This year has been something. Might I even say this might be the worse year I’ve ever experienced at least for my family. . . but I try to always look at the brighter side. Between all of the nation wide situations going on like COVID 19 and the current political climate here in the States, my family has been hit with a lot of health related hardships that has left a void in our hearts. But through all of these hardships and what felt like a never ending cycle of bad news and stressful situations, I found solace and peace each and every day within a cuppa tea that was constantly by my side during those hard weeks of September through the present day. Each day, no matter what else was going on or how I felt- I made sure that I had a cuppa tea at the ready to help soothe my soul and keep me going. One of those cuppas that I enjoyed was Kaley Teas’s black tea.
The title for this tea really says it all. No fuss, no complex this or that- this is a lovely black tea that is mellow on flavor but still quite delightful. Brewed with freshly prepped boiling water and allowed to steep for right around 3 minutes- this tea has a bright note of crisp maltiness with a touch of astringency that really keeps you going sip after sip. Every once in a while I noted a bread like flavor or a potentially raisin finish. This black tea stood up to a few steepings and I even think I oversteeped for a moment or two and still enjoyed the cuppa and wanted more. From the description I found on the tea (after doing some searching on the site), there was some comments about floral and bergamot orange flavors, I’m not so sure my palette picked up on those but I’ll be curious to see if my other SororiTea Sisters do.
Kaley Tea is a company that I’m not 100% familiar with and their website looks like they are still working on bring their story to market. I’m quite excited to check out their other teas and I just adore how they label each tea with a reassuring title like a mellow black tea or a graceful green tea. For someone like me who has been finding themseleves looking more for straight tea blends instead of flavored ones, this one is a keeper.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Kaley Teas
Description
Black twiggy twisted tea leaves turn into a light shimmering copper golden liquor with every steep. Floral notes mixed with rice paddy hay provides a distinct base. A finale of bergamot orange and chocolate gives way to bee’s honey, making up a colorful bouquet of delicate & sublimely refined flavours. Bright coppery infused leaves emanate floral perfumes, enmeshed with sugary, citrusy notes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rave Coffee and Tea! -CuppaGeek-
Even though I am a huge tea drinker, I do love my coffee as well. I actually start each day with coffee. Being not a morning person, I’ve bumbled tea steepings one too many times and it seems like coffee is just an easier choice for me- plus coffee is just an alluring smell for thing in the morning.
Recently I tried a coffee tea blend where there was actual coffee in the tea blend itself (not coffee flavorings) and I fell in love with this unique blend. Around the same time, Rave Coffee reached out to the SororiTea Sisters to see if we would be interested in checking out their coffee and it was like it was meant to be. When the coffee arrived- I was floored. The coffee smelled amazing, fresh, and vibrant. Along with the coffee was this really lovely education pack. I’ve never seen such a cool education guide to help you learn and explore your coffee. There is so much info on how to brew your coffee, how to taste it, they even included a coffee tea tasting log. Very very cool and slick in style.
Before I started experimenting with the tea and coffee blend, I decided I wanted to try the coffee on its own and it was amazing. My particular palette I feel is more set up to tastes the unique properties of tea more than coffee but what I can say is that this tea was divine. Rich, smooth, without any bitterness and addicting! I found myself eagerly drinking cup after cup as regular coffee, lattes, cold brews, you name it- I tried it- and always with success. Just plain delicious and highly recommended.
When it was time to start brewing the coffee up with tea- I decided to go with an blend of Assam to get that right taste. I also added a few cocoa nibs just to give the coffee and tea a bit more flavor to play off of. Brewed up the tea with 212F prepped water for right around 2 minutes. The result- Delicious mix of the two worlds that I adore- coffee and tea. Each flavor is allowed its own time in the spotlight- you can literally tell the familiar notes of coffee with the familiar notes of tea. I was assuming there might be a mixing of flavors but there really isn’t. Which sounds a bit odd, but I’m actually enjoying this and my own little experiment tastes a lot like the coffee tea blend I had not too long ago. I’m excited to really explore this idea more with different coffee and tea blends.
I’ve had several different coffee subscriptions from a lot of different places but Rave is one I’m really excited to get going to really take a deeper dive into all things coffee and possibly even blend up a puerh coffee blend on my own. Rave Coffee has so much to learn on their website just in general but it will be fun to really take the time to enjoy their coffee like I do some of my favorite teas and to take the time to really learn about that cup of joe I enjoy so much in the mornings.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Where to Buy: Rave
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Feenduft/Floragold – VariaTea-
One of my tea friends was super kind and gave me a bunch of tea pyramids by Floragold. There was so much variety and while I typically prefer loose leaf, I’ve been enjoying the convenience of being able to grab a tea bag and brew up a cup with such quick clean-up.
