Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong, Mate, Ceylon, Rooibos Blend
Where to Buy: Mad Pots of Tea
Tea Description:
If You Were a Tea, What Would You Taste Like?
I’m sure this is a question you find yourself pondering almost daily…. If you want your own Custom Blend or “PersonaliTEA” Make My Blend!
Taster’s Review:
Mad Pots of Tea has a few select blends for sale on their site, but what is more important is that they make your custom blend for you based on a short but interesting survey that you take prior to their master blender Madam Potts taking over and mixing up your specialized tea!
It is all based on your likes, personality, and a answers to the survey. Its as if she profiles you!
My blend is called Toasta Rica because I love Costa Rica, and I like toasty teas. My tea came in a nice resealable brown paper bag which I believe is from recycled paper (love it) and a lovely card personalized by Madam Potts which reads:
Words of Inspiration from your form:
Rainforest, Autumn, Rich spice scents, Costa Rica, Full-Bodied, Mediative, Toasty, Aromatic, Fruity, Spicy, Exotic, Intense, Earth Tones.
Which basically means keywords I had put into the questionnaire I filled out when I began my journey on her site.
Also there is a note that my blend has never been created and will never be created for anyone else! It is a unique tea – just like me.
Of course I have big cheesy smiles all around now!
The ingredients of my blend include: Imperial Oolong, Mango Ceylon, Yerba Mate, Rooibos, Ginger Root, Sarsaparilla, Damiana, Allspice, Coriander, Cardamon, and Stevia.
I do love a good chai and this tea has a true chai flavor to it but one thing I notice when sipping this tea is a wonderful black pepper note that just dances on the tip of my tongue – I LOVE black pepper! It is a sweet tea that has just the right amount of fruit notes to it without being too fruity and cutting through the intense tones of what I call my renaissance tea!
While you can’t get my exact blend, of course without asking me for it, I just want to say how in love I am with my tea blend from Mad Pots of Tea and I want to encourage any tea lover to give her method of finding the perfect blend for you a try!
Turn around on your blend is not fast. I waited five weeks from the time of order to receiving it but I am fine with that as it seems there was time allowed for the flavors to meld and the true beauty of this tea to develop.
I am thrilled with my blend even though my head was not thinking chai-esque the fact is chai is one of my first tea loves! Not only is this a chai tea but an extremely excellent chai at that! I have several chai teas from many companies here but this one is supreme!
Somehow Madame Pots hit the nail on the head with this blend not forgetting I needed something a tad bit fruity to break the monotony of the chai spices! I love that oolong was used as a base, I am an oolong lover through and though but I also love that some mate was added as I always need to get my energy flowing! I do not feel that any of these flavor components, although there are many strong elements in this tea, take over. Each flavor is getting its time in the Toasta Rica sun! Oh yeah!
Thank you Madame Potts!
Chai Spice from Jade Monk
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Jade Monk
Tea Description:
Leave It to Tanuki, the mischievous raccoon-dog of Japanese folklore, to mix the subtle spices of Indian chai and the powerful health benefits of Jade Monk
®matcha green tea. Chai Spice captures the playful, unexpected spirit of Tanuki with a hint of sweetness and a balanced taste of cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. Lurking behind the complex flavor is the enhanced antioxidant power of Jade Monk®matcha, ready to help fortify the body and clarify the mind. Keep the legend alive-celebrate Tanuki and Jade Monk®, with a cup of Chai Spice, hot or cold, today.
Learn more about this energy drink mix here.
Taster’s Review:
Since my most successful samplings of the Jade Monk products have been when I stirred the finely ground powder into cool water, that is what I chose to do this time. I think that the stevia tastes better when it’s cold than when it’s hot … and after a couple of conversations with other tea drinkers, I’ve discovered that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
First impression: this is sweet. Beyond the sweetness, though, there’s a pleasing set of spices. Leading the spice charge is cinnamon, followed by the cardamom and clove. I like this simple list of spices. I think that this would have been an interesting drink if there were some ginger – it would have given the flavor a bit more of a peppery spice. As it is, the spices here seem to be on the sweeter, more exotic side. That’s enjoyable too, but, I think a contrast with some ginger-y heat might be nice.
