This tea has two ingredients, rose petals and tulsi, also known as holy basil. On paper, this seems too sparse. I mean I like tulsi quite a bit but I’ll be the first to stay that it shines when balanced with other herbs and flavors. Looking at the leaves in the bag, I’m slightly more encouraged. The rose petals are vibrant and numerous, and the tulsi is lush and green. Lots of big leaves, no crushed tea powder here.
Brewed, there is a lovely cinnamon-like flavor in the smell and taste. Since there is no cinnamon in the blend, I must attribute this surprising spiciness to the tulsi. Beyond this first warm cinnamon burst, there is the familiar earthiness and sweet-herbal basil flavor of the tulsi. The rose petals are gentle, just a hint of something lighter and more romantic, which keeps the earthy tulsi from being too sour or herbaceous.
As someone who is skeptical of rose teas, I will say this one does it right: not at all perfume-like, but plenty sweet and floral.
I’m impressed by the full flavor of a this two-ingredient tea. Robust and drinkable, and a caffeine-free herbal blend to boot.
It is also a very beautiful-looking dry leaf, and with all the bright pink rose petals, which may make it a great gift for a tea-loving friend who can show off its colors in their tea cabinet.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Big Heart Tea
Description:
Cup of Love is a mild, nurturing, naturally sweet rose tea. Crafted by hand to reduce stress and soothe your soul. A floral olfactory release, just like a hug from your grandma.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Give in to Temptation with a Picture of Earl Grey from NovelTeas
If you’re easily distracted by cute packaging, be warned that blends from NovelTeas can come shipped in beautiful, book-shaped, metal tins. At first glance, these tins can sit amongst your real books, undetected until someone realizes the titles are full of tea-related puns. Today, I’m tasting Picture of Earl Grey, also called Wilde’s Rosy Tea Blend on the Novel Teas site.
This blend is like a garden in a cup with lush rose petals and jasmine-green tea. All those flowers are a perfect match for the showy, vanity of this novel. Like Dorian, your tea will have eternal beauty since the dried flowers last much longer than fresh ones. Mind your steep times with this brew or else the roses might get a bit overpowering. Among the rose and jasmine there is just enough tart, earl grey to give the tea a backbone and remind you of the staunch and proper Victorian Era.
Any of NovelTeas blends would be a great addition to a book club, adding themed scents and tastes to the literary discussion. Picture of Earl Grey is a great blend for a garden party, or when you want your kitchen to be as fragrant as a spring garden in bloom. Just a sip of this lush and verdant blend across your tongue and you’ll feel as poetic and witty as Oscar Wilde himself.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Blend of Black and Green
Where to Buy: NovelTeas
Description:
The delicate flavorings and novel-inspired decorations of The Picture of Earl Grey™ may deceive you at first. This tin and tea provide for an exquisitely deceptive and Wildely elegant experience for any new collector. Organic jasmine green tea and a rose-blended bergamot radiate hedonism and reflect your eternal beauty as you sip.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Perfect for Valentine’s Eve: An Evening with Eros from Banff Tea Co.
Just like a good Valentine’s date, An Evening with Eros tea blend comes bearing roses and chocolate.
There’s enough of both ingredients that you can see chocolate chips and petals scattered throughout the dry leaf. The namesake of this blend is Eros, the Greek god of love, and since this is a decaf rooibos blend, it’s the perfect brew for a late night out or a cozy evening in.
The vanilla rooibos is the star player in this blend, coupled with gentle swirls of chocolate and flowers. Raisins and elderberries bring additional sweetness and play well with the natural woody and caramel notes of the rooibos.
This blend is easy and drinkable, though not the most unusual blend I’ve tried. I think this tea is best for its novelty for a romantic occasion.
With Valentine’s Day on my mind, I find myself reaching for An Evening with Eros to help treat myself to something festive and to keep me warm on a February night.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:Roobios
Where to Buy: Banff Tea Co.
Description:
Blended exclusively for Valentine’s Day as a romantic treat, this rooibos based concoction will add a little love at any time of the year (or day…or night!)
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
White Tea Rose Melange from The London Tea Room
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green & White Teas
Where to Buy: The London Tea Room
Tea Description:
Organic; a blend of dreamy jasmine and wild roses, with green and white Chinese teas, rejuvenating peppermint and calm-as-hell lavender.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This White Tea Rose Melange from the London Tea Room is really quite lovely! I love that I can taste each of the components of this tea. Each is well represented, but, none is too overpowering.
The first flavor I notice is that of the rose. It is sweet and very distinctly rose, but as I said, it doesn’t overwhelm. It’s quite smooth and pleasant, and I love the way it melds with the jasmine and the lavender to create a medley of floral tastes. These three flowers accentuate each other beautifully to create a soft, luxurious flowery note without tasting soapy. It’s just really smooth.
In keeping with the softness of the floral tones, the green and white teas are also on the delicate side, offering lush fresh tones with hints of vegetation and a sort of “airy” quality that evokes thoughts of flowers floating in the breeze.
The one component that worried me when I read the list of ingredients was the peppermint, because peppermint can sometimes throw off the balance of a tea like this, especially when the other components are so delicate in taste. But, whomever blended this seemed to take this into consideration (a skillful blender, indeed!) and added the peppermint with care. There are mere whispers of a minty crispness to the background notes of this tea. Just a hint of something to add some dimension. I love that!
This is a truly delightful tea!
Mother of Pearl from Della Terra Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Della Terra
Tea Description:
Pu-erh is a type of tea that has been fermented after the black tea leaves are dried and rolled, giving it a very unique, sweet and woodsy taste. Our Mother of Pearl Pu-erh is blended with strawberry and mango flavoring and pieces, along with rose hips and faux pearl pieces. The flavor you will have in your cup after brewing is a perfectly fruity and sweet tea with a slight smoky undertone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mother of Pearl from Della Terra Teas is lovely yet intense. I love this tea. Purists may cringe but this is a wonderful puerh blend!
Now I truly do love a good puerh so I am not one that needs a blend or starter puerh to get through the cup but this tea here, I feel will appeal to just about anyone for various reasons. For beginners it is a great way to get introduced to puerh. For your kids, if you want them to have the health benefits of puerh but know they won’t go for a pure puerh, this has all the fruity goodness and sweet vanilla notes they will love. For the purists, okay maybe you won’t enjoy this as much as I do, but trust me, the base is lovely even if not from an aged cake that has been stored correctly for the last 10 years. Hey even purists need a little sinful delight now and then!
To make the purists cringe even a little more, if you add just a touch of rock sugar, the flavors in this tea really pop, not that they need the boost, they are so excellent on their own.
I had eaten some mexican food earlier today and it was sitting heavily on my tummy. I was getting to that food coma stage and knew I was about to drift off. So I made a cup of this. It had been a while since I had reached for it. I am so glad I did. Not only is it so delicious but the aroma wafting from my cup was igniting all of my senses. I had taken a few sips and my cup was sitting about two feet away from me on my tea table (okay coffee table but whatever), I was almost asleep on the sofa but the aromas beckoned me to take another sip, and another, this tea will fill your home with such succulent smells.
Vanilla, Strawberry, Mango, Roses, Sugar, and Aromatic Woodsy scents. It smelled like a cake made out in the woods in a log cabin. Something very reminiscent of the holidays in a way. I drifted of to sleep with a relaxed tummy, happy taste buds, and visions of an old log cabin in the wintery woods, with smoke coming out of the chimney drifting over the tops of hundred year old tress.
A lovely tea that evokes lovely imagery!
When I woke, I immediately reached for my cup to make a second steep. Yes this does re-steep wonderfully.
You really must try some!
