Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Mate
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
Mate, Kola, and Black tea make up this well-caffeinated blend to make your mornings deliciously efficient. Blended with toasted mate tea, black tea, cocoa nibs, cinnamon bark, kola nuts & safflower
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Last time I was in Chicago for work, I couldn’t help but run right to Adagio Teas. Where I live there really isn’t a tea shop so whenever I get close to one, my heart skips a beat. Jump Start was the first blend I picked up.
Presented in a lovely tin with vibrant colors and a rooster (love that!), this black tea/mate blend is one that will do what the name suggests. This tea packs a punch and helps you get a jump start on your tea in a refreshing bold and delicious way.
First- this tea is a brilliant take on coffee. If you are a coffee drinker, then I have a feeling you would love Jump Start. Brewed up at 212F and allowed to steep for about 4 minutes, this blend provided gorgeous notes of creamy cinnamon that mingled nicely with the silky black tea base. The mate provided that roasted/toasted flavor that is similar to a fresh roasted coffee. I don’t pick up any chocolate notes but that could be where that silky texture is coming from. All the flavor without that coffee bitter aftertaste. Really delicious and fresh.
The best part of this tea is that you can get several infusions out of the mix and this tea is forgiving as all get out. I oversteeped by about 10 minutes and I swear that just heightened all of the flavors. The cinnamon was stronger and that creaminess even better. Perfect for the first cuppa of the day.
The more I drink Jump Start I realize this is a blend that is dying to be a latte. I’ll be trying that out in the morning for sure!
Green Guava from Simpson and Vail
CuppaGeek’s Review:
Simpson & Vail is one of my favorite tea companies to review. The crew is passionate and incredibly in tune to what the tea community wants and needs. They provide amazing customer service and deliver fresh teas with flavors that are crisp and bright.
Green Guava is one of their “summer” blends that they have been featuring. Vibrant sweet tropical notes are what I’m picking up from the pouch. The tea itself gives you such a summer feel. I love how the bright colors pop against the green tea base.
Allowed to cool for just a few moments and I was greeted with flavors that are recommencement of a sweet jam you would pick up at your local farmer’s market. Fresh sweet with a tiny twinge of tartness. Buttery green tea base brings out a wonderful balance and completes each sip with such a full bodied feel. To bring out the tropical feel I really wish there was almost a hint of pineapple or mango thrown into the mix. There is almost a note of a flavor that is missing.
All in all, this flavored green tea is really nice. Subtle, gentle, and not in your face. One that could bring a soothing tone to a hectic day or even as an afternoon tea.
If you haven’t checked out the fabulous line of teas at Simpson and Vail- please do! I’m sure you’ll find at least five teas that will instantly hop into your cart.
What do learn more about this tea?
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
A wonderful afternoon tea! This fabulous blend of delicious fruits is melded with colorful herbs and our delicate White Monkey tea. The pale ecru cup emits a scrumptious fruity taste that is certain to please.
Learn even more about this tea here.
Filthy Human Plant Juice from Geeky Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Green tea, cocoa nibs, natural chocolate mint, and peppermint flavor give us a tea that well, tastes like a thin mint cookie.
Girl Scouts beware! I will fling my pig of greased up squigginess at you!
Now we sing the doom song
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Geeky Teas is one of my favorite tea companies to check out. I love the compassion for all things geeky that they embrace. They have been busy too with moving to a new location so I haven’t had a chance to chat with Donna in a bit. I do believe that Filthy Human Plant Juice is one of about 3 or 4 remaining tea samples I have left from Geeky Teas. Looks like I may need to order more soon. (I mean c’mon- there is a Deadpool Oolong Blend!)
So right off the bat, this tea has a dessert feel to it. The description on Geeky’s Teas says it best-this tea does have a remarkably strong resemblance to Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies. And who doesn’t love a Girl Scout cookie?
Brewed with the packages recommendations-Steep at 180F for 2-3 minutes, I was literally drooling with the idea of this tea. I am not a chocolate fan by any means but I have always loved Thin Mints. Especially after having them frozen in a freezer for a few months and enjoying them on a hot day. There is nothing better!
