Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Byron Bay Tea Company
Company Description:
Beauty begins on the inside, which makes our SKIN tea the perfect primer. The zesty blend of Lemongrass and Ginger is complemented by a purifying punch of Peppermint. So for a naturally healthy glow, and to sustain your internal vigor, sip BBTC SKIN.
Taster’s Review:
OK, I admit it. Herbal blends scare me. Just a little bit. They do!
That’s because even with the finest ingredients, herbal tisanes can go wrong. They can taste medicine-y. Or they can just have some funky off-putting taste. So, needless to say, I was scared to try this blend from Byron Bay Tea Company.
But, this tastes really terrific! If this is a skin regime, count me in! I would be happy to drink this on a daily basis.
This doesn’t taste medicine-y or otherwise off-putting. The peppermint is strong, but not overpowering… and interestingly enough, this tisane doesn’t come off as “minty” exactly, although it does have a crisp and clean mint aftertaste.
I am also enjoying the way the ginger and lemongrass work together in this blend. The ginger offers just a hint of peppery flavor, while the sweet citrus-y tones of the lemongrass cancel out some of the spicier notes of the ginger. There is also a nice peppery accent in the finish that I find rather enjoyable.
But, I think my favorite part of this blend is the very subtle taste of rose. It is a nice touch. It is so soft and sweet. Very nice, indeed.
None of the flavors here are overwhelming… instead, they are very harmonious with one another. It has a pleasant, well-rounded taste. It is a very soothing, relaxing cup – especially nice at the end of the day!
Fruit Blend Tea from Sahara’s Supplies
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Sahara’s Supplies
Company’s Description:
A pleasantly fruity and minty blend of herbal ingredients. Delicious and caffeine-free!
Description: Fruit Blend Tea
Origin: United States, House Blend
Uses: Tea
Taster’s Review:
This tea presents a challenge to me, because I’m not really crazy about it. It’s not necessarily a bad tea though – it’s just not my favorite tea.
Let’s start with the obvious (as far as my palate is concerned). This blend has a lot of hibiscus in it. Hibiscus is not my favorite herb in teas because it offers a very tart flavor and has a rather thick body, so if there is a lot of hibiscus in an herbal blend, it can brew up to be rather thick and somewhat syrupy.
I know that there are a lot of people out there who love hibiscus. I’m just not one of them. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy some blends with hibiscus in them, but, I am just of the opinion that it needs to be added lightly. Too much hibiscus is well… just too much.
And for me, this blend has a little too much, and it interferes a little bit with the other flavors. I can taste the fruit flavors of lemon and orange – and these flavors are quite pleasant, and I think they would be even better if there were less hibiscus in this blend. The hibiscus tends to highlight the sour qualities of the citrus fruits, and much of the subtle sweetness seems lost.
My favorite part of this tea is the peppermint. I really do like how it seems to be peeking out of the other herbs in this blend. It’s like a little tease of peppermint, and it does entice me to keep drinking, if for no other reason than that little hint of peppermint.
This makes a much better iced tea than a hot tea, and I do recommend a drizzle of honey or agave nectar or some sugar to help curb some of the tartness of this unless you really like tart.
As I said at the start, this is not a bad tea, it is just not my favorite tea. I know that my palate tends to be overly sensitive when it comes to sour/tart flavors. So, I do encourage you to try it for yourself… and if you like it, please stop by and let us know – I’d love to hear from you!
Little Black Dress – Slimming Tea – Citrus from Teaquilibrium
Tea Type:
Green/Oolong/Rooibos Blend
Where To Buy: Teaquilibrium
Product Description:
Little Black Dress Citrus is a refreshing blend of zesty lemon and exotic bergamot delicious hot and especially refreshing iced. Think poolside or beach with a lemon wedge in a tall frosty glass. The added green tea and green rooibos will give an extra boost of calm energy to this uplifting blend.
So go ahead, have a cup and put on that little black dress!
