I don’t love green teas but I enjoy mint teas and typically my like for mint teas outweighs my dislike of green teas so when I come across something like this, Sencha Mint by Cozy Leaf, I am willing to give it a try.
From the description, I thought this was just sencha and peppermint though the ingredient list is just a touch longer than that, incorporating elderflowers and calendula petals into the mix.
Given the sample size I had, I decided to try this both hot and iced since mint teas tend to be good both ways. I brewed each cup for 1 minutes in water heated to 160 degrees.
The hot tea tastes like sencha and mint. Big surprise. It is a touch vegetal and yet refreshingly minty, with the two ingredients sharing the spotlight. Nothing too out there or unique but what more do you need than a tea that delivers on what it promises?
Iced, the sencha is a bit more overbearing. Adding more vegetal notes than it did to the hot tea which is making for a grassier cup. At the end of the day, this is called SENCHA mint, so you would expect that sencha would be the more prominent flavor and that is certainly true here. The peppermint also takes on a different life in the iced tea, picking up on the temperature and coming off more cooling. Alas, the mint is also drawing from the grassiness of the base and making for a tea that is more earthy and medicinal than I personally would like.
For me, I think I would more quickly reach for a plain mint tea, though this is certainly a nice option for those who enjoy a green tea base. It was also a nice introduction to Cozy Leaf, a company I have never even heard of, let alone tried before.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Cozy Leaf
Description
Smooth & full Sencha green tea with refreshing & invigorating peppermint
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rainbow Sherbet from The NecessiTeas. . . . .
In my early tween years, I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends living right down the block. With our minor amounts of freedom (given our newly advanced age of 12), we were able to bike around our neighborhood to our hearts’ content, and often snuck a few extra blocks in to get to the local general shop just around the corner. Our favorite treats to stock up on? Big League Chew, and Mambos, of course– and one time, when we were feeling really adventurous: rainbow sherbet.
Now, let me paint you a little picture real quick: here we were, 12 years old, a half a mile from our homes on a hot day with nothing but a backpack and our bikes, stocking up on candy and very-meltable ice cream. I don’t know why we were so stricken with this sudden craving, but we HAD to have sherbet. So we bought ourselves a half gallon, shoved it in our backpacks, and raced against the clock to bike it back home before it melted and got everywhere. Honestly, I can’t remember its state by the time we made it home, but I can remember the exact feeling of the ferocity of biking like you were carrying a melting Hope Diamond in your backpack. Intense.
So when I saw this rainbow sherbet tea from The Necessiteas waiting for me in my most recent sample stash, I was over the moon. “Rainbow sherbet?!” I thought. “My favorite! And it won’t even melt on me! SWEET.” (I may be almost 30, but I have the mindset of a 12-year-old sherbet smuggler deep within me still, apparently.) I threw this one on ice, hoping to replicate those sweet, fruity, creamy flavors I love so much. The verdict? It was a really good green iced tea. But was it totally sherbet-esqe? Not entirely. I enjoyed this one a lot, ad will definitely sip it again, but I have such a specific flavor-memory of rainbow sherbet that anything that doesn’t entirely hit it on the nose is going to be a little bit of a disappointment to me.
Now, if 12-year-old Mary’d had this tea stashed away in her backpack instead of a rapidly-melting frozen treat? She probably would have been a happier, less-sticky camper.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Real fruit makes this raspberry, orange, and lime sherbet combination a classic treat!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tropical Sunrise from A Quarter To Tea. . . .
Of course since it is summertime anything that sounds summery I am willing to try! Tropical Sunrise is about as summery as it gets. It’s a green tea with goji berries, coconut, and mango! The dry leaf smells very citrusy and I think this would taste best iced, but instead of truly icing it I just let it cool at room temperature for a little while. Once it cooled I gave it a try and it is very refreshing!
Whenever I see mango or goji berries or citrus in a tea’s description I wonder if it is going to be too tart or citrusy. This tea may have smelled citrusy, but it actually was well balanced between all of the ingredients. The green tea adds a fresh, cool, and vegetal flair. The mango, citrus, and goji berries do stick out but not overly so.
