Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Delicious Sip
Tea Description:
This is a fresh and smooth green Sencha tea with excellent body and depth. The bright cherry and subtle rose flavors give this tea a wildly exotic character unique in its own right.
The tea used in this savory blend is grown only from March to April and the quality is clearly tasted in every cup. The Hunan Province is renowned for producing excellent Japanese style green teas and our Organic Kyoto Cherry Rose tea is a prime example. We invite you to brew a cup and taste the difference.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s that time of year again! Spring just doesn’t seem like spring until I’ve had at least one cherry sencha tea! With the first sip, I start daydreaming … reminiscing of walking in Washington D.C. in the spring, along the Potomac River where it’s lined with gorgeous cherry blossom trees in full bloom.
And then my mind jumps to memories of walking along the streets in Southern California where the beautiful Jacaranda trees line the streets. I’m not sure why cherry blossom trees make me think of jacaranda trees, except that they are both gorgeous, blossoming trees, and living in Southern California as long as I did … I had the opportunity to enjoy them more than I did the cherry blossom trees along the Potomac. Of course, I do see cherry blossom trees up here (and no jacaranda trees!) but there’s something about the way the cherry blossom trees lined the river (and the way the jacaranda trees lined the streets) that make me think of spring.
Jumping off that tangent and into this teacup … this is a lovely cherry flavored Sencha. The green tea tastes fresh and vegetal with hints of creamy butter and just a hint of a savory quality in the distance. It’s a lovely contrast for the sweet cherry notes. And even though those cherry notes are sweet, the hint of flower in the cup seems to keep the taste away from toeing the line of medicinal (cherry cough syrup) and keep the flavor on this side of pleasant tea flavor. A bonus!
The rose notes are floral without tasting soapy. The cherry adds just the right touch of sweetness to the cup without tasting too medicinal. The green tea has a lush flavor to it – it’s soft and creamy without being too heavy on the palate.
A really refreshing tea – one of my favorites to sip on this time of year! And I love that this version from Delicious Sip is organic (as it would appear all the teas from this company are!) This one is great iced too!
A lovely tea from a company that is new to me … but one from which I’m excited to taste more!
Princess Grey Tea from MarketSpice
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Product Description:
An original blend of our Earl Grey Tea with Rose Petals and Lavender flowers. An excellent after dinner tea!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know, I know … I’ve said it at least a hundred times before, and I’ll probably say it another hundred (or more) times. I love Earl Grey teas. Well, most of them, anyway. I have actually come across a few – maybe a handful or more – of Earl Grey teas that weren’t worthy of the praise I usually lavish on the bergamot tea. And I also adore most of the variations on the Earl Grey concept: bergamot teas that are just a little different from the classic Earl Grey.
This is another twist on that classic favorite: Princess Grey Tea from MarketSpice. This tea took the bergamot black tea and added rose petals and lavender buds.
I like it! This Princess Grey offers a softer bergamot flavor, reminding me just a bit of the softer flavor you might experience with an Earl Grey creme but without the vanilla overtones. The bergamot here isn’t edgy or bold or in your face, it’s a gentle citrus-y presence that mingles well with a subtle lavender undertone and hints of rose in the distance.
Normally, I prefer a stronger bergamot flavor, but, I like this softer presentation. I think that a softer bergamot flavor works best with teas where there is a lavender or other assertive floral flavor (the blue cornflowers are not included in this statement as these are added primarily for a touch of color to the blend, not because they offer a strong flavor profile to the cup).
I believe that a stronger bergamot note might have made this come off as perfume-ish and nobody (at least, nobody that I know of!) wants to drink a cup full of perfume! This tea offers a nice balance between bergamot and floral notes: there is contrast between the flavors without too much competition.
As it is, the floral notes are pleasant and accent the bergamot well. The black tea is a what I’d call a moderately mild tea, it doesn’t become too assertive in this blend, but it is strong enough to stand up and be tasted behind the flavors of citrus and flower.
A really enjoyable cuppa – I’m glad I had this opportunity to try yet another Earl Grey variation! It’s one of the joys of this “job” … and one I can’t imagine of which I’ll ever tire!
Just A Taste of Spring Tisane from Just.Organic.Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Just.Organic.Tea
Tisane Description:
Our blend of spring fruits and flowers combine the first pink roses, vibrant magenta hibiscus, blue and white cornflowers, and a sprinkling of blueberries, in a base of pure organic green rooibos. Tastes great hot or iced. Naturally caffeine free.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Just.Organic.Tea’s Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve never really made any big secret of the fact that I’m not a big fan of hibiscus in tisane blends. If it’s steeped too long, hibiscus can brew to a thick, syrupy liquid. If there’s too much hibiscus in a blend, the result can be a very tart beverage and I don’t care for drinks that make me pucker. So, I wasn’t all that excited to see hibiscus in this blend.
