Pick Me Up Peach White Tea Blend from Inca Tea

by liberteas

PeachIncaTeaTea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  Inca Tea

Tea Description:

Being our first caffeinated blend we wanted it to embody a refreshing yet clean taste. Its a rejuvenating combination of white tea, lush peaches and sweet herbs.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Ah!  Peaches!  As soon as I tore into the pouch holding the pyramid sachet of this Pick Me Up Peach White Tea, the aroma of peach filled the room!  The fragrance is very abundantly PEACH!

And the taste is also very abundantly peach.  Sweet, luscious peach – which is perfect for this time of year when the peaches are in season.  YUM!  The peach flavor is sweet and true to the fruit.  It doesn’t taste like an artificial or even a candied peach flavor.

But this blend also has hibiscus and rose hips in it, and it should come as no surprise to those of you who read this blog regularly that hibiscus is not my favorite herbal.  I’m wishing that the hibiscus just wasn’t there.  Yeah, it adds a hint of tartness which is a nice contrast to the sweet peach notes, and because of the hibiscus the brewed tea is a beautiful ruby color.  And as long as it’s not steeped too long, it doesn’t have a syrupy consistency.  (I steeped this for 4 minutes at 170°F.)

However, I do feel like the hibiscus and rose hips do interfere a bit with the delivery of the white tea flavor.  It seems a little masked by everything else that’s going on in this blend.  White tea is delicate, and these strong herbal flavors really shouldn’t be in a white tea blend.

I don’t taste much of the white tea.  I taste a slight airy, earthy quality that is distinctly white tea, but because of the hibiscus, I’m missing some of the softer textures that I enjoy with a white tea.  I’m also missing some of those sweet fruit notes that I believe would meld beautifully with the peach flavors.

 The purple corn adds a slight “warm grain” sort of flavor that is quite appealing, and I am enjoying.  The apple is not a strong note here, and I suspect it is part of this blend for it’s sweetness rather than to provide a strong apple-y flavor.  And that’s what I’m getting from it.

Overall, this IS tasty, but I think it could be so much better without the hibiscus.  I feel like the hibiscus overpowers the white tea.  But I love the peach notes, and I like the purple corn.  It’s a different kind of flavor that I’m not used to tasting in tea and I like it.  It’s not an invasive flavor and I like how it complements the other flavors of this cup.

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 White Tea

Boost Et Moi Tisane from Les 2 Marmottes

by liberteas

Les2MarmottsTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Tisane

Where to Buy:  Les 2 Marmottes

Tisane Description:

Guarana, ginseng, ginger: a trio 100% plant explosive vitality!  In addition, these pêchus ingredients are not the only stars.  We have put together a stunning blend of subtlety by slipping rosehips for its fruity taste, lemon balm for its sweet and aromatic flavor and tangy hibiscus note and its beautiful ruby color.  A lively and rich in aromas tea for a day full of pep.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have enjoyed the adventure of these teas and tisanes from Les 2 Marmottes.  Since I can’t read most of the packaging, I have to turn to the website and Chrome’s ability to translate the French language to know what the tea is all about.  It makes for an interesting tea moment.

When I grabbed this Boost Et Moi … I visited the website to see what ingredients I would be encountering with this blend.  Here’s what the translated website lists:

  • Hibiscus Flower
  • Rosehip
  • Melissa
  • Guarana
  • Ginseng
  • Ginger

I wish that there wasn’t hibiscus in this.  Fortunately the hibiscus imparts very little of its tart flavor, mostly it seems it is there for a berry like flavor and the vivid ruby color and a bit of texture.  I’m glad that it’s not a syrupy texture.

There is an interesting contrast of flavors in this blend:  a distinct herbaceous note with a slight earthy character from the ginseng.  There is a touch of lemon-y taste from the Melissa, and the Guarana adds a slight bitter note.  I like the peppery zing of ginger.

This is the third tea/tisane that I’ve tasted from Les 2 Marmottes, and it’s probably my least favorite of the three.  I would rather the hibiscus not be in there, and I’m not wild about ginseng.  That said, this is not an unpleasant functional tea, but I don’t know that it’s one that I’d reach for to drink every day.  I do like the burst of energy that this tea provides, though.

Overall, this is alright, but not my favorite of these little adventures that Les 2 Marmottes has taken me on.

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, Functional Tea