Clearview Tea Co’s Creme de Menthe. Black Tea. Vanilla. Mint. Sounds like the perfect makings for an after-dinner latte to me.
Preparing this latte, I noticed that the dry leaf even had a creamy smell to it, probably thanks to the vanilla. The mint, though abundant, did not take over scentwise but rather balanced the sweet creaminess. As I steeped the tea for 3 minutes in 200F water, I hoped that quality would transfer over to the taste as well.
Sipping on it now, I can say that this is quite lovely. It is a touch more muted than I expected given the large quantity of mint in the mix. However what you do get in the forefront, besides a touch of malt from the black base, is that smooth and creamy vanilla. It is a soft vanilla so if you aren’t paying attention it would be easy to miss but it is definitely there. The mint actually lingers underneath everything else and presents itself more in the end of the sip/aftertaste. The whole thing, despite being made as a latte, is very light and fresh, which makes for a great evening treat as it doesn’t leave you feeling heavy after you’re done.
This is not in-your-face by any means and the flavors are gentle but still very much present. I would say high quality ingredients were used here because the vanilla has more of a fluffy vanilla bean quality to it and the mint is by no means harsh or medicinal, which can sometimes be the case with teas such as this.
With that said, it is worth noting that there are a lot of vanilla mint teas on the market, some amazing and some less so. This leans more towards the former though I will say that although this is very good, it doesn’t stand out among the rest of the pack so much that I would go out of my way to have this particular vanilla mint tea. If this is easily accessible, I would say this is a great option but I would not go as far to say that this is the “gotta have” vanilla mint tea. Basically I would add it to a cart but I would not specifically place an order to have this stocked.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Clearview Tea Company
Description
This tea isn’t on the website but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Waterfall Mist Honeybush Tea from Plum Deluxe . . . .
Waterfall Mist Honeybush Tea, a relatively Plum Deluxe blend made of honeybush, orange peels, and peppermint. Now I am familiar with this brand but have never personally ordered from them and when I came across this sample in a traveling teabox, I was intrigued.
Since the sample was generous, I decided to experiment with this tea though all cups were steeped in 200 degree water for 3 minutes.
First, I brewed it hot, my typical go-to method for all new teas. The hot cup tastes first and foremost of mint. Cooling peppermint, in fact. Honeybush is the next thing I pick up, tasting a sweetness typical of this base but also a slight wood note. Finally, if I focus, I can catch a bit of orange pithiness here and there but mostly it is drowned out by the other ingredients.
Next, given the summery and cool flavors of orange and mint, I thought this would make for a nice iced tea. Giving it a try now, I can say mint is still the most prominent note but it is certainly toned down when compared to the hot cup. That allows for some more bright orange/citrus flavors to come through. The base is also more subtle in the iced tea, though still contributing its trademark honeybush sweetness.
Finally, as per the recommendation on the packaging, I made a second iced tea and added a splash of lemonade. Since this was my first time adding lemonade to tea, I was excited to see how it would turn out but if I am being honest, I am not a fan. The lemonade makes the tea flatter, or I suppose it weighs it down making for a thicker mouthfeel that is less refreshing and more heavy. Plus, while I was hoping for some zing from the lemonade to pull out the orange in the tea, it was no where to be found. The lemonade lost its usual tartness while the tea lost most of its flavoring besides mint. Combined with the lemonade though, that mint is more medicinal than in the other two cups. To me, it seems the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Perhaps my “splash” of lemonade was more than what Plum Deluxe had in mind?
Ultimately, this was an alright cup of tea. Well cups, I suppose. Nothing mindblowing but still quite solid. I think it is best iced and can see it being a delightful companion on a hot and humid day.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
First featured in July 2016, the Waterfall Mist is an gentle, exacting combination of orange and mint. This tea has a similar feeling of refreshing simplicity. Enjoy it iced, as a sangria infusion, with a splash of lemonade, or frozen into tea popsicle!
All Organic ingredients. Honeybush Tea, Orange Peel, Peppermint. No caffeine. Steep 1 tsp in boiling water 3-5 minutes or cold brew overnight.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Liquorice & Peppermint from Tea Pigs. . . .
