Tea Type:
Green/Oolong/Rooibos Blend
Where To Buy: Teaquilibrium
Product Description:
Little Black Dress Citrus is a refreshing blend of zesty lemon and exotic bergamot delicious hot and especially refreshing iced. Think poolside or beach with a lemon wedge in a tall frosty glass. The added green tea and green rooibos will give an extra boost of calm energy to this uplifting blend.
So go ahead, have a cup and put on that little black dress!
For easy preparation, cold infuse your LBD Citrus with the help of the aladdin travel mug. Always Balanced and Beautiful anywhere you go!
ingredients: oolong tea, green tea, green rooibos, lemongrass, lemon myrtle, citrus flavor, jasmine blossoms.
benefits: speeds metabolism, helps burn fat
how many cups? approximately 40 tsp. per 2.5 oz tin; that’s about 80 eight oz cups at 19 cents per cup*
preparation: heat water: 195 F, scoop: 1.5 tsp/8 oz., steep 3 – 4 min.
naturally caffeinated
*fresh whole leaf teas can be infused at least twice— just steep a little longer the second time.
Tasters Review:
Little Black Dress – Slimming Citrus is an Oolong-Green Tea-Green Rooibos Blend…and I was VERY excited to try it! It sounded very unique and creative!
It brewed VERY Dark and smelled mostly floral and with a hint of lemon. I could taste the green tea a bit more than the oolong and green rooibos. The Jasmine stood out as the floral taste more as it cools. This had a slight vegetal/earthy taste towards the end of the sip.
I liked the idea of this one and the taste is…well…pretty TASTY!
Thousand Arrows Tea from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
A rare, medium-bodied, visually stunning hand-twisted tea.
A rare, visually stunning hand-twisted biodynamic oolong tea from the celebrated Idulgashinna Tea Estate, consisting of 1-2 inch “spears” of green, cinnamon-colored and white leaves. The infusion is curly and very colorful, the liquor light and attractive with a medium body.
Tasters Review:
I used 1 tsp. leaf (20 arrows) per cup as the site suggested.
I didn’t think there was much of a smell to this tea – dry or once infused – but the color is lovely! Cinnamon or Honey-colored would probably best describe what I saw!
Flavor-wise I would agree with the medium-strength oolong description and say it reminded me of a toasty-sweet type-taste with a very slight nutty hint to it.
I think this is good and love the fact that it is different in many ways.
I did get successful multiple infusions on this one! The 2nd infusion was more juicy and more nutty tasting. The color was the same but had next to no aroma. I think I like the 2nd infusion better actually.
Little Black Dress Strawberry Vanilla from Teaquilibrium
Tea Type: Oolong/Yerba Mate Blend
Where To Buy: Teaqualibrium
Product Description:
Close your eyes and imagine sitting in a field of fresh strawberries— breathe in the intoxicating scent, pick a plump berry and let the flavor burst in your mouth. Teaquilibrium’s organically grown Strawberry Vanilla is delightful and gently energizing. The distinct flavor of green yerba mate magically blends with the smooth toasty cocoa aroma of the oolong, organically grown strawberries and topped with a hint of vanilla. As with all of our Little Black Dress teas, Strawberry Vanilla is an exclusive Teaquilibrium blend.
Try Strawberry Vanilla hot or chilled. For a delicious and refreshing pick me up, cold infuse Little Black Dress Strawberry Vanilla and serve in a pitcher with fresh strawberries.
organically grown ingredients: oolong tea, green yerba mate, strawberries, natural strawberry and vanilla flavors.
how many cups? approximately 45 tsp. per 3 oz; that’s about 90 eight oz cups at 18 cents per cup*
preparation: heat water: 195 F, scoop: 1.5 tsp/8 oz., steep 34 min.just steep a little longer the second time.
Tasters Review:
I really had no idea what to expect from this tea. But sometimes I think it’s a great idea to go into a cup like that! Here are my findings on Little Black Dress Strawberry Vanilla from Teaquilibrium…
First off this certainly smells wonderful! It’s a gentle aroma but you can pick out both the strawberry and the vanilla. When it comes to taste it’s a great combination of flavors! The Strawberry is juicy and sweet and the vanilla is creamy and smooth. Both paired with the Yerba AND the Oolong it makes for a truly unique blend and flavor! It’s sugary-sweet and refreshing!
Normally I don’t ever put anything in my teas! When I was trying this I must have been in rare form and thought with my 2nd infusion that I would sprinkle some sugar in it. Honestly, I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did! It was like a different tea! It was still good and tasty but different and still equally as unique. By adding the little bit of sugar to it – it seemed to cancel out the vanilla a little as well as a bit of the creaminess. It also intensified the strawberry flavor. It sort of reminded me of fresh picked strawberries with sugar on top…that sort of flavor!
I must say I like this one hot and/or cold…maybe a little bit more cold, actually, and I also like it with or without sugar! A very nice offering from a very nice tea company!
