This is the first time I’m trying a blend from Love Some Tea. I got a chance to try Tropical Sunset blend thanks to a generous SororiTea Sister. The first thing I noticed about this tea is its colorful logo and package design. A green stylized tree is set on a bright background of orange and pink sunset rays. The colors look a bit like a groovy blacklight poster or a flower power mural.
The second thing I notice about this tea is the size and quality of its leaves. Their description says this includes both black and green teas, but it is hard to tell the difference in the dry leaves, they are all lush, long, curled leaves. Brewed, the color difference between the green and black leaves is more distinct and you start to notice the layers of flavor in the scent and taste.
This tropical blend is a medium body tea, like an oolong, with a touch of green and mineral flavors. But the black tea also adds a bit of unexpected starchiness and a tiny hint of woodsy smoke at the end of each sip.
Among all of these intense tea flavors, there are fruity flavors like passionfruit, mango and papaya. The fruitiness is so lush the dry leaf almost smells like a fresh plum, but the tropical nature of the fruits comes out more in the brewing.
The quality of the tea leaves made it so that I really enjoyed this tea when brewed hot, but something about tropical flavors always makes me think the tea would be even better when served iced.
I was impressed by my first experience with Love Some Tea and I’ll have to try some of their other flavors sometime soon!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black and Green
Where to Buy: Love Some Tea
Description:
Our first green and black blend layered with all the wonderful aromas of Thailand, including dried mango, dried passion fruit, dried papaya, rose flower, blue lotus flower, jasmine flower.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Passion Berry Jolt from Tiesta Tea. . . .
With a name like Passion Berry Jolt, I almost expected an electrifying yerba mate tea, but this is a black tea blend from Tiesta Tea. Don’t worry, it still packs plenty of caffeine to wake you up on those early mornings.
This blend pairs black tea with passion fruit, pineapple, and raspberry. The juicy raspberry and passionfruit flavors come forward the most, reminiscent of breakfast black tea with breakfast jam on toast. The pineapple is more noticeable as the tea cools, or on the aftertaste, bright and tropical.
I must applaud this tea for being bold and red-berry without any hibiscus. There’s a time and a place for that herb, but it gets mixed in to so many tea blends and takes over the flavor, it is refreshing to see a fruity tea without dominant hibiscus.
While there are tropical fruits in this blend, the raspberry keeps the flavor naturally sweet and grounded. The passionfruit can offer its more subtle tartness, and the pineapple its golden deliciousness. This would make a great tea to experiment blending with sangria or lemonade to compliment or enhance its juicy flavors.
Passion Berry Jolt is one of those super-drinkable all-purpose blends, no need for sugar or milk, and tasty hot or iced. A great fruity tea to keep in your tea cabinet for any occasion.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tiesta Tea
Description:
Packed with passion fruit and raspberry, this black tea blend gives you a jolt of pineapple energy to keep you charged.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Passion & PuriTEA from Cup of Love #VeganMoFo2016
So many memories and tea associations are going thru my head as I sample Passion & PuriTEA from Cup of Love, which is perfect because today’s Vegan MoFo topic is all about memories. Now the official post is about food memories, but we are going to put our own twist on the post again and make this just about memories.
Let me explain…my Grandmother…the Grandmother who started me on tea at the tender age of 3…LOVED Marigolds. She would line her garden with them. It was her trick to keep the bunnies out or put a natural fence of sorts between them and the other flowers and herbs.
My Aunt Francis who treasured plums got me hooked on those at a very young age by handing me one every time I visited her.
Those are just two of the reasons, ingredients, and back stories as to why I was excited about trying this flavored green tea.
That’s right! Passion & PuriTEA from Cup of Love contains Pan Fried Green Tea, Marigolds, Safflowers, Plum, and Pear! Just when I think I can taste more plum than pear I then think I taste more pear than plum! Now that is what I call great flavor ratios! Plus there are undertones of floral flavors but they aren’t overpowering and I appreciate that!
