Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Memories of the Copacabana Beach in Rio. Papaya pieces, sunflower petals and criminally exotic passion fruit notes infuse superior green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Crime of Passion Green Tea from Culinary Teas takes me (or at least my taste buds!) on a tropical vacation! The sweet passion fruit and papaya flavors meld together with the lush, green tea to present a really tasty tea with tropical flair.
The green tea base is a Chinese Sencha, and it lends a sweet, buttery and slightly vegetal note to the cup. I’m not finding this to be overly vegetative or grassy. It’s a light “grassiness” – I find the buttery/creamy notes of this tea to be stronger than the grassy/vegetal tones to be. The texture of the buttery notes give this a very smooth mouthfeel.
The passion fruit and papaya are beautifully sweet. There are hints of tartness in there too, but mostly, I taste sweet tropical fruit. The fruit notes here are strong and are edging out the flavor of the green tea just a tad – that is to say that the flavor is stronger than the green tea – but it’s so tasty that I am finding it difficult to find fault with this, especially since I can taste the green tea. It just isn’t as strong as the fruit notes.
A really tasty tea. It tastes great served hot (and makes a nice mental va-cay during the cold winter when you want to think of warm tropical breezes, the sun and the surf!) but it’s even better iced. Very refreshing!
Sunny Ceylon Flavored Black Tea from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
Ginger and lemon flavours are a match made in heaven. Add to that luxury Ceylon,which by the way, are considered an aphrodisiac. And you have your perfect honeymoon tea! Of course you don’t have to be on your honeymoon to have our Sunny Ceylon. With bits of pineapple,sunflower and calendula petals, it is guaranteed to bring you a taste of warm sunshine in the gloomiest of days.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m always excited to try teas from a new-to-me company, and this Sunny Ceylon Flavored Black Tea is the first that I’m tasting from Tea People! I chose this tea to try first because it’s been so cold and gray over the last week – not that I dislike this kind of weather, I actually prefer it to the sunshine – but, after a week of not seeing the sun, it’s kind of nice to have a bit of sunshine in my teacup.
When I opened the package and smelled the tea, it has a very sunshine-y kind of fragrance: bright and lemony! The brewed tea is not quite as citrus-y as the dry leaf, but I can smell the ginger and hints of lemon along with the distinct aroma of black Ceylon tea.
The flavor is nice! Even though the bouquet of the dry leaf suggested that this might taste very strongly of lemon, it’s not quite as powerful a flavor as I expected. Oh sure, I can taste the lemon in every sip, but, it doesn’t overpower the other flavors in my cup and that’s a really good thing. I can taste the ginger, I can taste the lemon … but mostly, I taste Ceylon tea!
It is a brisk tea with a medium body with an astringency that I’d categorize as fair to moderate. It is a cleansing astringency – after I’ve taken a sip, my mouth feels clean and dry, like it’s ready for another sip! But don’t mistake astringency for bitterness, because this isn’t bitter. (Although, as with any tea, I wouldn’t recommend oversteeping it because that could cause it to become bitter.)
The lemon adds a bright, sunny taste to the cup (hence the name!) The ginger is very mellow here, adding just a hint of warmth to the cup without tasting spicy. When I slurp the tea, I can taste very subtle whispers of pineapple which accentuate the lemon nicely. There isn’t enough pineapple here to offset the two primary flavors: lemon and ginger; there is just a hint of something a little extra that intrigues the palate to explore.
As the tea continues to cool (and I continue to sip) … the lemon becomes more apparent, and now that I’m about halfway through the cup, the lemon almost tastes as though I squeezed a thin slice of fresh lemon in my teacup. it’s very bright and juicy!
A really nice tea, and it turned out to be the perfect choice for this rather gray day! I can taste the sunshine in my teacup even if I can’t see it when I peek out my window! This joyous tea experience makes me look forward to trying some other teas from Tea People!
Whole Leaf Green Tea with Essence of Sunflower from Eden Grove
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Camellia Sinensis with Red Pigments (Red Tea) with natural Sunflower flavor.
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
The ingredients of this Whole Leaf Green Tea with Essence of Sunflower form Eden Grove confuses me. The “red pigments” part confuses me. Red Tea to me means either Rooibos or black/oxidized tea leaves, depending upon where the tea is coming from. And this with this tea, the dry leaf looks like green tea leaves. I don’t see any rooibos and the leaves don’t appear oxidized. When I brewed the tea, it brewed up to look like a green tea – it’s a light, bright yellow-ish green color. And it tastes like a green tea.