Purple Bamboo from Rishi
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Rishi
Product Description:
This tea is an experimental oolong from an organic-in-conversion farm from Fujian, China. It is harvested from a white tea bush varietal and processed similar to Taiwanese Bai Hao Oolong and Fuding Gong Mei White tea. The dry leaf shows a unique and colorful style with a silvery, white, dark green and tippy appearance. One serving of Purple Bamboo can be infused many times and offers deep, complex fruity flavors and floral aromas. The rich mouth feel and upfront and lingering aroma suggests Darjeeling Muscatel, Lilac, Gardenia, Pit Fruit, Grape and Hops.
Use a porcelain guywan, or a Ho-hin. Add 2-3 tablespoons per 5-6 ounces of water. Infuse with 185°F-190°F water. First infusion is 2-3 minutes, second infusion 2-3 minutes, 3rd thru 5th infusions should be 4-5 minutes. Depending on the amount of tea and the water temperature, you may infuse this tea many more times.
Tasters Review:
This one certainly intrigued me. And let me tell you…the curiosity didn’t end with my cup!
The dry smell of this before infusion was a floral yet earthy-sweet smell. The post infusion was more of a manly grape or maybe a drier wine type scent for description purposes. It’s very light brown in color.
The taste is woodsy yet fruity and floral! To describe the fruit like tastes I would probably say a combination of grape, apricot, maybe a hint of plum. It’s also floral like Lilac or even lily – if you can imagine that. And let’s not forget the woodsiness of the taste! Towards the end of the sip I get a surprisingly semi-chewy taste, too!
This tea is very memorable and made me think. I like that. And I like this tea a great deal!
Blue Unicorn from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
A rare hand-crafted designer Ceylon tea, medium-bodied.
From the famous Biodynamic & Fair Trade Idulgashinna Tea Garden come these visually captivating spears of cassis, cinnamon, gold, and silver tips, resembling the mythical unicorn’s horn. This hand crafted tea is carefully hand-rolled and twisted into spears. Each finished cluster is slightly more than 1 inch in length. These partially fermented leaves produce a delicate, pale liquor that is exceptionally sweet and clean, with champagne undertones. The tea can be steeped multiple times, each revealing new complexities.
Tasters Review:
I’ve collected unicorns since I was 3. Anything from collectibles and figurines to logo-ed items and ANYTHING in between. So when I saw that Shanti Tea had an Oolong Tea named Blue Unicorn…I HAD TO HAVE IT! And I am so glad I chose it!! It’s truly amazing!
The first time I tried this – I infused 3 “horns” as suggested. The pre-infusion scent is completely different than the during and post-infusion scent! The Pre-Infusion is more of a Sweet/Floral, During Infusion it’s a Floral/Semi-Sugary type, and the Post is more of a Sweet Honey/Candied type aroma.
I also noticed this is a VERY hefty handcrafted leaf! Surely to live up to multiple infusions!
My first response to my first sip was…WOW. My 2nd response was…YAY!
Oh my! What a treat! This is VERY unique! VERY Sweet and Juicy! It’s Clean and Crisp! Very Champagne-Like! Almost fruity but I am not sure what kind of fruit to compare it to upon my first attempt and first infusion.
Like I said…these ‘horns’ or leaves were screaming multiple infusions, so I gladly obliged.
I used the same ‘horns’ in my 2nd infusion. I infused for 9 minutes (did 7 the first time).
The 2nd infusion smelled much more peachy! A VERY awesome scent! It was sweeter and juicier and more champagne-like! The color was pretty much the same…a lovely yellow-orange-light brown.
As for my 3rd infusion…I used the same 3 pieces and infused for approx 11 to 12 minutes. The color was a littler lighter. The scent was Peachy and Floral and Pleasant…not as Peachy as the 2nd infusion tho.
The ‘horns’ were continuing to morph but still played games with me – egging me on to continue to play with them! They look to still have more infusions left. NOW it’s become a challenge…a game…
The taste…Fruity (slightly peachy) – not as peachy as the 2nd infusion. Along with floral notes…blossoms, perhaps.
AND that was just my first attempt with multiple infusions. I have much more fun with this Blue Unicorn since opening the tin! Here is how other attempts have turned out…
I used 5 ‘horns’ and the first infusion at 4 Minutes turned out like this…
The color post-infusion is very honey-like. The horns haven’t really unfurled but that just means more infusions in my book so I am totally ok with that! It smells more like silver tips this time around…I’m not picking up on the peach like my last go-around…It has a refreshing aftertaste…juicy!
2nd Infusion – same 5 Horns – 7 minutes I found the same coloring and scent – scent a tad sweeter that first infusion. The taste changed to more of a sweet-floral with juicy fruity tones but not overly identifiable as to switch fruit(s). It’s VERY Smooth. It seems I get a new surprise with each cup!
I have successfully done 4 flavorful infusions of this and a VERY HAPPY with the outcome. Very few teas make it to my 100 percentile list but this one has! I can safely say this is one of my all-time-favorite teas!
Just goes to show you…UNICORNS…they really ARE magical!
LOVE THIS!!!