Sencha Sensation from T2 Tea

Sencha Sensation from T2 Tea is a flavored green tea blend with added flower petals.  Since this is a green tea, remember to keep your water temperature cooler than normal to bring out the best flavors.

When brewed, this blend smells buttery and tropical.  These flavors continue into the taste with passionfruit and citrus flavors complementing the lush and fresh green tea base. The tea is sugary from the fruitiness without being candy-like, and the end of each sip features more of the natural celery or sweetgrass flavors of the green tea leaves.

I drank this blend warm on a rainy day for an afternoon pick-me-up and the fruity and floral flavors helped sweeten my mood.  This would also be a great tea to cold brew. The cooler temperature would suit the green tea and the tropical flavors always taste better over ice.

Let yourself get swept up in the Sencha Sensation.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: green
Where to Buy: T2 Tea
Description: A blend of petals with sencha green tea produces a light floral taste and citrus aroma. A subtle flavoured green for those who like a delicate brew.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Currant Explosion from Simpson and Vail

This tea lives up to its name. There are so many dried berries in the dry leaf it is more like trail mix than tea. Currants and rose hips galore! The blend is jazzed up with little magenta raspberry pieces as well.

The other amazing part of this tea is that it is a fruity herbal blend without hibiscus. Love it, hate it, hibiscus can sometimes be a deal breaker for tea drinkers. Rest easy and brew this berry blend instead.

The tea brews up a golden color and smells like berries and damp grass. The blackberry leaves add a softer foliage flavor beyond the fruitiness. This helps the berries taste more natural, rather than candy-sweet.

The raspberries play a bigger role in the flavor than I expected, their red berry jam flavor coming through first, followed by the deeper tart tones of the currant.

The currant seems like a formal, adult flavor to me, but if you make this tea into a sweetened cold brew it could be the hit of a kids’ summer party. Or keep it straight-laced and drink it hot from a traditional teacup to help ease into the evening.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description: This flavored tisane explodes on your taste buds! The exceptional blend is a huge hit with young and old alike.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Jasmint from Chash Tea . . . . .

When the weather gets warmer, I feel a resurgence of my love for all things minty and cool.  Iced mint tea on a hot day helps me cool down and refresh like nothing else.  After getting a taste of Jasmint from Chash Tea, I’ll have to add this blend to the rotation.

This tea came to me in well-designed little package, and when I looked it up online, the Chash website is equally enticing.  The stylish package makes me feel extra classy when I brew up my tea.

The dry leaf of this tea is everything you want in a minty tea, fragrant and cool and crisp, as popping and fresh as mint right from the herb garden.  When brewed, this tea shows off its other ingredients, with a dominant bloom of jasmine, and a nutty, barky undertone from the tea leaves. The spearmint is at the back of each sip: minty and slightly creamy, with a touch of vanilla.  I always find that peppermint is a little too harsh on its own, and it needs the softer creaminess of spearmint to help balance it out.  The sweet-mint taste of spearmint in this blend is no exception.

My go-to summer mint tea has always been some variety of Moroccan Mint with peppermint and black or Darjeeling tea blended together.  Jasmint is a lovely departure from this usual mix.  The flowery jasmine and creamy mint are a great combination of both floral and cool.  This tea feels like the ideal summer night, with open windows blowing in cool air with the fragrance of garden blossoms.

Stay cool and classy this summer with a cup of Jasmint from Chash Tea.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chash Tea
Description:

When blending we occasionally find one so obvious we can’t quite believe we didn’t think to blend it earlier! One afternoon it occurred to the team that Jasmine might support Spearmint and Peppermint.  Counter-intuitive? Very much s0!  The rest is history!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

S’mores Genmaicha Green Tea from 52Teas

52teas3_1430856114__73092Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy: 52Teas

Tea Description:

I reblended this tea to fulfill part of our start-up Kickstarter campaign’s add-on offers! This was part of the Genmaicha 3-Tier collection – a yummy blend of Matcha infused Genmaicha green tea and chocolate and marshmallow flavors. I added cacao shells & nibs, mini vegan chocolate chips and marshmallow root to the blend. This is yummy!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This gemaicha is a perfect tea for the weather out there today! I’ve battened down the hatches and hunkered down, because the outside world has turned completely white. I’m living in a surreal ghost town of powder. It certainly doesn’t help that the wind keeps whipping up the 3 feet of snow that has already fallen. I can’t even open my front door! And to think it was almost 70 degrees yesterday. That’s Denver spring for ya.

I can’t believe I have already finished this package! I received the 3-tier genmaicha tin set from 52Teas’ initial kickstarter not too long ago. At first I didn’t care for the flavor, especially with the chocolate pieces. It’s a personal pet peeve of mine to have chocolate chips in tea. But I love the flavors of marshmallows and graham crackers, and I did not want to allow these chocolate abominations to keep me from enjoying this tea. So I just picked out and straight up ate the chocolate chips. May I just say that they are a great compliment to the tea – better than if they were in the blend, fusing to the sides of my teapot and creating an odd sludge.

I quickly became addicted to this blend. I think I drank nothing but this tea for about a week straight. It’s so on point – each flavor is well developed and distinct, from the smooth and mellow marshmallow to the crisp and sweet graham cracker right up to the vegetal grassiness and toasty rice flavor of the genmaicha. I love flavored genmaicha, and this blend is a great combination of a funky flavor idea and the classic Japanese green tea.

 

Black Tea and Lemongrass from Chiang Rai Tea House

Black+tea+lemongrassTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Chiang Rai Tea House

Tea Description:

The relaxing aroma and health benefits of lemongrass, combined with our also organic black tea, makes this blend a mellow drink to be enjoyed any time of the day.

 Ingredients: Organic Black Tea 60%

Organic Lemongrass 40%

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

There are times when the name of a tea perfectly describes the flavors inside. Black Tea and Lemongrass is one of those teas. Chiang Rai Tea House did a nice job balancing the two since lemongrass can be such an over powering flavor causing notes from the tea itself to get lost. While the lemon flavor of this tea is strong the slight briskness of the base tea can still be tasted. There’s also a clean finish that compliments the lemongrass flavor very  well. The whole tea comes off as bright, even cheerful. And honestly, who can’t use that during the duller days of winter?

I only drank this tea hot, but I can see it being an excellent served iced or as a cold brew. In fact, I think this tea served cold during the summer months would be incredibly refreshing. I’ve even made a note in my phone to pick up more of this tea while the idea of summer picnics and long days in my garden danced in my head. The fact that the tea is organic is a bonus point in my book because my family drinks lots of iced tea and I’m more comfortable giving organic teas to my kids.

So, from winter to summer I think Black Tea and Lemongrass from Chiang Rai Tea House can find a place in my cupboard and my cup. If you’re looking for a nice organic tea with a lemony citrus kick this is one worth checking out.