Actually, it tastes like a green tea and sunflower petals. I can taste the distinct, bitter notes of the sunflower and they add a certain “perkiness” to this cup. The green tea is sweet and has a light, refreshing, slightly buttery tone to them. The sunflower adds a nice contrast to the green tea.
And I like that this is different from the usual tea selection. I encounter a lot of flavored teas on this, my tea journey, and I encounter many scented teas. But usually those teas aren’t flavored or scented with Sunflower. Usually those that craft the tea select a different flower when they scent a tea: rose and jasmine are two that come to mind immediately. But I don’t think I’ve found a tea until now that has been flavored/scented with Sunflower. And I like it!
So while I don’t understand the ingredient list of this tea … what I do understand is that I am enjoying what I’m drinking. It has an invigorating sort of flavor that doesn’t weigh the palate down. It’s a very nice, relaxing cup to sip.
Nina’s Paris from Nina’s Paris
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nina’s Paris
Tea Description:
Blood orange, peach, strawberry, cherry,
This tasty blend will fill you with its exquisite fruity flavour. Orange, peach, strawberry and cherry brightened with sunflowers to please all tastes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Nina’s Paris from Nina’s Paris tea company is their signature tea.
Upon steeping Nina’s Paris provides a lovely colored cup of an amber burnt orange hue.
The aroma is delightfully fruity with orange essence being most prominent.
The initial sip evokes the cherry flavors in such a pleasant way. Nothing like a medicinal cheery or artificial cherry flavor. As a matter of fact the flavors in this tea are delicious and quite natural with no residual “oily” look or texture floating on top of the cup. In fact the tea is so clear that I am highly pleased as I anticipated some type of oils from all the varied flavorings.
The best way to describe the flavor of this tea is sunny. It will bring a smile to your face. With all the different flavors one may think it is very powerful or strong on the palate but it truly is not. Its flavorful without being overwhelming and has a graceful subtlety.
It is wonderful how lovely the flavors meld, I can distinctly pick up all flavors of peach, strawberry, and cherry, and they blend in harmony.
I do believe this would make a scrumptious iced tea although you would want to use plenty of extra leaf to get it strong enough. It is a cheery, bright, sunny, yummy cup of fruity goodness!
Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up from Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Top’o’the’mornin’ our pasty Irish butts. If you need a kick with a kick to start your day (or wake you up after lunch), here’s your tea, good ma’am or sir.
We start with our hearty Irish Breakfast blend and add a drop of the craythur — Irish Cream (cream + Irish whiskey). The resulting cuppa is bold, creamy, sweet, and just reminiscent of a fine Irish whiskey. Feel the burn (in a fabulous way)! Uisce beatha (“water of life”), indeed.
The name of the blend is borrowed from an old Irish street ballad by the name of, “Finnegan’s Wake,” embedded below. We thought it appropriate!
Ingredients: Black Tea, Blackberry Leaves, Cornflower, Sunflower, Calendula Petals, Natural Flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up from Cuppa Crew Tea Company tastes like a good merlot in my opinion. There is not a thing wrong with that! It’s no surprise it is after all an Irish inspired blend and since I have Irish blood in me I think I am politically clearned to say the Irish do love their alcohol although not necessarily wine. Okay now if I have not offended everyone I will continue. Alright so maybe my Irish blood is not thick enough for a stout whisky and perhaps this is spot on for Irish Whisky but to me I keep tasting that wine note, although I am far more partial to wine than whiskey. I hope my ancestors are not turning over in their graves.
The creamy element to this tea is lovely. Its not too creamy that you feel like your drinking something heavy or cloying but it does evoke that Irish Cream flavor quite well.
I do not usually do this but I did add some sugar and a splash of milk half way through the cup as it is recommended by Cuppa Crew even though the tea was rockin without it!
Sure I do think the sugar and milk, only a splash, do help highlight some of the notes in the tea, especially the more savory notes of calendula, a wonderful healing herb, but I believe I may prefer this one just as is, why mess with something that is good on its own? Still it is nice that we have choices and its great both ways!
The dry leaf is pretty with sprinkles of purple, and gold color from the calendula, and cornflower, and it has a lovely aroma. The steeped leaf expands to at least twice its size. A note on the leaf from Cuppa Crew:
We use only orthodox tea leaves in both our standard Irish Breakfast and in Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up, so the texture of the leaves is beautiful and consistent. We also like the somewhat mellower flavor of the full leaf versus a CTC blend.
The folks at Cuppa Crew are awesome people with in my opinion a good sense of humor and good nature. I enjoy reading their web site and blog with the quirky sense of humor and antidotes.
Check them out and give a nod to a new and upcoming tea company!
As for last notes on this tea … I have never had a tea like it! Truly unique and original! Kudos Cuppa Crew!