My family made a lot of strawberry rhubarb pies in the summertime, and each time I was tasked with washing and chopping the rhubarb from our garden. I was warned that the leaves were poisonous, and only the stems were okay to go in the pie. That dietary fact always made the bowl of chopped rhubarb and eggs and sugar all bubbling together seem like some questionable witches brew. But the resulting pie was always worth the danger, especially with all the pink strawberries in the mix.
Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom from Blend Bee works to recreate this strawberry rhubarb combination. The dry leaf smells strong and sweet, a bit like artificial strawberry candy. A good dose of hibiscus ensures that this tea brews up bright pink, and brings a blast of tart, fruity flavors. Beneath all the sweet and sour, there is a gentle green, vegetal note, perhaps from the rhubarb or the oolong, and it adds a nice freshness to the tea.
Depending on your love of strawberries, you might really enjoy this tea for the berry sweetness. For me, the strawberry flavoring is very forward, so I would to argue for more rhubarb next time. Though, to be fair, I’m not sure that I would want a full-on rhubarb-only tea. Rhubarb is achingly sour on its own, and needs strawberries and sugar to truly be palatable. There’s a reason rhubarb and strawberries are so often paired together and this tea is true to that classic strawberry rhubarb pie flavor.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Blend Bee
Description:
Juicy and refreshing, this blend has just a hint of sweetness and is rounded out with bold red fruit flavors. You will long for Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Ganymede Matcha Tea Blend by MoongleamTeaShoppe
I wasn’t sure how to prepare this tea at first. It’s matcha, so you should be able to just put it in the hot water and shake/whisk it up, right? Well, no, because there are lumps in it as well. The green lumps (I thought they might just be matcha powder caked together that would come apart in the cup) turned out to be bits of citrus peel coated in matcha, which made me realize that there was less matcha in my cup than I at first thought, so I just went ahead and dumped the rest of the sample in too.
When dry, this tea was green, but once steeped it turned a super-muddy brown. By that I mean that it was not just brown but also opaque even before I added milk. I’m going to assume this was from the chocolate. I could taste a hint of chocolate in the tea, although it was hidden way down under the mint still.
There is some bitterness to this tea, but I think that’s from the mint (because it tasted to me like mint tea that has been steeped a bit too long) rather than from the matcha. So next time I’d be more careful not to steep it quite so long. I was trying to give the citrus peel a chance to wake up, but I don’t think it stood a chance against the mint anyway.
Once I added some sugar and lots of milk, it tasted primarily of mint-chocolate, but still very heavy on the mint. I could hardly taste the matcha itself at all because of the mint, which could be a good thing if you don’t especially like matcha flavor but still want the energy that comes from it. With the addition of milk, the citrus became almost nonexistent– although not totally gone– kind of like a ghost. Sometimes I thought I caught a hint of it but I’m not totally sure and it wasn’t a very substantial hint anyway.
Looking at the ingredients list, I notice that there was black tea in this as well. I didn’t really notice it (as I said, before steeping everything was coated in matcha and afterward everything tasted strongly of mint). Maybe there wasn’t very much of it, because it certainly didn’t have a very strong presence in this tea blend.
So in conclusion, I’d say that if you like strongly minty mint chocolate matcha, this could be great for you. It would also be great as a functional breakfast tea because it has all the refreshing qualities of mint plus the caffeine from the matcha. I’m not sure I’d buy this particular blend but I sure had fun with the sample!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Moongleam Tea Shoppe
Description
The rich, earthy flavor of matcha meets the sweetness of cocoa, mint, and orange peel.
The flavors combine wonderfully to create a wonderful interplay.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Aria blend from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Co.
Immediately evident in the dry leaves are whole cloves and some seed pods that I thought at first were anise but, after looking at the ingredients, I decided must be fennel. The attractive-looking combination also includes bits of licorice and marshmallow root as well as orange peel and peppermint plus cinnamon and ginger.
I’d say this tea would probably great for reducing throat irritation/scratchiness/etc, whether you have a cold or allergies or have just overused or abused your voice recently. (Which I haven’t. But I’ll be sure to use this tea next time my throat is feeling under the weather!) It probably can’t work miracles, like if you have laryngitis and are hoping to still go on stage or something, but it does have a markedly soothing effect. Also, this tea can be re-steeped! So you can use it over and over again, although I personally didn’t test to see how many cups of tea it will make so I can’t give a figure. I’d recommend this tea for not only singers but anyone who might sometimes overuse their voice or who might have to use their voice while sick, like teachers (can’t stop teaching just cause you have a cold!).
