Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu erh
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Pu erh, strawberries, cocoa nibs, natural strawberry, hazelnut, vanilla and creme flavors.
Never give up and good tea will find you.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Pu erh is a tea that scares and intimidates me. I never know how to correctly prepare it or if I’m even drinking it right. I’ve tried to learn but this is one tea I want to actually sit down and learn from more of an expert. But regardless, I thought I would try my hand at a flavored Pu erh from Geeky Teas.
I’ve tried flavored Pu erhs in the past and they didn’t turn out right. So I thought I would give it another go. This Pu erh blend combines strawberries, cocoa nibs, hazelnut, vanilla, and creme flavor. A combination I would typically shy away from anyway since I’m not a fan of hazelnut. But this is a Geeky Tea blend and I’m determined to try all of their amazingly fun blends.
Right off the bat, this tea smelled almost sinful. A decadent blend for sure. The dry leaf mix had a lovely chocolate covered strawberry note with hints of hazelnuts. I prepared this up like I would a black tea-212F and steeped for about 4 minutes. 4 minutes later, I poured the tea into my cuppa and allowed it to cool for just a moment.
I have to say, this tea was fantastic and delicious. I was incredibly hesitant to try this tea because I thought it would be an instant pour out but it was the complete opposite! The tea had a lovely dark rich and like the dry leaf mix-sinful feel to it. Bright strawberry flavor with a rich chocolate and hints of hazelnuts, vanilla and creme surrounded each and every sip. I am not a chocolate fan nor a hazelnut fan and I can’t get enough of this tea. I have had several sessions with this tea and each sip is as good as the last. This is one of those teas you enjoy when you’ve got a sweet tooth that needs satisfying and you don’t want the calories. Plus this tea is dedicated to The Never Ending Story. . I mean it doesn’t get much better!!
Pomegranate Mojito from Zest Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zest Tea
Tea Description:
ZEST TEA ENERGY BLENDS
Winner of Best New Product at the 2015 World Tea Expo, Zest premium energy teas offer the same kick of coffee without the negative side effects. Despite our teas having comparable caffeine levels to coffee-about three times the levels of traditional teas-the amino acids in Zest help create a steady and prolonged alertness, instead of the jitters and crash of other caffeinated products.
All of our full-leaf blends are enhanced with natural caffeine from tea leaves & packaged in biodegradable sachets, making for the perfect healthy coffee substitute.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
At work it seems sometimes it is easier to grab a bagged tea than a loose leaf tea. I have all the instruments and vessels to brew up a proper cuppa but it can sometimes come down to time. When I don’t even have time to grab lunch, brewing tea isn’t always on the top of my things to do.
Today was one of those days so I grabbed a tea that I had recently picked up from Amazon. This tea sounded amazing. A Young Hyson green tea mixed with pomegranate, mint, and lime with an added caffeine boost to keep you going thru your day. Sounds pretty fantastic to me. I have actually tried this tea both hot and cold. And I have to say, one way is way better than the other and it completely surprised me.
This tea just screams “Make me into a nice ice tea” but I have to say, it isn’t what I hoped for when I cold brewed this tea. The tastes are lovely and the smells you get from the dry leaf mix in the sachets is to die for. It smells exactly how it is described. I thought for sure this would be a lovely tea that would remind me of a gorgeous sunny summer day.
Brewed in my water bottle for a few hours with ice and two sachets, this tea delivered a sound flavor but it almost had a dirt tasting finish. I was a little surprised by that. You can taste all of the lovely ingredients and the taste was ok when you first take a sip, but then there is a weird dirt aftertaste.
So after that experience, I tried this tea hot. And wow, did it every blow me away. Who would have thought hot this tea would have been stellar. The green tea gives off a nice bitter green note that helps calm the tart pomegranate and lime flavors and the peppermint leaves you feeling refreshed. Really well done and the fact that this is a tea bag makes prepping it easy and no fuss. Gotta love that. And that dirt flavor wasn’t present in this style of brewing.
I have a feeling that maybe with a touch of sweetener, this tea would make an amazing iced tea. Glad I have a few more tea bags to experience with!
Lughnasadh from Solstice Brews
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Solstice Brews
Tea Description:
Celebrate the harvest with this pineapple coconut green tea!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Shame on me! I found this poor neglected tea in one of my tea storage bins over the weekend. I should know better. I was so excited when I first received this tea but alas, it was pushed to the back of the bin. Well I have rectified this problem but drinking about 3 cups of this brew this morning!
This tea is no longer available on the Solstice Brews Etsy site but there are so many other amazingly awesome teas available. Like Tardis Tea. That one has my name written all over it!
