Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Decadent coconut, the fruity mystique of papaya and the soft earthiness of pu erh come together for an exotic experience not unlike a walk on the black sand beaches of its namesake. Tropical fruit notes and hints of mineral evoke thoughts of Pacific breezes and rainforest hikes.
Ingredients: Pu’erh Tea, Apple Pieces, Dried Coconut, Natural Coconut Flavor, Marigold Flowers, Mango Pieces, Papaya Flavor
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tasted a lot of tropical flavored teas. A lot. It seems to be one of the “favorite” fruit medley flavors when it comes to tea. But, most of the fruit combinations are different, because there’s a lot of different tropical fruits from which to choose.
And when it comes to tropical flavored teas, I usually think immediately of a black tea base. That’s because most of the tropical flavored teas that I’ve encountered have been black teas. But because I have tasted so many tropical flavored teas, the tropical blends that are memorable, the ones that manage to stand out in my memory as something I’d like to have again, they are usually the teas with a different base (other than black tea). The tropical flavored white teas or green teas, for example, are more memorable for me.
So even though I tend to be a little nervous when it comes to Pu-erh teas, I was a little excited at the prospect of tasting a tropical fruit flavored Pu-erh!
When I opened the pouch of this Tahiti Pu-erh, I was really happy to not be greeted by an overly earthy scent. In fact, I didn’t really detect any earthiness with my initial casual (and admittedly, somewhat apprehensive) sniff. When I took another – more intent – sniff, I could pick up hints of earthiness, but these notes seemed to meld with the notes of coconut, mango and papaya. Nice!
The brewed tea has a slightly more earthy scent than the dry leaf, and that could be because I did give the blend a 15 second “rinse” before I brewed it. I do this with all pu-erh, I find that the pu-erh is much more agreeable for me when I do this. (And from what I understand, it’s something that you SHOULD do with pu-erh and Oolong teas.)
This is tasty. There are some earthy and mineral notes to the pu-erh, but, I like that these notes have married nicely with the notes of tropical fruit. I taste the papaya and mango and coconut, and these flavors are well-balanced with the flavor of the pu-erh, which tastes smooth and mellow. It’s a little bit like a trip to Tahiti in a teacup. (I’m only guessing, I’ve never been to Tahiti.)
The fruit flavors are not overpowering the tea, and there is a part of me that would have said that I would like for the fruit flavors to overpower the tea – before I tasted it, that is! Before tasting a pu-erh, there’s still that timid tea drinker that is just a wee bit afraid of pu-erh. Those early occasions where I first experienced pu-erh, before I knew how to brew a pu-erh for my palate and before my palate developed … I did NOT like pu-erh. Now I do. Now my palate finds most pu-erh agreeable, although I still don’t have a great appreciation for an overly earthy, fishy, or briny tasting pu-erh. Fortunately, this pu-erh isn’t like that.
And now that I have tasted this pu-erh, I’m happy that a good balance has been achieved with this blend. The fruit flavors are tasted but not overpowered, nor is the tea too fishy, briny or earthy. It’s just … tasty!
I know I say this a lot, but, I’m really thrilled with the teas that I get each month from Simple Loose Leaf as part of their Selection Club subscription program. I can’t recommend this program enough! It’s a great way (and it’s economical!) to try new teas and expand your tea repertoire.
To save 25% when you sign up for this great program, use the code SISTERSELECTION25. This will earn you the discount, and get you well on your way to sampling some amazing teas! This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.
Crime of Passion Green Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Memories of the Copacabana Beach in Rio. Papaya pieces, sunflower petals and criminally exotic passion fruit notes infuse superior green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Crime of Passion Green Tea from Culinary Teas takes me (or at least my taste buds!) on a tropical vacation! The sweet passion fruit and papaya flavors meld together with the lush, green tea to present a really tasty tea with tropical flair.
The green tea base is a Chinese Sencha, and it lends a sweet, buttery and slightly vegetal note to the cup. I’m not finding this to be overly vegetative or grassy. It’s a light “grassiness” – I find the buttery/creamy notes of this tea to be stronger than the grassy/vegetal tones to be. The texture of the buttery notes give this a very smooth mouthfeel.
The passion fruit and papaya are beautifully sweet. There are hints of tartness in there too, but mostly, I taste sweet tropical fruit. The fruit notes here are strong and are edging out the flavor of the green tea just a tad – that is to say that the flavor is stronger than the green tea – but it’s so tasty that I am finding it difficult to find fault with this, especially since I can taste the green tea. It just isn’t as strong as the fruit notes.
A really tasty tea. It tastes great served hot (and makes a nice mental va-cay during the cold winter when you want to think of warm tropical breezes, the sun and the surf!) but it’s even better iced. Very refreshing!
Sea Breeze Tisane from Eden Grove
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Hibiscus, Chai, Rose Hip, Calendula Flowers, Lemongrass, Mango, Pineapple, Papaya, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom, Cloves, Orange & flavors of Mango & Pineapple.
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
I didn’t have high hopes for this Sea Breeze Tisane from Eden Grove. When a tisane sports hibiscus as its primary ingredient, that doesn’t sound promising to me.
But this isn’t too bad. I brewed it for just 5 minutes in 195°F water. Usually when I brew a tisane with hibiscus, I keep the steep time to 5 or 6 minutes to keep the hibiscus from overpowering the cup. When hibiscus steeps too long, I find the resulting liquid to be too tart and too thick and syrupy. Fortunately, at five minutes, this tea does not taste too tart, nor is it too thick or syrupy.