I am a sucker for (well, lots, but let’s just focus on the task at hand) two things: cute branding, and licorice tea. Or rather, if you’re non-American, unlike myself: liquorice tea. (Oh, fer cute.) This tea? Has them both in spades.
Now, now– I know licorice can be divisive. It’s naturally sweet– sometimes, even too much– and herby in a way that can be weird. But it’s also warm, comforting, spicy, and frankly, I like the sweetness. Dessert tea without the calories or gobs of sugar/honey/maple syrup? Gimme.
This particular blend has a cult following of tea piglets, and so, has been on my radar for a long time. Recently, a friend handed off some of her stash and I was all too delighted to finally give it a try! This blend is not for the licorice/liquorice hater, but for those fangirls like myself? You’re gonna wanna get you some, and soon. It’s delightfully sweet, but balanced nicely by the cooling freshness of the peppermint, with a golden liquor and a velvety mouthfeel that I kinda can’t enough of. Tea that’s cute AND delicious? Pour me another cup, please and thanks.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Tea Pigs
Description
Sweet, liquorice, mint and sweet again.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Dirty Girl Scout from The NecessiTeas. . . .
I was a Girl Scout for a long time. I’m not 100% certain how long, but it was all throughout middle school. I actually really enjoyed it, but of course my favorite part of the whole experience was the cookies. How could it not be? This fabulous blend by The NecessiTEAs was made with a certain cookie in mind- Thin Mints….but with a twist: irish cream! And as we speak, I am eating some Thin Mints and sipping on my Dirty Girl Scout tea! What a combo. Y’all I am in chocolate mint heaven right now! I also think that at this moment I am the best judge of whether this tea embodied a twist on these cookies properly, and the answer to that is absolutely! The best part? It is a black tea blend, which means that not only are my taste buds happy but i’m getting caffeinated at the same time! Win/win situation for me!
This tea was not overly minty or overly chocolate. I appreciated that. The mint to chocolate ratio was definitely balanced. The flavors of cookies and irish cream really set this tea apart to other chocolate mint teas. I feel like sometimes teas that include mint end up tasting medicinal, but that was not the case with Dirty Girl Scout. Another aspect I really enjoyed about this tea was that although it was blended with a dessert cookie in mind, it was light enough on taste that it can be drunk anytime of the day and not just as a dessert. So you can technically have cookies for breakfast without the guilt! I really enjoyed this blend and I totally recommend grabbing a pack of Thin Mints to go along with it! Yum!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
We want to commemorate the solemn and depressing end of Girl Scout Cookie season with a tribute tea, the Dirty Girl Scout! We have put a twist on this treat by flavoring black tea with natural flavors of white chocolate and Irish cream then sprinkled a generous amount of organic peppermint into the blend and topped it off with real Andes mint pieces. If you want to get real dirty, add sweetener of choice and a splash of milk.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Moroccan Mint from Ceremonie. . . . .
I’ve had plenty of mint tea, just mostly peppermint or just a generic mint with peppermint and spearmint leaves. Moroccan mint tea sounded very fancy, and I was super excited to try it. I learned that this tea is gunpowder green tea and spearmint tea, so like many other mint teas it isn’t caffeine free.
The first thing I noticed was how mild the mint flavor is. Don’t get me wrong, you can taste the mint but it is a very mild almost sweet flavor. I really like it. It doesn’t have that sharp, almost bitter flavor that some mint teas have.
Since it is spring, and along with all the beauty of flowers blooming come allergies, I found this to be very soothing on my stuffy nose. I also enjoyed the little energy boost from the green tea because allergies can sometimes make me feel a little drowsy. This was a delicious and very refreshing way to start my day. I feel like mint tea is such a great tea to have first thing in the morning as it gently wakes up all your senses. It kind of calmly welcomes you to your day.
My first experience with mint tea was years ago when I was fighting my coffee addiction, and I discovered mint yerba mate. I remember feeling like it was such a nice, gentle way to wake up as opposed to the aggressive kick you get from coffee. It really helped me through some rough times, and this Moroccan mint tea reminded me of that revelation. I really enjoyed this, and I think anyone who loves mint tea would love it as well!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Ceremonie
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
