African Summer from Tea Licious

by liberteas

Tisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Honeybush

Where to Buy:  Tea Licious

Tisane Description:

Honeybush, lemon grass, lemon myrtle, rosehips, eucalyptus, hibiscus, safflowers, marigold and orange.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

Summer is almost here!  Alas, summer is not my favorite time of year – I prefer autumn and winter … why?   Because hot tea is so much better when it’s chilly outside!  Yes, it’s all about the tea!  However, I am certainly enjoying this African Summer tisane from Tea Licious!

The first thing I notice is the zesty flavor of lemongrass and lemon myrtle which gives it a delicious lemon taste without the pucker-y tartness.  Then there is a tangy orange note that melds nicely with the lemony herbs.  But even with the zesty and tangy flavors, the overall cup is pleasantly smooth, which has a lot to do with the honeybush, which gives it a sweet and nutty taste.

I was a little worried at first that it might be hibiscus-y, but really, the hibiscus only seems to contribute a little to the color of the cup while adding very little tartness or its syrupy texture to it.  That being said, I do recommend exercising some caution when steeping this tea, as hibiscus can quickly overpower a cup when left to steep too long.  I steeped my cup for six full minutes, and it turned out just perfect!

There is a soft mouthfeel to the cup, which I think is because of the hibiscus.  This tells me that there is just the right amount of hibiscus in it … not too much, but enough so that the flavor and texture is not too thin.  Kudos to Tea Licious for doing hibiscus the right way!

This is a very pleasant cup of tea, one that is tasty hot, and very refreshing served over ice!  This is one that you can serve to kids as well as adults, because it is naturally caffeine free, and it has a pleasing flavor that everyone will love.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Honeybush

Evening Indigo from Kally Tea

by liberteas

Tisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Kally Tea

Tea Description:

Ahhhh… Lavender! It is thought to help with a multitude of symptoms. Here are just a few of the many health benefits believed to be aided by lavender; analgesic, antibacterial, antiseptic, relaxant, and nerve tonic.  Even though the health benefits are many, just sitting down in a comfy chair and sipping this delightful brew is a genuine pleasure in itself.

Ingredients: Blue Lavender, Cornflowers, Blue Mallow Blossoms, Rose Petals, Lemon Grass with a hint of Lemon and Mango.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I couldn’t help but chuckle a little when I read the above description.  “Ahhhh… Lavender!”  was exactly the words that I murmured when I first took a sip of this tisane!  Sweet, beautiful, wonderful lavender!

Lavender is one of my very favorite culinary botanicals, but I find few companies who really know how to blend with it properly.  It’s one of those herbs that if you use too little, it won’t be tasted … but if you use even a little too much, the flavor becomes soapy.

Fortunately, Kally Tea knew what they were doing with lavender when they set out to create this Evening Indigo tisane.  Lavender is the strongest flavor, but it is nicely offset with lemongrass, rose petals, and the essence of mango and lemon.  These additions allow the lavender to shine as the prominent flavor without allowing the lavender to taste like the perfume shop in the mall.

This tisane is citrus-y with hints of mango and rose, but mostly … this tisane showcases lavender at its very best!

The cup brews to a pretty lavender blue color, and the infusion smells amazing.  (The dry leaf smells – and looks! – like potpourri!  So lovely!)  But even more amazing than the aroma or the appearance is just how delightful it tastes, and the calm it instills as I sip it.

I think I shall have sweet indigo dreams tonight, thanks to Kally Tea.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane

Cinnamon Lemon Bai Mu Dan from 52Teas

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Tea Description:

Here’s our premium bai mu dan white tea blended with cinnamon, lemon myrtle, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemongrass, lemon peel and natural flavors. Pucker up for some deliciousness!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

WOW!  The combination of cinnamon and lemon may seem ordinary but the flavor of this tea is anything but ordinary!

The lemon flavors are so complex in this – it’s not like a squeeze of fresh lemon, it’s like a squeeze of fresh lemon, plus some lemon zest, plus some liquefied lemon curd all in one.  It isn’t as pucker-y as I expected it to be, instead, the lemon notes are rather smooth, lightly sweet, with only hints of tartness.  It tastes more like the flavor of a lemon-head candy than the flavor you’d get if you were to suck on a wedge of lemon:  sweet, almost candy-like, and very enjoyable.

