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!
Caramel Carrot from Tea Shirt
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Tea Description:
Flavoured fruit & vegetable tea blend
Ingredients: carrot flakes, apple pieces, pineapple cubes (contains sugar), cocoa peel, cream-caramel pieces (sweetened, skimmed, condensed milk, sugar, glucose, molasses, butter fat, wetting agent, emulsifying agent), flavouring, safflower.
Preparation: Put one heaped teaspoon of loose leaf tea per person into 100°C water for 8-10 minutes.
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Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Caramel Carrot from Tea Shirt has the same feel to it as one of 52Teas’ amazing concoctions! The tea blend immediately called to me. I love the odd teas that are out there and love checking them out. This is one odd tea, that is for sure!
First off, Caramel Carrot has a very unique look. I swear the tea looks like trail mix. Huge chunks of carrots, apple pieces, and what looks to be a caramel cube. Looking at the ingredient list it really makes me wonder what the wetting agent and emulsifying agent are. Two words I can’t say I’ve ever seen in a tea before!
After looking over the package and not really being sure how to steep the tea, I went with what the packaged recommended. 100C and 10 minute steeping time. The dry leaf itself had an unusual sugary like smell to it. One that I wasn’t too keen on but I was going to see this tea thru to the end!
First sip in and I have to say this to is something else. I can’t say I like nor can I say I dislike the tea. There is an unusual sugary caramel flavor that flows thru the sip mixed with a bright carrot flavor. It seems odd to be sipping on a liquid and getting a true carrot flavor, but that is exactly what is happening. I don’t really get any of the apple or pineapple notes. They could just be contributing to the sugary finish.
So all in all, a fun tea to try. Just can’t say that I would enjoy cup after cup of Caramel Carrot from Tea Shirt. It was a fun cuppa while it lasted tho!
On to my next tea adventure!
Guangxi Golden Pearls from Tea Shirt
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Tea Description:
Premium black tea pearls from Guangxi Province, China.
Handmade pearls of about 1cm in diameter with distinctive golden tips. Fruity and characteristic aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been devouring the teas that I picked up from Tea Shirt and this is another fantastic offering! Little pearls lovely hand rolled. Who wouldn’t love these?
I have always loved the “pearl” or “ball” like teas. There is something so alluring about watching the tea leaves uncurl in the steeper creating this illusion of the tea leaves dancing in the water. Just a lovely sight.
I prepped my water per the instructions on the package and grabbed a few of the pearls. Dropped them into my steeper and poured the water. I couldn’t wait to watch those leaves uncurl and dance.
Finally the tea was ready and poured myself a huge cuppa and sat down to enjoy. I have to say, this tea was fantastic! Lovely malty notes with a hint of a fruity finish with a slight astringent mouth feel. Everything you would hope a black pearl like tea would be. The flavors yield such a lovely mix of the right amount of each characteristic. So much so that I can’t seem to put my cup down.
My favorite flavor note is this lovely malty woodsy like flavor. It really does mix well with the sweet almost fruity or jam like hint that I’m getting. The fruity notes are very subtle and gentle allowing the black tea flavor to really shine.
Another tea I can’t get enough of from this company. I see a second order on the horizon!