For easy preparation, cold infuse your LBD Citrus with the help of the aladdin travel mug. Always Balanced and Beautiful anywhere you go!
ingredients: oolong tea, green tea, green rooibos, lemongrass, lemon myrtle, citrus flavor, jasmine blossoms.
benefits: speeds metabolism, helps burn fat
how many cups? approximately 40 tsp. per 2.5 oz tin; that’s about 80 eight oz cups at 19 cents per cup*
preparation: heat water: 195 F, scoop: 1.5 tsp/8 oz., steep 3 – 4 min.
naturally caffeinated
*fresh whole leaf teas can be infused at least twice— just steep a little longer the second time.
Tasters Review:
Little Black Dress – Slimming Citrus is an Oolong-Green Tea-Green Rooibos Blend…and I was VERY excited to try it! It sounded very unique and creative!
It brewed VERY Dark and smelled mostly floral and with a hint of lemon. I could taste the green tea a bit more than the oolong and green rooibos. The Jasmine stood out as the floral taste more as it cools. This had a slight vegetal/earthy taste towards the end of the sip.
I liked the idea of this one and the taste is…well…pretty TASTY!
Misty Morning from Good 4 You
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté & Herbal
Where to Buy: Good 4 You on Etsy
Company Description:
♥ A lemony yerba mate’ blend to lift the mind’s mist every morning, day or night! For memory, concentration and mental alertness. Recommended for studying & staying focused. There’s feverfew in it too, to possibly help a headache. A tea made for the crown chakra.
Ingredients: yerba mate leaves, lemon grass leaves, lemon balm leaves, gotu kola leaves, gingko leaves, rosemary leaves, stevia leaves, sage leaves & feverfew flowers and leaves. (CAFFEINATED)
Taster’s Review:
I want to start this review by saying that I really like this company. Good 4 You has a shop on Etsy, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with Etsy, it’s a fantastic venue where artists can sell their wares. I sold my teas as well as my art on Etsy, and I love it there. So I was excited to receive hand-blended tea samples from this Etsy store.
The package arrived and it was hand decorated – a nice touch! – and the packaging for each of the teas that I received is very cute and thoughtfully executed. I have nothing but respect and admiration for this company, and I urge you to support handmade!
OK… now that I’ve said that – this tea is alright. I am not a big fan of green Yerba Maté, I find it a bit too earthy for me, but, here, the other herbs manage to smooth out some of the earthy qualities for my palate, which I appreciate.
There is quite a bit going on with this blend. There’s the Yerba Maté, it’s vegetative, it’s earthy, and it provides a richness and depth of flavor to this tea blend.
Then there’s the lemon grass and lemon balm. These two ingredients provide a nice, lemony sweetness to the blend. It’s not terribly tart – a bonus – the lemon here tastes smooth.
There is a savory quality to this blend – I can taste the combination of rosemary and sage. This is a classic culinary combination, and it offers a unique and flavorful contribution to this tea blend.
Then… there is the stevia. Here’s the thing. I really wish that tea blenders/artists would not put stevia in their tea blends. I am not really crazy about stevia as it is, I like it ok sometimes… but most of the time, I detect a funky sort of aftertaste from it that I’m just not wild about. Basically, the main purpose of stevia is to add sweetness to a tea (it’s sweeter than sugar), but if I want to make my cup sweet, I’d like to do that myself.
The stevia aside, I think that this blend makes a decent cup of tea. It’s not my favorite blend, but, I like that it is a handcrafted blend. I like the creativity and thoughtfulness that went into making this blend. It’s tasty and I like that I feel more alert after having enjoyed a cup of this tea. It is a FEEL GOOD kind of tea that I can feel good about drinking!
Sencha Passion from Drink T
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Drink T
Company Description:
Here’s an intriguing blend. Our Sencha Passion takes the fresh grassy and highly aromatic character of this fine Chinese green tea, blending it with tropical papaya and lemon grass. The result is a tangy, fruity beverage with a wonderfully unique character.
Taster’s Review:
I know I say this a lot – but this tea is really good!
The green tea base is smooth. There is a rich, soft texture to the tea that seems to glide over the palate like velvet. It feels very luxurious.
The papaya is sweet and gives this tea a very tropical tone, while the lemongrass offers just enough tart flavor to cut through the sweetness and adds a unique depth to the cup.
This is definitely one of my favorites from Drink T!