Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
The base of the tea is a blend of four black teas: two teas from Verdant Tea, a rich, malty Assam and a rose Congou. To that I added chocolate flavoring, cacao shells & nibs, mini vegan chocolate chips and vegan white chocolate chips. The result is a very chocolate-y tea with just a hint of rose that’s a perfectly romantic tea to give to that special someone this Valentine’s Day – or any day of the year that you want to tell someone you care!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to 52Teas tea of the week program here.
Taster’s Review:
I recently did a review for this tea on my own blog but thought that this blend need another review here!
This tea is one of the best chocolate teas I’ve ever tried. Seriously!
When you first open this pouch of tea, be prepared for the most lushest decadent chocolate aroma you have ever smelled. Seriously. The aroma coming from this tea made me feel like I was going to gain 10 pounds just by smelling it. Cacao nibs and shells, milk chocolate, and white chocolate, all mixed up with a black tea base and rose petals. Tea Heaven!
I brewed this tea up with fresh boiled water and my french press. I allowed the tea to steep for about 3 minutes before pushing down on the plunger. I allowed the tea to cool before I took a few minutes. As the tea was cooling, I was still getting all of those wonderful gorgeous chocolate aromas.
Now I will admit, chocolate teas are not my thing but 52Teas chocolate teas have been delicious so I just had to try this one. First sip in I was preparing myself for this overabundance of chocolate flavorings to hit me at once. The exact opposite. This tea is so delicate and gentle. The chocolate notes translate into a softer gentle flavor that mingles gorgeously with the black teas and rose petals, allowing each ingredient to sing their own song and make a brilliant cuppa.
The black tea provided a wonderful smoothness with a slight astringent note. The rose petals provided that sweetness that was needed to combat the slightly bitter cacao shells & nibs. The white chocolate was the most pronounced of the chocolate flavors I could really get a good tasting of and it was just heavenly!
Well done 52Teas. This as close to perfection as they come with chocolate teas for me! I have already devoured a few steepings and plan to brew up more! I believe this one is still available. I recommend everyone grab some while they can. Delicious!
Festive Garden from Palais des thes
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Palais des thes
Tea Description:
A delicious herbal tea of fruits and plants, Festive garden blends cocoa, orange, and grapes and tastes like a candy store at Christmas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to say, steeping- this tea has a unique aroma coming from it. The description fits it perfectly. It smells like a candy store where there are a bunch of sweet treats all mixed together. Just from the dry leaf alone I can pick up what smells like bubble gum, cotton candy, and suckers with a grape and orange twist. Very unique indeed!
This is my first experience with Palais des thes. I’ve always wanted to try tea from them in the past but have never really come across it or think about the company when I’m looking for my next tea fix. I was excited to see this offering in my last set of teas to review.
This unique blend consists of 7 different fruits and plants and is just so much fun to look at. This is one of those teas that just put you in a happy mood while you are steeping it. I brewed this up with water prepped at boiling and allowed the herbal tea to brew for about 5 minutes. The tea was a lovely light pink or rose color. This tea just screamed for an afternoon tea time with proper biscuits and cookies. Or even to be served at a little girl’s tea party.
I allowed the tea to cool for a few moments and took a sip. What I am greeted with is a flavor that really reminded me of the aroma I was getting from the dry leaf. I swear this tea tastes like a bubblegum cotton candy mix with a slight hint of a chocolate undertone. A very unique herbal tea. That taste tho doesn’t seem like one that fits a hot tea very well so I tossed in a few iced cubes to see how this tea would play out as iced and also a lemon wedge.
The iced cubes seemed to really intensify the chocolate flavors. Those seem to be the first ones I’m now greeted with instead of the bubblegum cotton candy mix. That being said, the iced tea with lemon didn’t work out so well so I took the lemon wedge out and just enjoyed the unique cuppa I had. I wish this would be a great iced bubble gum cotton candy flavor like I was getting from the hot tea but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Regardless, this is one unique cuppa tea that takes you on a tasting adventure for sure!
Rhubarb Oolong from Stylin’ Tea Blends
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Stylin’ Tea Blends
Tea Description:
Unfortunately no longer available, but if you see this tea, you have to grab it!
Other Oolong offerings from Stylin’ Tea Blends. . . . . . .
Taster’s Review:
I know. A rhubarb tea.. . how odd, right? I thought so too. Probably why it took me so long to give it a go. Let’s start with how this tea looks. This tea had the most gorgeous oolongs intertwined with a few larger rose pieces. A really stunning blend.
The aroma this dry leaf gave off was sweet and slightly floral. I had always thought rhubarb was more of a tart flavor so I was very shocked and pleasantly surprised when my nose encountered this glorious aroma. This tea released an aroma that I want bottled in air fresheners and candles alike.
I brewed this up like I do my oolongs- about 190F or so and about 3 minutes to start. I still had my hesitations. My brain kept saying- This tea has RHUBARB in it!!! And I honestly couldn’t get past it. Finally the tea had cooled slightly so I could take my first sip.
