Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
A farmer needs to work seven days, just to produce about 1.5 kg of this artisan tea, picking only the most-tender leaves from large-leaf tea trees in Simao, Yunnan. Afterwards, each ring is carefully hand-rolled piece by piece, requiring patience and mastery of advanced tea processing skills. A pure organic and luxury green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to try this one. Very excited. The beautiful rings were something to behold. Just gorgeous. I’ve never tried a tea like this before. I steeped this in my Breville One Touch so I would have the right temp for water.
Not having this tea or any teas from this company, I was a little intimidated so I did a bit of research about this tea on Steepster and what reviews this tea has already received. The more I read about the tea the more excited I seemed to get. Sweet, delicate, not grassy, buttery, and nutty. How lovely does that sound?
When I heard the beep of the Breville announcing the tea was ready, I basically ran to the tea pot to pour myself a cup. Poured myself a cup and let the brew cooled off for a minute.
Took a nice big sip and wow that was not the taste I thought I would be greeted with. From the reviews I had read, I was thinking this was going to be a more delicate floral green tea. What I got was a tea that reminded me of a savory Slim Jim based tea. Not bad, just not what I had expected so I was taken by surprised. This is a very very savory green tea with hints of smokey flavors popping through each sip. I’m curious if further steepings will create a different flavor, but I doubt it would be that much of a difference. I’ll have to just experiment some more. That is one of the aspects of tea that is just so much fun! All the different tastes and textures you can get out of steeping the tea differently!
Sandakphu Hand-Rolled Black Tea from Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Description:
A top-rated Orthodox black tea, only two leaves and a bud are hand plucked for processing. This full-leaf, loose tea is then oxidized carefully until a fine balance of flavors is achieved. This exquisite tea has a smooth floral bouquet with a lingering apricot finish. Tea available in pouches and tin.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I generally like to save my “black tea experiences” for earlier in the day, because I find these teas to be more invigorating than other leaf types. However, this Sandakphu Hand-Rolled Black Tea from Nepali Tea Traders has a lighter body and a crisp, smooth taste (similar to what you would experience with a Darjeeling tea), and I think that it would make an excellent afternoon or early evening tea.
And while I am noticing similarities to a Darjeeling tea, I think that this tea is smoother and less astringent than a typical Darjeeling, and it doesn’t have that wine-like finish of a Darjeeling. Instead, the finish here is – as promised in the above description – apricot!
The sip begins with a sweet, fruit-like note and from there delivers notes of flower and wood. It tastes clean and refreshing. As the finish approaches, I notice the aforementioned apricot. It’s surprised me at just how focused the apricot notes are. There’s no mistaking that flavor for anything but apricot!
The aftertaste is sweet and maintains some of those apricot-y notes. Nice! This isn’t an overly robust or bold tea, but it does have it’s own sort of briskness to it. It isn’t a tea that I’d choose for first tea of the day, as I said before, it’s one I’d want to curl up with on a quiet afternoon, perhaps with a good book.
What impresses me most about this tea is that it’s consistent. With every sip, I get those amazing flavors. It continues to deliver from the very first sip right down to the last. A remarkable tea.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Indian Spice Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Green
About This Product:
A snappy blend of curry, spices and green tea. Tastes like your eating at your favorite Indian curry restaurant.
To Learn more about this Millie’s Savory Teas, click here.
To Subscribe to Love with Food, click here.
Taster’s Review:
In my September Love with Food box, I received not one but two new-to-me savory teas from Millie’s Savory Teas to try, including this Indian Spice Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth. Even though I was a little disappointed with the Tomato Basil variety of Millie’s Savory Teas, I still found myself excited at the prospect of trying a couple more of these tea infused sipping broths.
And much to my surprise, I like this Indian Spice flavor much better than I liked the Tomato Basil. I love Tomato, so I expected that to be the one I liked best, but I think that the Indian spices work much better in this tea infused sipping broth concept.
The aroma of the dry “bag” is that of curry, but I also taste the smell of “bouillon” too. You know the smell of the bouillon cubes? Yeah, I smell that salty/savory scent of bouillon. And this broth … is a little on the salty side (don’t salt it before you taste it!) but it isn’t too salty for my taste. I taste a hint of carrot and onion to this too.
It still tastes more like broth than it does green tea … but I can taste more of the green tea here than I did in the Tomato Basil. What’s more, I’m finding this broth to be so soothing and comforting. I think this would make an ideal light meal … perhaps with a piece of fruit.