If I am being honest, I had low expectations of the quality of the teas. I think there is an underlying tea snob in me that always expects less from a tea bag/satchet/pyramid than I do from loose leaf teas. However, these Floragold teas have been pretty good so far.
This tea, Feenduft aka Fairy Fragrance, is a green rooibos that is meant to taste like strawberry kiwi. Personally, I think that flavor is quite spot-on. The green rooibos base compliments those flavors nicely as well. All elements are present and floral and light, which makes for a nice cuppa.
Of the Floragold teas I have tried, this one is one of my favorites. It’s convenient and the flavors are lovely. It could be a bit stronger on the strawberry kiwi and a bit less base, but that is more a personal preference for my tastes. Besides that, I am a fan.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
TeaLady Grey/Rare Tea Company – Stephenia-
I admit it, I am obsessed with earl grey tea. Every morning is started with a cuppa of earl grey and many times I end my day with a caffeine-free rooibos version. I literally have over 40 different varieties of the stuff from all sorts of companies in my tea collection but I am always looking for THE holy grail earl grey. I think I may have actually found it!
I recently saw that Rare Tea Company released a new version of earl grey. If you are not familiar with Rare Tea Company it was founded by Henrietta Lovell. She wrote a fantastic book called Infused which recounts how tea has shaped her life and has been a constant companion through times of trouble. I can’t recommend the book enough, especially if you love tea! At any rate she created a new blend called TeaLady Grey. I was immediately drawn to it because of the addition of lemongrass. Lemongrass is perhaps one of my absolute favorite herbals and I especially love when it is added to earl grey. It helps to deepen the citrus notes of the bergamot. I ordered the tea during one of their free ship events. Make sure you are subscribed to their email because free ship events are offered several times a year.
The tea begins with a beautiful base. And really, a tea blend is only as good as the base used with it. I find so many companies start with an inferior base in hopes that the other ingredients will mask the fact that the tea leaves are not good. The base is black tea from the Shire Highlands of Malawi. It is a smaller cut leaf typical of teas from this region. The base is strong, malty and a perfect tea to carry the Sri Lankan lemongrass, Malawi lemon verbena and Italian bergamot. Because Henrietta has such a great relationship with her tea farmers she is able to secure the highest quality and freshest ingredients which translates to an exquisite tea experience. This is an absolutely perfectly blended tea and on par with all the other great teas I have had from Rare Tea Company. The layering of the citrus notes from the bergamot, lemongrass and lemon verbena create a perfectly bright and well rounded cup. If you are a fan of earl grey I highly recommend this version. This blend checks all the boxes for me and then some on what I am looking for in a perfect earl grey.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rare Tea Co.
Description
This tea is our Rare Tea Lady’s (founder Henrietta Lovell) riff on a traditional Earl Grey; a more delicately herbaceous and distinctly lemon blend.
Instead of containing just black tea and the essential oil of bergamot that composes a traditional Earl Grey Tea – we’ve built up the lemon notes, not with more citrus but uniquely with delicious lemon herbs.
Rich yet elegant black tea from the Shire Highlands of Malawi blended with Italian Bergamot, Malawi Lemon Verbena and Sri Lankan Lemongrass.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Peach & Apricot Green Tea/Joseph’s Tea -CuppaGeek-
These are incredibly busy days for me and my family. Besides a family situations we have going on, my 9-5 job is in the political arena so I’m pretty much working from the minute I wake up until the minute I’m heading to bed with emails still coming in. I do very much love my job but because of the craziness. . . .my tea drinking has fallen to the way side a bit and I’m missing my tea time so very much.
So after lunch the other day, I made it a priority to enjoy tea time (with snacks even) and grabbed a tea we recently relieved from Joseph’s Tea- Peach & Apricot Green Tea. This particular tea was in a tea bag so I knew that even if I had to quickly start working again, I would be able to easily keep drinking this delight.
Brewed with water at 170F and allowed to steep right around 3 minutes, this tea was a delightful surprise. Really sweet peachy notes with a subtle smoky flavor. I don’t get the apricot notes as much as I get the peachy notes, but I’ll be honest, I’m ok with that because of how lovely the peach flavor was.
This tea was really simple yet really lovely tea to enjoy and enjoy I did. This tea was my companion all afternoon. I found myself really digging the contrast of the sweet peach notes with the gunpowder green tea.
I did try for a few more resteeps and I was again pleasantly surprised. I can see this tea being a dynamite iced tea and something I will be trying in the future.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Joseph’s Tea
Description
Temple of heaven Gunpowder green tea with peach and Apricot flavoring. One of our best sellers!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
**gifted for review**