I steeped this tea with 2 heaping teaspoons of leaf in 1 cup of 200 degree water for about four minutes.
I was a little concerned that the jasmine flowers wouldn’t have much fragrance left because I couldn’t detect much smell in the dry flowers, but when I started steeping the tea it started giving off its perfume right away, so I guess hot water is the magic ingredient to bring that out!
There are tons of jasmine flowers in this tea, too. Like, actual jasmine buds. And they smell like a combination of candy and perfume once they’ve started steeping. The green tea fragrance isn’t really coming through at this point, but I’m not surprised at all given how flowery the smell is.
I let it go to four minutes because I didn’t want to waste any of the jasmine fragrance.
Once the tea is steeped, I noticed that some leaf has escaped the ball; the tea is orange-yellow in color and, as mentioned before, highly fragrant.
First sip: Apparently Jasmine tastes sweet as well as smelling sweet. There’s an edge of bitterness to the green tea, though; there’s also some umami and maybe a little seaweediness to it, rounding the flavor out. I blame myself for the bitterness, because I used 200 degree water instead of 195 degree water like recommended (because hey, my electric kettle only has so many settings. Next time though I’d go with the cooler option, which I think would be 185 on my kettle).
A little sugar helps with any bitterness; or you could just steep at the recommended temperature, unlike me, and do a less intense steeping as well (three minutes instead of four). It’s really great as is, though, and tastes like drinking flowers!! Jasmine is so magical it kind of blows my mind every time I try a good jasmine tea (the reason I don’t try them more often is probably because I’m kind of scared of getting a not-so-good one).
I’m also really impressed by this tea company’s mission and activism; they don’t just say that they support charitable causes, they also give 25% of their proceeds (that’s a quarter of everything they get!) to mental health causes, according to their website.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Company
Description
Jasmine tea is one of the most pleasant fragrances to all people. To the nose, the dry tea has a floral bouquet, which causes your senses to come alive with pleasant thoughts. This tea is filled to the brim with an abundance of beautiful jasmine blossoms which gives the tea an amazing presentation value. In China, they declare this jasmine tea as ‘Jasmine #1’.
This high quality green tea – produced between the middle of March and the middle of May – has jasmine flowers that bloom between the 1st of May and the end of May (the time of the most intense aroma). This tea yields a cup with all the concentrated heady bouquet of a garden in bloom, even if its your neighbor’s jasmine bush.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Chiffon from The Love Tea Company. . . . .
I actually made this about a week ago and I was excited to try it out. In fact, I was especially excited since I recently finished a different Lemon Chiffon tea, my beloved Lemon Chiffon by Della Terra Teas. Now THAT was an awesome tea, silky and rich and ever so sweet, just like a fluffy chiffon cake with a smooth lemon buttercream frosting.
However, it didn’t exactly happen that way since a friend came to visit and stole my mug of this tea. She seemed to enjoy it because she finished all 16 ounces before I could even ask for a taste. Luckily I had just enough leaf left for another 16 ounce mug.
My Della Terra blend was made of lemon flavor, cream flavor, and lemon bits and pieces all atop a rooibos base. Alternatively, The Love Tea Company took a different approach using a blend of rooibos and honeybush, topping it with lemon myrtle, lavender flowers, marigold petals, and natural lemon and pomegranate flavors. A bit more natural. A bit more earthy. Though, not exactly a “chiffon” flavor profile.
This has a lot of lavender flavor, a bit of the floral/spice twang that only comes from true lavender. Now I am not a lavender lover though I will say that it compliments the bright lemon flavor nicely. The base also provides a solid foundation without imparting too much flavor, which allows for the lemon and lavender to stand out.
Is it the replacement I hoped it might be? No. But it is done well for what it is and for those that like these flavors, it could be a lovely nighttime treat.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Co
Description
There’s a reason why we call this a brilliant blend. Remember that Lemon Chiffon cake that Grandma made? It’s like that, without the cleanup or pinches to your cheek. A rooibos blend that smells like you could eat it straight out of the jar. Since it has no caffeine, it’s the perfect compliment to any after dinner treat.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lavender Fans Take Notice! #TheLoveTeaCo
Anything with LOVE in the name of the company I can’t wait to learn more about and try their products – especially if they are TEA companies so when I heard we were getting teas from The Love Tea Co I was super excited!
The first tea I tried from this company was their Black Lavender. At first glance of the loose leaf I thought it was more Lavender than Black Tea but after a closer look I noticed the ratio from leaf to flower or flower to leaf was about 50/50.
After infusing the contents I noticed the tea liquor was of a lighter brown in the cup. The intense yet beautiful lavender aroma was prominent that is for sure.
The flavor of this Lavender flavored Black Tea had a mellower black tea base and a more ‘in your face’ Lavender flavor.
