Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Stylin’ Tea Blends
Tea Description:
Phoenix Dan Cong is a premium variety of china oolong teas, grown and processed in Mountain Phoenix, Chao Zhou, Guangdong. Dan Dong Teas are noted for their ability to naturally imitate the flavors and fragrances of various fruits and flowers, such as honey orchid, cinnamon, sweet-potato. According to history record, Dan Cong was served as an imperial tribute tea in Song Dynasty. This Tea is very popular in China, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was in a mood today for oolong. Been drinking it all day actually. Today was just one of those days were you wanted something rich, comforting, and a bit more complex.
Digging thru my tea stash I stumbled upon this beauty. The leaves were gorgeous- dark and slightly twisted. They yearned to be brewed up!
Brewed these up with water prepped at 195 per the steeping parameters and I allowed them to steep for about 3 minutes. I was greeted with the most marvelous flavor! Rich, deep, well balanced, slightly vegetal, but so incredibly smooth. This is was of those lush silky teas that give you that whole mouth feel and leave you craving more as soon as you finish your first sip. A gorgeous blend for sure and one that I’ve now brewed up a few times-enjoying each cup.
I can’t say that I picked up any cinnamon like flavors but I did pick up the sweet potato like resemblance and oddly enough the honey orchid profile. Those two flavors mingled together so nicely. Sounds odd to say that they did but I finished off this tea in no time. A really fabulous tea for those days when you need a tea to comfort you all along your way!
Product Review: White Chocolate with Jumpy Monkey Yerba Mate from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate/Chocolate
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
Looking for a rich and decadent pick-me-up? Check out this deliciously creamy chocolate bar, a combination of the finest imported white chocolate and our java-spiked Jumpy Monkey tea. With yerba mate, cocoa nibs and coffee beans, it makes for an exotic taste of the rainforest at its finest. Made in partnership with a Montreal chocolatier.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had this tea before as a latte, and as far as I can remember it wasn’t too impressive. Kind of run of the mill, actually? However I was still pretty pumped to see it in chocolate bar format at the store yesterday because, first off, I love white chocolate though also because even though I’m not a huge fan of coffee I have a special place in my heart for white chocolate coated coffee beans. My Dad used to buy them in bulk, and late at night I’d sneak into the kitchen (when I was around eleven) and eat small handfuls out of the bag in the pantry. And of course, I’d have problems falling asleep after that…
However, this is a slight let down if I’m being honest. I mean, the white chocolate is really good! I love the white chocolate that DAVIDsTEA uses for these chocolate bars. The problem, for me, is that it really over powers the flavour of the tea/coffee. It doesn’t help part of the profile of this tea is white chocolate in the first place. I’m conflicted by this. One thing I dislike about DAVIDsTEA’s chocolate bars is that the infused chunks are often too large but in this rare occasion I really wanted more large pieces because without them the tea is lost. I wish there was a better way to ensure a more consistent size for the pieces used in these chocolate bars, but I don’t know what the best way to go about finding it would be. However, it does at least seems like DAVIDsTEA is trying to do that because these newer bars do at least seem to consistently use smaller pieces and I know that was something that was really being criticized prior to the change. So I commend them for that.
But without the flavour of the tea, this is just a super expensive white chocolate bar.
The Pollenator from AstroloTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: AstroloTea
Tea Description:
The beauty of nature’s bounty can sometimes be lost on us if we are walking around feeling like the air is full of irritants! The Pollenator is like a breath of fresh air. This deep, spicy tea reunites you with the magical natural world around you.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
AstroloTea is one of my favorite tea shops. The care and love that is put into each blend is just amazing. Pamela is beyond creative and passionate about the teas she concocts. I’ve reviewed several of her teas for both CuppaGeek and SororiTea Sisters.
This particular blend is one that is supposed to help those with sinus and allergy issues. Pamela recommended it to me on one of my blog posts and while I was going thru my tea stash I saw that I actually had some.
