Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: In Pursuit of Tea
Tea Description:
This hand harvested black tea is meticulously crafted from a white tea varietal and pile fermented for 45 days. Truly a labor of love and one of the finest examples of hand-made tea available.
Read other Steepster thoughts on this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the second tea from my Steepster Select tea that I decided to try: Golden Yunnan Black Tea from In Pursuit of Tea. I was very excited to see this company featured in this month’s box (with not just one but TWO teas!) because I can’t recall ever having tried teas from them. I love it when I’m introduced to new-to-me tea companies!
And this tea is fantastic. The dry leaf is gorgeous with curly leaves of chocolate brown that are tipped in gold. Beautiful! There isn’t a strong aroma to the dry leaf, but the brewed tea smells rich and sweet, with notes of earth, leather and tobacco.
The flavor is complex with earthy notes. I taste notes of tobacco, malt and honey. I find that the tobacco is particularly noticeable if I slurp to aerate the sip, and the drying sensation toward the tail of the sip seems to enhance the tobacco notes. There is an undertone of caramel and a hint of cacao to this cup as well.
A very masculine cuppa. Toward mid-cup, I start to pick up on notes of leather in the distance. There is an interesting balance between these savory notes of leather and tobacco and the sweetness of honey, malt, and cacao.
The second infusion is even better than the first! I don’t say that often about a black tea … in fact, I don’t often take a black tea for a second infusion because it isn’t often that I find one that holds up in the second infusion, but this tea definitely does.
The flavor of the second infusion is sweeter than the first, with the tobacco notes less prevalent. The earthy tones have softened here, making way for the delicious honeyed caramel notes and rich malty notes of this tea.
A remarkable Golden Yunnan! I did not find this tea on the In Pursuit of Tea website under Black Teas; however, it does appear that this tea may be available through this samples listing. This is a must try for Yunnan enthusiasts out there, and really, anyone who appreciates high quality tea!
Detox Tea from Naked Teas Galore
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Functional Tisane
Where to Buy: Naked Teas Galore
Tisane Description:
This is crafted ever so carefully to ensure that no one ingredient overpowers another. Wow! What a blend. Balanced spice, herbaceous nettle and a subtle apple-like flavour brought by the chamomile. Soothing mint and sweet liquorice to finish.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t all that excited to try this Detox Tea from Naked Teas Galore. For one thing, it’s an herbal tisane, and for another it’s a functional herbal tisane. Two strikes against it right from the start, and then it’s a chamomile blend too. Yikes!
But I tried to remain positive and give it a try. After all, Amoda Tea has been pretty good at selecting teas and even tisanes that make me happy that I’m a subscriber. I mean, hey, if I wasn’t happy as a subscriber, I would have cancelled the subscription a long time ago. (Speaking of subscribing, I highly recommend signing up for December’s box … it sounds like it’s going to be a winner!)
But, let’s get back to this Detox Tea, shall we?
This is actually a lot tastier than I thought it would be. Normally, when I think “Detox Tea” or even “Functional Tisane,” I think that I’m in for a medicinal, herbaceous tasting drink. Fortunately, this tastes neither medicinal or herbaceous to me. The spices here are in the foreground, tasting more like cinnamon, cardamom, cinnamon and licorice than it does nettle or chamomile.
Oh sure, I can taste notes of the chamomile, and even hints of the herbaceous character of nettle and peppermint and dandelion root. I taste notes of citrus from the lemongrass. And all the flavors meld together in a way that is very tasty and not at all medicinal.
I like that the apple-y notes of the chamomile marry with the citrus tones of the lemongrass and the bright goji berry to create more of a “fruity” quality than distinct individual notes of each of these. The same is true of the spices. It doesn’t taste too much like any one of the spices, instead, I taste a medley of warm, zesty spice.
One of the nicer Detox tisanes that I’ve tasted … this is a detox I can stand behind, because this tastes really nice!
Passion Fruit Flavored Rooibos Blend from Octavia Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Octavia Tea
Tisane Description:
Lemon myrtle is more lemony than a lemon itself. If you didn’t know that already, this tea will show you! The citrus hits you, mingles with the tropical fruit and continues to linger. The hibiscus plays its part in adding beautiful colour and a tartness that tones down the sweetness of the tropical fruit, creating a more true fruit flavour.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this Passion Fruit Flavored Rooibos Blend from Octavia Tea really blew me away! It smells AMAZING! The combination of the passion fruit, peach and mango essences, together with the notes of citrus from the lemon myrtle … create a really ambrosial fragrance that … knocked my socks off!
OK … so my socks are still on, but you get what I’m saying, right?
And … I’m loving what I’m tasting here too. This is really yummy. But … for the purists out there who think that tea should taste like tea and not like a sweet, fruity drink … this tisane is NOT for you! This is a sweet, fruity drink!
In fact, one of the things I like best about it is that I’m not tasting much of the rooibos base. As I’ve said on numerous occasions, I’m not a big fan of the woodsy tasting herb. Here, just hints of the nutty, honeyed taste of rooibos comes through.
