Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had quite a few orange spice flavored black teas, but not quite so many orange spice green teas. At least, I’m not able to immediately recall very many. But as I sip this Orange Spice flavored Green Tea from Tea of Life, I find myself wondering why, because this is quite nice!
Sure, it’s a bagged tea and yeah, I’d rather have loose leaf teas as opposed to bagged teas. But many of the bagged teas that I’ve tried from Tea of Life have been enjoyable and this Orange Spice is one of my favorites that I’ve had thus far.
To brew it, I started with freshly filtered water and I heated it to 175°F in my Breville One-Touch. (It doubles as a variable temperature tea kettle! Bonus!) I grabbed my favorite tea cup and let the teabag steep for 2 minutes. Say what you will about bagged teas – they are convenient, and sometimes that convenience is important. Taste is equally as important, so it’s good to find a bagged tea that is also tasty. That’s what I’ve found with this tea from Tea of Life!
The green tea is sweet and buttery. It has a nice, soft texture. It isn’t bitter or astringent. It isn’t overly “grassy” or vegetal either. Just smooth and sweet. It’s a great base for the flavors of orange and spice.
The orange is bright! Sweet and juicy tasting! The spices are gently warm. I taste subtle notes of cinnamon and a hint of clove. It’s not an overly spicy tasting tea – if you’re one who doesn’t like a spicy tea, you’ll find the level of spices in this tea to be to your liking.
I like that this isn’t overly sweet the way some orange spice teas can be. Usually they’re all about the cinnamon and you get that “red-hot” cinnamon taste. And hey, I like those teas too, but something like that would overpower the green tea and the flavoring here doesn’t do that. It lets the green tea come through nicely, and offers a warm, cozy spice and sunny citrus flavor. It’s something that works nicely as an afternoon tea when you want something to perk you up and would work equally as well as something that you curl up to in the early evening, especially on a cold autumn day like this!
Yeah, this’ll do!
Lady Londonderry from English Tea Store
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: English Tea Store
Tea Description:
Our Lady Londonderry Tea is a delightful afternoon tea with a malty floral flavor and hints of strawberry and lemon. This tea is made from black tea, dried orange, daisy white, and natural flavors. This tea is delicious hot or iced, and either way, your family and guests will feel like royalty!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah … this is nice!
The black tea base is so smooth and malty. I like that I’m getting a rather rich, malty taste but it’s not an overly assertive tea. It truly is a perfect afternoon tea. Not a strong or hefty cup of tea that you need in the morning, but a pleasantly smooth cup – an ideal tea to brew for guests to make them feel welcome.
There are pleasant floral notes that are soft and add a touch of femininity to the cup. The notes of strawberry and citrus are delicate. I like it when I find flavored teas like this – where the flavoring is strong enough to be tasted but not so strong that they’re overwhelming the flavors of the tea.
To brew this tea, I had just enough of it in the sampling that I received from a friend to brew in my Kati Tumbler. I put the loose leaf into the basket of the Kati and added boiling water to the tumbler and let it steep for 3 minutes.
The result is a really enjoyable cup that isn’t overly astringent. I feel a slight dryness toward the end of the sip. The sip starts out smooth and sweet with light floral notes. Then I start to pick up on the strawberry and the strawberry is a whisper of a flavor but it lingers well into the aftertaste where I experience that berry tingle. The lemon is a light “brightness” that weaves its way throughout the sip and it’s a very uplifting flavor.
Very nice, indeed!
Chocolate Orange Flavored Honeybush from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
Caffeine-free organic honeybush blended with organic cacao nibs, freeze-dried orange sections, marigold petals and organic chocolate and orange flavors. I was a bit reluctant to offer a chocolate tea outside of traditional hot tea drinking weather, but one of my helper elves insisted there is no wrong time to make a chocolate tea. After tasting this delicious blend, I have to say I totally agree with her.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I could smell the orange as soon as I opened the pouch! The chocolate notes are less apparent than the orange but then again … oranges are a bit more fragrant than a bar of chocolate. The dry leaf has a lot of petals (these don’t really affect the flavor) and little chunks of cacao nib and dried oranges combined with the oxidized organic honeybush leaves.
When I brew honeybush (or it’s South African “cousin” rooibos), I usually brew it in my Breville One-Touch tea maker and that’s how I brewed this. I measured out 3 bamboo scoops of the tisane and put it in the basket of the tea maker, and then I poured in freshly filtered water up to the 500ml mark. I set the settings to 195°F and 10 minutes and then I left it alone to do its thing. That’s what I love so much about the One-Touch … you just put the tea and water into it, set the settings and the tea maker does the rest! Ten minutes later, I had a pot of Chocolate Orange flavored Honeybush!
The orange notes are a little softer in the brewed liquid, and I can smell notes of chocolate as well as notes of honeybush. It smells sweet, orange-y, chocolate-y and nutty.