I don’t taste a lot of the Matcha, here, but, I guess that’s the point. Matcha tends to be an acquired taste – not everyone is as crazy for it as I am … and I’d consider myself to be moderately crazy for it. There are some people who MUST have their daily matcha, while I can go a day or two … sometimes even a week or two without really thinking about it. But lately, I’ve been on a bit of a Matcha kick – I love the energizing effect it has on me.
And THAT is the point of this powdered tea mix. Energy! These Matcha drink mixes allow the drinker to enjoy the benefits and energizing power of Matcha without the strong vegetative tones that some people find off-putting. So, while I do find myself missing the flavor of Matcha here, I know that there are those that will find this tea to be right up their alley.
As for me, I found it enjoyable. It goes down easily, tastes good, and motivates me to get the things done that need to get done! (And I’ve got a lot of stuff that needs doing!) So, for this burst of energy, I have to thank Jade Monk!
Lime Blossom from Jade Monk
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Jade Monk
Tea Description:
Some Japanese believe a fox can live for 100 years or more, acquiring additional tails the longer he roams the countryside. The faithful also say foxes can assume the shape of humans, playing tricks on friends and family. These mythic spirits-the Kitsune-possess supernatural powers, but luckily for you the Jade Monk
®matcha Kitsune are only interested in seducing your taste buds with the unexpected tang of lime and aroma of spring flowers, fortifying your body with enhanced matcha polyphenol potency, and calming your mind with clarifying effects of our shade-cultivated Jade Monk®matcha green tea. Phew!
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
When it came time for me to sample this packet of Jade Monk, I was very thirsty and feeling a little too warm. Outside it’s 95°F and while that may not seem very hot to some of you … it’s hot for me. And it’s humid. Maybe not as humid as it is in Minnesota (my husband is from Minnesota, and when I complain about the humidity he says “It’s not humid!”) but for this girl who grew up in Northern Nevada where there was next to no rainfall and even when it was raining the humidity was still zero… It’s uncomfortably humid to me. I wanted something to quench my thirst and hopefully re-energize me a little, while cooling me off.
So, I decided to get a little adventurous. I put a small amount of freshly drawn and filtered water in the pitcher of my blender, along with several ice cubes and the contents of this packet, and I blended it until I could no longer hear the rattling of the ice particles inside the pitcher. Then I poured it into a glass to enjoy some ice cold, lime flavored Matcha.
And I am enjoying it! It is really good like this. It ended up being a bit like a slush … the ice part did, anyway. There is still a good amount of green colored liquid to this too, kind of like when you get a slush and it starts to melt a bit … the liquid that forms at the bottom … that’s what I have in front of me.
Of the three Jade Monk offerings that I’ve tried thus far, this one is my favorite. I don’t know if it’s because I prepared it in the blender, or if it’s just that I like this flavor better. But this is cool and refreshing. The lime tastes tart and sweet … but not too extreme on either end. It isn’t too tart or too sweet. It’s a bit like a limeade, but with a hint of Matcha in it.
The Matcha is not real distinct, just as it has not been in the other Jade Monk flavors, and I’ve come to expect that. This is definitely a drink mix that has been designed with a broader customer base in mind, appealing to those who might find green tea to be a little too vegetative or not quite to their liking. This one is also sweetened with stevia, like the other two were, but I’m finding that the colder the beverage, the less funky the stevia tastes. In fact, with the first few sips … I didn’t really notice the stevia at all. I notice it now that I’m nearly finished with the glass, but, it does not interfere with my enjoyment of this cool, refreshing homemade slush … in fact, I think I’d take this over a slush from the convenience store, any time!