I do taste the hibiscus, but I can taste other flavors too! I taste the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. I like these spice notes. They offer a wonderful contrast to the sweet notes of the fruity notes. There are notes of mango, papaya, orange and pineapple! I taste notes of mango and pineapple mostly, but I can also taste hints of citrus as well as papaya.
I still find myself wishing the hibiscus wasn’t there, because the tartness of the hibiscus is still strong here, even with the short steep time. I like this alright, but, it hasn’t been my favorite tea that I’ve tasted thus far from Eden Grove.
Secret Garden Tea Blend from Kaleisia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black, Green & White Teas
Where to Buy: Kaleisia Tea
Tea Description:
The most popular blend of all times. This blend consist of white peony white tea, sencha green tea, darjeeling black tea, gunpowder green tea, dragonwell green tea, jasmine pearl green tea, mango, pineaple, papaya, orange peels, strawberry, red currants, sour cherry bits, and apricot bits. A very well rounded fruity tea that is sure to please anyone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Secret Garden Tea Blend from Kaleisia Tea has a little bit of EVERYTHING in it! White tea, green tea, black tea … fruit bits … and a whole lot of flavor!
Since this blend seems to be primarily green tea, I went with a lower brew temperature (185°F) and steeped the tea for 2 1/2 minutes in my Breville One- Touch. And the results are tasty!
Fruit flavor hits the palate first, although … it is more like a “medley” of fruit flavors rather than one specific fruit note. Kind of like a bite of ambrosia salad where you taste several fruit notes all at once and it’s difficult to pin-point exactly which fruit you’re tasting. It’s a very refreshing fruit taste though!
As far as tea flavor goes, green tea is what I taste most. That sweet, sort of leafy/grassy note that is very fresh and crisp. It’s a nice contrast with the sweet and sour fruit notes that tantalize the palate at the start of the sip. There is a sweet, creaminess to the tea notes as well, is that the white tea or the buttery notes from the Sencha? I can’t be sure, but, I like the way it comes together with the fruit notes. I don’t taste a whole lot of white tea here, nor do I notice much from the Darjeeling black tea, although I can’t say that this blend would taste the same without those tea leaves being a part of this blend.
As I continue to sip, I realize that I’m tasting mostly a “tropical” sort of taste: notes of pineapple, mango, and papaya, with a strawberry background note. I taste the sweetness of the apricot too. The sour tones of the currant and the cherry come through near the finish, but these are not very strong flavors. The fruit notes, overall, are more “melded” together as a unified flavor … like some kind of “ultra-fruit” but, if I aerate the sip by slurping, I can pick out individual fruit notes.
I like that this blend is more sweet than it is sour, because I’m not a huge fan of the sour taste as I’ve said many times. While this does seem to be a rather “busy” blend … I find it enjoyable. I like it better iced than hot, so, I’ll be brewing more of this later for my iced tea pitcher and enjoy it all day long tomorrow!
Divine Temple from Georgia Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Georgia Tea Company
Tea Description:
This name of this tea is perfect, for it is divine to drink. Before you take your first sip, inhale the aroma which comes from your cup. You sense a combination of fruits, many fruits. Now take your first sip; there is a sweetness to the palate. But you also sense a substantive base which complements the sweetness. This comes from the multi-blend of white and green teas. No wonder this is our bestselling tea. It is perfect for an afternoon break. And you get all the health benefits which come from the high amount of antioxidants in the green and white teas. What more could you ask!
Steeping time: 175°F / 2-3 min / 2.5 teaspoons per 10oz
Ingredients: white tea China Pai Mu Tan, green tea Darjeeling, green tea China -Fog Tea, -Sencha, -Lung Ching, -Gunpowder, -Jasmine, -Jasmine Jade Pearls, candied mango bits (mango, sugar), candied pineapple bits (pineapple, sugar), candied papaya bits (papaya, sugar), flavoring, orange peels, strawberry bits, red currants, sour cherry bits, apricot bits
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Divine Temple from Georgia Tea Company tastes like a fine wine. This tea is scrumptious and truly divine. I love the mixture of white tea and sencha which I can detect from all the other various teas within this really cool blend. Oh and yes as the description states, you want to drink this in before taking your first sip. The aroma is just to die for. This is the kind of blend that I could see myself being buried with, surrounding me, tucking me into my hand built casket. Sorry the review was turning a little dark there, but in all seriousness, whoever created this blend really hit the nail on the head here. They must surely be very proud of themselves, then again, this is a really hard tea to top.
So what is this tea anyway? Well as you can see, the ingredients list a whole array of yummy goodness, white teas, green teas, fruits of all types from berries to citrus. I can really taste the tropical fruits but the berry notes also jump up and dance for me now and then, especially the cherry. One may think that this tea is just too confused, the flavors won’t stand out, it will be a muddled mess. Nope, its damn tasty, that is what it is and there is some sort of backdrop here, that just screams white wine. This is surely a tea to be chilled and guzzled in the summer and this tea blend will absolutely be gracing my shelf in the kitchen that hosts my summer stash, but right now I am quite enjoying this tea warm, and when warm, the liquor of this tea, which does have a liquor note in it, is almost reminiscent of a warmed brandy.
