Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
A perfect tea for afternoon enjoyment! This delightfully light tea brews to an ecru color and has the taste of baked goodies with an undertone of an earthy oolong. The rich, exotic aroma is accompanied by the smooth, delicious taste of coconut macaroon with vanilla accents. Great hot or cold.
Ingredients: Oolong tea, cacao nibs organic, vanilla beans, organic coconut pieces, flavorings and blue cornflower petals.
Brew tea at 195º – steep for 4 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The other day I came home to an incredibly considerate package from Simpson & Vail. I just love this company and recommend them all the time. They have an amazing story, customer service, and a line of tea that just makes you drool.
This oolong has been one that I instantly grabbed out of the box and have been drinking ever since. I had just finished up my a delicious flavored oolong from Handmade Teas and was wanting another one. This one is completely satisfied that craving!
I scooped a few spoonfuls into my tea pot and prepared my water to 195. The lovely tea blend had a rich bright coconut aroma. I couldn’t wait to try it. I allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes and poured myself a huge cuppa. Sat down and took my first sip.
You ever have a day where you need a cuppa tea just to soothe your soul after a rough day? This tea is the answer! A lovely dose of roasted toasted coconut and oolong with a sweet creamy vanilla undertone and a very very slight chocolate note. Wow, this tea is one of those teas that reminds me why I drink tea. I can’t get enough of it. I’m typically not a fan of tea blends that feature coconut as the spotlight but this one has the perfect amount of coconut that mixes so well with the oolong. The flavors just go together perfectly. I’m literally on my fourth cuppa of the same infusion and I can’t get enough.
If you haven’t tried Simpson & Vail, I highly recommend taking a second and checking out their offerings. You’ll be glad you did! I’m off to brew up another cup!
Ceylon Mango from Beacon Hill Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Beacon Hill Teas
Tea Description:
This delightful decaffeinated ceylon boasts a rich ceylon flavor, and is playfully highlighted by bits of creamy mango.
Learn more about Beacon Hill’s Monthly Subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
I love my Beacon Hill Tea Company’s monthly subscription box. Each month you get 4 1 oz packages of a variety of teas for you to enjoy. Some of them I love, some of them I don’t. What I love the most is the variety of teas I can now try that I never would have thought of trying before. This tea is a perfect example.
A decaffeinated version of a ceylon tea with mango. A perfect tea for the spring/summer time. I brewed up this tea with the package instructions and then put to sphere ice “cubes” into a mason jar and finished the jar off with an orange slice. Can you save heavenly?
The tea is a lovely light fresh black tea with a creamy mango undertone. All ingredients are allowed to shine. The tea is amazingly refreshing yet simple. I love that. How simple the tea is. There isn’t a mix of complex flavors just fresh wonderful tea that make an amazing iced tea. I have tried this tea hot and it is pretty tasty but where this tea really shines is as an iced tea.
If you are looking for a great monthly tea box that provides you with a nice array of teas, then look no further. I love the variety the box provides and trying out teas that I never would have thought about trying before. Sure it is a bit more expensive than others but you do get quite a bit of tea that you can re steep for several sessions and infusions. So far I have been very happy with my subscription and don’t see myself cancelling anytime soon!
Self Care Blend Herbal Tea from Plum Deluxe
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush/Herbal
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Tea Description:
One of the things we just love about tea is how luxurious a simple cup of tea can feel. We want you to feel like a
millionbillion bucks at a moment’s notice, which was exactly what our intention was when making the Self Care Blend.A curious pairing of elderberry (tart) and apricot (sweet), this all-organic tea has mellow flavors and is packed with nutrients. You’ll love it paired with a hot bath, a good book, or after a nice spa treatment. Elderberry — believed to help us tap into our inner magic — helps expel toxins and helps with colds and viruses, and apricot is believed to be one of the most healing fruits in nature.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This was my sample a few months back from my monthly subscription. I love my honeybush but sometimes that herb can taste a lot like its cousin the dreaded red rooibos. . .which tastes odd to me and medicinal. I hadn’t tried this blend yet because of this, but I decided today was the day for me to try it!
Brewed per the instructions with boiled fresh water and steeped for about 5 minutes and I have to say this isn’t my favorite tea that I’ve had from Plum Deluxe, but it isn’t one that I would have a problem drinking again. This is more or less a middle of the road one to me.
This tea is a lovely mix per the description of sweetness and tartness. I didn’t get any of that but I did get a lovely almost woodsy berry like flavor with hints of a jammy sweetness. Since I only had a sample, I wasn’t able to add more loose leaf in to strengthen the flavor to pull out more of those jammy notes. Those were definitely the best part of the tea.
I would love to experiment with this tea. I have a feeling it would make a gorgeous cold brew or iced tea. Or would be a great tea brewed hot with may more loose leaf tea.
If you haven’t checked out Plum Deluxe, do yourself a favor and pick up a few blends. Plum Deluxe has by far one of the best customer service, friendly, knowledgeable tea blenders/owners that I have ever encountered. I just love them! I’ve been subscribing to them for a while now and have no plans on stopping anytime soon!
The Neverending StorTea from Geeky Teas
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!