And I’m also happy to say that even though I steeped this for seven minutes, I didn’t get a heavy hibiscus note … nor did I get that heavy syrupy thickness that comes with steeping hibiscus a long time. The hibiscus here has been thoughtfully blended … adding just enough to give the cup just a touch of tart flavor without overpowering the blend.
The lemon-y notes from the lemon myrtle is bright and flavorful, and it really perks up the other fruit notes. The passion fruit, the peach and the mango … make delightful partners in this blend … so sweet and juicy!
This is a tisane that kids would love because it has a lot of sweet, fruity flavor. And it would certainly be better for them than that sugar-y soda … not only would it be less sugar, but rooibos have some great health benefits, as does hibiscus. And I love that the ingredients in this tisane are organic, too!
A really tasty tisane! This one gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
Creamy Cacao Delight from Hale Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green & White Teas
Where to Buy: Hale Tea Company
Tea Description:
Creamy white cacao pretty much sums it up! Lingering white chocolate flavour and notes of vanilla bean meld naturally with subtle hints of the green and white tea at its base. This is a velvety soft tea that’s surprisingly light.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Amoda Tea has made some changes with their monthly Tea Tasting Box, and it sounds to me like these changes may be for the better! First of all, the amount of tea will be less per tea – which is fine by me because I am more of a taster than one who likes to keep large amounts of tea on hand. Second … the cost of the monthly box is less! I can live with that! Ha! Finally, Amoda will no longer be selling the tea to the public … oh, they’ll still assemble the boxes, but if you want more of any particular tea after sampling it, you’ll be forwarded to the tea company that sells the tea to order directly from them.
So far, I’m really happy with these changes!
For the month of September, the featured tea company is Hale Tea Company. The first tea that I chose to sample from this company is Creamy Cacao Delight, because … well, did you happen to see the word Cacao in the name? Yeah, I like that word. That word says to me that this tea will be a yummy, chocolate-y tea. And that brings a big smile to this chocoholic’s face!
The aroma of the dry leaf is deliciously creamy with vanilla top notes and notes of chocolate. My mouth started watering the moment I opened the pouch! Once brewed, I notice less of the vanilla tones and more of the chocolate-y notes.
The flavor … oh my goodness! This is yum. As I’ve mentioned before (even in this article!) I’m a chocoholic. But, white chocolate … doesn’t always do it for me. I’d much rather have dark chocolate. I generally find white chocolate to be too sweet, and I enjoy the contrast of bitter and sweet in a darker chocolate. But … I’m liking the sweet creamy notes here just fine!
There is a lovely balance between vanilla and chocolate notes to provide a very rich, creamy, decadent taste. The white tea and green tea provide a nice base for the chocolate flavors, because it doesn’t overwhelm the chocolate, but it’s also not allowing itself to be overpowered. I taste both teas – the green tea is fresh and vegetative and the white tea has a crispness to it, as well as a hay-like note that tastes really quite nice with the white chocolate tones.
And as the description above suggests, the overall tone to this cup is light. It isn’t a heavy feel on the palate, and this I like because even though it’s white chocolate … it’s a flavor that I often find “too much” because it is a very sweet form of chocolate-y taste. The lightness allows the goodness of white chocolate to come through without all that heavy sweetness.
This is a light, sweet, delicious way to experience a balance between vanilla and chocolate. YUMMY! And … this one must be resteeped! The chocolate-y flavors really intensify with the second steeping.
Bengal Peach Tea Blend from Tea Xotics
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
The peachy aroma of this tea will make our mouthes water. Orchard fruit meets the Hawaiian tropics. There’s a subtle ginger spice that works really well with the succulent fruits and the unique tea base – Assam and sencha!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the dry leaf of this Bengal Peach Tea Blend from Tea Xotics. Big slivers of dried fruit, pieces of ginger, black and green tea leaves, petals and blossoms all tossed together in a deliciously fragrant blend.
The brewed tea smells of warm peaches with hints of ginger, evoking thoughts of a warm, gently spiced peach dessert. Mmm! The flavor tastes of peach and mango. The ginger flavor is delicate, adding just a touch of warmth rather than a heavy amount of spice. This doesn’t taste overly peppered with ginger … there’s just enough ginger to keep the flavors interesting so that it doesn’t taste too fruity.
The combination of black and green teas adds an appealing background of flavor as well. When brewed at a lower temperature, I find that I can taste both the black and green teas. I brewed this tea at 180°F in my Breville One-Touch – the package parameters suggest a temperature of 185°F but whenever I brew a blend like this in my Breville, I make it a practice to lower the suggested temperature by 5 degrees since the tea maker keeps the water warmer than a teapot would. I steeped the tea for 3 minutes, and I’m very happy with the results.
The black tea tastes lighter than a typical cup of Assam would. I taste a wine-like quality to the tea, and this complements the fruit notes quite nicely. As the tea cools slightly (hot, but not piping hot), I notice some of the malty tones of the black tea emerge. The green tea doesn’t add a lot of notable flavor to the cup, but it lightens the overall flavor and texture. I notice hints of vegetation in the distance, as well as a slight buttery note that works well with the sweet, caramel-y malt notes.
A very tasty blend. It’s delicious hot and also quite nice iced!