This sipping broth gets a thumbs up from me. This is one I might buy again!
Chocolate Earl Grey Tea from Tea For All Reasons
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea For All Reasons
Tea Description:
If you are a fan of Earl Grey, why not try our newest blend, a dreamy, creamy Earl Grey taste with rich dark chocolate. I think we’ve found a winner!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Um … hello? Chocolate Earl Grey? YES PLEASE!
When I received my package from Tea For All Reasons, this was the first tea that I HAD to try. Why? >>Chocolate Earl Grey<< Need I say more?
OK, so I guess I do. This is a tea review. You didn’t come here to read me acting all giddy over chocolate plus Earl Grey.
Of all the many versions and varieties of Earl Grey tea that I’ve tried, I do think that Chocolate Earl Grey teas are my favorites. The sweet chocolate notes meld so beautifully with the tangy bergamot to create a chocolate covered citrus kind of taste … you know those yummy chocolate oranges? Yeah, kind of like that, only better because this is tea!
The black tea base provides a mild backdrop for the flavors of bergamot and chocolate. It’s not an overly aggressive base, it’s strong enough to be tasted but not so powerful that it overwhelms the notes of citrus and the dark chocolate notes.
The bergamot and chocolate are pretty well balanced here. These two flavors don’t seem to be competing with one another. They seem pretty evenly matched. The result is a sweet, creamy, rich, chocolate-y, citrus-y cuppa! I wouldn’t add milk to this … I think that the tea has such a nice balance as it is, and milk might disrupt that. I like it just the way it is – served hot and straight up! It’s perfection for this Earl Grey aficionado/chocoholic!
Apricot Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
The sweet taste of apricots reminds someone of peaches and combined with the balancing effect of oriental Matcha, makes for true palate entertainment. Apricot Matcha is a sweet treat that can be taken anytime day or night when someone just wants to savor the wonders of their surroundings while enjoying a sumptuous treat. It is also the perfect treat for the special occasions of kids whose guardians want to expand the assortment of refreshment alternatives with great additions. Apricot Matcha can be taken with or without food because it’s fulfilling taste leaves its takers wanting more.
Learn more about this Apricot Matcha here.
Taster’s Review:
I didn’t really want to write this review. Why? Because, well, I just don’t like this flavored Matcha. I have tried quite a few flavored Matcha by now, and this is the first one from Red Leaf Tea that I’ve tried and did not like. I have loved the others that I’ve tried up until now, and I really love this company, and I hated to say anything bad about them.
But ultimately, I did decide to write this review, because not only is honesty important to me as a tea reviewer, but honesty is equally as important to Red Leaf Tea too – they actually ASKED me to write a review on it, even though I did not like it!
And really, you’ve got to respect that. I think it’s very cool of Red Leaf Tea to actually WANT me to write this review, even though I didn’t really care for the product, and makes me respect them more as a tea purveyor. This is a company that I highly recommend to everyone.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend this flavor of Matcha to anyone. It just doesn’t taste very good. And it’s not even that I dislike apricots – I love them! And I had such high hopes for this Matcha, unfortunately, it just didn’t prove to be as delicious as some of the other Matcha that I’ve tried (and LOVED) from Red Leaf Tea.
The flavor is overwhelmingly chemical, tasting a bit like perfume-y soap. Now, I didn’t like getting my mouth washed out with soap as a child, and I don’t like drinking soap now. And unfortunately, this soapy taste is so strong that it dominates the entire bowl. I can’t really taste anything beyond the strong perfume-y soap.
I even tried it a second time, hoping that maybe my taste buds were just having an off day or something. But three days later and I get the same result. This time, I tried mixing it: 1 part of this Apricot Matcha with 1 part of the Royal Matcha (which is pure/unflavored). This softened the soapy taste only somewhat, I am able to explore the flavors beyond the soapiness but, the chemical flavors are still very strong – overwhelmingly so. I can taste hints of apricot and Matcha this time around, but, not enough to be able to phase out the strong perfumed soap taste.
It makes me very sad that I disliked this Matcha so much, but this bad experience, while it did leave a bad taste in my mouth, it is one that will easily disappear after I’ve had a bowl of one of the other delicious Matcha that I’ve tried from Red Leaf Tea. And the fact that they are willing to have me say I dislike a tea – and in fact, encourage it, I think is very honorable.