The creamy coconut gives it even more of a sweet and summery feel and definitely creates a great blend that I approve of, even though it includes ingredients that I don’t normally gravitate towards. I enjoyed this and feel like it would be a delicious and refreshing iced tea this summer.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
A creamy coconut tea with hints of mango and citrus accented with goji berries.
Excellent iced or cold brewed
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Green Tea That Reminds Us of Our Childhood. . . .#TheNecessiTeas
I have been wanting to try this tea since I saw it listed on The NecessiTEA’s website. I was hoping to get an actual gumball in my sample, but unfortunately there wasn’t one! When i was a kid I used to love, love, love bubblegum ice cream! I loved the pink and all the multicolored gum pieces. And I loved the flavor. I dont always like bubblegum, flavor though. I find that it’s very easy to get tired of especially because it is so sweet. For that reason, I chose not to sweeten this cup. I know, I know…this is so unusual for me. Nonetheless, it is the choice I made and I think it worked out well. In my opinion, it doesn’t need sweetener!
I steeped this for the recommended 3 minutes and it turned out beautifully! I cooled the boiled water for about 9/10 minutes before pouring it, as well. This is a green tea, and green tea can be sensitive to heat and over-steeping, so just be careful with green teas. On taste, boy was this realistic! It totally took me back to my childhood, in an ice cream shop in Florida, lapping up some deliciously creamy and sweet bubblegum ice cream. So Realistic!!! I swear I feel like I just finished chewing a piece of bubblegum! The green tea really compliments the bubblegum flavor, as well. It keeps it from being overly sweet because of the green tea flavor- that vegetal yumminess that green tea usually adds to the cup.
I bet this blend would be great iced in the summertime. If you want some nostalgia of your childhood, I really recommend you try this one. Even if you dont usually like the taste of bubblegum you should definitely try it. It is a great green tea! I have had great luck with The NecessiTEAs. I have really enjoyed all the teas I have tried from them!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
We all remember that sweet pink bubblegum flavor as a kid. Contests with your best friend to see who could blow the biggest bubble and then having it pop and stick to your entire face. Chewing it for hours until our jaws ached or falling asleep with it in our mouth which meant waking up with a big sticky mess in our hair! This blend takes me back to all those childhood memories and will be loved by adults and children of all ages. Feel free to steep the actual gumballs or pop one in your mouth and work on your bubble blowing skills while your tea is steeping!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orange and Papaya from Tea Shirt
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Tea Description:
Orange and Papaya from Tea Shirt
Flavoured Green Tea
Ingredients: green tea (60%), lemon grass, apple pieces, freeze-dried apple pieces, orange slices, mango flakes, papaya flakes, flavouring.
Preparation: Use one teaspoon of loose leaf tea per person.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Orange and Papaya flavored green tea from Tea Shirt had my interest right away. I mean orange, papaya, and green tea? How could this blend be anything but amazing?
When I received the tea, I was surprised by how big the fruit chunks are in it.The picture is exactly what you get. Huge chunks of mango, papaya, and orange peel along with apple pieces. Really lovely to look at and amazing to smell. Very rich in citrus and tropical notes.
I scooped a few heap fulls into my infuser and cold brewed this tea. With how muggy the summer has been lately, I wanted this tea to be a nice iced cold brew.
I let the tea cold brew overnight and tried it in the morning. I was hoping that those gorgeous chunks of fruit and lovely green tea leaves would produce an amazing treat for my taste buds. And it did just that!
The green tea gives a lovely buttery base that the orange and papaya flavors compliment nicely. Each flavor takes its time in the spotlight and there isn’t one flavor that overwhelms. Simple yet lovely. Lush Orange notes mingling with the tropical hints from the mango and papaya. A really nice refreshing take on a citrus tropical iced tea for the summer or really for anytime!
Well done Tea Shirt!
