Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Description:
Fig taste with dried figs and pink pig sprinkles.
Learn more about this on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
Despite being pretty much over my ‘sprinkles in tea’ phase, this tea drew me in with the combination of pig sprinkles in the blend and the fun, whimsical name and the promise of fig flavour. In my humble opinion, there aren’t nearly enough fig blends and any chance I have to try a new one is one I’m going to take!
However, when I cracked open my sealed 2 oz. package of this blend I was hit with something I hadn’t been prepared for; the strong, piercing aroma of lavender! The lack of comprehensive ingredients lists on East Indie’s website it definitely a valid criticism; while a super generic blurb has worked out in my favor in the past in this case I feel like I was failed – I cannot stand lavender, and had I known this blend had so much of it I’m sure I would’ve been persuaded against this tea despite wanting to try ‘all the fig’.
Regardless, I cold brewed myself up a mason jar worth of tea because you never really know how a tea is going to taste for sure until you try it, so despite major reservations there was still a chance this could be alright. Sadly, I just couldn’t get over that concentrated lavender flavour. It was floral in a soapy, artificial way that made me feel like I’d licked all of the counters and shelves in a Bath & Body Works store. Any fig that was in this blend, and I know there was because I could see the dried out pieces in the leaf along with the adorable pig sprinkles, was completely masked. I was not impressed.
My overall opinion is that personally I found this blend as irksome as the puppet it’s playfully named for – and if you’re looking for fig look elsewhere. However, if you’re a fan of lavender and want to try a strong lavender blend over a black base you’re in luck.
Tsugaru Green from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
Japanese green tea flavored with “San-Tsugaru” apples from Aomori prefecture in Japan.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Green tea is one of my favorite kinds of tea. I love the soothing and refreshing flavor you can get out of green tea. This tea was no exception.
Never having this tea before I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t even know what kind of tea this was since this was a sample from a tea friend. I wanted to be surprised so I didn’t check online either.
Brewed this up with my Breville One Touch on the medium green tea setting. A few minutes later, I had a lovely cuppa awaiting me. I took a sip after the brew cooled for a few minutes and this tea was light and refreshing as you could ask for!
Crisp and almost apple juice like was what I would guess. So after I finished my cuppa, I looked online and was pleased to see that I was correct. An apple flavored green tea. This tea is spot on with flavor and I like the fact that there are any spices included and this is a simple yet well done apple tea. Most apple teas include cinnamon or some kind of a chai spice. This tea let the juiciness of the apples shine thru with the backing of a slightly hay like and slightly buttery undertone.
I brewed up another infusion of this tea and experienced it as an iced tea. It was magnificent. This is definitely one that I’m taking note of and am loving! This would be a perfect alternative to the fall inspired teas that will soon be available.
In other news, this was sipdown #20! Woohoo!
Elixir #9 (Peachy Oolong) From Liquid Proust Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Liquid Proust Teas (On Etsy)
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Green oolong (Vietnamese Tung Ting), peach blossoms, flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Finally trying the last of the tea samples that Andrew, from Liquid Proust Teas, was nice enough to send my way. Over on Steepster I’ve posted this review as well – and there it has some special significance as well as it’s my 3000th ‘tasting note’ on that site. I really wanted to celebrate my involvement in the Steepster community by drinking a tea made by someone also engaged within the Steepster community not just as a ‘creator’ but as a consumer as well.
The base for this tea is a Tung Ting/Dong Ding, which is a type of oolong I find pretty enjoyable though not one I drink as regularly as other types. The infused leaf was just gorgeous; long, full olive green leaves with a nicely bruised and oxidized red rim around the edge of the leaf. I tried to show my mother, who was watching me brew the tea but she just didn’t understand the beauty of that.
With both Western Style infusions I ended up doing, I found that more than anything else that I could taste the base tea. It was very fragile/delicate overall with an initial sweet flavour with almost a ‘leather’ or gentle smoke note, but then evolved into this super fragrant and aromatic floral tea with very bright, round notes of lily or possibly lilac to a lesser extent. There was also a smooth, silky vanilla-like sweetness as well especially in the end of the sip/long lingering aftertaste.