The Pollenator smells amazing! The dry leaf has this wonderful soothing and warming cinnamon spice note. One of those smells that you want to bottle into a candle. I brewed the tea up with fresh boiling water and allowed the blend to steep for a few minutes. I adore the Assam blends that Pamela creates and the Assam base she uses.
Once the tea was ready to steep, I sat down to enjoy my tea. First sip in and I was greeted with this soft and mellow silky like cinnamon flavor that is smoothed over by an Assam base. The next flavor I noticed was the ginger. Now I’m very hit or miss with the ginger and unfortunately, I could have done without the ginger in this mix. The rest of the flavors just blend so well, but for some reason the ginger flavoring just stood out to me like a sore thumb. Not terrible and I easily sipped on this cuppa and made myself another pot later. It was just the one flavor I noted that I could have done without, but that is normally how I feel about ginger anyway.
This blend is one of the better blends I’ve tried for fighting stubborn allergies and sinuses. One that I would recommend!
Imperial Jasmine Green Tea from Teasenz
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
Reserved for the imperial families since the Song Dynasty in 960 AD. All the appeal and flavor of green tea and enhanced by the aroma of jasmine flowers, Emporial Jasmine Green Tea has a subtly sweet taste and blooming fragrance. Light, soft, and perfumy with a delicate mouthfeel.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been craving a green jasmine tea for a bit now. I haven’t had any jasmine pearls in a bit so I thought this might be a great tea to try and calm my cravings.
Let’s start with how gorgeous this tea looks. Just simply gorgeous. One of those teas that makes you sit back and really take it all in. Twisty green and white like tea leaves. I can’t get over how much I love the look of this tea.
Now the aroma of this dry leaf is simply outstanding. You get everything. The sweet grassy like aromas of the green tea mingled in brilliantly with the floral aspects. This is one of those teas that once you smell it, your mouth starts to water.
I prepped my water and brewed the tea for a few minutes. I couldn’t wait to get the gorgeous fragrant brew into my mug. Took my first sip, and sadly, I honestly didn’t care for the flavor. For me, the floral aspects overtake everything else. Now this could absolutely be an error on my part and probably is. I may not have shaken the pouch up enough to distribute the flavors appropriately.
The only flavor I get is an overwhelming floral taste is even too much for this floral loving gal. Typically the more floral flavor there is the more I like it but this one isn’t that way.
For how gorgeous this tea is and how beautifully the cuppa smells, I think I need to take another swing at this tea. It has all the characteristics of being an amazing cuppa so I’m thinking I either oversteeped or overleafed.
I have adored all the other teas from this company, this is an ooops on me!
Equestea from Geeky Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Black tea, apple pieces, natural caramel apple flavor and cinnamon bark.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Who doesn’t love My Little Pony. I mean c’mon! They even have bronies! I have loved My Little Pony forever. I remember playing with my ponies and doing their hair for hours straight as a kiddo. So when I saw that Geeky Teas had a fandom tea based off of My Little Pony- I said yes please!
This particular tea is a take on a caramel apple tea with cinnamon and a black tea base. Geeky Teas black tea base is very hit or miss with me and seems to be a bit more on the finicky side sometimes. But when it is good, it is good!
Brewed this up like a black tea with water prepped at 212F, allowed it to steep for about 3 minutes. The whole time the tea was steeping you could smell this wonderful aroma. Reminded me of a bakery. Sweet and almost nutty.
The waiting time was finally over and I took my first sip. Oh my goodness! This may be the best tea I’ve tried from Geeky Teas yet! This tea is amazing. I really wasn’t in the mood for a black tea but oh my goodness!! This tea really does taste like a caramel apple. The black tea provides a lush smooth silky like background while the apple brings a tartness, the cinnamon gives the tea a bit of a spiced feel, while the caramel apple flavoring gives you that sweet nutty flavor. Seriously good tea here! I’m in love!
I’ve said it before but if you haven’t checked out Geeky Teas, you need to!