Growing up, my parents had the MOST beautiful, delicious raspberry bushes growing on the side of our garage. I remember going out with clean empty yogurt containers (reuse, reduce, recycle, anyone?) to fill with freshly picked berries for an afternoon snack. And you guys, these were the BEST berries– warm and sun-ripened, juicy and fresh.
Now as an adult, with raspberry bushes long gone (RIP, bushes), I’m constantly holding every raspberry I eat up to the impossible standards of those juicy yard berries of my youth.
When I pulled this tea from my sample pile, I knew I’d be searching for that bright, fresh berry flavor I love so much in my steeped cup. I don’t get too much raspberry from sniffing the dry leaf, but I’m still hopeful.
As a hot cup, it’s okay for me, but full disclosure, I’m not a huge fan of hot white tea. On a whim, I decide to cold-brew a cup (in December, of all things– not my usual, but spoiler alert: I’m glad I did!) and whoa!
There’s that bright, juicy raspberry flavor I love so much. It might not be a fresh cup of juicy summer berries picked right off the vine, but it’s the closest I’ve found in a cup of tea. I’ll be drinking this one iced all through the long winter months until berry season is back for real!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Tea of Life
Description
- White Tea with Natural Raspberry flavors
- All natural fine Ceylon Teas
- A natural source of anti-oxidants to protect your body
- Kosher, Gluten and Sodium free
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Green Tea Peppermint from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This Green Tea Peppermint from Tea of Life is alright but to be honest, I really expected a bit more than what I’m getting from it. The flavor is just a wee bit flat and “flat” isn’t a word that I normally would associate with peppermint.
The green tea is pleasant enough – it’s soft and buttery and doesn’t impart a strong, grassy flavor. It’s a nice complement to the herbal notes of the peppermint.
But generally when I drink a peppermint tea, I’m expecting a burst of zingy flavor. You know? That bold, refreshing, unmistakable flavor of mint? And I didn’t get that with this tea. My first few sips, I found myself thinking, “There’s mint in there?” Because it was just sort of … flat and uninspiring.
Now, as I’m about halfway through my cup, I can taste the peppermint and it’s pleasant. It feels cool and crisp and it leaves that fresh flavor on the palate. But, it’s still very lackluster and boring and mint shouldn’t be like that.
It’s as I said at the start. It’s alright but not my favorite selection from Tea of Life.
Ayurvedic Slimming Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
About Tea of Life Ayurvedic Collection:
The word “Ayurveda” is derived from two words – “Ayus” meaning life and “Veda” meaning ‘knowledge’ or ‘science’. So the literal meaning of the word Ayurveda is ‘The Science of Life.’
Life or Ayus, according to Ayurveda, is a combination of senses, mind, body and soul. So Ayurveda does not just limit itself to the body or physical symptoms, but also provides comprehensive knowledge about spiritual, mental and emotional health.
The traditional healing system of Ayurveda is based on a theory of balance between the body (physical), the soul (spiritual) and the mind (psychological).
Ingredients:
I am always confused by teas that claim to be “slimming.”
But I’m not here to talk about my feelings on the claims of “slimming” tea, and I’m not entering into a weight loss regime with this slimming tea from Tea of Life. I’m here to tell you what I’m tasting, not on whether or not it works.
And I’m not real crazy about the taste. I am not sure if it’s the Garcenia, Black Seed or Fenugreek that I’m not liking (or perhaps a combination of the three), but one redeeming quality of this tea (aside from the green tea) is the cumin. I actually like tasting the warm, toasty notes of the cumin.
Garcenia is supposed to taste acidic and sour. Black seed has more of a savory quality, like onions or garlic with black pepper and oregano. Fenugreek is supposed to be lightly bitter. So I suspect that what I’m not liking about this particular tea is the presence of garcenia and fenugreek. Because I’m getting a bitter and sour taste that I’m not crazy about.
The green tea is light and buttery and adds a hint of sweetness.