I could also taste the peach blossom as just this extra ‘floral’ flavour with a little bit of honey and generic fruit sweetness. Sometimes I forget that, unlike orange blossoms, peach blossoms don’t exactly taste ‘peachy’. I do wish this had been peachier, though – with a name that contains both “Elixir” and “Peachy” I expected both a more vibrant, rich fruity taste as well as something distinctly peach. That said, this was a very calm, delicious tea and I did really enjoy drinking it.
Talayar Limited Edition Black Tea from The Tea Shelf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Shelf
Tea Description:
These limited edition teas are crafted by hand by selective picking and gentle processing, resulting in exquisite teas with the right twist and form. A knobbly gnarly look with peaks of silver and the odd bright green, they have gentle hints of spice when infused. The tea completely blossoms into individual leaves without any signs of wear or tear; the magic of hand rolled. This is indicative of the care taken in the picking and processing of these teas. The golden liquor captures the delicate floral character, and broad brush strokes of spice, particularly pepper. These teas are an embodiment of tea in its finest form from this region.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh sweet mama this tea is singing to me!
This particular tea is a tea I won with a tea best tea bud of mine on a Facebook contest. I know! I never win those contests either but I won this go around from The Tea Shelf, so first off- thank you The Tea Shelf for an amazing sampling of your teas. It is much appreciated!
Now, to the tea!
This specific tea is a black tea and from the little symbols on the pouch this tea is indulging, low caffeine, floral, good for anytime and is to be drank plain. ( Can I say how much I adore these little symbols. I didn’t notice them until I was reviewing the tea but so fun! ) While steeping, this tea had such a beautiful lovely floral fragrance. I couldn’t wait for the 3 minutes to be up so I could take my first sip!
First sip and just wow. This tea has the it factor for the afternoon. Really good. The floral notes are gorgeous and provide a sweet backdrop for the smooth yet slightly astringent finish. The tea has this nice contrast between sweet and savory going on. The description depicts a tea with a pepper like profile but I’m not getting that right now. I’m getting a more sweet savory sort of malty tea that is going down smooth and really enveloping my whole mouth.
This tea is making me happy right now and this is only the first infusion. I’m curious if the more infusions and time I spend with this tea if i will be able to get more of those pepper notes to appear. If not, I’m quite satisfied with what I have. This is hitting the spot this afternoon.
High-C from Red Clover Tea and Herbs
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Red Clover Tea and Herbs
Tea Description:
A hibiscus base tea infused with citrus, berries and spices all known for their Vitamin C content is formulated to provide you with an extra does of Vitamin C while the Wood Betony and Lemon Balm are known to support the nerves leaving you feeling calm and relaxed. The blend is a beautiful light pink color and produces an exotic aroma of spices and berries. A sweet and warm flavor gently soothes the body and warms the belly giving you a sense of comfort and ease. It’s great warm or cold as a spritzer.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever looked at a tea and just thought this tea is going to be amazing? The smell was fabulous and you could tell that this tea was going to have the wow factor?
I had never heard of Red Clover Tea and Herbs until the other day when I was on Twitter. I checked out their site and couldn’t believe the amount of teas they offered. I was excited when my nicely packaged box arrived with a few teas to sample.
High-C has this amazing delicious fragrance to it. It has that smell that reminds me of apple butter but with quite a bit of cinnamon thrown in for good measure. Such a nice jelly/jammy flavor. I steeped this up according to the packaging on the tin, enjoying watching the color of the water turn to a lovely pink color.
Took my first sip, all the while still enjoying the beautiful fragrant notes of apple butter. Wow. This has to be one of the best herbal teas I’ve ever had. Their is hibiscus in the blend but not an overwhelming amount. Just enough to provide a bit of a tart flavor. Like what you would get from a green apple. The cinnamon is lovely and gives that hibiscus apple note something to contrast with. The two flavors together really taste fantastic. The cloves are there but are not dominating like a lot of other clove teas I’ve had in the past seem to be. Wood Betony is also listed as an ingredient. I wasn’t sure what flavor it was bringing to the table. From what I’m seeing from Wikipedia, this herb was considered one of those herbs that would cure what ails you. Another herbal that is in this mix that I’m not 100% familiar with is red clover. Another herb I’ll need to research more.
This organic herbal tea is simply amazing. The taste is perfect and matches the fall weather that is coming soon for us here in the Mid-West. I would love to try this tea in muffin mix, as a tea pop, as an iced tea. . .The notes of the apple cinnamon jammy sort really play well with experimenting.