Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green & White Blend
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
Our special blend of white and green teas are fused together to make the delicate flavor the perfect summer drink. This amazing blend of summer fruits of mango, pineapple, papaya, strawberry, sour cherry, and apricot bits produces a refreshing, naturally sweet tea.
Tea Information:
Summer is over, but this tea offers the very best of summer in one teacup. (And truth be told, we are still experiencing some very summer-like weather lately!)
There are a lot of different fruit flavors in this tea, but I like that even though the fruit flavors are strong, they do not completely overwhelm the delicate base of green and white teas. The tea base tastes lightly grassy, sweet, and fresh. It is a very smooth tasting tea.
The fruit flavors are sweet, but they don’t taste cloying or sugary-sweet. There are notes from each of the fruits present: I can taste the tropical notes of the mango, pineapple and papaya, I can taste an almost nectar-like note that is very apricot-ish, and the aftertaste has a berry taste that is very strawberry. There is an ever so slight tart note, which I attribute to the sour cherry. This tart note is not present in the first couple of sips, but as I continue to sip, I notice it hit just before the tail.
The finish is sweet and there is next to no astringency to this blend. The aftertaste is sweet with a berry tingle that lingers a while. This is a really delicious fruit flavored tea. Enjoyable hot or iced, but I think I find it most refreshing as an iced tea.
While browsing through Praise Tea’s incredible selection of teas, I had some trouble finding this particular tea on the website. I contacted the sales department of Praise Tea and learned that this tea is a seasonal blend that is currently sold out. (Their sales staff is very courteous!) Watch for this tea to return when the weather turns warm – you’ll want to keep it on hand for an iced tea that your whole family will LOVE!
Green Tea Fruit Smoothie from Ovation Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Ovation Teas
Check out Daily Gourmet’s Special Offer on this tea!
Product Description:
Green tea blended with strawberry pieces, mango, pineapple, marigolds, and globe amaranth with strawberry and mango flavoring.
Taster’s Review:
When I first opened this package, I had intended to only brew a cup of the tea to drink hot. I hadn’t expected it to smell so INCREDIBLE! As a result of the breath-taking aroma, I am now brewing enough to have for iced tea tomorrow afternoon.
This tea is appropriately named, it smells like a fruit smoothie. The flavor is ambrosial. Sweet, fruity, and with just enough tarty fruit taste to keep it interesting.
The green tea base is – surprisingly – not obscured by this fruity combination. It tastes fresh and light, like the air in a lush, green forest. It is not overly vegetal, though, but has enough grassy taste to remind you that this is a green tea and not a fruit punch that you’re drinking.
The strongest flavor that I’m tasting is the mango, followed by a lovely strawberry note. The pineapple is a little more in the background. The flavors are sweet and nectar-like, with a tingly tartness that sits on the tip of the tongue in the finish. This delicious, sweet-tart fruit flavor lingers long after the sip.
I like this served hot or iced – but my preference is iced. It is complete thirst-quenching refreshment.
For a special offer on this tea (and other amazing foodie products!), check Daily Gourmet. For a limited time, you can order Ovation Tea’s Summer Set of Teas for just $15. (That’s a 50% savings!) I recommend getting yourself some of this tea right away, while summer is still here … you’ll be glad you did!
Gingersnap Cookie Rooibos from Fusion Tea Room
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fusion Tea Room
Product Description:
This mouth-watering herbal blend is sure to delight. Wonderful with a splash of cream and a pinch of sugar. It doesn’t have to be winter to enjoy this gingerbread treat. Aromatic and naturally caffeine free.
Taster’s Review:
As I sit here, the fragrance of this tisane is enticing me to take a sip. I have never had freshly baked gingersnap cookies before, but, this is what I would expect them to smell like if I ever happen to try my hand at baking them myself. It smells so wonderful.
And it tastes even better than it smells! It is sweet and delicious – and yes, it tastes very much like gingersnaps.