The green tea itself is just the right intensity, too! It’s a nice even-steven medium green tea base perfect for this blend of flavors! I have to say I’m a fan of Passion & PuriTEA from Cup of Love! It’s a delight hot or cold!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Cup of Love
Description
A flavorful Green Tea with delicious, delicate notes of organic Plum & Pear. Light and sun shining yellow in the cup, this is a tea that you can drink all day. Its soothing, floral blend of lightly pan-fried Sencha green tea leaves delivers a rich aromatic and fruity fragrance with real chunks of goodness!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cranberry Immune Booster by Tea Drift
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Tea Drift
Tea Description:
This tea has just as pleasing of an aroma as it does flavor. Delightful over ice, the fruity and bright flavors are sure to tickle the tastebuds of any tea drinker. Enjoy it all day long, as it is free from caffeine.
Ingredients: Pineapple, papaya, peach, passion fruit, mango, hibiscus, cranberry and apricot.
Health Benefits:
- High in antioxidants
- Can help lower blood pressure
- Promotes relaxation
- Contains no caffeine
- Aids in digestion
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
‘Tis the season… The cold season. The flu season. The never-enough-tissues-in-the-house season. For those days when a warm blanket, a nice bowl of chicken soup, and a comforting cup of tea are are called for it’s nice to have an herbal tea like this waiting in the cupboard.
Cranberry Immune Booster is a fruity herbal with a slightly tart bite from the hibiscus and cranberry. This actually taste more like a tropical tea. The pineapple is the main flavor while the papaya, mango, and passion fruit mix together in a delicious tropical punch flavor that I think kids of all ages would enjoy. I can smell the peach note in the dry leaf and infused tea, but I don’t taste it. The hibiscus shows up at the end of the sip. Now to be fair, I am not a big fan of hibiscus. I find that teas with hibiscus can turn into a bitter mess in a hot minute. This is especially true the closer hibiscus is to the top of the ingredient list. Thankfully it’s pretty far down on the list for this tea, so while there is some tartness it’s not too bad. Adding sugar would lessen the tart flavor, but I didn’t find that necessary here.
I am not qualified to write about the possible health benefits of this tea, so I’ll leave that for the experts. I will say that tea is always a comfort to me. When I’m feeling under the weather I appreciate a nice cup of tea even more. A caffeine free herbal tea is nothing short of a gift on those days when I need to rest so I can get better. It’s like a little hug in a cup, and who couldn’t use that now and then?
If you’re looking for an herbal tea that’s full of tropical flavors then this is a nice tea to try. It’s delicious and worth a sip whether or not you’re looking to fight off the latest cold virus of the season.
Green Chai Tea Passion Fruit and Guava With Real Pomegranate Juice from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I was excited to try this offering from Tea of Life. So many things about the name intrigued me: chai, green tea, passion fruit, guava, pomegranate juice… oh my! I was hoping that the contents of the tea bag could live up to the words on the package. Only one way to find out, so out of the wrapper and into the water it went.
The tea bag was steeped in 195 degree water for two minutes. The resulting liquid was a pale greenish gold color with a nice passion fruit aroma. The taste was a pleasant mix of passion fruit and guava. The guava flavor was stronger than I anticipated given that all I could smell was passion fruit, but the two flavors blended together very well to create a fruity tropical treat. I added sugar to bring out the fruit flavors even more. There was nothing that reminded me of pomegranate or chai, both of which are listed in the tea’s name, but the flavors that were present were good. Unfortunately, I was only slightly able to taste the base tea which has a hint of grassiness. Having a base tea that made a stronger statement would have been welcome, and I think it would make for an even tastier tea. Given the flavors I do think this would make an excellent iced or cold brewed tea, but I didn’t have the opportunity to try it as such.
A quick side note: I love the art work on the paper wrapper for the tea bag! The elephant looks so regal, and I thought the drawing was very well done. What can I say? I’m a sucker for cute packaging every time.
Summer is right around the corner, and this tea is an easy way to add a touch of summery tropical fun to your tea time. I’d be more than happy to sip this one again.