Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teas Etc.
Product Information:
Sweet coconut and tart key lime bring the cool refreshment of the islands to your cup.
A crowd favorite at the 2010 World Tea Expo, our Key Lime Coconut Black Tea is the first in a new line of flavored/blended teas that use all natural (not natural identical), organic or essential oils for flavoring.
Taster’s Review:
Yum!
I haven’t had the opportunity to try very many of Teas Etc.’s blends, but I am glad that I got the opportunity to try this one. I just visited their website, and I couldn’t find this tea … perhaps it is sold out. I hope they haven’t discontinued it – because it is delicious!
The key lime flavor is well-defined in this blend … from the very first moment I opened the package I could smell the lime, and from the very first sip, I could taste the citrus-y tart lime flavor.
The coconut is also a strong flavor, although it is a little softer than the lime, but it does develop as I continue to sip. The first couple of sips … not so much coconut, but now, as I’m nearing the bottom of the cup, the coconut is almost as strong as the key lime. The coconut lends a sweet, creamy note to the cup and I love the contrast between the tangy flavor of lime and the sweet coconut.
The black tea is a mellow black tea, smooth and free of bitterness. Not a lot to really say about the black tea other than that, it isn’t a strong or aggressive black tea, but it isn’t overwhelmed by the flavors either. It seems content to let the key lime and coconut do most of the work.
I haven’t tried much from this company in a while, so I am glad I was able to try this tea. I just placed an order with them, so watch for a couple more teas to be reviewed in the near future!
NOTE: To follow up about the availability of this particular tea, Teas Etc. replied to my email and informed me that this is a seasonal tea and is currently out of stock. If you contact Teas Etc. via their contact page and inquire about this tea, they will notify you via email when the tea is back in stock.
Lemon-Lime Cheesecake Honeybush from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
I think it’s about time for another Honeybush blend, and not just any honeybush blend, but a CHEESECAKE honeybush blend. I fully expect this blend is going to be every bit as popular or more popular than our Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush, so don’t drag your feet about ordering this one; I used up the LAST of our honeybush creating it, and I’m still waiting on my supplier–whose shipment is stuck in customs at the moment.
We’ve blended our organic caffeine-free African honeybush with organic lemon myrtle, some marigold petals and all natural flavors to create a truly mouth-watering batch of deliciousness. The scent of this blend alone is enough to send some folks into paroxysms of joy, but the flavor is beyond stunning. Hot or iced, this is a serious TREAT.
Taster’s Review:
OK, by now it’s no secret that I love 52Teas. But I think it goes a little further than that. I am addicted to 52Teas, and Frank is my dealer. Frank and his tea company, 52Teas, is total tea awesomeness! And this Lemon-Lime Cheesecake Honeybush is absolute deliciousness!
I can’t recall ever actually tasting a lemon-lime cheesecake. But, here, I can taste the lemon and the lime. I can taste the cheesecake. And I can even taste the buttery pastry. The nutty sweet honeybush marries perfectly with the flavors to complete the cheesecake-like profile. This is what lemon-lime cheesecake SHOULD taste like.
YUM!
As I write this, there are only 4 pouches of this tisane left in stock… I highly recommend getting some before they run out!
Kiwi Lime Ginger from Tea Forté
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Honeybush
Where to Buy: Tea Forté
Product Description:
The sunny scent of fresh picked citrus complemented by the comfort and taste of ginger with a lingering finish of the topics.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little worried about steeping this single steep in my KATI tumbler for fear that the thin, needle-like leaves of the rooibos would filter through the mesh infuser basket. But I am happy to report that no rooibos leaves (or any other particles) managed to fall through the basket! Yay!
Prior to infusing this tisane, I could smell the lime and kiwi very prominently, with mere hints of ginger lingering in the background. It was a little surprising, actually, as ginger tends to be a very aggressive spice that often overthrows the other ingredients in a tisane blend. And while I do enjoy ginger, I am glad that I could smell the lime and especially the kiwi here.
The aroma that I’m experiencing after brewing is slightly medicinal. I can still smell the citrus notes, and a softer note of kiwi. While it does smell slightly medicinal (sort of like eucalyptus), it isn’t exactly off-putting – but it does give me cause to approach it somewhat apprehensively.