But, I brewed it with care and hoped that there wouldn’t be too much hibiscus in it. Having really enjoyed Just.Organic.Tea.’s Orange Spice Black Tea and appreciating their skillful blending of that tea, I hoped that just as much skill was put into the blending of this Just a Taste of Spring blend.
This is alright.
There are things that I like about it, and there are things that I’d change about it if I could. For example, I like the green rooibos in this. It adds a fresh, light flavor to the cup and the natural sweetness of the rooibos softens the tarty notes of the hibiscus.
There is a bit more hibiscus in this than I’d like there to be (but let’s face it, I’d rather there be no hibiscus in it). But on the plus side, it doesn’t have a thick, syrupy texture (I only steeped it for 6 minutes, which is probably one factor to the lighter texture).
I love the juicy blueberry taste to this. Sweet and a little tart – and the hibiscus does emphasize this tartness a bit – I like the blueberry flavor. I find myself wishing I could taste more of the rose. As it is, the hibiscus seems to mask the sweet floral notes and I am missing those.
Overall, it’s not a bad blend. It’s not my favorite, and as I said, there are things that I’d change about it if I could. I liked it alright … didn’t love it. On the other hand, my youngest daughter loved it! She’s a blueberry lover, and she loved the tart, tingly flavor of this tisane.
If you’re able to, please consider contributing to Just.Organic.Tea’s Fundraising Campaign on Kickstarter. With your help, this new tea company can get up and running!
A Day in Provence Rooibos Blend from Tay Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tisane Description:
Soothing and relaxing with a tangy kick that screams at you to make iced tea. As a hot tea, this is still a delight. Layers of red berries, tart currants, lavender and rooibos with subtle hints of rose. The texture of this tea is amazingly soft on the tongue and the lavender persists all the way through each sip.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really lovely! Despite the suggestion above to make this into iced tea, I opted for a hot tea – there’s just something about lavender that tells me to make hot tea and since it would seem that A Day in Provence Rooibos Blend from Tay Tea has a strong lavender presence I figured hot tea was the way to go this evening. And as I said … it’s really very lovely!
The lavender is a strong, well-defined essence but it never tastes too floral, perfume-ish or soapy. The lavender (and the rose) have been added at just the right amounts so that the flavors are present in every sip without tasting of Aunt Mildred’s favorite perfume.
And as much as I enjoy lavender, what I’m enjoying most about this particular cuppa is that I’m not tasting a strong rooibos flavor. I taste subtle notes of a woody flavor and hints of nutty tones and that familiar honeyed note, but it isn’t a really powerful presence.
Instead, I taste notes of currant and this gives the cup an almost wine-like taste, and the rose and lavender are very complementary to the wine-ish flavors. I taste a sweet-tart berry note. Overall this has a very indulgent, beautiful flavor that I am finding very nice.
I’m really happy that this tea was part of this month’s Amoda Tea Box! Usually, I approach the rooibos/herbal blends with a certain amount of skepticism, but, this is one with which I’m quite pleased.
Organic Love White Tea from Spicely Organics
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Spicely Organics
Tea Description:
This delightful blend, with its light floral essence and smooth minty finish, is perfect as an after meal pick-me-up or as a late night elixir to refresh the mind and enhance the mood. One pot can make the night sweet and reminiscent. Share it with someone you love. INGREDIENTS: Organic White Peony, Organic Rose Petals, Organic Lavender, Organic Peppermint
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about the Spicely Organics Monthly Tea Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Love White Tea from Spicely Organics smells so amazing! I wouldn’t have thought that mint, rose, lavender and white tea would have made such an appealing aroma, but, it’s really quite lovely. White tea and mint … perhaps. Definitely rose, lavender and white tea. But, all four together? I wouldn’t have imagined it smelling so beautiful.
And it tastes quite beautiful too!
The peppermint is the strongest flavor of the four ingredients in this tea, but I’m happy to report that it isn’t an overpowering flavor. This doesn’t taste like mouthwash or even like a piece of peppermint chewing gum. It has a light, sweet peppermint-y note that mingles in a very pleasing way with the flavors of lavender and rose and white tea.
The lavender is especially subtle here, offering just a hint of it’s calming presence. Just enough to let you know it’s there, lulling you into a relaxing state. The rose is a gentle flavor too, and it isn’t a sharp rose flavor. It’s lightly sweet and floral. The two flowers seem to mingle in such a way that it offers more of a “floral essence” than a distinct, powerful flowery taste.
And that’s good, because this IS a white tea, after all. And White Peony tea tends to be a somewhat delicate tasting tea, and if the other components to this blend were too strong, they would create a taste that was all mint and flower. I like that I can taste the white tea, it tastes fresh, light and crisp. It is a perfect base for these other three flavors.
This is a really beautiful tea that seems to instill a sense of calm. And definitely a tea with which I could easily fall in love!