Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tisane Description:
What better way to wind down the day than with chocolate and mint? Our Peppermint Patty pairs organic marshmallow leaf, a naturally sweet caffeine-free herb, with sweet organic peppermint, and mellow milk chocolate. This light and refreshing herbal works well as an after dinner treat. With each sip, the flavor grows stronger and lingers longer. Add a little sugar to intensify the chocolate flavor.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a really cool looking herbal tisane with the itty bitty chocolate chips in it! Yeah, I know … I shouldn’t get all excited by something as simple as chocolate chips. But I’m a chocoholic, what can I say? And when I saw that this Peppermint Patty Herbal Tisane from Butiki Teas is a peppermint tisane with chocolate AND marshmallow root … I got really excited about trying it!
And OH yum! This is tasty!
It’s minty, of course, and the mint is strong … but it isn’t overpowering the chocolate-y notes and the creamy, sweet notes of the marshmallow come through so deliciously! The mint doesn’t come off tasting like mouthwash … with the fluffy marshmallow and decadent chocolate notes … these flavors bring out the sweeter essence of the mint so that it tastes sweet not medicinal or too herbaceous.
What I’m liking most about this is that this herbal tisane is that it really delivers just what the name seems to imply. The name … sounds like a candy bar (I know, duh! right?) and this has a very yummy, sweet, dessert-y taste to it. This is the perfect way to enjoy a sweet treat after a meal without too many calories. Sure, there’s going to be some calories in this … but, it’s not going to have as many calories as that candy bar you might be craving!
It’s sweet, minty, chocolate-y, creamy deliciousness! And it is delightfully satisfying to my chocoholic sweet tooth!
Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club: Kesennuma Kuwacha Sencha Mulberry Leaf Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
Rare Japanese mulberry tea, or kuwacha (桑茶), is very similar to a light sencha without the caffeine.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little unsure about trying this Kesennuma Kuwacha Sencha Mulberry Leaf Tea from the Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club from Yunomi, because I can’t recall actually having tried a Tisane made from just mulberry leaves before. I probably have had tea blends with mulberry leaves … but, I can’t recall trying a straight mulberry leaf tisane before.
But, I decided what the heck, I was going to give it a try, because everything that I’ve tried thus far from Yunomi I’ve enjoyed … so I put my faith in this company and hoped that they wouldn’t let me down.
And you know what – they didn’t! This is really quite nice. The aroma of the dry leaf is very pleasant with its sweet fruity notes and leafy/grassy tones. And the dark green, finely chopped leaves resemble a Japanese Sencha. Once brewed, the tisane keeps some of the fruity notes, and the leafy/grassy notes become more distinctive.
The flavor is very reminiscent of a Japanese Sencha, believe it or not! I was actually quite surprised by the flavor … I didn’t expect it to taste so much like a Sencha! It is sweet, slightly buttery, with fruity notes. It has a light character to it (although, if you want it stronger, you can add more leaf!) and the texture isn’t quite as brothy as a Sencha tea might be but … the grassy/leafy notes of the Sencha are there. This might actually be a little sweeter due to the fruity quality, and I’m noticing less (as in very little if any) savory taste to this. It’s more like a sweeter version of a Sencha … without the invigorating caffeine.
This tisane is perfect for those of you who would like to enjoy a green tea later in the evening but don’t want the caffeine … this has such a “green tea” taste to it that you’d think you’re drinking green tea … but you’re not! It’s really quite wonderful!
Lemon Black Tea from TeaGschwendner
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Tea Description:
Pure Sicilian lemon oil powers this classic black tea.
Ingredients: Black tea from South India, lemon peel and natural lemon oil
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lemon flavored teas are not typically my “go to” flavored tea, mostly because they seem … so ordinary. You know? I mean, lemon is the traditional garnish for a cup of tea. You go to a restaurant, and they’re likely to put a lemon slice on your glass of iced tea, or serve you a small bowl of lemon wedges with your hot tea. So, when a friend sent me a sampling of this Lemon Black Tea from TeaGschwendner, I accepted it happily and with appreciation, but, I wasn’t all that excited to try a lemon flavored black tea.
But this lemon tea is quite refreshing! The lemon flavoring here is more sweet than it is tart, reminding me more of a lemon curd than of the freshly squeezed juice from a lemon. It has a bright, zesty flavor that I’d get from that freshly squeezed lemon, but, it doesn’t have the pucker-y tartness of it. I like that.
The black tea is a smooth, even-tempered sort of tea, which leads me to suspect that this is probably a Ceylon base. It has a good flavor and it is a pleasant, medium-bodied black tea. Sort of mellow, and perhaps it is this mild attitude that I get from the tea that makes the lemon seem less intense.
