Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Black Tea with natural bergamot flavor.
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
I saved my review of this tea for a while since TeaEqualsBliss had also reviewed it, and I figured I had a lot of other teas from Eden Grove to sample, so I’d save this bergamot for one of the last ones I’d try from this company. Well, that and … it IS bergamot. I saved what I thought I’d like best for one of the last teas I’d try from them.
Now that I taste it, I can’t say that I do actually like it best. I think there were some other teas from Eden Grove that I preferred over this Inverness Estate Black Tea with Essence of Bergamot. That’s not to say that I dislike this one, because it’s actually quite nice.
That said, when it comes to bergamot, I prefer it strongly flavored and this is a little on the subtle side. The Iverness single estate black tea is brisk, however, I think I’d like the bergamot to be on even footing with the robust flavor of the black tea and it isn’t.
There is a nice, bright, citrus-y note to this, but it tastes more like lemon than it does bergamot to me. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but, for an Earl Grey fan like me … I’m all about the Italian orange! I want bergamot!
Overall, this is a tasty cuppa, and I was happy with it. I just could have been even happier if the bergamot were stronger.
Organic Herbal Blue Tea from Blue Chai
Tea Type:
Herbal Tisane/Blue Tea
Where to Purchase:
Blue Chai
Product Description:
Discover the amazingly deep blue color and experience the smooth, floral flavour of our best butterfly pea flowers.
The luscious aroma will remind you of green tea, yet Bluechai’s blue tea is a herbal tisane that is refreshing, cleansing, without any caffeine and unique in color and taste. It’s wonderful hot or iced.
Tasters Review:
Here at Sororitea Sisters we LOVE finding a new kind of tea or tisane base and when we were contacted by the folks over at Blue Chai we really didn’t know what we were in store for. At first I thought it was just a ‘pretty name’ for a tea company and I was thinking ‘Chai”. BUT…this was more than a tisane or a ‘blue tea’ it was an experience! This is the first time I have had “Blue Tea” and I will say I’m impressed. Not just because it’s a good tasting tisane – it’s fresh and like flowers and peas – and lucky for me I LOVE the taste of fresh peas…it’s also because this is a full experience that goes beyond any tisane I’ve ever had thus far!
What might seem ‘simple’ turned out to be amazingly beautiful and somewhat ‘trippy’. But I wouldn’t want it any other way! THE ingredient in this tisane is 100% Dried Butterfly Pea Flowers also known as Clitoria Ternatea.
If you do ONE thing today make sure it’s THIS…check out these AMAZING photos from their site! They load a little slower but it’s totally worth the wait!
Of course I’m drinking some more of this as I type this and I’m really enjoying it. It’s putting a smile on my face and changing the way I look at the day ahead. Pretty powerful words for a tisane, eh!? The aroma of this is soft and subtle floral and sweet pea combination. The color post infusion is an insanely dark blue color which I LOVE. The taste is much like the aroma…softer, sweet, and subtly floral. It doesn’t leave much of an aftertaste which I appreciate and NO it’s doesn’t turn your tongue BLUE!
The website is a plethora of information, folks, so be sure to check it out! One thing I’m interested in – is the following bit of info I found on their site…
But don’t just drink this tea, use it in cooking, baking – perhaps add it to oatmeal … really! The blue color of the tea can be used as natural, organic food coloring to make blue rice for example. Enjoy Bluechai hot to create comfort, calmness and warmth or add ice and lemon juice to get a mouthwatering drink that refreshes and revitalizes.
How AWESOME is that? And if you check out the photos you will see a lot of those examples! Natural and organic food coloring? I’m TOTALLY there! I just might have to purchase a larger bag of this for non-sipping and to try and tinker with – anything from crafts to creative cooking! I can safely say – I’ve never been this EXCITED about a Tisane before! WOW! What an experience!
Rooibos Chocolate Vanilla from Tea for Life
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tisane Description:
South African Red Bush or Rooibos Tea is a pure and natural herbal blend. Freshly harvested and finely chopped rooibos goes through a process of oxidation with the aid of the oxygen from the atmosphere and subsequently dried int he sun to produce a deep mahogany red cup of which is one of the most popular and healthy herbal drinks today.