First sip of this tea and I could see exactly what Geeky Teas was trying to accomplish, but to me, it missed the mark a bit. The green tea has a more vegetal feel than I had hoped. That could be from a oversteep. I was hoping for more of a buttery silky tone and texture. The chocolate and peppermint also didn’t quite sit well with me. The flavors didn’t seem to really mingle well together and create the palate refreshing notes I was looking for. This blend just really seemed to want to contrast itself every step of the way. Maybe as a cold brew, this tea would bring out the notes I am looking for.
Even tho this particular blend didn’t sing true with me, there are so many others that do from Geeky Teas. I love the combo of fandom and tea. Just makes my geeky tea gal’s heart happy!
Coconut Carrot Cashew from A Quarter To Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: A Quarter to Tea
Tea Description:
Coconut Carrot Cashew: Three of the best C’s in existence that are only better when paired together. Sweet carrot, creamy coconut, and rich and nutty cashews come together on an Assam base for a medium bodied, and incredibly satisfying cup.
All orders come in resealable packaging and include a reusable muslin cotton tea bag. Ingredients: Assam black tea, raw cashews, shredded coconut, dried carrot, natural flavors. Brew and Size Instructions: Use 1-2 teaspoons for a 6 oz cup. Steep for 3-5 minutes at 200F water.
Remember, there’s no wrong way to take your tea, as long as it makes you happy!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
If you haven’t checked out A Quarter To Tea, I implore you to do so. A Quarter to Tea offers fresh gorgeous unique blends that make you crave more. And Coconut Carrot Cashew is no exception.
Coconut Carrot Cashew is an very unique and odd blend. Who would have thought that these three flavors would work together. But I have to say, they do brilliantly!
Let’s start with the ingredients in this blend. First whiff of this package and you get the sugar coconut noes right off the bat. There is that good ol fashioned black tea fragrance that just makes ones heart happy.
Per the brewing suggestions, I steeped this blend for 4 minutes with water prepped at 200F. Once the timer went off letting me know the tea was ready, I did allow the tea to cool for a moment or two. I was eager to try this delight!
First sip in and I am in LOVE. I have to say this tea has it all.
Gorgeous sweet almost sugary notes of coconut envelope the entire sip. The perfect amount of sweet to contrast with the subtle yet vibrant malty and astringent black tea base. The carrot and cashew tones finish up perfectly with a carrot cake like finish. During each sip, you could almost imagine a lush decadent carrot cake with icing piled high.
I have tried several different dessert teas and several blends boasting that they taste like carrot cake. I have never tasted a tea that tasted more like a carrot cake than this one. Initially I was worried that the coconut in the blend would take over since the flakes are quite large, but that wasn’t the case. The coconut brought this tea to a whole new level completing that baked good note that A Quarter To Tea has captured.
So what I’m trying to say is yeah. . .this tea is good. . . . very good. . . Brilliant actually!
Fig Formosa Oolong Tea from Stylin’ Tea Blends
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Stylin’ Tea Blends
Tea Description:
Full whole leaf quality Taiwanese oolong is the perfect base for the rich taste of Smyrna fig. The addition of cornflower and poppy flower petals add rich color and a natural sweetness enhancing the visual and taste character.
This blend is a complete departure from your typical cup of dark oolong tea and a pleasurable experience whether served hot or cold.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Fig Formosa Oolong from Stylin’ Tea Blends is a tea that I should have tried a long time ago. This lovely blend is soothing my tired soul today!
I have been on an oolong kick lately. This one caught my eye with the flavoring of the fig promise. I have to say, the promise delivers but in a different way than expected.
First off, lets chat about the dry leaf. The dry leaf is a lovely sweet candy like aroma. Almost like candied figs. That was the first thought that came to my mind. So did this tea deliver on the promise of the sweet candied figs? Yes and no.
This tea didn’t exactly have a fig like flavor but what this tea does deliver on is an almost earl grey like oolong. I know, peculiar, but that is what this reminds me of. There is a resemblance to earl grey that is just too hard to ignore. I can’t say I pick up beramot oil per say. But if I didn’t know better, I would think this was an earl grey oolong! (Which I typically don’t care too much for. But this was is simply brilliant!)
The tea has a sweet yet floral like flavor that swirls on your tongue and plays with your senses. The oolong has a silky buttery feel that really lets the other flavors become the star. Really lovely. A great mix of a sweet yet floral tea with a lush decadent background that leaves you wanting more.
Like I said, this tea is really soothing my soul today and giving me all the warm feels!