I’ve been in a green tea mood lately, tasting all the flavors and mix-ins that go best with those lighter tea leaves. It was the perfect day to try Orange and Papaya from Tea Shirt Teas.
I was immediately impressed by the delicious scent of the tea in the dry leaf. It was amazingly fruity, and hard to resist smelling the dry leaves in my mug while I waited for the water to boil. The leaves themselves are all dressed up for the occasion, with big chunks of dried papaya and orange slices mixed in among the green tea.
Along with the papaya is a hefty dose of lemongrass, but despite all the lemongrass in the dry leaf, the brewed blend tastes most strongly of orange and papaya. A hint of mango comes out at the back of each sip. It all makes for a vibrant cup of citrus and green that can’t help but jazz up your afternoon.
This blend is sweet and fruity enough to love it hot or iced, and either way the luscious fruit flavors were super satisfying and thirst-quenching. Though I tried the blend both hot and iced, with all these tropical flavors, this blend is absolutely calling out to be the next pitcher of iced tea in your fridge. Drinking it cold, the fruit makes the tea almost candy-sweet, like a more mature fruit punch.
This is a great blend for when you need to brighten your day and imagine yourself in a sunny grove of tropical fruit.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Description:
Ingredients: green tea (60%), lemon grass, apple pieces, freeze-dried apple pieces, orange slices, mango flakes, papaya flakes, flavouring.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jasmint from Chash Tea . . . . .
When the weather gets warmer, I feel a resurgence of my love for all things minty and cool. Iced mint tea on a hot day helps me cool down and refresh like nothing else. After getting a taste of Jasmint from Chash Tea, I’ll have to add this blend to the rotation.
This tea came to me in well-designed little package, and when I looked it up online, the Chash website is equally enticing. The stylish package makes me feel extra classy when I brew up my tea.
The dry leaf of this tea is everything you want in a minty tea, fragrant and cool and crisp, as popping and fresh as mint right from the herb garden. When brewed, this tea shows off its other ingredients, with a dominant bloom of jasmine, and a nutty, barky undertone from the tea leaves. The spearmint is at the back of each sip: minty and slightly creamy, with a touch of vanilla. I always find that peppermint is a little too harsh on its own, and it needs the softer creaminess of spearmint to help balance it out. The sweet-mint taste of spearmint in this blend is no exception.
My go-to summer mint tea has always been some variety of Moroccan Mint with peppermint and black or Darjeeling tea blended together. Jasmint is a lovely departure from this usual mix. The flowery jasmine and creamy mint are a great combination of both floral and cool. This tea feels like the ideal summer night, with open windows blowing in cool air with the fragrance of garden blossoms.
Stay cool and classy this summer with a cup of Jasmint from Chash Tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chash Tea
Description:
When blending we occasionally find one so obvious we can’t quite believe we didn’t think to blend it earlier! One afternoon it occurred to the team that Jasmine might support Spearmint and Peppermint. Counter-intuitive? Very much s0! The rest is history!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fresh and Easygoing Green: Tian Mu Mao #FengGreen Tea from @Teavivre
There’s a lot of green teas out there: potent matcha, sour kukicha, toasted hojicha, or smoky gunpowder, to name just a few. After trying this offering from Teavivre, now I can add Feng Green tea to my list.
First of all, the leaves of Feng Green tea were unlike any of the green teas I mentioned. The Feng Green tea leaves were long and tightly curled, tangling into each other as I tried to scoop some tea into my teapot. This was certainly a different shape than the rolled pellets of gunpowder green, or the flattened hojicha leaves, or the powdered matcha.
The Feng Green dry leaf smelled lightly floral and just a touch sour, like an aged forest floor. There was just a hint of something spicier, like pine resin or citrus, almost making the leaves smell like a box of Christmas potpourri. Brewed, the tea is well-balanced, with the expected grassy green notes, a hint of sour fermentation, and a full scent and aftertaste of sweet apple and green grape.
I don’t often reach for green teas, but Feng Green from Teavivre was so drinkable and naturally sweet that I found myself making a cup to help take the edge off my long afternoons.
Try Feng Green when you need something pleasant and easygoing, like sitting on your porch and taking in the fresh grass of spring and the fresh fruits of summer.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description:
Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea is one of the ten famous Chinese teas. This Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea origins in organic tea base of Tianmu Mountain in Lin’an, Hangzhou. The organic tea base of Tianmu Mountain, has passed the organic certification of European, USA and Japan, is a significant base of planting organic dragon well and green tea. When brewing, it tastes light sweet and fragrance. In Chinese, Mao Feng refers to the hairy buds—to be covered by pekoes means a super quality of the tea leaves.
This Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea is produced by traditional manual frying method and the idea of modern crafts of tea making. Combined with the advantages of organic tea and high grade tea, it is suitable for tea lovers of organic tea,
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Holy Basil: The Secret Ingredient to My Fave Detox Tea
Fresh basil is the stuff of summer, plucked from the garden for added depth to sandwiches, or pressed between mozzarella and tomatoes for a caprese plate. Daily Detox tea from the Tea Can Company doesn’t have that kind of basil, but the smell of the dry tea leaves did bring me back to fresh summer days in our family herb garden. Instead, the ingredient this tea is Tulsi, holy basil.
There are other ingredients like rose hips or spearmint, but they take a back seat to the strong, forward flavors of lemon myrtle and holy basil. I was surprised– usually rose hips like to make the tea pink and sour, but I had no problem sour fruit flavors, even after steeping this tea long and hot.
I love herbal teas with savory spices like sage, or chili, or fennel, and a basil tea is a great addition to this category. Lemon and basil are often used together on food, and it is no surprise that the flavors work well together in a tea. This blend sweet enough to still be a traditional tea, with plenty of creamy lemon flavors and soothing mint, but the pop of basil really sets it apart. The basil adds a “green” flavor that is very different from the usual grassy senchas or hay-like green rooibos, adding a distinctly full, leafy note.
Both holy basil and Linden blossom have long histories of sacred respect and healing properties, so the detox they provide might be both physical and spiritual, if you buy into that sort of thing. If nothing else, you will experience the peaceful moment of enjoying a tasty cup of tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Tea Can Company
Description:
This unique blend of Medicinal Herbs and Berries provides a host of antioxidants and health benefits. A feel good drink that lasts all day. Serve hot or cold.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Kick Back and Relax with Hammock Blend from Plum Deluxe
Brewed hot, this tea is smooth and bright, with the fullness of black tea and crisp orange, and just enough vanilla to smooth out any astringency. The tea is creamy even without milk and sugar, but not so sweet or over-flavored to come off as artificial orange-creamsicle. In many ways this is definitely still a classic black tea.
With a name like Hammock Blend, this tea is meant to be a cold summer beverage, so I brewed a batch hot with sugar and let it chill. Iced and sweetened, I will say that the sugar complements the orange and cream flavors, though they weren’t any bolder after the iced brewing style. Maybe I’m just a bit out of season for this tea and I’ll have to give it another go when I’m sweltering in July.
Overall the flavors of this tea were a little subtle for my tastes, but would be a great choice for someone looking for a traditional black tea with just a little non-traditional twist. It’s hard to go wrong with a splash of orange and cream.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description:
When we set out to make the perfect loose leaf iced tea blend, we knew one of our favorite flavors was orange. With a hint of “creme” vanilla flavor, it makes the most delicious iced tea, the perfect thirst quencher on a sunny day. As the name implies, grab a cool glass of this tea and relax. Reminds you of an orangesicle without all the calories!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!