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company
Description
A singer’s best friend! This herbal blend was originally designed for Portland’s very own Hampton Opera Center. Licorice, marshmallow root, cinnamon and mint are some of the ingredients used in this blend to provide relief and aid to the throat. Aria satisfies, soothes and warms.
Caffeine-Free.
Licorice Root*, Fennel*, Clove*, Cinnamon*, Orange Peel*, Ginger*, Peppermint*, and Marshmallow Root.
*Organically Grown.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
COME BACK, PIN TEA!
My heart weeps for my inability to purchase more Pin Tea. Their Etsy site has little available at this time, so I hesitate to tell you how much I adore this tea. It might sound like rubbing it in. “Nyah, nyah, I have this wonderful tea and you will be thirsty for it until you die.”
Their fruity tea is juicy and delicious, guys. And the pinup artwork to go with it is so very saucy.
I first tried The Flirt, which is, to the best of my knowledge, some sort of apricot/fruit infused black tea. If it were a lady, it would be a 1950s winky-face kinda gal with magenta lipstick. The kind of woman whom one might call a “dame” or a “skirt.” It’s a flavor-pow, a sock-it-to-ya wham-bam kind of flavor.
I followed it up this morning with “Something Blue,” a gentler green-and-blueberry infusion. This is the wedding day of the Flirt. She’s still very flavorful and cool, but she’s mellowed somewhat. She found the greaser-boy of her dreams and they’re going to settle in to a pre-fab house with a pink kitchen and a poodle dyed blue. She’s going to run a custom-sewn fancy-dress shop. Every dress will have a fluffy tulle under-skirt. Every one of their vacations will be a road trip to somewhere schlocky, and they will fill their fridge with Polaroids of themselves in front of roadside attractions.
We need to petition Pin Tea to come back. . . .
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Pin Tea Shop
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for the teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tummy Mint from Yerba Buena Tea Co. . . An Herbal Tea To The Rescue!
With the holidays right around the corner, I don’t know about you all, but I always find myself just not able to say no to my mom’s awesome treats, cookies, and delights. I always seem to indulge without even realizing it. But I’ve got myself a secret weapon this year. . .
(Read in an Announcer Style Voice) TaDa! Tummy Mint from Yerba Buena Tea Co. One of the first herbal teas that contain ginger and fennel that CuppaGeek actually enjoys and drinks on a daily basis. Yes, you can rest assured that this blend will have your tummy feeling better in no time with amazing organic ingredients like peppermint, marshmallow root, chamomile flowers, ginger root, and fennel. One sip and a few hours later, you’ll be back at that dessert table again!
Ok that’s out of my system now.
This herbal tea is honestly one of the first herbal teas that I find myself constantly grabbing again, and again, and again. All of those flavors really create this wonderfully delicate yet refreshing flavor that my taste buds crave. I don’t grab for herbals very often or even ones that have a mix of ginger, fennel, and peppermint, but this one is absolutely brilliant.
You can pick up each flavor but they are all balanced with care and not one flavor overwhelms the other. I always find that ginger can become really overwhelming (fennel too) but in this blend I don’t feel that is an issue at all. I find myself even adding a scoop of this tea to my straight teas in the mornings just to add a boost to what I’m drinking. I’m sort of addicted to the peppermint and marshmallow root combo so adding that to any tea just makes me happy.
I will say with 100% honesty and this is in no way me saying this tea works, but after drinking this tea, I do feel better. I have a very slow and irritating digestive system where I get stomach pains from a lot of the foods I eat. I’m not saying that after drinking this my pain has gone away but I have noticed that my bloating isn’t as bad, which is a constant irritant. Can’t say the same will happen for you but I just wanted to give my two cents.
Highly recommend this herbal to anyone. Try it even if you aren’t a ginger fan. You’ll see what I mean when I say this blend is crafted and created with care.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Yerba Buena Tea Co.
Description
Marshmallow root was commonly used as a digestive aid by ancient Greeks, and peppermint is considered one of the oldest remedies for stomach ailments. Our tummy tea adds ginger, chamomile and fennel – which has a long belly-satisfying history. We round out this deliciously soothing blend with calendula flower.
Ingredients: Organic Peppermint, Organic Marshmallow Root, Organic Chamomile Flowers, Organic Ginger Root, Organic Fennel
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
