Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: Guayaki
Tea Description:
Enlighten Mint has a minty flavor with a touch of honey flavor, and an earthy note from the yerba mate. It’s easy drinking and clean tasting, and not too sweet.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Continuing with the exploration of Guayaki drinks, this is the one I was most skeptical about of the three I picked up. I’ve tried a few yerba mate and spearmint blends, and actually have one stocked right now so I know that it’s not a terrible pairing; in fact it’s a pretty popular pairing. It’s actually the honey aspect of this that scares me; when it comes to more commercial tea beverages, ‘honey’ usually means very sweet.
However, because Revel Berry maintained a respectable level of sweetness I was open to this one; hopefully it would do the same. I was poorly mistaken in my assumptions, however. This was assaulting; the spearmint was ridiculously strong and sweet in and of itself; like those Spearmint leaf five cent gummy candies that come in giant bulk bags. I’ve never been a fan of those. They taste so fake. On top of that the sweetness of the honey was equally as intense. The yerba mate, while pretty drowned up, did come through a little bit but it felt kind of grimy, and yet at the same time all three notes together conjured up the image of neon green slime.
To me, it tasted like one of those five cent candies dipped into a bottle of raw honey and then sprinkled with a little dirt. Why would you willingly put that in your mouth? I struggled through a third of the can and then finally called it quits and tossed it. It makes me more skeptical to try the third, and last, one I bought now knowing just how big the range between ‘hit’ and ‘miss’ from this company can be. Personally, I’ll be avoiding (and internally wincing) this flavor every time I pass it in the aisles at work – but if you’re feeling bold enough, and you like super sweet mint flavored things, I guess giving it a try couldn’t hurt.
Mint for you from Aka Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Aka Tea
Tea Description:
This tea is “mint” for you and me. Just sit back and enjoy life. Lighten the mood with the cooling breath of mint. Take a sip and imagine yourself breathing in a fresh spring breeze. Mint for You- A wonderful ratio blend between Peppermint and Spearmint.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love finding new tea companies that have blends that are catchy and delicious. Since stumbling upon Aka Teas website, I have been in heaven diving into their tea line up. I’ve tried their Caramel Apple Green Tea and that was incredible. Tasted just like one of those Caramel Apple Pops I had when I was a teenager.
Mint for You is another fantastic quality tea that I’m just going crazy over. Fresh peppermint and spearmint. A great tea to enjoy hot or as an iced tea. I am enjoying this one as an iced tea. The adjective that keeps coming up in my head to describe this blend is fresh. Like the you just cut this from your herb garden kind of fresh.
What I love to do is take herbal mint teas and mix them up with teas in my stash that I may not quite enjoy. For instance, I had an black flavored strawberry tea that wasn’t something I really enjoyed on its own. Too astringent. I threw some of this herbal mint blend in and I have a fantastic Strawberry Mint tea.
Super happy with this versatile blend and can’t wait to experiment more with it!
Thé Vert à la Menthe Nanah (Spearmint Green Tea) by Kusmi
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Kusmi
Tea Description:
Nana mint is the mint used for teas in the Middle East and North Africa. Its refreshing taste makes Spearmint green tea perfect for after a meal.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I noticed about this one is how wonderful it smells – fresh, strong, sweet spearmint, right from the get go! I prefer spearmint to peppermint in general, but spearmint teas seem relatively scarce in comparison, so I’m pleased to have found this one from Kusmi. The dry leaf is very dark green and tightly rolled. There’s no indication on the tin of the variety of green tea this is, but I would guess Gunpowder from looking at the leaves alone. I could be wrong, but that’s my educated guess. For my cup, I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The resulting liquor is a golden yellow, and smells primarily of spearmint with an underlying hint of green tea.
To taste, this one reminds me a bit of chewing gum, or softmints. It has the same intense initial sweet mint flavour, which lingers decently into the aftertaste. Spearmint is pretty much all I’m getting from this one, so it comes across fairly one note, but if spearmint is what you’re looking for, then it’s certainly what you’ll get. I had thought I’d be able to taste the green tea base a little more, but it remains firmly in the background. There’s the tiniest hint of it right at the end of the sip, but in a blind tasting you could tell me this was a pure spearmint tea and I’d probably be none the wiser.
As a fan of spearmint, I really like this one. It’s sweet, clean-tasting, and refreshing, and makes for a very pleasant cup on a warm summer afternoon. I imagine it’d also work well cold brewed, which is something I’ll have to try in the coming weeks. It’s not as punchy as peppermint in terms of flavour, and it lacks the intensely cooling effect that mint sometimes has, so this tea is just the thing if you like your mint a little softer and more gentle. This is a wonderful offering from Kusmi, and well worth a look this summer if you’re in the market for a mint green tea.
Chocolate Chamomile Curiosity Brew Black Oolong from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
This blend is inspired by the connection we see between fine chocolate and fine tea. Our Laoshan Black and Wuyi Big Red Robe have strong natural notes of cacao that we wanted to bring out and play with. The end result is a rich, sweet and sparkling brew that brings out the best in both the tea, supported by the cacao nibs. Marigold provides a richness that complements the sweet flavors of chamomile, cinnamon and fennel, while the mint gives just enough of a clean sparkle to counterbalance the flavor of raw cacao. Enjoy this curious brew hot or cold and add a touch of buckwheat honey for a real treat.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Thanks to my SororiTea Sister TheLastDodo for the sample! I’ve actually been quite curious about this one for a while (pun not intended), but Verdant isn’t a company I’ve had much chance to explore and I’m wary of blends with chamomile so getting the chance to try a small quantity of this one was just perfect!
The dry leaf smells faintly of milk chocolate, and has even fainter fennel and mint notes as well. I know from the ingredients list that the mint in this blend is Spearmint; but based on scent I wouldn’t be able to differentiate.