The cinnamon is not as pronounced as I expected either.  Instead, it is well-balanced with the lemon-y flavors.  It doesn’t overwhelm the cup or come off as too spicy.  It is a warm cinnamon taste that complements the citrus notes:  the cinnamon curbs the sour flavor of the lemon just enough while the lemon softens the spicy blow of the cinnamon.  It is a very lovely marriage of flavors.

And I am happy to report that the Bai Mu Dan isn’t lost in all this wonderful flavor.  The white tea offers a light, fresh flavor.  I taste notes of hay and a sweetness that melds beautifully with the buttery notes of the lemongrass in the blend.

As I write this, I see that there are still 7 pouches of this tea left!  So, I wouldn’t be surprised if people were less than excited by the seemingly ordinary offering of a cinnamon and lemon flavored white tea.

Well, it’s time to get excited, because this tea is way better than I expected it to be.  Don’t get me wrong, I expected it to be delicious (I can’t really recall any time when 52Teas has left me dissatisfied) but, I didn’t think it’d knock my socks off the way it has.  The flavor is sweet and comforting; this is one of those teas that is perfect to cozy up to after a long, hard day!

I love this.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Tea Company, Type Of Tea, White Tea

Winter Chai from Tea Forté

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Tea Forté

Product Description:

Classic spices familiar to chai drinkers evoke the aromas of the holidays in this crimson rooibos herbal.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Even though I’ve already tasted this tea and reviewed it, I received more of it as part of the Warming Joy Collection that I received, and enjoyed it so much that I decided to feature it again. 

Interestingly enough, when tasting it this time, it struck me as hauntingly similar to  the Vienna Cinnamon tea (also from Tea Forté) that I reviewed just recently.  Then, after reading through my previous review and the description and ingredients list on this tea, I realized that the cloves is what gives these two teas such a similar taste profile.

The overall flavor is sweet with a gentle, warming spice.  The lemongrass plays to the fruitier tones of the rooibos, and helps brighten the flavors.

I think I’m enjoying this more this time around than I did the first time I tried it.  It certainly has a comforting effect – it is warm and soothing – and it is a very welcome addition the the Warming Joy Collection!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Chai, Rooibos

BioChai from Hampstead Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Hampstead Tea

Product Description:

Based on a traditional Indian recipe, our chai is made with exotic organic spices from the East. Best enjoyed throughout the day as a creamy latte-style drink. Delicious both hot and iced.

Ingredients: Fairtrade black tea, Fairtrade root ginger, lemongrass, pepper, cardamom seeds and cloves

Taster’s Review:

This is a tasty chai.  I really like the addition of lemongrass to this recipe, it adds a nice, citrus-y back drop to the strong black tea and spices.

The black tea is bold and astringent.  It is strong enough to hold its own against the powerful spices of this blend without overwhelming them.  It has a pleasant malty taste in the background … is this an Assam?  I suspect it is (or at the very least, it is a blend of teas that includes Assam).  It is very rich and flavorful.  A very good base for these spices.

The spices are also quite bold and peppery.  The ginger and pepper in this blend are the strongest components of the spice set, with the cardamom providing a warm background note.  The cloves are a bit more powerful here than in a typical masala chai blend – this could be because there is no cinnamon to take the spotlight away from the cloves.  It could also that because the chai has been very finely ground and the cloves have a better opportunity to express themselves with the fine grind.

The lemongrass here is a delicate flavor in comparison to the other flavors, but it is no less appreciated.  As I said at the start of this review, the lemongrass offers a light citrus-y tone to the tea, and I find it to be a very pleasing note.

I drank my first cup of this extra strong (I used two teabags) with a little turbinado sugar to bring out the warmth and complexity in the spices.  As it cooled, I noticed that the flavor of the cloves really seemed to pop and accented the citrus-y tones nicely.  For my second cup, I made a chai latte, and I absolutely LOVE this as a chai latte!  It was creamy and rich.  A real treat!  YUM!

 

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea, Chai