Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Lemon Lily
Tea Description:
One scent of this tea will encourage your senses to indulge in this Japanese delight. One sip and you’ll be whisked away to Kyoto for the Cherry Blossom festival. *plane ticket sold separately.
Ingredients: Organic Green Tea, Organic Rose Petals, Natural Cherry Flavour
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
My tenth edition of the Postal Teas subscription arrived a few days ago, and I was happy to see that more of Lemon Lily’s teas were being featured, especially after having been subjected to three (yes three) herbal teas last edition. I’m glad to find that Postal Teas remembered about Camellia Sinensis.
When I opened the pouch, I was greeted with a very strong cherry scent. It smells a little like … well, it smells like cherry cough syrup. That’s immediately what came to mind when I took a whiff of the dry leaf.
To brew this tea, I used my Breville One-Touch tea maker. I poured 500ml of water into the jug and measured 2 bamboo scoops of the tea into the basket. I set the timer for 1 1/2 minutes and the temperature for 175°F. Then I let the tea maker take it from there.
The brewed tea doesn’t taste quite as much like cough syrup as the aroma lead me to believe it would. It does have that strong, sweet cherry flavor that you’d taste in a cough syrup, but it also has some other flavors that soften the strong cherry notes.
The green tea is light and fresh tasting. It’s not overly grassy but there are some subtle vegetal notes in the taste, as well as soft, creamy notes that are almost buttery.
I think that the rose is the real star here though. I taste really lovely notes of rose! I like the way the rose plays with the cherry notes, adding some dimension into what might otherwise be a very sweet, almost too sweet cherry flavor.
Overall, this tea is just alright to me. I’m not loving it as much as I usually enjoy cherry green teas. I do appreciate the rose notes, but I think that the cherry veers a little too close to the sweet, cough syrupy flavor.
Not bad, but not great either.
Tropical Green Tea from Octavia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Tea Description:
This tea is so much more than what “tropical” might conjure in your mind. There’s sweet tropical flavours for sure, but there’s also an amazing floral character that envelopes the entire tea, a fun citrus finish that blends well with the vegetal notes of the green tea. So hard to describe, you should probably just try it.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It seems to me that most tea companies out there that offer flavored tea selections offer a ‘tropical’ flavored tea. Some might offer a tropical flavored black tea, some might offer a tropical flavored white tea, and some might offer a tropical flavored green tea. But it seems to be a very popular flavor profile.
And these tropical flavored teas may be a little different from one another. They might have any flavor combination of coconut, pineapple, mango, papaya, banana or passion fruit – or other ‘tropical’ fruit. The name ‘tropical’ leaves the door open very wide for interpretation.
But even though the base might be different and the fruit combination different, it seems to me that most of the tropical flavored teas that I’ve tried in the past (and I’ve sampled quite a few in my years as a tea reviewer!) … well, most of them blend together into a very abstract sort of painting that represents the many different tropical fruit flavored teas that I’ve tasted. Not many of them really stand out as a memorable tropical fruit flavored tea, not many of them really step forward in my memory as one that is uniquely different from the crowd.
Until now.
This. This Tropical Green tea from Octavia is deliciously different. Uniquely different. Memorably different!
It’s the grapefruit! The grapefruit adds a really lovely note to this tea that is quite unlike any other tropical fruit flavored tea that I can remember.
The passion fruit and mango are two sweet fruit flavors and they are beautifully contrasted by the tart and slightly bitter notes of grapefruit. The grapefruit adds a bright element to the cup that really perks up the flavors and keeps the tea from tasting like your average, every day tropical tea offering that you’ll find from other tea companies.
Not to say that those tropical teas are not tasty – I enjoyed most of what I tried. But this one is on another level. And the grapefruit has made all the difference.
I don’t taste much of a floral note from the rose, but that’s alright. The rose can be there just to beautify the blend and make it visually interesting. I’m alright with that. Because the grapefruit makes this tea a delightful tasting tea that it doesn’t need anything else. There is a tantalizing sweetness from the passion fruit and mango and there is appealing contrast from the grapefruit. Perfection!
I’ve enjoyed the other teas that I’ve tried from January’s box from Amoda, but this tea elevated the box from really good to GREAT! Have you subscribed to Amoda yet? If not, why not? What are you waiting for?
Candy Cane Tea from Naked Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea & Rooibos
Tea Information:
Organic! A fun tea inspired by the classic holiday candy. It’s not like drinking a candy cane though. It’s actually more on the softer side. Perfumed floral aroma, lightly minty, softly sweet with hints of raspberry.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
It’s also part of Amoda Tea’s Holiday Box!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
So, I got a nice surprise from Amoda! As their way of thanking me for not only subscribing but also for writing reviews of the teas that they send, they sent me the Holiday Box that I wished for when I received December’s subscription box! Amoda = my Santa Claus!
And this is the first tea that I’m trying from the Holiday Box.
And YUM! This is really good. It’s a bit different than you might expect if you taste this without reading the above description of the tea. The name Candy Cane is a very suggestive name and having tried several different “candy cane” teas over the years, I’ve kind of come to expect a tea called “Candy Cane” to taste a little bit like liquefied candy cane in tea.
But just as the description above states, this doesn’t taste like that. This has a minty taste (just like most candy canes!) but the mint is balanced with a sweet-tart raspberry flavor, hints of cinnamon and whispers of sweet jasmine and rose.
