Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Tea Description:
Pinkies out, bone china cups and saucers, silk neck scarf and snorty laugh at the ready – this is the poshest tea around. Darjeeling tea without milk has a unique, clean, refreshing taste. Traditionally drunk in the afternoon it tastes equally good early morning from a chipped mug.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Thanks to one of our sisters, Scheherazade, I got a chance to try a few sachets of this tea! Teapigs is a company I’ve been kind of curious about for a while; the Sobeys I work at carries a small selection of their teas (though not this one) and I’ve always found the packaging cute. I just simply haven’t known enough about the company or seen enough reviews to be interested in trying one of their teas.
I steeped up one of the pyramid style sachets I received from Scheherazade this morning during a heavy downpour and sat on the steps outside of our house, listening to the pitter patter of the rain, while drinking it. It was definitely the perfect atmosphere to enjoy and appreciate the warmth of the mug and the clean, well rounded flavour. I thought in particular it tasted rather floral, with a slight bit of malt and a sort of autumnal vibe – probably from the very slight spice notes throughout the cup. The mouthfeel is very, very smooth and silky. It’s not the best Darjeeling I’ve ever had but it’s far from the worst.
Very pleasant, comforting and unobtrusive flavour overall. I don’t know if I’ve been sold enough on this tea to want to purchase more of it, but I might finally pick up one of the different blends we carry at the Sobeys I work at as my curiosity has definitely been heightened.
Earl Grey Green from Three Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Three Teas
Tea Description:
This is one of the most popular of Three Teas blends. This Green Tea version has the classic flavor of a traditional Earl Grey, but is made with Indian & Ceylon Green Teas and scented with Bergamot Oil.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is one of the more popular blends according to Kathy @Three Teas. I couldn’t wait to try it. I do love my green teas and even tho Earl Grey flavoring sometimes is overwhelming to me, I was excited to try this one.
I prepped this one up per the instructions on the package- 2 tsps-185F-3 minutes. The result was a very pleasant yellowish green liquid in my teacup. The fragrance emitting from the cup was very bergamot oil like. Almost overwhelmingly so.
Took my first sip and yes this is definitely a tea for the Earl Grey fans out there. They bergamot is alive and well in this tea. The green tea creates a very nice smooth buttery base (but very subtle) and the bergamot oil flavor is quite strong.
Unfortunately the bergamot was just too strong for me. I think if there was some straight orange flavoring added in or maybe even some vanilla bean, this tea would take on a completely different profile making it pop. I just picked up some vanilla bean so I might try that later.
Regardless, I’m really enjoying this green tea base. I almost wish I could try that by itself without the bergamot oil. This may just be one of those teas that need a little help to boost the flavor or maybe I should find it a new home. I’m still glad I was able to try it!
Front Porch Peach Iced Black Tea from Teakoe
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teakoe
Tea Description:
Enjoy blissful moments and gather inspiration by drinking this juicy blend of peach, ginger and licorice root. Take time to sit back, reminisce and envision what the future will bring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
To say this tea was a hit was an understatement for yesterday’s fam get together.
Yesterday my parents came over for dinner. We rarely seem to have them over for dinner and find ourselves mostly going to their house for any kind of gathering, so I was excited to finally return the favor.
Knowing that my dad was coming, I thought I would make up some iced tea to enjoy with dinner. I was digging thru my tea and saw this package from Teakoe. So far I have enjoyed their Craft Iced Tea line and was excited to sample some of this with my dad and Jason.
This time around, I adhered to the directions on the back of the package instead of just cold brewing the tea overnight like I have before, but I did leave the tea bag in the pitcher and put it in the fridge.
My parents arrived and as I have been taught, I offered them a beverage as soon as they showed up. I asked Dad if he wanted to some tea and he said, “Well Yah!” I gave him his glass and continued getting mom something to drink. Before I had finished getting my mom a glass of sparkling water, my dad is already asking me for seconds on the tea. I couldn’t believe it. I gave him a pretty full cup. So I refilled his cup and gave him and Jason a cup. Before I could finish getting my kids their drinks for dinner, Jason and my dad both are asking for refills. So like I said. . . to say this was a hit would be an understatement.
Jason was out grilling when I handed him his glass and he came in to the kitchen and asked me what I had given him to drink and where would he need to go online to order more. My dad was too busy downing another glass to really add anything more in. Before I was even able to try this tea, the two of them had drained the pitcher and I was hoping the tea bag would hold up to a second steeping. It did.
I was able to try this (I stole a few sips out of Jason’s glass), but I swear this tea tasted like a tea blend with rooibos in it. It didn’t. I looked over the ingredients several times over.
After dinner, Jason and I were talking about the tea and he asked me what was in it. I listed the ingredients on the back of the pouch-peach, ginger, and licorice. He said that he could taste each and every flavor and that it was the perfect iced sweet peach tea with a hint of a wow factor in each sip. I asked him what the wow factor was and he said a hint of a zing with a sweet background. That made me laugh. He couldn’t tell me what he thought of the tea base itself, just that all the flavors worked together and it was pretty darn close to being perfect.
