Tea Type:
Black Tea/White Tea Blend, Chai
Where to Buy:
Uniq Teas
Product Description:
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
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Tasters Review:
If you are a regular reader of ours here at Sororitea Sisters you are aware that Uniq Teas allowed the 3 of us here to blend our own tea and this is mine in the series of 3!
The Tri Pi Chai was the one I blended thru their wonderful service!
You can find this blend here
http://www.uniqteas.com/products/sororiteas-tri-pi-chai#ixzz2DRbhkaPT
It’s made up of:
70% White Chai / 15% Caramelicious / 15% Raspberry
I wanted to do a Chai but not a ‘regular’ chai. I’ve always been intrigued by WHITE Chai’s – I can’t really explain why but I like them and like the tinker with them. This was the very first thought I had when I saw that as an option on their site!
But I also wanted both WHITE and BLACK Teas in them. I didn’t want the black tea to over power the white, tho. BUT…I did want to taste both. Most of the other attempts I have tried with the black and white combined you can’t taste the white…so…fingers crossed!
I also wanted this to be just a little sweet and a tad fruity so that is why I went with a little bit of the caramel and raspberry combo-ed offerings!
I wanted to try infusing this a 1 minute or under FIRST so that is what I did.
Here were my findings:
First…the DRY leaf aroma – right from the tin – smells like white tea, gentle spices, raspberries, citrus, a pinch of sugary and I am chalking that up to the caramel, as well as a little woodsy. It has some interesting yin and yang or masculine and feminine type aromas to it. I like how the opposites seem to attract in this!
This blend – at 1 minute or under – infuses to a medium brown color with a neat copper glow.
To the nose – the liquor smells warming, comforting, mellower, and slightly fruity, floral, and woodsy…all at the same time! WOW! How different…but that is what I was HOPING for!!!
Now the taste…
“Oh…WOW!” were the first two words that came out of my mouth! WHITE TEA! YAY! But there was MORE to it!
It has a nice white tea flavor up front that is mellower but still pushing thru and noticeable. The Chai Spices are subtle and I am ok with that! I didn’t want them to over power! The white tea also provides an interesting floral flavor working with the spices or maybe just a tad more than the spices. The Caramel is also hiding out in the background and does contribute an oh-so-small-hint of sweetness to possibly tone down the floral flavor. More importantly – I think the Caramel assists with the texture and gives it a nice creaminess to the middle of the sip. However, as it continues to cool at room temperature I can taste the caramel more and I like it! I also think the black tea working with the caramel works well, here, again, I didn’t want it to overpower the white and I really don’t think it did. YAY! Also as it cools the Raspberry started to come out to play more and it’s really welcoming and fun! It’s just enough to make you say “What’s that? Fruit!?” So, yeah, I guess I just really wanted this to be complex…but I wanted it to be interesting and diverse, but jive in it’s own certain way. Just like a Sorority I guess. So far…I think this reached those things.
I named this Tri Pi Chai for a few reasons! One being…The SororiTEA Sisters are made up of 3 Tea Lovin’ Sista’s…Liberteas, Azzrian, and myself. We are all different but we all love tea and we all work well together. I also named this Tri Pi Chai to do a little Play on Words to work hand-in-hand with SororiTEA Sisters. Also because I used 3 different offerings Uniq Teas offered.
The more I drink this the more I like it and as it cools the flavors dance around and become more youthful and seem to morph at different temperatures!
I will experiment with this at different temperatures but I am really liking it with a shorter infusion time, so far.
Special THANKS to Uniq Teas for this awesomely-fun opportunity!
SororiTEA Sisters’ Special Blend from Blends for Friends
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Blends for Friends
Product Description:
A blend for those who truly appreciate the taste of a great beverage. A bright and diverse infusion of creative characters that are full of flavorsome charm. Enjoying fine top notes and far-flung origins, this lovely combination is the perfect accompaniment to rest, relaxation, and reviews!
Ingredients:
Only the finest quality tea: Sri Lanka Uva Black Tea for bright liquor and fine top notes. Cocoa Shells for flavorsome charm. Orange Blossom for bright character. Rose petals for creative style. With natural Bergamot and Chocolate flavor for great taste.
Taster’s Review:
I have been excited to try this ever since it was made for Jennifer (aka TeaEqualsBliss) and I. Yes… MADE for US! That’s the beauty of this company, you simply answer a series of questions about yourself (or about the person you’d like to gift a wonderfully personalized tea), and Blends for Friends will create the blend based upon the responses.
