Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mela Teas
Tea Description:
Ceylon green tea is mixed with Sepalika flowers, a classical Ayurvedic ingredient, said to induce calmness and tranquility. Maintains all the health properties of green tea, with the added benefit and buttery taste of the Sepalika flower.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ever have a day where it feels like nothing is going right? It isn’t like things are going wrong per say. Just that before you have one project finished, another one pops up and another and still yet another. That is my day today.
Every day when I come to work I bring a bag full of different teas along with me. You never know what kind of mood you will be in once you hit the office. My office has a full kitchen in it so I have lots of tea ware goodies. Today was the kind of day that I pulled out the big guns and went for a refreshing soothing green tea that I hoped when get me thru the rest of the day.
I reached for my sample of Exotic Floral Green Tea from Mela Teas. Their Colombo Garlic tea was phenomenal. I know, garlic tea. . but it was so very good. I had high expectations for this tea as well.
I steeped this beauty up per the instructions on the package- 170F-3 min. As the tea steeped at my desk, there was a light floral fragrance in the air. Not overwhelming, just ever so slight. Made me smile and I breathed in deep. Just knowing I was about ready to indulge in this tea made me start to relax.
First sip and I was gone. This tea has such a beautiful quality to it. The green tea is there with a slight bitter edge but it works well and counteracts the sweet floral taste. This blend reminds me almost of a tea you would drink while reading a romance novel or one of my beloved Jane Austen novels. Such a delicate tea all around. Not being a jasmine fan, I really wasn’t sure what I would think of this tea. Before I knew it, my tea cup was empty and I needed more.
This tea is subtle with just the right amount of floral and natural flavors that create a soothing and relaxing atmosphere. I literally have papers all over my desk but I am not freaking out in the slightest. This tea came to my rescue!
Vicky’s Sponge Cake from Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Think vanilla sponge cake with a dollop of raspberry jam! There is nothing better than a cuppa and cake (except perhaps a cake flavoured cuppa!) and did you know it was our good old queenie Victoria who invented the Vicky Sponge? Guess the name gives it away a bit! She loved taking afternoon tea with her home girls but decided they needed soem extra nurishment to last until dinner. Cake it is then! We like your thinking QV!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah, Victoria Sponge. My favourite cake. Obviously when I found a tea that claims to replicate it, I just had to give it a try. Of all the people I’d trust to get it right, Bluebird Tea Co. top the list. The scent is right, for starters. Upon opening the pouch, I’m greeted with a waft of raspberries and vanilla. As ever with Bluebird, the dry leaf itself is a thing of beauty – fluffy green raspberry leaves, whole freeze-dried raspberries, smaller pieces of freeze-dried strawberry, and a scattering of desiccated coconut shreds. All on a black tea base, Ceylon specifically in this case. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for my cup (the raspberries are so huge, they throw the measurement out a bit!), and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. No additions. The resulting liquor is a medium golden brown. The scent, like the dry leaf, is deliciously raspberry-vanilla. I really am thinking cake now!
To taste, the initial flavour is 100% raspberry. It’s quite a tart raspberry, but just sweet enough to stop it being jarring. What’s particularly nice is that it tastes like actual fresh raspberries – there’s no candy-like or artificial-tasting raspberry to be found here. Vanilla emerges in the mid-sip, and adds a pleasant creaminess and an extra dimension of sweetness that puts me in mind of the buttercream filling that usually accompanies raspberry jam in a Victoria Sponge. There’s a tiny hint of cake right at the end of the sip, but it’s a little fleeting. The coconut just starts to come through, and I think it’s this paired with the other ingredients that produce this effect, interestingly.
I quite like the way the flavours build here, one on the other, to create the overall Victoria Sponge effect. I also like that each individual aspect seems to taste natural, and not like it’s been created from a chemical compound in order to replicate “cake” as accurately as possible and at all costs. The raspberry tastes like real raspberry, the vanilla tastes like, well, vanilla. The combination really does suggest the filling of a Victoria Sponge, and (by some alchemy) everything comes together right at the end of the sip to give – cake! My only complaint is that the black base becomes a little astringent and drying as my cup cools – this is definitely one best consumed hot. Other than that, it’s a great success. Highly recommended for all Victoria Sponge fans – cake without the calories, or just a great stop-gap until your next slice!
Pocketful of Posies Herbal Tea by Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
A relaxing, naturally caffeine-free herbal tea blended from blackberry leaves, chamomile, peppermint, hibiscus, lavender flowers, and rose petals.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is an herbal tea from Adagio’s Sunlit Blooms collection. It’s a floral blend, containing whole chamomile flowers, lavender and rose petals. It also contains peppermint, hibiscus, and blackberry leaves. Judging by the dry leaf, the main constituent is blackberry leaves, which are green and fluffy, rather like raspberry leaves. The other ingredients seem rather sparse.
I used 1.5tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is yellow-green, which is doubtless testament to how little hibiscus is actually in this blend. The scent is deeply herbal – predominantly chamomile and lavender as far as I can discern.
