Where to Buy: Libre Tea
Product Description:
New! Libre glass ‘n poly mug – enjoy loose leaf tea while on the go, now with as easy hold handle!
The Libre glass ’n poly has a health-conscious glass interior for fresh taste and a durable polycarbonate exterior for ‘on the go’ durability. The stainless steel tea filter is surrounded by BPA free polypropylene as is the lid interior. Can be used 2 ways to brew and travel with loose leaf tea.
Product Review:
I really like my new mug from Libre Tea! The inner lining is made of glass, and because there is a double wall (inside wall of glass, outside wall of polycarbonate), the outside never gets too hot to handle. And did I mention that this mug has a handle? This mug makes loose leaf tea-to-go easy! It also makes a perfect device to steep blooming teas!
There are two ways this mug can be used to steep tea – the first is simply to put tea into the main chamber, add the hot/boiling water, and then screw on the strainer lid. After the tea has steeped, simply sip the tea through the strainer. I find that this method works best for tisanes: teas that won’t grow bitter as they continue to steep. My favorites using this steeping & sipping method are flavored honeybush blends and yerba maté.
The second way to steep tea with this mug is to screw the strainer lid onto the mug before you add the loose leaf tea, and then add the loose leaf into the strainer lid. Pour in the hot/boiling water, screw on the top lid securely, and then carefully turn the mug upside down to allow the water to infuse into the tea leaves in the strainer lid. Once the tea is finished steeping, carefullly turn the mug back over, and unscrew the lids. The spent leaves will remain in the straining chamber so that the tea does not over-steep. This second method works best for green teas and black teas, or any tea that you don’t want to continue to steep. (Such as hibiscus-laden teas!)
When using this second method, I recommend using some caution. The first time I attempted it, the tea leaked out of the screw top because I failed to screw the lid on securely. Be sure to screw the lid on securely – making sure to line up the threads properly. I also recommend placing the mug on a dishtowel … just in case! Since that first time I used the second method to steep, I have had several successful steeps using the same method, so it really was user-error, not product error! So, do take some care to avoid this mishap, and you should be fine!
I have owned a similar type glass for several years now, and I must note some significant differences between the original glass and the new mug. First of all, this mug has a handle. (That one was pretty obvious, huh?) More importantly, at least for this tea enthusiast, is the finer mesh on the strainer lid. This fine mesh works well with chai teas, keeping the fine-ground spices out of the liquor! It also works well with rooibos.
I like this new mug very much, and I highly recommend it. It makes tea brewing on the go so easy, I no longer have an excuse to stop at the coffee house and buy a cup of tea there for $3.00 a cup!
Product Review: Apple Cider from GreenTeaHP/Green Tea Pros
Buy From: Green Tea Pros
Product Description:
GreenTeaHP is the only green tea made from fresh, not dried, green tea leaves. It uses a patented water extraction process, which provides all the health benefits of green tea. These benefits include polyphenols (flavonoids), vitamins, amino acids, minerals, fibers, and more. The proprietary extraction process-no chemicals, alcohol or organic solvents used. Each pixie serving provides 1000 mg of green tea extract. Great natural fresh taste and color-no artificial colors or preservatives. Sugar-free and low calorie. 100% of the daily value of Vitamin C in each serving. Instant green tea powder tastes great, cold or hot, -just add water. We prefer cold. Most importantly, GreenTeaHP tastes great!
Taster’s Review:
Usually, I add these little pixies of magic Green Tea HP to a bottle of cold water and shake, but today, since I was trying the Apple Cider flavor, I decided that Apple Cider sounded better hot! And you know what, these do taste great hot or cold!
This has a nice apple cider taste to it. I can taste pleasing notes of spice along with a crisp apple flavor.
But, make no mistake, this isn’t a typical apple cider! It does have other ingredients in this, and those ingredients do affect the flavor of the tea. Like I stated for my review of the Orange Cream Green Tea from the same company, the green tea flavor is not a strong flavor, but it is there. And I stand by my previous comment of it being a good product for the individual who doesn’t really care for green tea but still wants the benefits of green tea.
It is also a good product for someone who wants a nice energy boost! That’s what I find tremendously rewarding about this product. It tastes pleasant, and I feel invigorated after I drink it! Especially nice for my Wednesday afternoons when I have to trek it up the steep hill to my house after picking my daughter up from choir practice!