And it arrives ready to give (or to receive, if you’re gifting yourself!) I didn’t have the opportunity to see the all packaging except through the vivid description provided by Jennifer, but I did get to check out the tin – and it’s beautiful. I’m a collector of tins and I love this one! This is a tin that you’ll want to keep refilling (and the price on the refills from Blends for Friends is quite reasonable!)
For the purposes of this review, I had tried this blend on three different occasions and chronicled my thoughts about each tasting. As Jennifer indicated in her review, it tastes a little different each time it’s prepared, but there are also one notable consistent with each tasting: specifically, the black tea. The black tea is a strong, solid yet unimposing presence at every tasting. It is a rich, delicious tea that enhanced the other flavors, and while it didn’t interfere with the other flavors, it still managed to make its presence known.
The first time I tried it, I tasted the chocolate immediately. The orange/bergamot tones and the rose were hints of flavor that would emerge every now and then. During my second tasting, I could taste more of the rose flavor. This time, the rose and chocolate were almost competing with one another – but not in a bad way! – and were about equal in strength. One sip would be very rose-y, while the next would be quite chocolate-y. Both made me smile. The bergamot was also there, but it was more of a whisper of a presence. While I do love bergamot (and I often prefer my bergamot to be much stronger), I really appreciate the softness of the bergamot here. It’s a wondrous kind of flavor, like a happy daydream.
For my third tasting, the chocolate was without a doubt the most prominent flavor, but the bergamot was the flavor that was peeking through more so than the rose. The rose was there too, but it seemed to take the position that was previously taken by the bergamot for the two previous tasting, being more of a hint of flavor than a strong contender.
All three tastings were quite wonderful and delicious. What I like best about this blend is that it’s a little different each time that I drink it. I’m never sure quite what to expect. This adds to the excitement and anticipation of that first sip, and it really embraces what I’m about as a tea drinker. As you’ve probably noticed, I drink a lot of tea every day, but I rarely drink the same tea every day. I like to try different teas (which is probably good since I review teas!) But what Blends for Friends has managed to do is create a whole blend that is a little different every time I taste it. They really NAILED what I think SororiTea Sisters is all about, which I think is what Blends for Friends is all about: creating a perfect blend for the intended drinker (or drinkers).
SororiTEA Sisters Blend from Blends For Friends
Tea Type:
Black Tea
Where To Buy:
Blends For Friends
Product Description:
Custom Blend made for SororiTEA Sisters based on these Questions and Answers…http://www.blendsforfriends.com/bpages/friend.html
A blend for those who truly appreciate the taste of a great beverage. A bright and diverse infusion of creative characters that are full of flavorsome charm. Enjoying fine top notes and far-flung origins, this lovely combination is the perfect accompaniment to rest, relaxation, and reviews!
Ingredients:
Only the finest quality tea: Sri Lanka Uva Black Tea for bright liquor and fine top notes. Cocoa Shells for flavorsome charm. Orange Blossom for bright character. Rose petals for creative style. With natural Bergamot and Chocolate flavor for great taste.
Tasters Review:
I have been procrastinating on reviewing this NOT because I didn’t enjoy it because I REALLY do enjoy it and NOT because I didn’t know what to say because – as you scroll down and read – you will see I have a LOT to say about this tea! And what I have to say is ALL GOOD! Another reason I waited to do a full length review about this tea is because each time I drank a cup of it I found something new and/or different I liked about it!
Here were my very first impressions of this tea…
This tea is just TOO special! The SororiTEA Sisters were lucky enough to have Blends For Friends create a custom blend just for us and it’s really awesome! These ingredients are great and the aroma and taste has some interesting surprises along the way! WOW! This is just FUN!!!
I’ve had over a dozen go-arounds with this tea and each time was a new and fun experience! For example…one attempt was more of an Earl Grey and citrus type taste whereas the next was a combo of Dark Chocolate and Earl Grey Flavors. Next cup I found a nice chocolate tea with a few floral notes. Other cups were mostly chocolate and very yummy and just when I thought I knew what to expect in the next cup – the flavor would change just a tad to release yet another surprise in flavor! There were times where I could taste the rose petals more than the other flavors or visa versa but each time I really enjoyed my cup and found it was a great tea to start the day with!
This tea goes beyond the aroma and taste tho! These blends are custom made based on answers you give this wonderful company! They have a way with words, too, just take a look at the product description above!
And their presentation is gorgeous! The generous amount of loose leaf was stored in a heavy-duty yet classy tin gently placed inside a sophisticated plain black box and then wrapped in a silky and stylish ribbon.
And you can tell from their friendly and fast email responses that their customer service is top notch, too!
I like everything about this company and this tea they made for us! It’s so neat to an official SororiTEA Sisters Blend of Tea! Thanks so much – Blends For Friends! You are a Gem in the tea world!