This is tasty! The lime and kiwi are prominent in the flavor, as is the ginger. It is only mildly peppery, and it is a very pleasing contrast to the sweet kiwi flavor and the tangy lime. The combination of the honeybush and the rooibos provides a nice background – one that is nutty and slightly sweet. It melds well with the other flavors of the cup.
Another winner from the Herbal Retreat Collection from Tea Forté!
Rainbow Sherbet from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
We’ve blended our premium Indian black teas with real freeze-dried orange sections, freeze-dried raspberries and natural lime, orange and raspberry flavors (with just a touch of natural vanilla flavor to give it that smooth sherbet essence).
This tea SMELLS simply INCREDIBLE, like you just popped open a carton of rainbow sherbet, and the flavor is like someone melted a scoop of rainbow sherbet in your tea. Lime, orange, raspberry–who knew such an unusual combination would prove to be so delicious?
Taster’s Review:
The moment I tore open the pouch of this tea, I was blown away! This smells AMAZING! Not like amazing, but Ahhhh-MAZ-ing! But, I must disagree with the above description about the aroma, because this smells way better than any rainbow sherbet I’ve ever opened. It smells like rainbow sherbet times 10!
And it tastes as incredible as it smells. I brewed my first cup of this to drink hot, because I generally taste all teas hot first. Then I brewed a pitcher full of it to enjoy for iced tea the next day. And as stunning as it is hot, I like this one better iced – it is so refreshing and delicious.
Everything is in pleasing harmony with this tea. The combination of black teas (52Teas uses a blend of Nilgiri and Assam as their base) is strong and delicious; it melds well with the fruit flavors.
The fruit flavors are very well balanced: while I can taste notes of raspberry, lime and orange, they aren’t too aggressive and they do not attempt to overpower each other. The raspberry is sweet with a berry tartness, the lime is citrus-y sour, and the orange is sweet and juicy. YUM!
The vanilla note is very slight here, it is more of a slight creaminess and sweetness rather than a strong vanilla essence, and it does give the overall cup a sherbet/dessert-y kind of taste.
This is definitely another winner from 52Teas. I absolutely LOVE this one!
Frankie Says RELAX from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush, Tulsi & Herbal Blend
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
It’s 102° in Wichita today, I’ve been stressing out like crazy lately over a bunch of personal stuff, but fortunately, I have the perfect remedy: a tall tumbler full of iced tea, specifically, our tea of the week for this week.
Frankie Says Relax (I just couldn’t resist), is a blend of caffeine-free organic African honeybush, organic Tulsi Rama, lemon myrtle (come to think of it, I think it’s organic too), and natural lemon and lime flavors.
The resulting blend is a bit spicy, a lot citrus-y, with a touch of natural sweetness from the honeybush, and ALL relaxing. It is an “Ahhhhh”-moment in a cup. And I can tell you firsthand, it is amazing hot or iced.
I fully expect this one is going to go fast, and I don’t have an unlimited supply of tulsi (or honeybush right now for that matter), so don’t drag your feet, get some now and enjoy this one-of-a-kind refreshment.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! This tastes much better than I thought it would. Not that I doubted Frank’s artistry; however, I just thought that this blend seemed a little more “ordinary” … or is “tame” a better word? It’s not a “far out” blend like some of Frank’s other fantastically famous blends like Pancake Breakfast or Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha. In comparison, this lemon-lime Tulsi & Honeybush blend would seem a bit boring.
But it isn’t.
The flavor is very refreshing. The lemon and lime flavors meld wonderfully with the herbal-minty flavor of the Tulsi and the honey-nutty flavor of the honeybush. The Tulsi does give the cup a slightly medicine-y kind of taste … no… more like an herbal-health-food kind of taste in the background, but, it doesn’t offset the delicious sweetness of it.
The citrus notes hit the palate first. The citrus tastes tangy, juicy and just a little bit sweet. The citrus is crisp but not sharp, as I think that the sweetness from the Honeybush tempers the sharper tones well. Beneath these stronger flavors, the honeybush offers its sweet, nutty taste, while the mint-basil-y taste of the Tulsi sits back in the background.
I think that Frank describes it best when he says it’s “a bit spicy, a lot citrus-y, with a touch of natural sweetness from the honeybush, and ALL relaxing.” This is all that!