The base of this tea is a green tea and red rooibos base – very festive! I don’t taste a strong flavor from the rooibos, maybe a hint of nutty flavor but it’s slight. I taste the sweet green tea peeking through the mint, raspberry and cinnamon.
The mint is a combination of peppermint and spearmint, but even though we’ve got two mint types in this blend, the mint doesn’t overpower the cup. It’s minty without tasting too much like a swig of mouthwash. The warm cinnamon contrasts with the cool minty tones and gives this cup it’s holiday flavor.
The rose and jasmine are very subtle. There’s just a soft insinuation of flower in this – and it’s just enough to add a little bit of interest to the cup. If you take a sip of this and find yourself searching for the floral notes, slurp the sip. The aeration will bring those floral notes to life.
Raspberry is the one unexpected flavor of this cup, but I like that fruity sweetness and the hint of tart that melds with the cinnamon in the aftertaste.
This is definitely an unusual Candy Cane! (But let me tell you, if I found a candy cane that tasted like this, I’d be a big fan of it, because this is yummy!) It definitely has a ‘sweet treat’ kind of taste to it, but it isn’t the traditional Candy Cane. This is a new-and-improved Candy Cane, Naked Teas Galore style!
Celebration Medley Rooibos Blend from Sloane Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Tea Information:
Sweet spice and delightful seasonal aromas! Meet the perfect tea to get you through the cold months. Warm baking spices of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg blend seamlessly with citrus and the natural sweetness of apple and rose petals. This is a unique blend destined to become one of your favourites.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I loved how apple-y this smelled when I opened the pouch. And as it steeped, I was treated to more apple notes – it smelled a bit like apple cider! YUM!
The apple notes are well-defined as are the spices. The cinnamon and clove add warmth and I’m getting a hint of “spicy-hot” cinnamon, like someone added a red-hot candy or two to my cup and let it dissolve. It’s not overly ‘hot’ but there’s just a hint of that candy-like cinnamon-clove-y hot-sweet flavor.
The nutmeg adds earthy and nutty flavors that meld nicely with the rooibos. The orange is more of a background note, but it adds a tangy, bright taste that is rather pleasant. The orange note also plays with the red-hot flavor of the cinnamon and clove.
I don’t taste a strong rose note, but every once in a while I get this lovely floral note. It seems to weave its way in and out, not always making itself obvious or apparent, but this blend wouldn’t be the same without that gentle whisper of rose.
To steep, I used my Kati Tumbler and added 1 1/2 bamboo scoops of tisane to the basket and 12 ounces of water heated to 195°F. I steeped it for 10 minutes.
I enjoyed this and would be happy to drink it again! It’s a little spicy-hot, it’s sweet, it’s fruity, and it’s got enough going on with it to keep the palate interested. It’s a fun and tasty blend!
Reading Nook Tea Blend from Plum Deluxe
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Tea Description:
The reading nook blend is our signature organic tea created for enjoying while perfecting some of our dearest passions: reading, writing, and enjoying conversation with friends.
One needs a touch of caffeine to keep the conversation flowing, the pages turning, or the pen on the move, so we start this blend with a wonderful cream black tea. We then added rosebuds for creativity and sustenance, passionflower and lavender for flavor and aroma, and top it off with a bit of chamomile which adds a calming balance to it all. Customers often tell us this is our prettiest tea!
All Plum Deluxe teas are hand-blended and infused with love in Portland, Oregon.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh wow! This tea has a delightful aroma! I can smell the floral notes – the passionflower, the lavender and the rose … along with hints of chamomile – and these beautifully fragrant flowers mingle with the notes of vanilla cream and it’s intoxicating! I imagine that this amazing scent would be the perfect accompaniment while reading a favorite book, a fantastical fragrance along with the fantasy of literature.
On the Plum Deluxe webpage for this tea, there are little snippets of customer responses about the tea. One that stood out to me was this:
A black tea with an herbal taste. Very cleansing aftertaste.
I think that this really describes the flavor of this tea quite well. I probably would only edit this comment to add the word “floral” behind the word “herbal” because I think that these two descriptive words better clarify what I’m tasting. It’s a black tea and the black tea base is mellow – I suspect it’s a Ceylon – and the herbaceous tones and floral notes come through as the strongest, most forward flavors, but without completely overwhelming the flavor of the black tea.
Now, usually, I’m in full support of a tea tasting more like tea and less like it’s additives. However, in the case of this blend, I think that I rather like the way the floral notes dance upon the palate. I like that the black tea is more of a supportive background ‘voice’ that allows these flowery tastes to take on the lead of this tasty symphony of flavors.
It’s really quite dreamy – the flavor of this cuppa!
And what makes it so dreamy is not the floral notes or the black tea – but the cream notes. The cream is not a dominant or aggressive flavor in this cup of tea, but it seems to be the stage that brings everything together so harmoniously.
When it comes to brewing this tea, I recommend using a slightly lower temperature. I think that the floral notes are better expressed when the water is just below boiling (I used water heated to 200°F). After giving the pouch a shake to redistribute the ingredients, I measured a heaping bamboo scoop into the basket of my Kati Tumbler and added the water and let it steep for 3 minutes. Perfection!