Even tho I may not have cared for the tea, the guys certainly did. To each his own tea I guess and this tea has already been requested as a re-order. I’m happy to oblige! From what I’m hearing from the cheers and praise for this tea, this tea would be perfect to sit on the front porch and enjoy.
Australia Houjicha Green from What-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Tea Description:
Two Rivers Green Tea started producing tea in 2001 with the aid and encouragement of Japanese tea experts who were seeking to encourage Japanese style tea production for the domestic Japanese market. The Two Rivers farm was selected as it has the same latitude of southern Japanese tea farms, idea temperatures, rainfall and great quality topsoil.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently I placed a What-Cha order for myself, and one of the things I was looking for was a Houjicha to stock up since it’s one of my favourite kinds of green tea and while I currently have a Genmaicha stocked that I really like there’s a hole in my cupboard where a good Houjicha should be. This one comes from Australia, and personally I’ve never tried an Australian grown tea before though I was aware that they were produced. Australia is one of those regions that isn’t typically thought of as a tea growing region among people who aren’t more learned tea drinkers the same way people don’t realize tea is grown in places like Kenya or Hawaii and I’m very excited to get my first taste of an Australian tea, especially considering how affordable this blend was. It was an easy thing to gamble on.
I do think this was worth the gamble. While it’s not as straightforwardly roasty as I tend to prefer from a good Houjicha there are some very, very nice subtle nuanced flavour notes that more than makes up the different. For starters, there’s an interesting nutty notes that seems to make itself known in each part of the sip in a different way. With that first initial taste it’s light lightly toasted nuts, and then in the body it weaves in and out between the other flavours. In the aftertaste, you’re tasting the shadow of the nut flavour which once was.
There’s also some really nice sweeter notes like caramel and cocoa which gently stretch out across the surface of your tongue, creating this really nice, smooth body flavour. The finish is lightly smokey, and leaves you wanting to go back in for another sip so you can experience the flavour dynamics all over again. Overall it’s a very warming and welcoming cuppa.
I definitely think I’ll clear my purchase of this easily, and will probably go back for more after that. More than that, this only gets me even more excited to try more of what Australia has to offer!
Peach vs. Bergamot ft. Formosa Oolong from Liquid Proust Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Liquid Proust Teas
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Formosa oolong, marigold, flavoring
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I probably would have never thought to pair Peach and Earl Grey/Bergamot, which is I guess why Andrew at Liquid Proust Teas is the blender and not myself. The idea is intriguing though; and I have to admit I’m incredibly happy to not see apricot or mango thrown in here as well; I get so tired of those flavour combinations. It’s been done time and time again, and it’s refreshing to see something else. The oolong base is really innovative as well; with it’s characteristic fruity flavour Formosa is a fantastic choice.
The dry leaf smells really incredible! You can get a sense of the bergamot as this grounded, lofty sort of flavour but then the ripe, plump aroma of fresh peaches seems to bounce off it! It smells juicy, and I can’t help but picture taking a bite of some sort of fantastic peach/orange hybrid and having the sugary juices running down my chin like some sort of gluttonous child gorging themselves on fresh picked fruit.
In traditional Earl Grey fashion I made sure this was my first tea of the day; however because I got the impression this was going to be more naturally sweet than a lot of EG I’m familiar with so I iced it instead of having it hot. True to my suspicions this was pretty sweet but in a very natural way that was realistic to the sweetness of fresh fruit. The bergamot was actually a lot milder than I would’ve guessed it to be base on the smell of the dry leaf. It ran like a citrusy current throughout each sip, consistently merged with the body of the sip. The peach left me breathless; there was something unnatural about it, but not in an artificial way or anything like that. It was more unnatural in a “how can this taste so plump, rich, and juicy!?” sort of way. I’m not really a fan of actual peaches, but if they all tasted like that I’d go through a crate of them a week. The bergamot and peach compliment each other to a tea; similar to what I was getting from the dry smell the bergamot is this lovely stable flavour and the peach seems to jump off it.
The formosa base was a great choice; while there’s a really faint but of astringency it doesn’t detract and the natural fruitiness of the oolong contributes even more lively fruit flavours. What I specifically observed was a really rich stonefruit like flavour in line with cherry, but a little more of a cocktail cherry type of note, which just goes incredibly well the peach. Plus, oolong means more solid steeps and so more bang for your buck.
As someone who is neither anti-Earl Grey or Peach but who doesn’t seek out those flavours I want to own this. I think I could drink it often; and with a growing list of Liquid Proust Teas that are blowing my mind Andrew is slowly wearing me down to the point where a LP order is probably in my near future despite the poor state of the Canadian dollar. Definitely a blend worth trying!
A final note though, in the battle of bergamot vs. peach I think peach wins…