Steeped this one up hot; it’s a lot softer than I expected and very, very smooth. The chocolate is the focus here and it’s accented quite nicely by the cinnamon and the fennel which are subtle but add a delicate, sweet spicyness. The natural malt from the Laoshan Black is delicious; and the spearmint creeps in right at the finish to add a lovely, refreshing coolness. Also, thankfully, I can’t taste the chamomile!
All in all, this was a great tea! It had a rich flavour, but not an in your face one and with the chocolate and mint pairing it made me think of a really fancy, well executed tea version of an After Eight chocolate. Mmm!
Mother’s Day Fun with Litehouse Foods
Information:
Where to Buy: Where Litehouse Foods are sold.
Description:
Because Taste Matters
Taster’s Review:
Recently, LiberTeas asked if anybody was interested in doing a review on Litehouse Foods product line in conjunction with Mother’s Day. I jumped instantly at the opportunity. My mom is a huge foodie! She is an amazing little chef and baker in her own right. My childhood memories are flooded with happy times with family members and there was something fantastic to munch on. My mom was thrilled to participate and so was my dad. We had a ton of incredible spices and dressings to play with.
We started the day out with making up some dip. Salmon dip. Salmon dip with these amazing freeze dried spices that Litehouse Foods provided. My mom gave me a face when she saw the jar and I told her that all she needed to do was add water. She was a good team player and went with it. it I think she is addicted to them now. Litehouse Foods has an array of different freeze dried spices from cilantro to ginger. All you do is add water to the spices and Viola! You have instant fresh spices. The taste fresh too. Just like you bought them fresh from the local market.
Salmon Dip
1-can pink salmon
1 pk cream cheese
pinch of garlic powder (or to taste)
Litehouse Foods Freeze Dried Chives- 2 tablespoons (or to taste)
Litehouse Foods Freeze Dried Dill- 3 tablespoons (or to taste)
We took a can of pink salmon, a package of cream cheese, Litehouse Food Chives, Litehouse Food’s Dill, and garlic powder. Mix all of it up in a bowl. We basically added the spices in to taste. Wowza! The dip turned out so good. Rich and creamy with a hint of tang from the dill and chives. The dill and chive spices tasted so fresh and bright.
Since we used so much cream cheese, the salmon flavor was very light and subtle. Such a delightful treat to start our day with. We all said we could see this being a spread that you could put on break for finger sandwiches. Since I have an issue with carbs, we stuck to this being a dip instead.
I think my dad single handedly took down half of this dip. We dipped veggies and crackers into this delight. Yum!
We also opened Litehouse Foods’ Cucumber Dill Dip. We are the family that always has the veggie tray at these festivies. My mom ate half of this dip on her own with carrot sticks. She proclaimed this to be the best veggie dip ever. And she has always been a lover of the Ranch Packet dip.
Next, we made my Buffalo Chicken Street Tacos. A recipe I can come up with one day for dinner.
1 can of Buffalo Chicken (I get mine from Costco)
1 can of corn-drained
1 can of diced tomatoes-drained
1 green pepper-diced
1 pkg of taco seasoning
Dump all ingredients into a pan or combine all into a crock pot for ease. If you want the mixture spicy, add in some red pepper flakes or jalapenos. Warm up the mixture and allow the ingredients to simmer together.
Take either soft tortillas or hard shell shells and pour some of the mixture in. Add in any kind of cheese you would use for tacos.
Since this is Buffalo Chicken, I was hit with “inspiration” for this dish and thought, Litehouse Foods has my favorite Blue Cheese dressing- Chunky Bleu Cheese. The best part of this dressing, it is Gluten Free! I try to go as Gluten Free as possible. So, after we made up the tacos, we added in some of the dressing instead of using a salsa or sour cream. Oh mama! Were these ever delicious! We gobbled them down like you wouldn’t believe! The creamy blue cheese dressing calmed the spices in the mixture just a bit and brought out an amazing buffalo chicken flavor.
We are huge salad eaters at our family functions. One of my aunt’s duties each get together is to bring the salad. She was so excited to see an Litehouse Foods’ Organic Ranch dressing. She adored it! She said it was rich and tangy with an incredible texture. All she could say was Yum !Yum! A Yum!
To end our Mother’s Day luncheon with a dessert my mom makes with crushed pineapple, chunks of angel food cake, layered like a parfait with sliced strawberries on top. It is a MUST for my family. My 9 year old destroys a bowl full in a matter of seconds. Too add a bit of a fresh twist, we added in a couple of pinches of Litehouse Foods Mint. When we received the Litehouse Foods box a few days before Mother’s Day, I was the most excited and looking forward to was trying this freeze dried spice out. I couldn’t wait to add the mint into teas, dessert, yogurts, smoothies, and possibly an adult beverage or two. One bite of this dessert and it was this fantastic array of flavors. . the sweetness of the pineapple and strawberries and the fresh mint compounded with the vanilla sponge cake. . just so good! We all were in heaven.
We had a great time with the Litehouse Foods and spices, dips and dressings. I can honestly say that I have bought Litehouse Foods products in the past and have enjoyed them. But for one reason or another, just never seemed to pick those products up again. I can say after this Mother’s Day luncheon, Litehouse Foods has renewed customers out of us. I am dying now to pick up the Cilantro and other herbs they offer. And I can say without any kind of hesitation that I will never run out of this Bleu Cheese dressing. Thank you Litehouse Foods for giving my mom and I a fantastic lunch!! We appreciated the products and can’t wait to get our hands on more!
When we got back home from my parents, my boyfriend handed me a bag and said “Happy Mother’s Day”. He gave me the most thoughtful gift I have ever received! I just had to share.