Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Blackbird Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Unstoppably smooth, much more so than his cousin, that stuffy 19th century aristocrat. Our organic black tea is infused with Italian bergamot oil and a little bit of swagger. Drink up for inspiration.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Blackbird Tea Co makes some tasty teas and this one is no exception to that rule.
I brewed this tea up to treat myself to a hot beverage to warm me up from the cold office. I swear our office is an ice box!
But this, that, and the other got in the way of my tea drinking experience so by the time I got around to this tea, it was cold. I went ahead and took a sip and this tea is such a forgiving loving tea!
As an iced tea, this tea was perfect for the fans that like a light earl grey touch to their teas. This wasn’t an overwhelming earl grey/bergamot oil flavor, but more of a kiss. The black tea was subtle and didn’t become astringent. Such a smooth iced earl tea to keep me going thru the day.
When I first started steeping this, the tea had a pretty strong earl grey flavor. I’m curious now if this has a really strong earl grey flavor when hot but cooled the flavors are muted. So nice to end my day with at the office.
And if you are keeping up with my sipdown adventures this is #15. Woohoo!
Jasmine Haiku from Treehouse Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Treehouse Teas
Tea Description:
A soothing and peaceful green tea with surprising body and a captivating floral character. Jasmine blossoms picked only in May when they are in bloom accentuate this tea giving an intense aroma. From the Fujian Province in China this high antioxidant tea is best steeped 3-7 minutes at a temperature of 90C, 194F.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been on this crazy jasmine kick this summer. I used to stay away from any kind of floral teas and now I can’t seem to get enough. I asked the twins last night if they wanted some tea and they picked this one.
Brewed a pot up with the help of my Breville One Touch on the green and medium settings. I poured three cups, 1 for me and 1 for each of the twins.
We sat down to enjoy our tea while we watched our new addiction-Skin Wars on GSN, a body painting competition that is similar to Face Off. Before the first commercial break, one of the twins had finished his cup and was asking for more. I admit, I hadn’t even tried the tea yet, trying to allow the tea to cool off a bit. While I was making more of this tea, I took a moment to see what I thought of this tea.
Unfortunately, this tea wasn’t my favorite of the teas I have tried from Treehouse Teas. Even with my jasmine addiction, something just didn’t hit the right note for me. I enjoyed the green tea and the grassy like components it brought to each sip but the jasmine to me almost had a sour note that I can’t really put my finger on.
Regardless, one of the twins adored this tea and drank a few more cups of it. I’d like to try this one as a cold brew next to see if I can get that lovely jasmine flavor to come out more on a happy note than the sad note. To be fair, the tea could have tasted off because I do have issues with a sinus infection right now. Either way, I’d love to try this one again to get that flavor I adore to come out in the fore front.
San-Te-Ria from Lemon City Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lemon City Tea
Tea Description:
You forgot to make an offering to your orishas today? No wonder you’re feeling so tired. Have a cup of San-té-ria. This blend of premium black tea will get you so awake, it’ll seem like divine intervention..
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is sipdown #13 on my epic journey to sipping down my tea stash before I can buy more.
What a great tea too! This tea is very well done and is giving me the pep in my step for the rest of the afternoon. This tea can be bought as a loose leaf tea or tea bags. I had the tea bag variety which is lovely for when I’m at work. Boil some water and plop in the tea bag. A few minutes later, TADA! Lovely tea.
This particular tea is a blend of different black teas. From what I’m seeing on the back of the package this is Premium Whole Leaf Nilgiri Tea-Hand-Blended with Yunnan Golden Buds. Well, whatever it is blended with, it is good!
San-te-ria hits all the right notes that I like in my black teas. Not overly malty with a hint of dryness, but by no means overwhelming. A smooth sipping tea. This one definitely has those trademarks and more. I’m really liking it and before I knew it, the cuppa is gone. (Insert sad face here).
I can tell this tea would be amazing iced. I think I’ll try that with the next infusion. And if you wanted this to be more flavored like, I bet throwing in a vanilla bean would be amazing. This tea has that flavor profile of slightly woodsy. Just thinking of adding vanilla beans makes me crave cuppa.
This tea does its job. It has such a nice cleansing taste to it after drinking a few flavored teas. Gives my taste buds a nice break.
Rose Royal from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
A black tea with enchanting aromas of sparkling wine and sweet strawberries. LUPICIA’s Signature tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
If you haven’t taken a whiff of this tea while its steeping, you are missing out. This tea had such an amazing sweet candy with an almost berry dessert wine profile.
I received this tea bag from a fellow tea pal from Steepster and was excited to try it. Lupicia has some amazing teas. With a name like Rose Royal, I just knew this had to be amazing.
Steeped this up like a traditional black but made an error. I left the tea bag in. This tea turned bitter quickly. The first few sips were fabulous. The taste matched the aroma I was loving. Sweet Berry Wine with a strong black tea base. Oh so good. Hit all the right notes. A flavored tea that isn’t overwhelming.
But then I got distracted with a phone call here and an email there. When I went back to the tea, it was a bitter sad brew. I could still smell that amazing aroma but the taste had turned on me.
Even tho my first jaunt with this tea didn’t turn out the way I wanted to, I still loved those first few sips. This tea will be on my list to pick more up once I sipdown some more teas. Which this is #14. Woot Woot!
Aries from the Zodiac Collection by AstroloTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Floral
Where to Buy: AstroloTea
Tea Description:
An energetic dance of flavors to initiate the courageous and enterprising new beginnings of the Ram.
Every sign rules a different part of the body, Aries rules the head and the face. The Aries blend, a light and subtle flavor with tones of fruit and flowers, helps promote mental clarity, new beginnings, and fresh perspective.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
First thought when I saw this tea was YES! Chrysanthemums!
Over the summer, I discovered these delicious floral teas with Chrysanthemum in it. Wow. My taste buds squealed in delight!
This tea is a unique blend of floral, spices, black tea, and a few herbals sprinkled in for good measure. This tea looks amazing. The dry leaf mixture had such a nice sweet slightly savory/floral aroma. Really nice. I couldn’t wait to brew this up. I poured the entire sample I bought into my tea pot, added the water and let it steep for 4 minutes.
While this tea was steeping, I swear I was drooling. This tea smelled just so good!
Finally it was time to try it. Took my first sip and yes, there is the good stuff. This tea really gives me the “wow” factor I look for. There is a unique sweet taste with hints of floral notes and a slightly savory sage finish. The tea base is nice and gives the tea a nice background depth. There are also notes of lemon here and there. Such a silky like smooth tea. So rich and full of flavor! I can’t get enough!
What is fantastic is that when you order this tea, you can order it caffeinated or not. Of course I choose caffeinated. I need something to get me thru the 2pm hour! I was also able to steep this tea about 4 times before noticing a lack of flavor.
If you aren’t familiar with AstroloTea, take a moment and check out the site. The owner is amazing and has such a great variety of teas for everybody!
By the way, if anybody is following my epic adventure to sipdown my teas. . .This makes #9! Woohoo!