Tea Type: Green Tea (Matcha/Powder)
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
Matcha tea is kind of like a super-powered green tea—since you’re ingesting the whole leaf instead of just the brewed beverage, you get up to ten times the antioxidant effect and nutritional value of your standard green. Matcha’s rich in antioxidants, as well as chlorophyll and fiber, and has been found to have natural mood enhancing effects. All in all, matcha’s got no match when it comes to healthy teas.
Tasters Review:
Acai Matcha from Shanti Tea is a deep, dark olive green color when you add the liquid to it. In this initial attempt I just did it plain with water specifically to taste the natural green flavors without additives. It smells like leafy green tea when dry and a different sort of a veggie aroma after adding the liquid – almost buttered.
This is much more smooth than I thought it would be and pretty darn good. Many Acai flavored drinks I have had in the past have been either bitter or tart and not smooth or sometimes just plan hard to handle and not very tasty. But not this! This is tasty. Acai Matcha from Shanti is more of a strong green than most flavored matchas I have had and the acai is very much in the back ground and I like that in this Matcha. I like that the Acai is NOT overbearing. This is bold and strong and brothy and I like it.
Strong Assam from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
Rich aroma, malty flavor, highly sought after.
This lowland tea known for its rich aroma and strong, malty flavor is named after its origin, Assam, in North-East India. Our Strong Assam tea is cultivated at the famous Rembeng Estate, a 100% organic tea garden and the pioneering organic estate in the region, making their teas highly sought after. Dark and copper-colored, it is a full-bodied broken leaf black tea that is great for lovers of a strong morning cup of tea. The rich flavors are accentuated by adding milk and sugar.
Tasters Review:
A very Good-Good Morning to you all! Speaking of mornings…here’s a Strong Assam from Shanti Tea that will start anyone’s day! Or in this case THE Strong Assam! That’s the official name of this tea!
And it’s very rich, malty, and strong, indeed!
This is a great morning or pick-me-up tea! Be careful NOT to over infuse. 3 minutes or less, is what I suggest! That’s all you need. Anything over 3 minutes I believe it would start turning to bitter.
I really DO like this tea! I love that it is NOT run-of-the-mill. I am grateful that it lives up to it’s name, too!
Another great offering from Shanti! One of my favorite Canadian Tea Companies!
Wuyi Rock Oolong from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
One of the purest teas available on the world market.
Organic Wuyi Rock Oolong is one of the purest teas available on the world market. This rare oolong hails from Mount Wuyi in Nanping Prefecture, Fujian, up along the border of Jiangxi Province. In 1999, UNESCO listed the mountain as a World Heritage Site in part owing to its outstanding biodiversity. According to the UN, Mount Wuyi is one of the world’s finest, intact, subtropical forests. Further complimenting the region’s reputation, Mount Wuyi is registered with the Chinese government as a biodiversity conservation zone. The climate of the region is relatively humid due to the fact that the mountain prevents cool air from entering the valley, and the presence of the 9 Bend River meandering through its valleys. Living with this subtropical paradise is an almost unaccountable number of species of flora and fauna. Many of the plan species living on the mountain are considered relics of a bygone age, no longer found anywhere else on the planet. In amongst this jewel of biodiversity grows the world famous organic rock tea. The tea bushes, like many other plant species, are ancient, having grown amongst the mountain’s rocky outcroppings for generations. Cultivation of the plants is almost impossible given the topography, so exceptional care is taken when handling and plucking the fresh tea shoots. The harvesters typically wear light cotton gloves when handling the leaves, which are harvested in small quantities so as not to tire the bushes. The fresh leaf is then allowed to naturally semi-ferment. The resulting flavor is at once rich, delicate, and laden with floral nuance.
Tasters Review:
Right out of the envelop this smells nutty to me…much like almond, actually! As if infuses it starts smelling more woodsy almost like a damp twig.
As for the taste…this is a hearty brew! It’s quite masculine, woodsy, slightly peppery, and a little like roasted or toasted nuts! It has a gentle-semi-sweet after taste to it too!
This is interesting, different, and pretty good! Certainly a conversation piece – no matter which way you look at it. As for me…I look at it with a smiling face! This Oolong is very nice!
Thousand Arrows Tea from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
A rare, medium-bodied, visually stunning hand-twisted tea.
A rare, visually stunning hand-twisted biodynamic oolong tea from the celebrated Idulgashinna Tea Estate, consisting of 1-2 inch “spears” of green, cinnamon-colored and white leaves. The infusion is curly and very colorful, the liquor light and attractive with a medium body.
Tasters Review:
I used 1 tsp. leaf (20 arrows) per cup as the site suggested.
I didn’t think there was much of a smell to this tea – dry or once infused – but the color is lovely! Cinnamon or Honey-colored would probably best describe what I saw!
Flavor-wise I would agree with the medium-strength oolong description and say it reminded me of a toasty-sweet type-taste with a very slight nutty hint to it.
I think this is good and love the fact that it is different in many ways.
I did get successful multiple infusions on this one! The 2nd infusion was more juicy and more nutty tasting. The color was the same but had next to no aroma. I think I like the 2nd infusion better actually.
Ancient Forest Black from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy:
Product Description:
Biodynamically grown black tea from China’s ancient forests.
Cultivated from the ancient protected tea tree forests of Yunan Province, China, this rare and exquisite black tea makes a full-bodied and earthy infusion with a rich and penetrating aroma heavy with age and collective wisdom. The flavor of this deep amber infusion is unlike any other black tea available. Truly exceptional.
Tasters Review:
The Dry Leaves didn’t really smell like much more than an average black tea! But once infused the aroma becomes much more bold but has almost a creamy finish. I totally agree with the product description that it is UNLIKE any black tea I have tried! This is really good…so good that I ended up following it up with a 2nd infusion!
Both infusions were very comforting and tasty! That’s all I kept thinking while sipping on this! It’s bold and fairly malty yet smooth.
The 2nd Infusion was just as good as the first and just as dark and bold! I found it to be even more malty and even a creamier finish…there is a slight roasted aftertaste once the creaminess passes.
This is a great tasting and memorable cup!