Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Tea Description:
The creamy richness of coconut milk on a dazzling and brisk Japanese Sencha base. A true customer favorite.
Ingredients: Green tea from Japan, shredded coconut and flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love coconut, I love green tea, I love this particular blend from TeaGschwendner!
I had high hopes when I saw this one and another tea friend asked if I wanted anything during their latest sale. I said yes instantly. I have been wanting to try this one for a while now.
This is yet another tea that I shared with my dad and my boyfriend during our Mother’s Day festivities with my family. Even my mom came sniffing around the tea pot while this was brewing and she rarely shows interest in anything but her Lipton Decaf tea bags.
Brewed this up one per the instructions but added in just a bit more tea leaf.
This was a huge hit with everyone (well except my mom- who still doesn’t like anything but her Lipton Decaf tea bags). We all said the same thing. Rich green creamy tea base with this amazing coconut flavor that really screams coconut. Creamy delicious coconut. This tea is for the coconut lovers for sure. Smelling this tea, you instantly think of suntan lotion. But the taste is just amazing. My dad even asked for seconds with this one. Next time around, I want to try and add in some fruit or herbs to kick the flavor up a notch or two.
If you love green tea and enjoy coconut, you have to try this one. I even have 100g of this and I’m wondering if that will be enough. So good!
Rooibush Panna Cotta Rhubarb Cream from TeaGschwendner
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Tea Description:
Dessert in a teacup! The dazzling combination of Italian Panna Cotta, tart rhubarb and sweet cream combine for a flavor as delicious as the aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Rooibush Panna Cotta Rhubarb Cream is probably the longest tea blend name ever…
Well, not really. It is pretty lengthy, though. And tacking on the “TeaGshwendner” certainly doesn’t help.
Ok; starting off with a confession: Not only have I never had Panna Cotta, but prior to trying this tea I didn’t know what it was either. I most certainly had to do an internet search, but now that I do know what it is I’m actually kind of embarrassed I didn’t. What originally caught my attention with this one was absolutely the rhubarb; I’ve been on a bit of a personal rhubarb kick lately: beer, pie, jam, yogurt and of course tea.
Dry, there isn’t a whole lot to this tea. It has a very, very mildly fruity scent but nothing super characteristic of rooibos and apart from one small little piece of cube shaped rhubarb my measured out leaf is all fine pieces of rooibos. As the tea was steeping, it started to smell a little bit stronger but still mostly maintained a predominantly rooibos only sort of scent.
The taste thankfully delivers some flavour although not nearly as much as I’m wanting. The whole front end of the sip is straight rooibos – albeit a pretty good one without any medicinal or woodchip kind of notes present. That said, people who dislike the taste of rooibos, good or bad, will want to steer clear of this one: trust me, you’re going to taste a lot of it. The other flavour kicks in the end of the sip and the aftertaste. And it’s pretty subtle; a bit of sweetness and a little bit of tang similar to the natural tartness of rhubarb. It’s also a little bit apple-y. I’m struggling a little bit to pick up the cream/custard of the ‘Panna Cotta’ but there is something about the tartness of the rhubarb that reminds me a little bit of Greek Yogurt, so perhaps that’s more derived from the panna cotta.
I don’t sweeten my teas, but I could possibly be inclined to add the tiniest pinch of sugar to this one because I just have that gut feeling that it’d make a world of difference. However, without the sugar the flavour of this one is definitely lacking. However, this could be a winner for someone who doesn’t mind rooibos and who is looking for something subtly flavoured.
Lemon Black Tea from TeaGschwendner
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Tea Description:
Pure Sicilian lemon oil powers this classic black tea.
Ingredients: Black tea from South India, lemon peel and natural lemon oil
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lemon flavored teas are not typically my “go to” flavored tea, mostly because they seem … so ordinary. You know? I mean, lemon is the traditional garnish for a cup of tea. You go to a restaurant, and they’re likely to put a lemon slice on your glass of iced tea, or serve you a small bowl of lemon wedges with your hot tea. So, when a friend sent me a sampling of this Lemon Black Tea from TeaGschwendner, I accepted it happily and with appreciation, but, I wasn’t all that excited to try a lemon flavored black tea.
But this lemon tea is quite refreshing! The lemon flavoring here is more sweet than it is tart, reminding me more of a lemon curd than of the freshly squeezed juice from a lemon. It has a bright, zesty flavor that I’d get from that freshly squeezed lemon, but, it doesn’t have the pucker-y tartness of it. I like that.
The black tea is a smooth, even-tempered sort of tea, which leads me to suspect that this is probably a Ceylon base. It has a good flavor and it is a pleasant, medium-bodied black tea. Sort of mellow, and perhaps it is this mild attitude that I get from the tea that makes the lemon seem less intense.
It’s a very tasty lemon tea – this is one I’d recommend for iced tea brewing because it has that really smooth, well-rounded flavor that would work well for an iced tea. It’s also quite nice served hot.
Rooibush Strawberry Cream from TeaGschwendner
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Product Description:
South African rooibush naturally sweetened by the satisfying blend of strawberries and cream.
Ingredients: Rooibush tea from African, flavor, strawberry leaves and strawberry pieces.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this tisane is so delicious. It smells like strawberries and vanilla cream!
The flavor is quite nice too. The strawberry and vanilla flavors seem pretty evenly matched. I don’t really taste one over the other, and I’d say I get an even amount of strawberry and vanilla flavor in each sip. What I don’t get a lot of is the flavor of the rooibos… but you won’t hear me complain about that.
Oh, sure, I can taste a hint of nutty flavor in the background, and it is a distinctly “rooibos” flavor, but, it is not a strong presence. The strawberry has a sweet with just a hint of tart taste, and the vanilla is soft and creamy.
For best results with this tisane, I recommend steeping it in a Libre tea glass like my Libre Glass n’ Poly Mug. I just put a couple of heaping teaspoons of the rooibos into the main chamber of the mug, add the boiling water, and let it steep for eight minutes. Then I screw the filter lid on tight, and let the fine mesh of the lid strain the tea as I sip (and not ONE of the uber-thin, needle-like leaves of the rooibos slipped through).
Using this method allows the rooibos to continue to steep as I sip. Since rooibos has very little tannin, it doesn’t become bitter if you steep it a long time. It just gains flavor! By the time I was halfway through my cup of this tisane, the flavor was intense and very yum.
Black Currant from TeaGschwendner
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Product Description:
These lovely summer berries are immensely popular in Europe. Ready for a continental treat?
Ingredients: Black tea from India, black currant leaves, black currants and flavor.
Taster’s Review:
When I first opened the package of this tea, my nose was met with a lovely berry aroma. It smelled juicy and delicious!
But I was a little disappointed with the first couple of sips. I wasn’t getting nearly the currant flavor that the fragrance led me to believe I would. The first few sips tasted mostly of black tea with mere hints of black currant flavor and a slightly tart finish.
However, as I continued to make my way to mid-cup, I found that the flavor intensified. It is still a little softer than I had hoped but it is much nicer now than at the start.
I believe the black tea base is a Ceylon. I base this on the flavor – it is very even-toned, with a smooth and mellow taste. It is not an aggressive flavor, but, I happen to think that is a good thing, because if this were a stronger tea, it would probably overwhelm the black currant flavor altogether.
The black currant flavor is delicate but pleasant. It has a delicious taste that reminds me a bit of my favorite tea cake (which I haven’t had in quite some time) which is laden with black currants… it leads me to believe that this tea would be a fantastic choice to serve with shortbread cookies or some other butter-rich pastry-like treat.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this cuppa, but it isn’t one that I would consider a favorite.