To taste, this is a mild, lightly floral blend. Rose is clearly there, and lavender, although both are less pungent than might be expected, and don’t make the cup taste “perfumey” in the way they sometimes can. Half of me appreciates this, as teas with heavy perfume-like flavours can be rather cloying. The other half is wishing for a bit more flavour, as the overall effect is rather thin-tasting. The chamomile emerges a little towards the end of the sip, adding a honey-like sweetness that works well with the floral flavours. It’s a pleasant enough cup, if a little bland and weak. It’s like this tea is lacking in personality.
I’m really not sure what the blackberry leaves are adding to this blend, other than bulk. I appreciate that they have reputed health benefits, but I would have liked to have seen the other ingredients in greater quantity, as they impart the flavour this blend is sadly lacking. This one would make a pleasant pre-bedtime cup, if you’re after a caffeine-free blend with mild, relaxing flavours, but it’s not really one I’d purposefully seek out at other times of the day.
Toasted Apple Green Tea by Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Description:
This blend of roasted green tea, popped rice and toasty apples is a bit of a tea Marmite. Some are addicted to its grassy, savoury taste but it’s not for those with a sweet tooth. Don’t worry though, Genmaicha fans will absolutely love Bluebird’s unique twist on the classic Japanese ‘popcorn’ tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a flavoured genmaicha blend from one of the UK’s few independent tea mixologists – Bluebird Tea Co. This blend has been around since the inception of the company, so it’s one of their “original” teas, so to speak. It’s probably fair to say that they’ve come along in leaps and bounds since then, but this blend stands the test of time.
The dry leaf contains pretty much a 50/50 mixture of toasted brown rice and roasted green tea. The base tea is a blend of Chinese and Japanese greens; the Japanese being Bancha and the Chinese unspecified. The leaves are fairly small – some are darker and rolled into thin tubes, others are a lighter green and folded in appearance. There are some pieces of popcorn, although few compared to some genmaicha blends I’ve tried. There’s a generous smattering of apple cubes throughout.
I used 1 tsp of leaf and gave it 2.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a bright yellow-orange, and smells primarily of sugar puffs, but with an edge of seaweed. An odd combination if ever there was one!
This is a bittersweet blend to taste. The initial sip is quite heavily toasty in flavour, presumably from the rice. It’s not quite burnt toast, but very nearly, and while it’s not acrid, there’s an edge of bitterness that’s heading that way. The mid-sip is sweeter as the apple flavour emerges. It’s a floury, mildly floral apple that puts me in mind of homemade baked apples in the winter, only without the accompanying dried fruit. The apple flavour fades slowly away, leaving the slightly dank-tasting green tea behind.
It feels a little unseasonal drinking this one in summer, as this is a blend perfectly suited to blustery autumn afternoons. The only thing I would have liked to add is a touch of spice – perhaps a little cinnamon or ginger, or maybe some dried fruit flavouring. That would have made this a true baked apple tea! As it stands, toasted apple is a completely apt name. The beautiful baked apple notes are perfectly suited to a toasty genmaicha base, and the pairing seems to bring out the best in both flavours! A delicious sweet-savoury treat.
Assam Exotic Black Tea by Golden Tips
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Golden Tips
Tea Description:
A premium Assam tea blend from the peak second flush tea growing season in Assam. Selective sourced by our master blenders from premium Assam plantations, this extremely robust and bold black tea is characteristic of a bright liquor, a typical coppery infusion and a smooth maltiness. The dark black leaves leaves are a visual delight with an abundance of golden tips.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a signature blend second flush Assam from Golden Tips Tea, picked in August 2013. The dry leaf smells sweet and malty with an undertone of spice, and the leaves themselves are fairly thin and wiry, mostly black but with some lighter, golden tipped leaves scattered throughout. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a bright reddish-brown, and I added a splash of milk.
Assam is one of my absolute favourite black tea varieties. It’s one of the first I tried when I was younger, and it’s probably fair to say that my enjoyment of it encouraged my interest in tea generally. It’s always with pleasure that I try a new Assam, and this one is no exception.
What I’m tasting here is fairly typical of the variety, I think. There’s an initial sweetness that becomes intensely malty in the mid-sip, and a hint of woodiness in the aftertaste. There are very mild cocoa notes, but they’re fleeting and by no means a prominent part of the overall flavour. It’s a full bodied tea, with a thickly textured mouthfeel, very smooth and almost creamy. The malt becomes more dominant with successive sips, which only increases this effect.
While this is a fairly straightforward and ordinary Assam, I am enjoying this as my morning cup. It’s deliciously malty and sweet, with enough body to be somehow intensely satisfying. It’s not the most unique or even the most flavourful of black teas, but it’s certainly a solid example of a decent Assam. It’s well worth a try if you’re just beginning to explore black tea, or Assam in particular, or if you’re just looking for a reliable everyday tea. Classic stuff.