Ever have a tea that made you hear glorious singing and just made you sigh? Well this tea did just that. I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever had rhubarb before but I’m seeking it out! This tea was brilliant, bright, and vibrant. The oolong was a mellower base allowing the flavors to really produce a solid feel. The flavorings were slight, but enough so there was this slightly sweet yet tart flavor with just a kiss of floral love. I can’t describe how amazingly light and refreshing this tea was. This is a tea that will make you dream about the next cuppa you get to have of the blend. It was that good and I still can’t get over how much I adore this oolong blend. I wish it was still available from Stylin’ Tea Blends because I want gobs of this tea. I actually felt like crying after the 6th steeping and I knew it was getting close to the time I would have to head home for the day. I knew I would have to say goodbye to this tea but I am hoping a quick google search will get me more of this gorgeous blend.
Chalmun’s CanTeana from Geeky Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Beware: you may find yourself buying the death star steeper and watching your boyfriend drink your entire stash in his Darth Vader mug before you’ve had your third cup.
What little I’ve managed to steal back from him has been excellent. Any tea with rose gets a high five, and the inclusion of apple pieces is a rare (delightful) find.
Taster’s Review:
Geeky Teas is one of my favorite places to go on the internet. I am so sad that I live so far away from Donna’s actual store. I swear I would be there all the time. But at least I get to visit online and enjoy the fandom geeky love that is being offered to geeks like myself in the form of tea blends.
I’ve reviewed Geeky Teas before both on SororiTea Sisters and CuppaGeek. The teas are either hit or miss for me, but when they hit they are marvelous and typically when they miss, with a bit of tweaking they would be superstars. But let’s start by saying this- Donna’s love of tea and of her clients makes her one of my favorite companies to purchase products from. I can’t get over how much she has listened to my comments and made slight changes here and there. She has really taken what I’ve said (& others) to heart and made huge improvements. You can’t ask for a better company to work with than Geeky Teas.
Let’s chat about the blend. I love my Star Wars. Anything with Star Wars I’m all over. When my son told me he wanted to be Jango Fett (yes Jango!) I felt I had done well as a parent. (Ha!) So when I came across this blend, I couldn’t wait to pick up a sample and see what it was all about.
Brewed up like an herbal tea, this herbal concoction has quite an array of inclusions. The dry mixture didn’t have much of an aroma to it. I steeped the tea in my Death Star Infuser (yep, told you. Love Star Wars). I allowed the tea to steep for about 6 minutes in fresh boiled water. As I was about to take my first sip, I was hoping I would get a marvelous herbal aroma from the fresh brewed tea, but I still didn’t really pick any one particular note.
Took that first sip and sad to say, this blend just doesn’t do it for me. I really didn’t pick up any one particular flavor profile or not. I mainly noted a muddy like herbal flavor. I could get a hint of a flavor here or there but by the time I noted it, the flavor has faded. Sadly this blend may not be for me, but to be fair- I did get a sample of this and the pieces looked to be pretty small. I’m wondering if maybe my tea sample was crushed by being in my tea stash, which could explain the muddy flavor. I have a feeling that is what happened. I would be more than willingly to try the tea again. I think it has the promise to be fabulous. Just need to work thru a few more teas before I can make an order.
If you haven’t checked out Geeky Teas and you are a fandom sort of person, I encourage you to check out Geeky Teas’s offerings of over 40 different fandom teas!
Mango Ice Cream Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Black Tea, Freeze-Dried Mango Bits, Vanilla Bean and Natural Flavors
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ tea of the week subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
I love 52Teas. The idea behind having a tea company create a new blend each week is just brilliant. I love the variety that you are able to purchase and the creativity that this sort of company can provide. With teas like Toffee Bar Chai or Carrot Cake Honeybush. . .I mean you really can’t go wrong.
I can’t remember if I picked this tea up from one of the Kickstarter Campaigns or if I bought this one outright from the site. It doesn’t look like this particlar one is offered anymore. That is the only downside to a company like 52Teas. Since they are being mad tea scientists, blending all these crazy and fabulous blends, the inventory is smaller and constantly revolving. So if you are looking at a tea and it looks amazing, you better get it quick because quantities are extremely limited.
Mango Ice Cream Black Tea is a black tea blend with bits of mango that you can actually see. The dry leaf smells delicious and I couldn’t wait to check out the blend. Brewed up with water prepped at boiling and allowed to steep for about 4 minutes, this tea looked and smelled so warming and inviting even tho it is supposed to be ice cream based. I couldn’t wait to check it out!
Unfortunately, this tea just isn’t for me. First sip in and all I was really getting was the black tea base and hints of a sweetness from the vanilla. Even tho I could visibly see the mango pieces, I didn’t get any of that fruity tropical like flavor in the brew. I did get more of an astringent tone to the tea so maybe I overleafed my serving.
I did brew this tea up again and only allowed this tea to steep for about 3 minutes and I did notice that those flavors I was looking for come thru a bit more but not enough for me to think mango ice cream. Regardless, the tea was still drinkable and I didn’t feel the need to dump it, I just didn’t get the flavor I was looking or hoping for. I only had a 1/2 oz of the tea so I won’t be able to try these, but I would love to try this as a cold brew. I bet that is the way to pull out those tropical creamy flavors.
Even tho this tea might not have been my cuppa tea, I still highly recommend 52Teas and encourage checking out their teas if you haven’t yet. You won’t regret it!