Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
A farmer needs to work seven days, just to produce about 1.5 kg of this artisan tea, picking only the most-tender leaves from large-leaf tea trees in Simao, Yunnan. Afterwards, each ring is carefully hand-rolled piece by piece, requiring patience and mastery of advanced tea processing skills. A pure organic and luxury green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to try this one. Very excited. The beautiful rings were something to behold. Just gorgeous. I’ve never tried a tea like this before. I steeped this in my Breville One Touch so I would have the right temp for water.
Not having this tea or any teas from this company, I was a little intimidated so I did a bit of research about this tea on Steepster and what reviews this tea has already received. The more I read about the tea the more excited I seemed to get. Sweet, delicate, not grassy, buttery, and nutty. How lovely does that sound?
When I heard the beep of the Breville announcing the tea was ready, I basically ran to the tea pot to pour myself a cup. Poured myself a cup and let the brew cooled off for a minute.
Took a nice big sip and wow that was not the taste I thought I would be greeted with. From the reviews I had read, I was thinking this was going to be a more delicate floral green tea. What I got was a tea that reminded me of a savory Slim Jim based tea. Not bad, just not what I had expected so I was taken by surprised. This is a very very savory green tea with hints of smokey flavors popping through each sip. I’m curious if further steepings will create a different flavor, but I doubt it would be that much of a difference. I’ll have to just experiment some more. That is one of the aspects of tea that is just so much fun! All the different tastes and textures you can get out of steeping the tea differently!
39th Parallel Pear Iced White Tea from Teakoe Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Teakoe
Tea Description:
Inhale the fresh air and let your spirit soar while sipping this uplifting infusion of crisp pear, lemongrass & chamomile. Admire America’s scenic landscape, cruising a mile high with a bird’s eye view.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It has been crazy hot these last few days. Time for iced tea!
I love the idea of throwing a tea bag into a pitcher over night and in the morning you are greeted with a gourmet iced tea to take along with you on the way to work. This is something I have been doing with my loose leaf tea quite a bit lately, but I love the idea of the tea already being in a bag for me.
Recently, I discovered Teakoe, a company in Colorado that creates their teas in small batches. I couldn’t wait to try them and this was one I had my eye on from the start. The packaging is fantastic. I love the overall look of the pouch. So very cool.
I followed the instructions on the back of the pouch and away I went. In the morning, I poured myself two pretty nice sized travel mugs for the start of my day. I couldn’t wait to try this fun combination of white tea, green tea, chamomile, lemongrass, and pear. The one ingredient I hadn’t counted on was stevia.
Unfortunately, my first go around with this tea, the stevia was the first flavor that popped and really dominated the cup. But fortunately for me, I brought along the tea bag, so I just finished what I had brought with me while I was steeping the tea bag again in a pitcher I keep at work.
The second infusion was a lot better. I think a lot of the stevia poured it’s little heart and soul into the first infusion so there were just traces of it in the second. This infusion was full of flavor. Bright crisp pear, vibrant lemongrass, a delightful herbal note of chamomile, a rich buttery green tea with a sweet white tea to finish off the sip. You can’t get much better than that. I ended up getting two more infusions out of the tea bag. The next infusion was just as good as the second one where I was able to really pull out those bright flavors. By the fourth infusion, I knew I had tried my luck one too many times. The flavors were weak and barely there. But hey, I was on my fourth infusion. I was expecting this sort of flavor from the 3rd infusion.
I am quite happy with this tea even with the stevia issue. I found myself wanting more of the tea the next day so the stevia must not have darkened my opinion of this tea too much. I think this was a great first experience with a new tea company (to me at least). I hope all my experiences are this great with Teakoe!
Exotic Floral Green Tea from Mela Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mela Teas
Tea Description:
Ceylon green tea is mixed with Sepalika flowers, a classical Ayurvedic ingredient, said to induce calmness and tranquility. Maintains all the health properties of green tea, with the added benefit and buttery taste of the Sepalika flower.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ever have a day where it feels like nothing is going right? It isn’t like things are going wrong per say. Just that before you have one project finished, another one pops up and another and still yet another. That is my day today.
Every day when I come to work I bring a bag full of different teas along with me. You never know what kind of mood you will be in once you hit the office. My office has a full kitchen in it so I have lots of tea ware goodies. Today was the kind of day that I pulled out the big guns and went for a refreshing soothing green tea that I hoped when get me thru the rest of the day.
I reached for my sample of Exotic Floral Green Tea from Mela Teas. Their Colombo Garlic tea was phenomenal. I know, garlic tea. . but it was so very good. I had high expectations for this tea as well.
I steeped this beauty up per the instructions on the package- 170F-3 min. As the tea steeped at my desk, there was a light floral fragrance in the air. Not overwhelming, just ever so slight. Made me smile and I breathed in deep. Just knowing I was about ready to indulge in this tea made me start to relax.
First sip and I was gone. This tea has such a beautiful quality to it. The green tea is there with a slight bitter edge but it works well and counteracts the sweet floral taste. This blend reminds me almost of a tea you would drink while reading a romance novel or one of my beloved Jane Austen novels. Such a delicate tea all around. Not being a jasmine fan, I really wasn’t sure what I would think of this tea. Before I knew it, my tea cup was empty and I needed more.
This tea is subtle with just the right amount of floral and natural flavors that create a soothing and relaxing atmosphere. I literally have papers all over my desk but I am not freaking out in the slightest. This tea came to my rescue!
Applecart Blossom from Piper & Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Piper & Leaf
Tea Description:
Reminiscent of strolling through an apple orchard on a fine spring day and catching its light, enchanting scent in the wind. This lovely green tea with local apples is porch swing approved.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Today has been a very humid and rainy day. The sun has tried to peek out here and there but for the most part it has been just a “meh” kind of day. Until the mail showed up. . .and my shared order from Piper & Leaf showed up. Yay! New tea to try! Day isn’t so meh now.
Opened the box and immediately grabbed the Applecart Blossom sample. I was super excited to see that they offered flavored green teas and this one went in the cart right away.
The boyfriend and I are in the middle of a Northern Exposure binge. I had never seen the show before and it is one of his favorites. Thought this would be a great time to sample up these teas. So I threw the sample in the Breville, set the parameters to green, and set up two mason jars with ice.
This is delicious. There are huge pieces of apple in this and that comes thru in each sip. Fresh crisp apples. The green tea just adds to the perky flavor. Each time I take a sip of this iced beauty the word bright comes to mind. This is just a simple great fantastic apple flavored green tea. No artificial flavor here. I brewed up a second infusion and I am still picking up the fresh crisp flavor.
I am very pleased with the teas I’ve had from Piper & Leaf so far and I’m looking forward to trying more!