Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Revolution Tea
Tea Description:
Somewhere between a green and a black tea, Dragon Eye Oolong begins with the finest quality Oolong tea available. This smooth, well-rounded elixir blends smoky Chinese oolong with safflower, peach and apricots.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I tend to be skeptical when it comes to bagged teas – as some of you may have noticed if you’ve read very many of my reviews. That skepticism multiplies when it comes to bagged Oolong teas. It has been my experience that Oolong teas tend to expand more than other tea types, extending to as large as five times their dry size (sometimes even more!) so therefore I think it’s important to allow as much room as possible for an Oolong to do its thing when it steeps.
So, needless to say, I was very happy to see that after brewing this tea for three and a half minutes that there was still room to spare in the silky pyramid sachet! I am glad to see that Revolution Tea makes sure that their tea has the room it needs to unfurl completely and release all its flavor, while still offering its consumers the convenience of a bagged tea.
And this bagged tea has got flavor! This is a very tasty Chinese Oolong – a darker Oolong that offers a wonderful complexity (something that you don’t always get with bagged teas!) I noticed a touch of smoke right off the bat – not a strong bit of smoke, but, enough to give this tea an overall sense of toasty flavor, offering more of a nutty tone than a vegetative one. There is a lovely roasted fruit note too. Yes, it tastes as though someone has roasted peaches and apricots at a high temperature to concentrate their sweetness, and then extracted that flavor and put it into this tea. It’s really delightful!
I am very pleased with this tea, and impressed given the fact that such flavor was achieved from a tea in a sachet. Sometimes, convenience is very important. When traveling, for example, it’s a lot easier to pack some of the individually wrapped sachets from Revolution Tea than it is to pack the tea and all the accessories needed to brew a cup of loose leaf tea. Even when at the office, it’s much more convenient to go with a bagged tea – but that’s no reason that you should sacrifice flavor. Revolution Tea offers both.
White Pear Tea from Revolution
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Revolution
Tea Description:
Delicate and fragrant as a fresh-picked pear, this blend combines white tea, slivers of sweet pears, and natural pear flavor. It may be one of the smoothest blends you’ve tasted, providing a gentle lift any time of day. White tea, whose silvery buds are the least processed of all teas, contains the highest amount of antioxidants.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is wonderful!
The white tea is delicate – but not too delicate. It has a bit more body and flavor than the typical Silver Needle, this is closer to a Bai Mu Dan or perhaps a Sowmee (Shou Mei) … or maybe even a blend of white teas. After examining the package a little closer, I see that this is indeed a Bai Mu Dan.
It is a perfect pairing (pearing) with the softer flavor of the pear. The subtly of the tea allows for the pear to express itself fully – which in turn produces a sweet, flavorful tea that offers an incredible balance between tea and fruit flavors.
This is a tea that I could enjoy on a regular basis. It has a light, hay-like note that gives it an almost “baked goods” kind of flavor … care for a pear tart? That’s what I’m tasting with this cup of tea! It is sweet and creamy and delicious!
And as it cools, the flavor does not diminish … this would make an awesome iced tea! Makes for fantastic refreshment any time of day – light enough for later in the evening, flavorful enough to offer a tasty recharge in the afternoon.
Sweet Ginger Peach Tea from Revolution
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Revolution
Tea Descripton:
Revolution Tea’s Sweet Ginger Peach is a flavor-packed, original tea made from fine Ceylon and Assam teas, fresh peach flavoring and ginger root. This hand-blended wonder has emerged as the most popular flavor in Revolution Tea’s award-winning line of teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve mentioned before (many times!), I tend to be skeptical of bagged teas. Even when they’re in the new(ish) pyramid sachets that allow more room than the traditional tea bag does for the teas to expand as they steep, I find myself less than enthused about them. However, every once in a while I come across a decent bagged tea – and on the rare occasion, I’ll even find one that’s better than decent – like the teas from Revolution.
I’ve not had a lot of experience with Revolution’s teas, before tasting this tea, I think that I’ve tried one of Revolution’s teas … and that was a white tangerine tea that I drank at PF Chang’s during a recent visit – and I didn’t even realize it was a Revolution Tea … I heard it from a friend who commented on my review of my visit to PF Chang’s! And after visiting the Revolution website, I can’t find this tea, so I’m not sure if this tea is available anywhere else other than PF Chang’s.
Anyway … this black tea based Sweet Ginger Peach Tea is delicious. I may have oversteeped it slightly, because I forgot to set the timer (I think this is one of the dangers of becoming too spoiled by my Breville One-Touch! When I brew tea without the Breville tea maker, I sometimes forget that I need a timer!) however, the flavor doesn’t seem to be affected by the oversteeping. This surprises me because it is an Assam and Ceylon tea blend, and Assam teas tend to get bitter when they’re subjected to prolonged steep times.
The flavor of the black tea is dominate. It is rich, flavorful and well-rounded, but it doesn’t overpower the flavor of peach and ginger. The ginger starts off rather soft, but, by mid-cup, I notice that the ginger flavor really starts to pick up … it’s got a little bit of a peppery kick to it! It’s not overly spicy, though. The peach is sweet and juicy tasting, and offers a pleasing contrast to the heat from the ginger.
I’m really glad I got the opportunity to try this tea – it’s really good, and the more I sip it, the more I’m liking it. This would be excellent iced too!