“Tea of Life” is proud to introduce five New Naturally Caffeine Free Rooibos Teas combined with Dark Chocolate with delicious natural fruit and mint flavors for your enjoyment – all day and into the evening.
Taster’s Review:
These dark chocolate rooibos blends from Tea of Life are really good. The chocolate is rich and dark and there’s a good amount of chocolate flavor to the blend. I’m really enjoying this Rooibos Chocolate Vanilla blend – LOTS of chocolate flavor with a sweet, creamy vanilla undertone.
I taste hints of honeyed, nutty sweetness from the rooibos, but, I like that the flavor of the rooibos isn’t as pronounced as the dark chocolate notes and the notes of vanilla. Normally, I want the flavor of the “tea” to be the star of the cup, but, since this is rooibos and I’m not particularly a big rooibos fan, I like that I am only getting a little bit of the flavor of the rooibos.
Plus, we’re talking chocolate here, and when it comes to chocolate, more chocolate is always better. I really can’t think of any instance when that isn’t true. And this has a strong chocolate presence. The sweet notes of vanilla give this cup an almost “milk chocolate-y” sort of taste, and I like the way the two – chocolate and vanilla – meld together in this cup.
A really tasty cup.
Vanilla Rooibos Herbal Tisane from Tea People
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tisane Description:
Dubbed ‘Rooibos’ meaning ‘red bush’ by the speakers of the Dutch Afrikaans language, this “tea” is only produced in South Africa. This one is from Cederberg mountains in South Africa, the home of rooibos where it is grown at an altitude of 1500 – 2500 ft.
Don’t be fooled by the name, the plant itself is green but the leaves turn red after processing. This flavourful relaxing tea has a creamy vanilla scent and is caffeine free, perfect as a nightcap, or any time of the day!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Vanilla Rooibos Herbal Tisane from Tea People has a really yummy vanilla flavor, and it has a wonderful creamy texture too – something that’s a little unusual when it comes to rooibos blends!
I tend to find most rooibos blends to be a little “thin” in texture, but I’m not experiencing that with this blend. It has a nice creaminess to it that complements the creamy, sweet vanilla flavor.
The naturally sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos melds nicely with the vanilla notes, and there is a hint of almond to this cup as well. The flavors marry very well together to create a decadent sweet treat that would make a tasty dessert substitution (with far fewer calories and no fat!) This is the kind of tisane I like to curl up to late at night – it’s cozy, it’s comforting and it’s very yummy!
Currently, the fine people at Tea People are hosting a campaign on indiegogo to help the tea garden workers of Darjeeling and their families. I hope you’ll consider donating to this very worthy cause!
Organic Unwind Tulsi Tisane from Spicely Organics
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Tulsi
Where to Buy: Spicely Organics
Tisane Description:
Relax and restore with this tulsi based blend. Cinnamon and rose blend perfectly with tulsi to ease away any tension and relax after a long day. INGREDIENTS: Organic Tulsi, Organic Cinnamon Sticks, Organic Rose Petals.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about the Spicely Organics Monthly Tea Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Unwind Tulsi Tisane from Spicely Organics has a fairly simple ingredient list – tulsi, cinnamon and rose – but sometimes simplicity works. It certainly did in the case of this blend; it’s really quite tasty.
Since there is no camellia sinensis or other ingredients that were likely to become bitter if oversteeped, I went ahead and steeped this for 10 minutes in 195°F water. The result is a flavorful cup that has strong cinnamon overtones but it’s a natural cinnamon flavor: not that overly sweet-hot red-hot-candies sort of cinnamon-y flavor. This tastes like the cinnamon you’d sprinkle on your toast or over your bowl of oatmeal in the morning. It’s warm and zingy yet sweet.
The tulsi gives the cup a somewhat herbaceous note – I taste notes of basil. Basil and cinnamon are not two flavors that I would normally think to combine but they work nicely together to create a sweet yet savory note with hints of warm, zesty spice.
The rose offers a nice floral undertone. I like the way the rose and cinnamon work together – this is a flavor combination that I’ve been fond of for a long time and I’m happy to see another company embrace the combination.
A very calming, relaxing blend – just exactly the type of tisane I’d turn to if I wanted to “Unwind”!