The flavor is similar to the fragrance. The sip starts with sweet, orange-y flavors. Then I notice the nutty, honeyed flavor of the honeybush and notes of chocolate. I wish that the chocolate notes were stronger – but if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, that wish should come as no surprise to you. I always want more chocolate. More chocolate = better. Always.
As it is though, I feel that the chocolate notes here are lacking. The orange is such an abundant flavor and it seems to overwhelm the chocolate a bit.
Oh, it’s still quite a tasty blend, but this is definitely more orange than it is chocolate. I like how the honeybush melds with these flavors – the nutty, earthy notes of the honeybush work well with the richness of the cacao notes and the sunny notes of orange.
It’s a sweet, dessert-y type of tea, and because it’s naturally caffeine free, this would be a great late night snack for those who are looking for something sweet but don’t want to indulge. This is guilt free sipping!
A ‘Vampire Lemonade’ Custom Blend Tea from Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White Tea & Herbals
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
Blood orange tisane outshines white tangerine (20 percent) and lemon grass (20 percent) in this delicious, refreshing blend. Try it iced for a homage to summer, or drink it hot to reminisce on winter days.
A Carolynne Keenan Custom Blend.
Learn more about this custom blend here.
Find more Carolynne Keenan blends here.
Taster’s Review:
I steeped this tea at 190°F for 5 minutes and even with that short a steep time, the liquid looks super dark ruby red (like hibiscus) and the texture is thicker than I hoped for. Too much hibiscus in this!
So I decided to let it cool for a while and see how it would fair as an iced drink because as a hot tea, I found the hibiscus to be too overpowering for me to enjoy it. As the tea cools, I can pick up on some of the blood orange, tangerine and lemon-y notes from the lemongrass. The hibiscus enhances the tartness of these fruit flavors which is nice. I’m not usually a big fan of tart-y beverages but when it’s “lemonade” a bit of tart is OK.
I don’t taste a lot of white tea. This tastes more like a citrus-y punch than it does a tea. Which is OK I suppose but I’m more of a tea drinker than a citrus punch drinker.
Overall, this isn’t my favorite tea from Carolynne Keenan’s collection of custom tea blends with Adagio Teas. I think that if there was a little less hibiscus and more of the fruity flavors, this would be better. I would also prefer it if it tasted more like tea than like hibiscus. Then again, you know how I feel about hibiscus. Not a bad drink, just not my favorite.
Cinnamon Orange Flavored Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Premium organic caffeine-free honeybush with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I start this review, I wanted to update you with some news about 52Teas/Zoomdweebies/Southern Boy Teas!
Recently, they launched a whole new website and along with the new website came some exciting changes to the way they sell teas! They are now offering their teas in .5 ounce size pouches rather than the 1 – 2 ounce size pouches and what this means to those of us who subscribe is this:
- No longer will I be receiving 1 – 2 ounces of tea per week to add to my overwhelming stash. This is a good thing. I’m a taster. I like this small size because if I find a tea that I really like enough to add it to my stash, then I can buy more of the smaller size. This means the tea stays sealed and fresh until I want to use it!
- Savings! I am now able to subscribe not just to the 52Teas/Zoomdweebies “hot tea” blend but also the Southern Boy Teas weekly blend for about the same price as I was paying for just the hot tea blend from 52Teas. I am getting more flavor for a lower price. OK, sign me up! Here’s where you can subscribe!
Now … on to the review!
When I first read the name of this tea – Cinnamon Orange Iced Honeybush Tea – I thought it would be what I consider a “typical” cinnamon orange type of tea. That is, one of those red-hot, spicy-sweet cinnamon-y teas with notes of orange in the background. They are usually sold as “hot cinnamon” or “holiday” blends. But this iced tea doesn’t taste at all like I expected it to!
And that’s a good thing!
Oh sure, I enjoy those red-hot, spicy-sweet, candy-like teas. They’re one of those guilty pleasures of mine. But I was not too sure about that spicy-sweet flavor for an iced tea. Iced tea should be something very refreshing and cooling for the palate, and while I do enjoy those spicy-sweet teas, they aren’t really very cooling for the palate. I think it’s because of the spicy thing.
But this isn’t spicy-sweet. The cinnamon tastes sweet and it’s gently spiced and smoothly flavored. It doesn’t impart a warm flavor on my palate. It’s sweet and a little savory, but it isn’t hot or spicy. The orange is bright and juicy tasting. And it is a very refreshing taste.
The honeybush is a little sweet and nutty, and the earthiness of the honeybush brings out the earthier, sweeter flavors of the cinnamon without emphasizing it’s spicier side. The orange is sweet and vibrant.
A really tasty iced tea. I wouldn’t call it my favorite iced tea selection from Southern Boy Teas, but, I am really enjoying it and will have no problem finishing the pitcher. I might even buy another pouch or two in the future. It’s a good one.