The flavor is nutty and spiced just right. The ginger is warm and slightly peppery, but, it isn’t a spicy-hot ginger taste. The fruit in this lends a nice depth to the flavor. It doesn’t taste fruity, but it tastes sweeter and a little richer because of the fruit.
After my first cup – which I drank without any additions – I decided I wanted more of this amazing tisane, so I brewed another cup. This time I felt a little adventurous so I added a little bit of turbinado sugar and a splash of milk. What a treat! Yes, it was delicious straight, but with a little milk and sugar the flavors really come to life!
This one is going on my shopping list! I must have more!
Green Tea Fruit Smoothie Tea from Ovation Teas
Tea Type: Green Tea
Where To Buy: Ovation Teas
Product Description:
Green tea blended with strawberry pieces, mango, pineapple, marigolds, and globe amaranth with strawberry and mango flavoring.
Tasters Review:
I tell everyone that I have FUN with my tea. Some think that isn’t appropriate just like it may not be appropriate to ‘play with your food’…but I do. I encourage it! I like to tweak infusion amounts and times and sometimes ‘hand pick’ what I infusion from the loose leaf mix into my infusion basket.
Green Tea Fruit Smoothie Tea from Ovation Teas was one of those FUN Teas.
It’s FUN and Flavorful but natural and true. I like this very much! It’s a solid flavored green. The first attempt I drank was hot and it was FAB…I think this would be just as good if not better COLD…The mango-straw-pineapple jive well together and none are too over powering. It’s quite smooth which is rather rare for these flavors, I believe.
Green Tea Smoothie…lives up to it’s name! See…even the NAME is FUN! And tasty! This is a real winner! Be sure to check out Ovation Teas – they have some awesome flavors available and swing by our friends at Daily Gourmet for hooking us up with some RAD Tea!
Iced Tea Series II (Tropical Fruit Series) from 52Teas, Part 2: Mango Flavored Black Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
How I Brewed This Iced Tea:
There are a lot of different ways to make iced tea. On the 52Teas website, there is a suggested brewing method, but, I have my own method that I’m going to share right now before I write this review. My method allows for maximum extraction of flavor while using a little less leaf; thereby giving me maximum value for my tea purchase. This method makes a half-gallon of iced tea, and by using this method, I am able to get three half-gallon pitchers of tea from each pouch (1 and 1/2 gallons total) instead of just 1 gallon.
Place 3 rounded teaspoons of leaf into the brewing chamber of a smart tea maker like this one. Carefully pour boiling water over the leaves in the chamber, allow to steep for just 90 seconds. Filter the tea into a half-gallon pitcher. Resteep the leaves for 2 minutes; filter the tea into the half-gallon pitcher. Repeat the resteep process, adding 30 seconds onto the brew time with each resteep until the pitcher is full. Place pitcher in the refrigerator until the tea is chilled. Enjoy.
The method above allows me to add ice cubes to my tea without worry of dilution (I suppose I could make tea ice cubes, but, I am already given enough grief over the fact that I have “tea everywhere” in the house, I am not going to make tea ice cubes and give my family more reason to remark on my tea habit).
Taster’s Review:
Another delicious iced tea from this “Tropical Fruit” series from 52Teas! Of course, this is the one I expected to taste good, and of course, it does. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite as good as I had expected it to be. It’s tasty, but I would have been happier if the mango flavor were stronger.
I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed though. As it is, the mango flavor is pleasant. It is sweet with notes of tart at the tail of the sip. The black tea and mango flavor are balanced evenly, and perhaps that’s a good thing. For me, personally, though, when it comes to mango, I wouldn’t be so disappointed if the mango flavor overwhelmed the black tea just a little bit.
The black tea is brisk and strong, with a lovely malty tone in the background. It has a fair amount of dry astringency, and prepares the palate for a sweet mango aftertaste. In fact, the aftertaste is where much of the mango flavor manages to reach the palate.
So you see, the tea is what it’s suppose to be. It’s supposed to be a mango flavored black tea, and that is what it tastes like. 52Teas delivered. I guess I’m just a little greedy and I want more mango…