It’s a very tasty lemon tea – this is one I’d recommend for iced tea brewing because it has that really smooth, well-rounded flavor that would work well for an iced tea. It’s also quite nice served hot.
Sakura Komachi Green Tea from Shi Zen
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Shi Zen
Tea Description:
Ceremonial Grade “Matcha” Blended with Cherry Blossom Leaf
Our green tea is grown on family farms located in small villages in the foothills of Mount Fuji. This remote Okabe region of Shizuoka Prefecture enjoys the perfect combination of clean air, pure water, and fertile soil only found in this area of Japan. This premium Matcha is the 1st harvest Matcha, which is considered one of the finest grade Matcha in Japan.
These cherry trees grow on the Izu region of Shizuoka Prefecture, and their cherry blossoms leaves are hand-picked in the spring and ground with a traditional Japanese stone mill.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow … ok, so this Sakura Komachi Green Tea from Shi Zen is different! But, different is good!
The Matcha here is very beautifully, BRIGHT green – the way a high quality Ceremonial Grade Matcha should be. The Matcha been blended with stone ground cherry blossom leaves to impart a pleasant cherry blossom flavor.
The Matcha froths up really beautifully, and produces a liquid that resembles some of the finest Matcha teas that I’ve had the opportunity to taste. The color is bright jade green … and the powder remains incorporated as I drink … I didn’t experience the sediment at the bottom of my chawan!
Having never actually tasted the powder from a cherry blossom leaf before tasting this powdered green tea blend, I have no experience with which to compare what I’m tasting now. However, I have had quite a few experiences with very high quality Matcha – and so I’m going to pick out what I’m tasting now that is different from other Matcha I’ve tried and work under the presumption that these “new” tastes are from the cherry blossom leaf.
The overall flavor is vegetative. It has a very “spring-time” like flavor to it – evoking thoughts of trees covered in pretty pink blossoms and the air filled with their scent. It has a creamy texture and taste, slightly buttery and very smooth on the palate. The Matcha flavor stands out over the flavor of the cherry blossom leaf, which is not what I’d call “delicate” but, it is softer than the flavor of the Matcha. There is a slight sharpness from the cherry blossom leaf – it’s slightly “floral” tasting, and I find that this floral note rests upon the palate in the aftertaste.
It’s quite an enjoyable experience, this Sakura Komachi, and I’m really glad I had this opportunity to try it. It’s a bit like drinking the splendor of spring-time!
Organic Singampatti Oothu Black Tea from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
This very fine black tea hails from the Oothu estate in the Indian state of Kerala, just miles from the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. Isolated from the rest of the country by the Western Ghats, tea grows at the Oothu Estate amid lush green rainforest and stunning natural beauty. In fact, Oothu translates to “spring of water.” The Singampatti group of estates produce the largest amount of organic tea in the world. This organic, Fair Trade Certified black tea is full-bodied, smooth, and subtly sweet with light to medium astringency.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Organic Singampatti Oothu Black Tea from Arbor Teas – while the name is quite a twisted mouthful! – the tea itself is so smooth and rich and absolutely delightful to sip!
This is a very pleasantly smooth tea. It starts out with a sweet note that is reminiscent of a caramel note – a light caramel note. Throughout the sip, I notice hints of fruit and flower. There are very subtle spice tones to the tea as well as a touch of malt. It has a sort of “chewy” bake-y flavor that evokes thoughts of the chewy crust of a warm, freshly baked French Bread.
It is a warm, robust tea, but I like that it is not a bitter tea. No, I didn’t over-steep the tea, but, sometimes, with Indian teas there are very subtle notes of something there that suggest to me that if I had over-steeped the tea that I would have a bitter tasting brew. There is no inclination of that with this tea. Just smooth, sweet, delicious flavor.
There is some astringency that is slightly dry. I notice this dry sensation on my palate toward the finish, but it isn’t an overbearingly dry tea either. The dryness reminds me of a fine wine, with notes of black currant toward the finish, and a slight dryness on the palate as the sip concludes.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable tea! It is one that I’d like as that all-important first cup of the day (in fact, that is what it is today!) because it’s strong enough to provide a that little kick of gusto that I need to get going. But it is not an aggressive tea, and it would also make an agreeable afternoon pick-me-up kind of tea as well. Nice with milk and honey (or other sweetener) but, equally as nice without!
And I really can’t say enough good things about Arbor Teas as a company. They are definitely tops in my book. I love that all their teas are organic and fair trade – and that they are dedicated to providing the best quality organic and fair trade teas to their customers. I also LOVE that they are devoted to the environment, using biodegradable packaging and focusing their efforts toward a greener planet. These things are important to me, and I love that they are also important to Arbor Teas!