This tea is a gorgeous blend of green tea, with huge and I mean huge bits of pineapple and coconut in it. I couldn’t believe how lovely the inclusions were for this tea. Normally you just get little pieces, but not with this tea. You could smell the tropical feel in the aroma coming off of the dry leaves.
I prepped water at 190F and scooped a few spoon fulls of tea into my infuser. Poured the water in and allowed the tea to brew for about 3 minutes. I was greeted and rewarded with a lovely light and refreshing cuppa that just shined. All flavors were present and accounted for.
The green tea was a lovely buttery goodness that laid the foundation for the other flavors to play off of. The coconut was sweet and gave that familiar flavor to the blend and the pineapple tasted like fresh pineapples! What I loved the most about this tea was that it didn’t taste like a pina colada but all those flavors were noted. I am not a big pina colada fan so that just made me happy. I loved how all of the flavors created a happy feeling tea that was so light but with rich flavors. Very refreshing and this would make an absolutely smashing ice tea with a pineapple wedge for a garnish!
Another reason why I love Solstice Brews so much. Her teas are solid and you can count on them being marvelous!
Nepal – Aarubotay Plum Tree Gardens White Tea Organic from Simpson & Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
Located 6000 feet above sea level, in the misty hills of Pashupatinagar, Ilam, is this family owned Organic (EU) and ISO certified garden. The teas grown here are some of the most interesting and spectacular teas that will tempt your taste buds into new levels of enjoyment. This garden is the first one in Nepal to use the technology, machinery and expertise available from Japan. The Aarubotay tea bushes are a combination of Japanese, Chinese and clonal varieties that produce the best of Nepalese teas. Try some today and, from the first smell of the dry leaf to the taste of the brewed tea, you will be convinced that this family has achieved success!
These over 1 inch long, pale white, downy tipped gray-green leaves brew to a pure white liquor and a sweet, delicate apricot cup. It truly is unlike any other white tea that we’ve tasted!
Brew: 2- 4 minutes @ 158-167ºF. Multiple infusions are possible.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have always been a fan of Simpson & Vail. Their customer service is top notch and their teas are fresh and delicious. A great company to pick up a few blends from for sure!
This particular tea sounded amazing from the description and I couldn’t wait to try it. I brewed it up per the instructions above and couldn’t wait to try this tea.
I will admit, I had to allow this tea to cool but I think that just deepened the flavors. I will admit the flavors of this tea remind me of a black tea. There are definite similar notes with a slight maltiness but in that maltiness is a sweet yet floral flavor that sings. A crisp white flavor that really hits that note that gives you that warming feeling inside. Really lovely and one that you could sip on each and every day and not get tired of it.
This tea gives you the best of all worlds. The richness notes that give black tea that umph with a delicate side as well. This may be my new to go tea in the morning! I could see this being pretty fabulous for my commute into the office.
Snow Crysanthemum from Teasenz
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
A ‘heavenly’ rare flower tea that is grown only in the Kunlun mountains, where slow flower growth results in a delicious flower taste with notes of caramel and dark red tea liquor. Snow Chrysanthemum flower tea contains high amounts of amino acids and proteins, which are beneficial to your health by lowering blood sugar, reducing high cholesterol, and preventing heart diseases. A Teasenz favorite.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is a perfect example of why I love being a SororiTea Sister! All the fun and unique teas you get to experience that you might now have tried on your own. I love my floral and flowering teas so this one I thought would be right up my alley.
When I first looked in the pouch, I was very surprised with what I found. Being relatively new to Snow Chrysanthemum teas, I didn’t expect such a unique looking flower. I was thinking more like a fluffy Chrysanthemum like I’ve had in the past and this was more of a berry flower bud. I gladly poured a few heaping scoops into my tea pot and allowed this tea to brew to its gorgeous purplish amber brew for me to try.
While this tea was brewing, I was getting a very strong tangy berry aroma. I was hoping that the aroma would translate into a very tangy flavor. And it did! This tea created such a lovely tangy herbal like tea that soothed this tired soul after a really long day at the office. I just loved it.
There wasn’t a floral taste that I could really pick up but there was a familiar tangy herbal flavor that almost had a sour like resemblance. I brewed up another infusion and I was greeted with the same flavor profile. I can see how this would be a favorite amongst Teasenz customers. This tea is gorgeous hot. But I knew and had a feeling this would make an incredibly iced tea.
So I grabbed a few ice cubes from our break room and threw them in my cup and poured the tea in. Wow! This tea was just as good iced as it was hot. I’m getting the same flavor profile but just in a different temperature. Regardless of how you brew this tea, I think it is a winner!