If you do choose to drink this cold, all you need to do is open the little pixie and pour it into a bottle of water (I suggest at least 8 ounces of water for this, I prefer 12 – 16 ounces!) and give it a good shake, and keep shaking it as you drink it (or stirring it). If you choose to have it hot, you needn’t continue to stir it, because it dissolves much better in the hot water. No sugar needed – it already contains sweetener (sucralose)!
Product Review: Pumpkin Spice Scone Mix from Sticky Fingers Bakeries
Where to Buy: Sticky Scones Bakeries
Product Description:
Pumpkin pie flavor in just minutes! Rich in premium quality spices and pumpkin flakes. Sure to be a favorite throughout the Holiday Season!
Taster’s Review:
I love scones! And nothing seems to complete tea time quite like freshly baked scones. But one thing I don’t really like about scones is what has to go into the baking process – measuring ingredients, kneading the dough… etc. I want to be able to just add water, stir, drop by the spoonful and bake.
There are a lot of scone mixes out there, and many of them offer you the convenience of the process I just described. The only problem is that many of them taste like you just added water, stirred, dropped by the spoonful and baked. In other words, they don’t taste great.
There seems to be just a handful of companies out there that do scone mix right – and Sticky Fingers Bakeries is one of them. And, they offer so many flavor choices! I’ve tried several of their flavors, and I haven’t been disappointed yet. I received this particular package as a gift from a friend – and it was a most welcome gift, indeed.
And the flavor is absolutely DELISH! These taste a lot like pumpkin pie – in scone form! I highly recommend eating these with clotted cream – it really elevates the flavor to a whole new level. Another way to change this one up, should you want to, is to add a handful of chocolate chips.
The texture is so nice with these – they are somewhere between a biscuit and a cake. Soft, moist, and absolutely yummy. And they reheat nicely – just pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds and you have a nice, warm scone! YUM!
Product Review: Masala Chai Tea-Infused Chocolate Truffle from Arbor Teas
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Company Description:
White chocolate ganache infused with our spicy Masala Chai Black Tea, coated in white chocolate, and topped with a chocolate marble.
Taster’s Review:
Editor’s Note: This review represents part 4 of 6 reviews, one review for each of the six flavors in the truffle collection available from Arbor Teas.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love these chocolates from Arbor Teas?
This one is a white chocolate ganache that’s been infused with Arbor Tea’s Masala Chai Black Tea blend. I haven’t tried their Chai, so I don’t know if this is a fair representation of the flavor of their chai tea, but, if it is, I’d have to say that it is a very pleasing chai, indeed!
I can taste the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves distinctly, but less flavor from the ginger and black pepper come through. There is a nice peppery aftertaste that cuts through some of the sweet white chocolate, however, it is a faint flavor. I detect very little of the black tea flavor, but I can taste a hint of it.
My favorite part of this treat was the gold-leaf embellished chocolate marble on top of the truffle. I can taste a hint of bourbon in this and I personally think that there should have been more to this; it would have accented the flavors in the truffle very nicely.
If my favorite local coffee house made a white chocolate chai latte, I would imagine it tasting a bit like this. It is very sweet and rich, but very decadent and delicious.
Product Review: Tea Pockets
Where to Buy: Octavia Tea
Company Description:
Now you can enjoy the quality of loose-leaf tea with the convenience of a tea bag! Tea Pockets make brewing loose tea easier than ever.
Unlike other fill-your-own tea bags, Tea Pockets are self-sealing and come with a string attached for easy removal after steeping. Tea Pocket’s ultra-thin, almost transparent material allows water to completely circulate through the leaves, which yields a better tasting cup of tea. Tea pockets are disposable, bleach-free, adhesive-free and have no paper taste. Great for tea on the go.
50 fill-your-own tea bags per box.
Product Review:
As many of you probably know, I have been a tea artist (err… that is, I flavor and blend unique tea blends) for many years now. And during those many years, I have utilized T-Sacs quite often – when sampling out my own blends. Heck, I even sold them!
But, today, I have discovered a better product. Tea Pockets! What makes these so much better, you ask? Well, these have a nifty fold-over flap (kind of like the old-school sandwich bags that mom used to pack in my lunches) to keep the tea leaves safely ensconced within the roomy pouch. These also have a string loop to easily (and painlessly) remove the “tea bag” from the hot liquid.
And like T-Sacs, these are also bleach-free (and tasteless) so there are no chemicals to alter the taste of your tea.
This is THE WAY to make your own tea bags – which will be better than any commerically manufactured tea bag! – because you use your favorite high quality loose leaf tea!
Check out this How-To-Use video from the manufacturers of Tea Pockets: