Vanilla Caramel Chai/Tazo

by VariaTEA

A little while back the SororiTea Sisters shared teas in a traveling tea box. One of the sisters was kind enough to share several tea bags of Tazo’s Vanilla Caramel Chai. I grabbed a couple bags to try since vanilla and caramel are both flavors I usually love and lately I have been trying more and more chais and enjoying them.

Tazo’s Vanilla Caramel Chai is a black tea with cinnamon, licorice root, ginger, black pepper, cloves, and natural flavors. The licorice root has me a bit nervous but hopefully the other flavors hide the typical cloying sweetness of the licorice root.

Normally I would make chais as a latte but with only two tea bags, I didn’t think I had enough leaf for that. Consequently, I am trying the tea plain first but may add a splash of milk to get that latte creaminess.

Sipping on it now I am happy to report that the licorice root is nicely masked. There is a lot of cinnamon in the scent of the steeped tea which transfers over to the taste. I also get a ribbon of clove running through the sip. It is sweet and though I can smell vanilla caramel, nothing distinctly reflects that in flavor other than sweet.

I added a little bit of milk and unfortunately it doesn’t do much for taste. This tea is still cinnamon heavy though there is perhaps a bit less clove now.

Some people don’t like too much spice from their chai blends and if you are one of those people, this could be a nice option for you. As for me, I think spice is the whole point of having a chai and this falls short. I would happily forgive the lack of spice if it was in favor of highlighting the vanilla caramel but this falls short there too. It’s not bad per se but there is nothing all that great either.

Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Tazo Tea

Description

How do you make a great cup of chai tea taste even better? You add rich notes of vanilla, delectable caramel, and the classic spices of chai into the boldest black teas. It’s a sweet twist on a spicy favorite. It’s not just better. It’s better-er.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

photo credit:  Tazo Tea

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Tazo Tea

Lemongrass and Ginger. . . .Empa-Tea/Miss TeaSmith

by CuppaGeek

Things have been unique as of late with my family.  We are currently experiencing some life changing news and are working on addressing and processing all of this new info we’ve been given.  Except for me- who has decided to go on this mad teaware and tea buying spree, which is not necessarily a bad thing- I just have not had the mind set to sit down and actually enjoy what I’ve been buying as of late.

Until this beauty showed up at my door.  Empa-Tea is a simple blend of ginger and lemongrass that we’ve seen a few different versions of.  Sometimes there is a bit of rose or lavender in the blend but an herbal ginger lemongrass blend is pretty common.  This particular blend only has ginger and lemongrass listed in the ingredients on the label (on the website the ingredients also list lime peel, lemon verbena, lime leaves, red peppercorns and sunflower petals)  but I am spying some peppercorn along with possibly some citrus peel as well.  The name struck me and it seemed like the perfect time to check this blend out.

I prepped this blend a few different ways but my absolute favorite way was to cold brew this blend over night in sparkling water from my Soda Stream. I can’t seem to get enough of it.  Bright pops of the ginger and lemongrass really blend well with the citrus undertones and the fresh bubbles of the sparkling water.  Our lovely VariaTea creates unique tea concoctions all the time and I thought I’d try my hand with this blend.  And so happy I did.  Bubbly sweet, spicy, with a citrus note. . .you can’t go wrong.  Completely puts the sparkling water flavors you can pick up at the local grocery store to shame or at least a bit.

I did try this blend as both a regular cold brew and brewed hot and all were lovely.  The prominent notes that came across with each brewing was the ginger and the lemongrass.  The citrus notes were more muted when hot brewed but cold brewed you were able to pick up on those.

Versatile blend and classic flavors, you really can’t go wrong with a solid fresh ginger lemongrass blend like Empa-Tea no matter how you prep it.

Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Miss TeaSmith

Description

ingredients – Ginger, Lemongrass, Lemon Verbena, Lemon peel, Lime Leaves, Red Peppercorns, Sunflower Petals

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

**This tea was sent to the SororiTea Sisters in exchange for a review**

CuppaGeek

I am a late 30s something mom who loves her family, will be getting married to a wonderful guy and has 4 kids (2 mine-2 his). We have a beautiful life together and I wouldn't change a thing. Tea is a passion that quickly turned into an obsession, very similar to my love for polka dots, the horror genre, and anything that is geeky and fun. I drink all kinds of tea and will try a tea twice to make sure I didn't bumble the first infusion. Besides SororiTea Sisters, I'm also the blogger and genius (I use that word very loosely) behind CuppaGeek, where I review tea, books, and the horror genre.

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Miss TeaSmith

Naughty or Anise/Tiesta Tea

by ashmanra

I had a nice, big sample pack of this one, full of juicy chunks of fruit and whole spices. The thing is, I am not a big fan of dried fruit teas. I drink mostly real TEA so I have put off trying this. But today was abnormally warm and it seemed like a good time to try it.

The reason I don’t like fruit tea usually is that it either has almost no flavor, like someone whispered the name of a fruit at the water, or they add hibiscus for color and flavor and it all ends up just being a variation on hibiscus – tart and sassy.

This one came out SO DIFFERENT.

I used the whole pouch and steeped it twice, because I wanted a large pitcher to drink with our evening meal. I did sweeten it lightly with cane sugar. I added chilled water and ice and oh my goodness, it was great!

It had FLAVOR! You could really taste the fruit and the spices were so well matched to bring out the best in it. I like anise, and it was just the right amount for me with beautiful whole stars in the blend. The cinnamon brought out the apple pie vibe they talk about. This is from the “Relaxer” tea line, and who could be tense with an apple pie?

Bottom line – I loved it and would definitely love to have it again.

Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Fruit Tisane

Where to Buy:  Tiesta Tea

Description

Star anise, cinnamon and almond blend together for a spunky twist on apple pie. Being naughty has never tasted so nice.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

 **by purchasing this product via the pic/link below, you will be supporting the SororiTea Sisters in their mission to support tea companies, big and small with the Amazon Affiliate Program.  All monies collected from this program will be used to purchase teas for the SororiTea Sisters to review or to assist with shipping costs**

ashmanra

I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about seven years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs. We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey. My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Tiesta Tea

Cherry Blossom/DAVIDs Tea

by ashmanra

It is late at night and I am already sleepy.  I want something light and sweet as a bedtime treat, so I chose Cherry Blossom. Although it is primarily labeled as a white tea, this is a actually a blend of white and green tea with cherries, coconut chips, rosebuds, and natural and artificial cherry flavoring.

Cherry flavor can so easily go wrong. So many cherry teas (and other cherry flavored things) taste like cherry cough syrup, which is NOT what I am looking for. Remember Luden’s Cherry Cough Drops? Now THAT I could handle, or real sweet cherries, but not something that tastes like actual cough syrup. (Not a rooibos fan as a general rule because it tastes like cough syrup to me. It takes throwing in a ton of flavoring to make it palatable for me.)

Happily, this didn’t go wrong. The coconut is giving it body and creaminess, the rose adds a little sweetness but honestly not a ton of floral flavor, and the main event is definitely sweet cherry without the cough syrup BLARG.

This one has really been a hit with family and friends, and I think the next step is to try it iced and see what happens!

Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  White/Green Blend

Where to Buy:  DAVIDs Tea

Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

ashmanra

I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about seven years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs. We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey. My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

This post was posted in DAVIDsTEA, Green Tea, White Tea

Planet Kunlu Sheng Puerh/Crimson Lotus Tea

by ashmanra

I have a lot more experience with shu puerh than with sheng, but I want to rectify that. What better place to start than with this gorgeous dragon pearl from Crimson Lotus Tea?

This is a really large pearl, but I was not prepared for just how much leaf there is here! Crimson Lotus had a great video telling how to best steep these. Thirty second rinse with boiling water to open it up, pour off the rinse and let it rest for about five minutes. This is great thing to do with any puerh, by the way, not just a tight pearl like this.

Now you can do another thirty second steep and drink it or pour it away, your choice. If the aroma doesn’t appeal to you at this point, don’t worry about pouring it away because believe me, you are going to be here steeping and drinking for a long, long time.

Now that you are on the third steep, shorten your steep to about ten seconds because the leaves are now saturated and the pearl has opened. My gaiwan is full! The leaves are whole, soft, and a beautiful green.

The tea is rich and thick, and has lots of energy going down. The color is surprisingly dark for a youngish sheng, a really deep golden/amber color. The flavor is as rich as the color and stays that way for more than ten steeps, maybe fifteen or twenty. I lost count and have no idea how many steeps I ended up making. For this reason, I am buying a pace counter (ranger beads or range counter) to keep track of future steeping sessions with sheng puerh teas.

This felt like a favorite hoppy beer on the way down, really refreshing and kept me reaching for more. The best part for me was the amazing rising sweetness that persisted.

Honestly I think the tea could have kept going for ages more, and I am thankful that halfway through I was joined by another tea drinker because it just kept giving and I couldn’t hold anymore. The color never lessened, the flavor never got weak. I am really kicking myself for not saving those leaves but it was an outdoor, early spring gong fu session and I couldn’t manage it.

More Crimson Lotus sheng is definitely going on my shopping list.

Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type: Puerh

Where to Buy:  Crimson Lotus Tea

Description

“A world of flavor in the palm of your hand!” This is a new planet in our Yunniverse.

Don’t let their small size fool you. These tiny spheres of puerh are made from Kunlu Shan small arbor tree tree material. They were picked and processed in Spring of 2017 and were pressed in the Summer of 2017.

Each of these hand made ‘planets’ weighs around 8 grams. These are called ‘long zhu’ (龙珠) in Chinese; this means ‘dragon balls’. They are hand wrapped and ready to brew. These work great with any style of brewing. You can toss one in a gaiwan or clay teapot. They work great grandpa style, or in an on the go thermos. They are tightly compressed so we give them a nice long initial wash to help them open up. The first steep is longer than normal until the leaves open up.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

photo credit:  crimson lotus tea

ashmanra

I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about seven years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs. We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey. My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

This post was posted in Crimson Lotus Tea, Pu-erh