Their website says…Lavender lovers, this is for you. All the calming qualities of this popular scent and flavor with a kick of caffeine to get your day started. This Brilliant Blend is one you won’t want to miss. Blended with our fine quality First Flush Darjeeling and a Lavender Super Blue, it will get you going but keep you calm for the day ahead.
I agree it was nicely blended. And the quality of the Lavender was TOP NOTCH! It was a more creamier Lavender which I was extremely grateful for because I have had some that were more of a stale flower flavor. This wasn’t the case here and I applaud them and that.
This was a goodie and I can’t wait to try more of their teas! Spread a little LOVE today, folks! We all need more of it!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Co.
Description
Lavender lovers, this is for you. All the calming qualities of this popular scent and flavor with a kick of caffeine to get your day started. This Brilliant Blend is one you won’t want to miss. Blended with our fine quality First Flush Darjeeling and a Lavender Super Blue, it will get you going but keep you calm for the day ahead.
Caffeine Level: Medium
Steep 1 to 2 teaspoons @ 195° for 3 – 5 minutes
Ingredients: First Flush Darjeeling Black Tea, Lavender Petals
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Chiffon from The Love Tea Company. . . . #teaitforward
I got this tea as a surprise! It came in a “Tea It Forward” box, which is a program where you buy a box of 3 teas as a surprise for a friend, and the proceeds go to charity. The wonderful Cuppageek sent this to me as a gift for my general awesomeness! Here’s a pic of what I received.
Tonight’s pick is Lemon Chiffon. This rooibos/honeybush blend allegedly tastes like my grandmother’s cake. Since I didn’t have grandmothers that made this dish, I’m going to just have to wing this.
The lemon in this is strong, and a tiny bit bitter in a way that tastes “authentic.” It doesn’t have a fake sugar-lemon flavor. There’s also some lavender and pomegranate mixed in here, which lives it a little bit of a berry/flower kick.
I doubt that a grandmother would have mixed in pomegranate. But she should have; it’s a cool idea.
Overall, I think this blend is a tiny bit too tart for my tastes, but I think with a little bit of milk/honey, it’d be perfect. Give it a try!
Or help charity out and “Tea It Forward” to a friend who needs a pick-me-up!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Company
Description
There’s a reason why we call this a brilliant blend. Remember that Lemon Chiffon cake that Grandma made? It’s like that, without the cleanup or pinches to your cheek. A rooibos blend that smells like you could eat it straight out of the jar. Since it has no caffeine, it’s the perfect compliment to any after dinner treat.
Caffeine Level: None
Steep 2 teaspoons @ 195° for 3 – 5 minutes
Luxury Ingredients: rooibos, rooibus tea, honeybush, lemon myrtle, lavender flowers, marigold petals, natural lemon and pomegranate flavor.
Allergens: None
**Priced for purpose means we cost-average our overall inventory and charge a single price per size for our fine quality teas. Our pricing is entirely based upon our mission to donate 25% of net profit to The Flagg Foundation for Mental Wellness. Due to the density of teas, weighted amounts vary from jar to jar. Every purchase of Love Tea is a direct donation to improving human health and happiness.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Raspberry Champagne from The Love Tea Co. . .
There is something extra special about flavored white teas that are done RIGHT and this one from The Love Tea Co. is one of those teas. Raspberry Champagne from The Love Tea Co is very berry nicely flavored!
I’ve had a few other raspberry champagne flavored teas before. Some of them seem to really ‘do up’ the champagne like-ness while others focus on the raspberry. This one is completely satisfying with not leaning one way or the other. It’s a great ‘in the middle of the flavor’ spectrum!
White Tea, Safflowers, Whole Dried Raspberries, Champagne and Red Raspberry Flavoring are the ingredients in this tea and each and every addition of flavor is pretty glorious – I have to say!
White Raspberry Champagne from The Love Tea Co is a great alternative to the real thing! Their wine inspired blends create a character so versatile you’ll get all of the fun of a “fancy drink” without the boozy qualities. Perfect for work time!
The pairing of champagne and raspberry flavors dates back centuries and they’ve mastered it here. You won’t be disappointed this is a luxurious treat any day of the week. YUMMERS!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Love Tea Co.
Description
Our White Raspberry Champagne is a great alternative to the real thing! Our wine inspired blends create a character so versatile you’ll get all of the fun of a “fancy drink” without the boozy qualities. The pairing of champagne and raspberry flavors dates back centuries and we’ve mastered it here in this wine evoking tisane. You won’t be disappointed this is a luxurious treat any day of the week.
Caffeine Level: Medium
Ingredients: White Tea, Safflowers, Whole Dried Raspberries, Champagne and Red Raspberry Flavoring.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!