscus blend. For me, I think this blend would be phenomenal if there was more of the dried prickly pear fruit than the hibiscus.
I did try this tea cold and ended up with the same result. Just to tart of a tea for me. I really don’t like adding sweeteners to my tea and on the rare occasion will I add honey.
If you love really tart teas or hibiscus blends, this tea is for you. For me, it was just too tart.