So, this isn’t the greatest tasting drink. It isn’t a tea that I’d drink just for the taste of it. I hope that the “slimming” aspect of this tea is successful because from this taster’s perspective, I’ll just say that I’ve tasted a lot of tasty teas from Tea of Life but this one isn’t one of them.
Earl Grey Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
When it comes to Earl Grey teas, there are a couple of things that I consider “standard” … that is, things that I expect from an Earl Grey. The first thing I expect is a distinct dry leaf aroma. I should smell the bergamot! The second thing I want is for that aroma to carry over into the brewed tea. I still want to smell the bergamot! Finally, and most importantly, I want a great taste: I want a good black tea base and I want to taste the bergamot. I love a good strong flavor of bergamot but I’ve also found many teas that have a softer flavor of bergamot and I have enjoyed those as well. As long as I get GOOD bergamot – not soapy or cologne-ish – then I’m a happy sipper.
Well, when I opened the pouch that held the tea bag of this Earl Grey Tea from Tea of Life, I didn’t get a strong, distinct bergamot aroma. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
The brewed tea has a stronger bergamot fragrance (although when compared to next to no bergamot aroma, it shouldn’t be difficult to have a stronger fragrance, right?) so I’m happy about that. It’s that unmistakable scent of bergamot. I love it.
The flavor: It’s good. The bergamot flavor is definitely there, and it doesn’t taste soapy or like I’m drinking fragrance de Uncle Albert. It’s not as strong as some Earl Grey teas I’ve tasted, but it’s a clear, well-defined bergamot note.
And the black tea is brisk and smooth. I’m really liking the black tea base because it’s not astringent. It’s really quite smooth and it’s a good, solid flavor. Nicely round.
Overall, this Earl Grey is a winner. I’m quite impressed with it, really, especially considering that A) this is a bagged tea; and B) I was rather disappointed with it when I took that first whiff and didn’t smell bergamot; and C) did I mention that this is a bagged tea? Like I said, impressive!
Orange Spice Flavored Green Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had quite a few orange spice flavored black teas, but not quite so many orange spice green teas. At least, I’m not able to immediately recall very many. But as I sip this Orange Spice flavored Green Tea from Tea of Life, I find myself wondering why, because this is quite nice!
Sure, it’s a bagged tea and yeah, I’d rather have loose leaf teas as opposed to bagged teas. But many of the bagged teas that I’ve tried from Tea of Life have been enjoyable and this Orange Spice is one of my favorites that I’ve had thus far.
To brew it, I started with freshly filtered water and I heated it to 175°F in my Breville One-Touch. (It doubles as a variable temperature tea kettle! Bonus!) I grabbed my favorite tea cup and let the teabag steep for 2 minutes. Say what you will about bagged teas – they are convenient, and sometimes that convenience is important. Taste is equally as important, so it’s good to find a bagged tea that is also tasty. That’s what I’ve found with this tea from Tea of Life!
The green tea is sweet and buttery. It has a nice, soft texture. It isn’t bitter or astringent. It isn’t overly “grassy” or vegetal either. Just smooth and sweet. It’s a great base for the flavors of orange and spice.
The orange is bright! Sweet and juicy tasting! The spices are gently warm. I taste subtle notes of cinnamon and a hint of clove. It’s not an overly spicy tasting tea – if you’re one who doesn’t like a spicy tea, you’ll find the level of spices in this tea to be to your liking.
I like that this isn’t overly sweet the way some orange spice teas can be. Usually they’re all about the cinnamon and you get that “red-hot” cinnamon taste. And hey, I like those teas too, but something like that would overpower the green tea and the flavoring here doesn’t do that. It lets the green tea come through nicely, and offers a warm, cozy spice and sunny citrus flavor. It’s something that works nicely as an afternoon tea when you want something to perk you up and would work equally as well as something that you curl up to in the early evening, especially on a cold autumn day like this!
Yeah, this’ll do!