Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: ChaTale
Tea Description:
This debonair drop has all the smooth buttery goodness of an oolong base with a slick creamy aftertaste.
Support Cha Tea’s Kickstarter campaign here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to start off this review with a comment about the logo and packaging for these teas. They are fantastic! The logo is clean and they use colors that draw you in and are so very attractive. It is the first thing I noticed about their teas.
ChaTale currently has an active kickstarter campaign running thru December 13. They originate out of the UK and seem to know what they are doing when it comes to tea. ChaTale will be offering a monthly tea subscription box hoping to steer consumers away from the tea bag and more into loose leaf tea. That alone makes me happy!
I couldn’t wait to dive into the box and see what fun teas await me. The first one that caught my eye was the Milk Oolong. I mean the description alone makes you drool!
Brewed this up like I do my oolongs with water at about 195 deg or so for around 4 minutes. The whole time the tea was steeping, gorgeous vanilla notes were wafting thru the air. The fragrance almost reminds me of homemade sugar cookies. . . . and who doesn’t love that smell?
Took my first sip and I am greeted with this amazingly smooth creamy flavor with just a hint of sweetness. This tea is charming and cozy giving you that feeling that you just want to snuggle up with a good movie or a good book. So very good and addicting! I’m loving the smooth flavor that delivers from beginning to end of each sip. You couldn’t ask for a better oolong on a cold rainy day like it is here today. Rich, creamy, and smooth with a sweetness that really just reminds you of home baked cookies. Yum! Delicious!
I think I need to go back this one on Kickstarter!
Blue Dragon Patronus Black Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Silver Hawk Tea
Tea Description:
A fine black tea loaded with strawberries and the unique and luscious flavor of the South American Lulo. The Lulo has a pineapple-lemon flavor and when mixed with strawberry it’s amazing! Feel like you have a sentinel dragon guarding your positive and relaxing time when you sip this tea. Great hot or iced cold.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Silver Hawk Tea is a new company to me. I was excited to try their teas especially with names like Blue Dragon Patronus.
This particular blend is a black tea with a unique flavor profile. Pineapple-lemon with strawberry flavoring. An almost tropical treat with a black tea base. In my experience, these sort of teas can either be fantastic or can fall flat fast. But one whiff of this blend, I knew this tea and I would be pals.
Brewed this up with 212F water and allowed it to steep for 3min. Their steep parameters say to steep the tea for 4-5 min but I wanted to error on the side of caution.
Poured myself and my fiance and sat down to enjoy a cuppa with some TV binge time. We both allowed our cups to cool off and tried the tea. Both of our cups were gone in about a second. This tea is a delicious sweet treat!
The flavor profile for this tea is a tropical feel. Unique with a pineapple note mixed in with touches of lemon. So there is a tropical tart like feel. Then you are greeted with a strawberry almost vanilla like flavor that provides a smoothness and evens out the tropical tart like profile. Lots going on with this tea but all in a good way. I love how the flavor mix. Can’t say I’ve ever had a pineapple lemon strawberry vanilla tea with a black tea base. Smooth, well balanced, and the flavors just don’t stop giving. As fabulous as this tea is now, I bet this tea would be amazing as a cold brew and plan to use the rest of the tea that I have to do just that and garnish the glass with fresh lemon or lime wedges.
In conclusion this tea is delicious from the very first sip! This is a winner!
Bourbon Black Tea from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Elmwood Inn
Tea Description:
Enjoy the flavors and aromas of Kentucky’s best-known beverage infused into a custom blend of handpicked Chinese and Indian teas. Vanilla and caramel notes with a hint of char from the bourbon barrel. Make mine a double!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Another blogger that is more into lifestyle recommend this tea for me. She purchases tea from them and thought I would enjoy them. So of course I instantly checked them out and couldn’t believe the variety of tea they had. This one instantly caught my eye and seems to be one of their best sellers. I jumped on the chance to try this unique blend.
Brewed this up like a black tea with the help of my Breville One Touch and poured myself and Jason a cup. He was more excited to try this one than me I think. Before I even took a sip of the tea you could definitely pick up the char that they hint at in the description.
