Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: Red Clover Tea and Herbs
Tea Description:
Drinking this tea always makes me think of the Happy Buddha. It brings me such joy. The combination of the peppermint, chocolate and Yerba Mate create such a delicious sweet chocolate mint tea that leaves you feeling recharged, nourished and happy! It’s a sweet minty tea with a chocolate finish.
INGREDIENTS
Fair Trade Yerba Mate tea, Peppermint, roasted Cacao Nibs, Dark Chocolate pieces, Red Ginseng root & Stevia leaf. All organic
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Red Clover Tea and Herbs is one of those tea companies that I think sometimes goes unnoticed. It really is one of those hidden gems. I know even when you Google it, you have to dig a bit. But what a find! The teas are hand blended delights that you keep you coming back for more.
This blend is a yerba mate blend which I love. Yerba Mate is one of those unique teas that I keep on hand when I want something a little different from the same old same old and it always is satisfying. Take Yerba Mate, peppermint, roasted cacao nibs, dark chocolate, red ginseng root & stevia leaf. Such a unique combo that I can’t say I’ve seen anywhere else.
Brewed this up per the sample pkg’s instructions and had a gorgeous cuppa awaiting me in about 7 minutes. I can’t say I really got much of anything else than a chocolate note from the dry leaves. I was hoping that the chocolate wouldn’t dominate the tea and I was in luck it didn’t.
Unfortunately, the stevia leaf did. The tea itself is really fabulous and fantastic. A lush and silky like blend that reminds me of a candy bar but there is an off taste through each sip that is the stevia leaf. Sometimes I can’t pick the stevia leaf up in blends and others it is overwhelming. This blend doesn’t have an overwhelming blend but it is definitely there.
If this tea didn’t have the stevia leaf in it, I would be sold and this WOULD become a daily tea. Who wouldn’t want to drink a liquid candy bar each and every day to stomp on that sweet tooth that plagues so many of us. Still overall, I was able to finish my cuppa without much of a fuss. Just wish the stevia leaf was either eliminated or just toned down.
Dark Forest from The Jasmine Pearl Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company
Tea Description:
A great coffee alternative! Smooth dark and rich this blend of chicory, cacao, cinnamon and many other delicious herbs create a satisfying brew for morning or afternoon. Due to the presence of cacao nibs, which contain caffeine, don’t drink Dark Forest near bedtime.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have loved every tea that I have tried from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company. Their teas are delicious and just knock your socks off sort of fantastic. This particular blend I am trying is their Dark Forest Herbal Tea. Now the description from what the tea consists of online and what I have in hand is different so I think they may have changed up the formula. The blend I have consists of chamomile, ginger, eucalyptus, lemon myrtle, and peppermint.
To begin with, I am not a huge ginger fan. I do like it on occasion but it isn’t my favorite. I know ginger is great for the body so I will drink ginger teas and even enjoy it in food every once in a while, but I do not go searching for it.
So let’s talk about the journey it was to actually drink this tea. First off, I dropped the bag and half of the contents fell out. Ugh. I boiled the water and forgot about it. Boo. And I measured way too water for my new Doctor Who mug and I had tea all over my desk (I used a gravitea steeper). Yep. It seemed like this tea was doomed from the start. By the time I was able to take a drink of this tea I was ready!
The dry leaf reminded me of a sweet pumpkin spice bar. The mixture just smelled heavenly. I prepped my water and allowed the tea to steep for about 5 minutes. And I would recommend that being the time you allow the tea to steep if aren’t a fan of ginger like me. I have a feeling any long than that and the ginger would overtake the tea.
My first sip of this tea and I was surprised and how lovely it was. I was afraid the ginger would overpower and leave the rest of the flavors behind but that wasn’t the case at all. Each flavor was noticeable at different times and mingled together so nicely. The ginger was light but there to spice the tea up, the lemon myrtle provided a bit of that citrus undertone, the chamomile was giving the tea a familiar herbal feel to it and the peppermint gave the tea a fresh flavor. Really well done. Who would have thought those ingredients would make such a lovely herbal?
As delicious as this was, the new upgraded blend sounds just as good! I’m going to have to try that one soon!
Another impressive tea from The Jasmine Pearl!
Mint for you from Aka Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Aka Tea
Tea Description:
This tea is “mint” for you and me. Just sit back and enjoy life. Lighten the mood with the cooling breath of mint. Take a sip and imagine yourself breathing in a fresh spring breeze. Mint for You- A wonderful ratio blend between Peppermint and Spearmint.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love finding new tea companies that have blends that are catchy and delicious. Since stumbling upon Aka Teas website, I have been in heaven diving into their tea line up. I’ve tried their Caramel Apple Green Tea and that was incredible. Tasted just like one of those Caramel Apple Pops I had when I was a teenager.
Mint for You is another fantastic quality tea that I’m just going crazy over. Fresh peppermint and spearmint. A great tea to enjoy hot or as an iced tea. I am enjoying this one as an iced tea. The adjective that keeps coming up in my head to describe this blend is fresh. Like the you just cut this from your herb garden kind of fresh.
What I love to do is take herbal mint teas and mix them up with teas in my stash that I may not quite enjoy. For instance, I had an black flavored strawberry tea that wasn’t something I really enjoyed on its own. Too astringent. I threw some of this herbal mint blend in and I have a fantastic Strawberry Mint tea.
Super happy with this versatile blend and can’t wait to experiment more with it!
Casablanca Twist by Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
An interesting twist on classic Moroccan Mint tea, which traditionally combines Gunpowder green tea from China with fresh mint. We kept the latter, and replaced the smoky notes of Gunpowder with the muscatel highlights of a Darjeeling from India. The result is very a refreshing cup, with bold, cool minty notes, smooth and relaxing texture and flavor. Very intriguing cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is a mint lovers dream! It screams mint from the moment you open the package until you take your last sip. I love mint teas. I especially love green tea with mint, but this tea takes the award for being the tea with the most mint flavor that I have ever had.
I picked this one up at the Chicago store when I was there for work a couple months ago. I had never had it but with it being a Darjeeling with mint, I knew I would love it. So I went with the 2 oz package. Glad I did.
I prepped this one up per the instructions on the bag, throwing a few more tsps in since I knew I wanted to try this one iced. (I’ve been in a huge iced tea sort of mood lately). So refreshing! I just shared a bacon breakfast with my boyfriend so this was the perfect tea to try right after that heavy meal.
The Darjeeling takes a step aside while the mint (which is peppermint) dominates this tea. I like it, just wish you could taste more of the base tea. But saying that, I think this would be a great base tea to mix with some herbal teas to bring out a brighter flavor or to spruce up a tea that you might not have liked the first go around. I have a few of those sitting around. This would also be a good one to have with some honey for a tea to drink while you aren’t feeling your best.
I can’t say that I would drink this tea by itself again, but I’m eyeing a package of Blood Orange herbal from Adagio that is right next to my computer and my brain is starting to create some other blends I could throw a tsp of this into to make a few new concoctions of my own.