Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
Mango Tango is a fresh take on the classic tradition of flavored black teas. This blend of crisp Ceylon and fresh passion fruit and mango creates a light and fruity combination that is great any time of year. It brews into a deep, reddish liquor with a heady, bright aroma that lends itself to versatility; a steamy pot will warm you up when it’s cold out while an iced cup will keep you cool on hot summer days.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The name of this tea brings back memories! When I was flavoring and blending teas way back when … I too had a mango flavored black tea … and it was named Mango Tango. But after taking the first sip of this tea, the only comparison between this tea and that one is in name only. This tea is much different!
We both started with the same tea base: a high quality Ceylon tea. But The Tea Spot wasn’t content with just mango … no. They also added passion fruit essence to their blend to create an incredible tropical taste that’s really quite delightful.
The combination of mango and passion fruit makes for a very satisfying taste: sweet, luscious, and smooth. And while I am sipping this hot at the moment (it’s far too cold outside to even think about iced tea! I want something warm and comforting!) and I am finding it very delicious served hot, I think it would make a really amazing iced tea too.
I’m really enjoying this tea – this and the other amazing teas that The Tea Spot offers has placed them as one of my favorite tea purveyors out there. I haven’t yet found a tea from them that disappointed me!
Which is why I recently signed up to win FREE tea for a year from The Tea Spot! All you have to do is like them on their Facebook Page, and then fill out this very short (VERY SHORT!) entry form here. It really doesn’t get much easier than that! You can earn a double entry by simply answering the question “What Inspires You?” on their facebook page! Just think … YOU could win a year’s worth of FREE tea! Wow!
Tropical Delight (Iced Tea) from Empire Tea Services
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Tea Description:
Mango, Passion Fruit and Kiwi flavors with Ceylon tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this earlier this morning and let it chill in the fridge until this afternoon, because I knew I’d be out and about running errands, and I wanted to be able to enjoy this tea as it was intended – as an iced tea.
I did manage to take a quick sip or two as a hot tea, though, and enjoyed it that way as well. But, I do think that this is much better as an iced tea. The flavor was a bit strong as a hot tea, but because flavors tend to soften as they cool, those big, bold flavors had become just right when it chilled.
This is really tasty. The flavor of the Ceylon tea is prominent, and what I like here is that this is not some wimpy, lackluster Ceylon – this is a robustly flavored, brisk Ceylon that is tasty enough to stand on its own. As a chilled tea, it has a pleasant level of astringency, and has a very thirst-quenching, refreshing quality to it.
The flavors start out a little bit subtle. After the first sip or two, while I can smell the fragrance of the fruit … the flavors are slow to emerge. The first note that I taste is the mango and then after another sip, I begin to notice the passion fruit. The kiwi is the last to come forward, and at first I wished I could taste the kiwi flavor a bit more, but, by the time I reached the end of the glass, the kiwi had reached a very satisfying level.
I like how the flavors develop. They start out soft, and now as I am nearly finished, I can taste the sweet tropical flavors in the aftertaste … making me want more!
Nice and refreshing – a great treat as these hot summer days begin to wane into the cooler autumn months ahead; I like that it’s still warm enough to fully enjoy a delicious glass of iced tea, and this tea makes a great iced tea, indeed!
Fortune Dragon Green Tea Blend from Zen Tara Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zen Tara Teas
Tea Description:
Enjoy great tasting tea and good luck in the new year with our exclusive green tea blend that celebrates the 2012 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon.
A pleasant combination of premium green tea, warming floral ingredients and tropical citrus creates a flavorful cup of tea perfect for drinking throughout the year.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My first couple of sips of this tea were a little disappointing. I thought that maybe I did something wrong or had over-steeped it. It kind of tasted sour, but not a lemon-y kind of sour that I had expected. It just tasted … off. I decided to give it a couple of minutes to let it cool and try it again before tossing it, and that’s all it needed.
After allowing it to cool for about two minutes, the flavor of the tea has improved tremendously. No signs of over-steeping, no bitterness, no sour taste. Just really delicious green tea that has been flavored with the essence of passion fruit and lemon. A hint of chrysanthemum offers an intriguing contrast.
The green tea has a mellow flavor to it. It’s a little sweet, and offers a slight kelp-y vegetative taste in the background. It’s a soft green tea taste, one that I’d recommend to someone who seeks a green tea that doesn’t have that strong grassy flavor. Instead of a strong, grassy flavor, the green tea base here lends a smooth and almost creamy texture to the cup, allowing the flavors of lemon, passion fruit and chrysanthemum to do their thing.
And while lemon and passion fruit are not two fruit flavors that I’d have thought of combining, they really work well together. The lemon is tart and tangy without being TOO tart, thanks due largely to the sweet, luscious flavor of the passion fruit. And while the chrysanthemum is not a strong flavor in this cup, it adds just a little extra interest to it. Just a little extra *something* that make the taste buds perk up and say “hey, what is that? That’s different and I like it!”
Overall, a very vibrant cup of tea, soothing and yet energizing in its own way.
Shangrila from Tea Licious
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Licious
Tea Description:
Green Mao Feng, safflowers, marigold, passion fruit and peach.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is so yummy!
When I first saw the leaves in the package, I thought that this might be a white tea, as the leaves look soft and fluffy like a silver needle tea. And the flavor is light and crisp … but not quite as delicate as a white tea. This definitely has that vegetative taste that one experiences from green tea.
And that is a good thing, in my opinion, because I love how the vegetal notes marry with the flavors of peach and passion fruit. I’m sure that these flavors would have been excellent with a silver needle tea as well, but, I’m loving this just the way it is.
The green tea has adds a freshness and a light sweetness to the cup, accenting the sweetness of the fruit. The passion fruit and peach notes work very well together, and they bring a deliciously juicy flavor to this.
Since it has been so cold lately (we are just starting to get some hints at warm weather … it was actually SUNNY today!), I chose to drink this hot – and it was tasty – but I think it would be even more fabulous iced!
Yet another winner in the impressive collection of teas from Tea Licious!
Passion Fruit Oolong from Old Wilmington Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Old Wilmington Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Ancient Polynesians used passion fruit as a tasty part of their rituals. We have made it easy to have a tasty ritual of your own! Passion fruit is artistically blended with premium Chinese oolong. It offers a mellow character, with hints of natural sweetness.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy!
This is a really good flavored Oolong. The passion fruit flavor is distinct, but it does not overpower the flavor of the Oolong. These two flavors mesh very well together.
The Oolong is a greener Oolong, and it has that sweet, creamy taste and texture to it. Almost buttery but not quite. That creaminess marries very nicely with the flavor of the passion fruit.
The result is a soft, silky tea that is sweet with a tropical fruit flair to it. A little different from the usual Oolong, but, that’s what I’m liking about it: it has that familiar Oolong flavor but with just enough passion fruit flavor and sweetness to make it just a little bit unusual.
As it is winter and I prefer my teas served hot in this weather, that’s how I enjoyed this tea, but I suspect it would make a really fantastic iced tea as well, so I think I shall save the rest that I have for the warmer weather that will be here soon (time does fly!) It is also pleasantly sweet (some might find it a bit too sweet, but I’ve a sweet tooth!) so it doesn’t need additions. Great just the way it is!