Cranberry Blood Orange from Jade Monk
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Jade Monk
Tea Description:
A thousand years ago in Shinto belief, the Tengu were dangerous spirit-animals. Over the centuries they’ve evolved into benevolent protectors and allies of humans. This particular Tengu-Cranberry Blood Orange instant matcha green tea powder-employs the impossibly potent antioxidant potential of Jade Monk
®. Matcha, the tang of cranberry and bright citrus of blood orange, with a dash of sweetness. Traditional, pure, entirely natural ingredients with the fortified polyphenol strength of Jade Monk®-that’s a spirit to believe in.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the second flavor that I’ve tried of the four flavors that Jade Monk offers. And as I continue to try these instant green tea powders, the more I learn about them. With the Palau Peach, while I did enjoy it, I found that the stevia offered a bit of a funky taste to it. Because of that, I decided that I’d try preparing this Matcha mix with cold water rather than the traditional chawan & chasen method. I poured about 12 ounces of cold water into a tall glass, and stirred the Matcha mix into the water … stirring vigorously. It took about a full minute to stir this and get it completely mixed (there were a few clumps that rose to the top of the glass, but these were easy to break apart with the back of the spoon, and the clump then easily dissolved into the rest of the tea)
Prepared this way, this tastes a bit more like a green tea power drink than a Matcha. It is sweet, fruity and refreshing. It doesn’t taste strongly of tea, but I do taste the green tea in the background. I do still taste the stevia (and I am still left wishing it wasn’t there), but it tastes much better with the cold water rather than the hot. And, as far as alternative sweeteners go, I’d rather this be sweetened with stevia than something like aspartame, which I cannot consume.
What I really like about this flavor particularly is the combination of cranberry and blood orange. The blood orange is sweet and tastes juicy, and it offers a very pleasing contrast to the tartness of the cranberry. Overall, it is just tart enough to keep it interesting, with the tartness really emerging at its strongest in the aftertaste. But mostly, it is sweet and refreshing … and very energizing. I can feel the power of the Matcha really working, even if I the taste of the Matcha is not very strong.
While I don’t expect tea purists to find much enjoyment from these tasty little power packs, I do think that they’re enjoyable. If you want the powerful benefits of Matcha but find that pure Matcha tends to be a bit too much for you (it is a rather unique flavor and not something that everyone enjoys!), these Matcha products from Jade Monk would be the perfect alternative for you!
Cucumber Mojito Green Tea from Inspired Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Inspired Leaf
Tea Description:
Crisp, refreshing mint and lime mojo. Amazing on the rocks! Inspiration No. 26: Tea makes your eyes twinkle.
Ingredients: Organic green tea, peppermint, cucumber, lime pieces, lime leaves, lime juice, stevia, natural flavors.
Caffeine level-low.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is very refreshing! Perfect for this time of year, when the weather is warm and you’re in search of a bright-tasting, cooling, vibrant cup of tea! This tea is definitely all that!
I am sipping a small cup of this hot at the moment (mostly because I couldn’t wait for it to cool!) and saving the rest to let it cool so that I can enjoy it iced. I don’t like to add ice to my tea, because even if I brew it at double or triple strength, I find that the ice just waters it down too much for my liking, and I suppose I could go through all the trouble to make tea ice cubes, but, that seems like more trouble than it’s worth in this household, since I’m the only one who drinks tea on a regular basis, and there are other people who are using the ice cube trays!
Instead, I prefer to brew the tea at normal strength and let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating, and then serving it chilled, straight, no ice. Sometimes, I might add a thin slice of citrus, but with this tea – no need. The lime is already in there!
And the lime is zesty without being too tart. It isn’t overly assertive, and neither is the peppermint. The mint IS the strongest flavor here, but, I like that it’s been tempered with the other ingredients, and it isn’t overthrowing the whole balance. I can even taste the cucumber here! I had, of course, hoped to taste the cucumber, but, I wasn’t so sure that the delicate, refreshing taste of cucumber would shine through the strong notes of lime and peppermint. It certainly doesn’t overpower them, but, its there, and it adds a very lovely element to the overall cup.
And, let us not forget about the tea! This IS a tea, after all, and I expect to taste it. The green tea adds a fresh, slightly vegetal taste to the cup. It is somewhat buttery and sweet, the mouthfeel is soft, and I like the way that the green tea seems to complete the cup in a very enjoyable way.
One thing I would like to point out here though, is that I wish that they did not add stevia to this blend. In fact, I wish that other tea companies would stop doing this too. It seems to be a growing trend, adding stevia to enhance the sweetness. I like to decide on my own how sweet I want the tea to be, and then I like to add the sweetener of my choice. I find that most stevia leaves a funky, somewhat metallic aftertaste that I’m not crazy about, and while the aftertaste here is not badly affected, I do taste the stevia, and I wish I didn’t.
While this cup is delicious served hot, it is best enjoyed iced, in my opinion, served as I indicated above: brewing at normal strength, bringing to room temperature and chilling in the fridge. It is a perfectly refreshing drink for these warm summer months that await us!