Took a sip and we both smiled. The tea is definitely bourbon inspired. The vanilla and caramel notes are delicious with a mix of a woodsy malty flavor. The char is a bit stronger than a hint like the description suggests and can be overpowering at times. But overall this tea is unique and is one that demands your attention. Such a rich deep smooth flavor that is very reminiscent of the title of the tea. I just adore those vanilla and caramel notes mixed with that char note.
I found that my cup was empty at no time and was wanting more. Jason on the other hand wasn’t a big fan of the char aspect of the tea. He adored the flavor of the tea-he just isn’t a fan of smoky teas. I’m typically not either but I really like the combination of flavors. This is one cuppa I could drink all night!
For my first experience with this company, I’m extremely pleased!
Sunrise Sensation from Vampyre Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Vampyre Tea Company
Tea Description:
White Tea is one of China’s Special Treasures, hand-picked from the youngest and most tender leaf tips and buds grown in the mountains of the Fujian province. It is sun-dried in a laborious and ancient process that captures more of the tea’s incredible health-benefiting properties. Our Bai Mu Dan, or more commonly called White Peony, yields a fresh and delicate flavor that blooms like flowers in springtime, and when mixed with Lemon Grass, Lemon Myrtle, and bits of peel with an infusion of Ginseng and Ginger roots, it makes the most revitalizing blend! Bai Mu Dan White Tea, Lemon Peel-Grass-& Myrtle, Ginseng Root, & Ginger Root
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
White tea and ginger . . .not flavors I think I have ever had together before. I was quite excited to try this combination!
My first impression of the dry leaf is that this blend has a real rich ginger fragrance. I don’t pick up any of the white tea familiar floral notes. I brewed this up with the typical white tea settings and set down to enjoy a cuppa.
Took a whiff of the steeped tea and yet again was greeted with a very heavy ginger fragrance. My first impression of how this tea tastes? If you love ginger, you’ll love this tea.
For me the ginger was quite heavy in this tea but quite a nice change of pace. I’m not sure I 100% love the combination of the floral aspects of the ginger. Intriguing and different for sure. The ginger notes and flavors are very dominating in each sip with the sweet floral like aspects of the tea hiding in the background. You could pick up hints here and there of the lemon peel and lemon grass. I almost wish those flavors would have been hyped up more with the ginger hyped down a note or two. That would have been some great tea! I’m going to try this as a cold brew later today to see if I can get those flavors to pop a bit more. Doesn’t a white ginger iced tea sound delicious?
This tea is good, just not what I was hoping for. But ginger is a newer flavor that I just started liking. This will be a tea I will be revising. With a name like Sunrise Sensation and having a horror aspect to it, I have to try this one again!
Acai Berry White Tea from Octavia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Octavia Tea
Tea Description:
The sweet, fruity essence of Brazilian superfruit, açai berry, blends perfectly with blueberries, currants, hibiscus and antioxidant-rich white tea. Harvested only a few days each year, white tea contains a rare amino acid believed to naturally lift mood and ease stress.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love joining swap boxes because you never know what you will end up when the traveling box hits your doorstep. I recently had a very large box arrive with amazing teas for me to try and check out. This sample was the first one I grabbed and had to try out right away. I’ve heard good things about Octavia Teas but never had the chance to check them out.
White teas and I have been really good friends as of late. There is just something soul soothing about the sweet floral notes they can produce. With the wedding plans and the big day only a couple weeks away, I needed a bit of a cozy soothing tea. So I turned to this beauty.
Acai Berry White is described as being a sweet and fruity tea. That is exactly how it smells. Brewed this up as a white tea with my Breville One Touch and sat down to enjoy.
First sip in and I am greeted with this simple yet lovely berry floral taste that made me happy. This white tea really hit the spot and made me want to snuggle into a blanket and find a fun book to read. What a lovely tea!
The berry notes are very prominent with a backboard of floral hitting you as well, but a softer more gentler feel. This tea would be fantastic for a tea party with all of the fun flavors. Seriously lovely. But do be warned, I did allow this tea to steep to long and before I knew it the tea reminded me of a tutti frutti gum or a kids’ toothpaste. This one isn’t as forgiving when it comes to oversteeping. Just pay attention to it and you’ll have some delicious tea on your hands!