I have heard such amazing things about this tea. It seems to be loved by so many people on Instagram and it has taken years for me to get my hands on some since it always seems to be sold out. However, our sister, CuppaGeek came through for me with a sample of this tea.
I brewed the sample per the NecessiTeas recommended steeping parameters. I steeped the tea in boiling water for 5 minutes. The smell of cotton candy filled the air.
I think it is safe to say that given the hype and the smell, I had pretty high expectations going in. Unfortunately, it did fall a bit short for me. It’s top note is definitely a sugary candy. It could be cotton candy but it could also be pixie sticks. It’s a nostalgic flavor. However, it is not the only flavor. There is a lot more fruitiness here that I did not expect. Under the sugary top note, I am getting a lot of the apple flavor. That apple flavor is a touch waxy and thus distracting.
At the end of the day, this has a bunch of potential and I can definitely see why people enjoy it. However, I would want to explore some other steeping parameters and brewing techniques to coax out more of the cotton candy while toning down the fruitier notes.
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Leaf Type: Herbal/Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Ohh Sugar Sugar
Cotton Candy reminds me of the county fair. The long strands of pink and blue spun sugar are a special treat. My kids and I have always been fans of the sugary novelty which inspired me to create a tea blend that would be just as delicious and sweet.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bubblegum/The NecessiTeas – Ashmanra-
It is hot and humid and hasn’t been a very fun day. Harrumph. I looked to my samples stash to find something light to cheer me up. Bubblegum sounded perfect!
This is a green tea with long, lightweight leaves and my second teaspoonful had a REAL GUMBALL in it! Be sure you scoop enough leaf for this one or go by weight instead of spoonfuls, leaving the gumball off the scale!
The instructions says to use water “just under boiling” but I went with my usual green tea temp and used 175F water for three minutes. Of course when I retrieved the infuser basket from the pot, I had to check to see what happened to the gumball! The color and hard coating were gone and a smaller sticky globe was there. Perhaps hotter water would have melted it entirely.
I drank a cup of this hot, and it was good, fruity, but not really screaming GUMBALL at me. It was just a pleasantly fruity green tea with a very light sour or brisk edge barely there. I didn’t add anything to it.
I put the rest of the tea in the fridge to chill for supper. I think I like it even better this way. The edge I tasted when it was hot is gone, and I am left with a light, refreshing, fruity green tea. I have enough leaf left for one more pot, and I will go unsweetened iced tea all the way with the balance of it.
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Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
We all remember that sweet pink bubblegum flavor as a kid. Contests with your best friend to see who could blow the biggest bubble and then having it pop and stick to your entire face. Chewing it for hours until our jaws ached or falling asleep with it in our mouth which meant waking up with a big sticky mess in our hair! This blend takes me back to all those childhood memories and will be loved by adults and children of all ages. Feel free to steep the actual gum balls or pop one in your mouth and work on your bubble blowing skills while your tea is steeping!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
*gifted in exchange for review*
Tropical Twist/The NecessiTeas
When I was younger, I used to love Coca Cola. Regular coke. I would easily drink a can a day. Then I was talking to a nutritionist who recommended I cut back to one can a week. However, once I stopped drinking coke so often, it started to taste weird when I started drinking it again so I mostly stuck to water. With that said, sometimes it is nice to have something bubbly and sweet and that’s when tea pops make for a great choice.
Personally I like using fruity teas for tea pops. NecessiTeas makes some awesome fruit teas that make for some tasty tea pops. Tropical Twist is among some of their delicious options.
Tropical Twist is a tropical fruit tisane made with apples, dried cherries, shredded coconut, freeze dried kiwi, coconut chips, freeze dried cherries, freeze dried cranberries, and natural flavors. It tastes just like a delicious jolly rancher!
As a tea pop, Tropical Twist is bright, juicy and tropical. Shocking, I know. It has a bright candy-like flavor that’s a little tart/sour and a whole lot of sweet. It is creamy from the coconut but not in a lotion-y way, as some coconut teas tend to be. For an extra little boost of sweet, I like to add a splash of grenadine to really play on the cherry and cranberry flavors. Yum!
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Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for more teas.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Let’s Detox/The NecessiTeas
I don’t buy Detox teas. I don’t buy weight loss teas. I don’t buy any teas that claim magical health benefits. I understand some teas can help with some ailments (i.e. ginger teas and peppermint teas can help settle a stomach and chamomile teas can have a calming effect) but I don’t like when teas are marketed specifically for the purposes of curing people and detoxing people because, to me, that marketing strategy is tantamount to the work of a snake oil salesman. With that said, I do want it to be clear that that is just my personal opinion and I understand that for many, detox teas do help them feel better. That is why even though I wouldn’t pick them for myself, when a detox tea does cross my door, such as this one, I usually will try to have them at a time when I feel bloaty or have been having too much junk food because on the off chance they do work, I want to reap the benefits.
The past couple of nights I have been drinking and going out for meals and so if any time was a time for a detox, this would be it. I woke up at 6:30 am and brewed up this tea comprised of honeybush, rooibos, lemon myrtle, lemon peel, star anise, ginger, licorice root, juniper berries, lemongrass, marigold, stevia, birch leaves, willow bark, and natural and organic flavors. Essentially a lot of ingredients I tend to avoid (basically, I am not this tea’s target audience and thus this review should be taken with a grain of salt).
This tea tastes the way a Lush store smells. That is the best description I got. Hopefully you have been in the store Lush and can understand the reference but if you have not, Lush is a store that sells fresh handmade cosmetics. It is fragrant and pungent with a whole plethora of scents that come together in one semi-sweet, semi-medicinal cloud of fragrance.
Surprisingly, it is not as bad as I expected. Between the star anise, the licorice root, and the stevia, I was expecting a cloying mess. Though this does have that sweet licorice root/stevia top note that sort of coats your tongue, there is a nice ginger burn underneath which reigns in those sweeter ingredients just enough that they are tolerable. I get some lemon and some licorice. A little of this and a little of that but nothing distinct enough to give this a truly discernible flavor.
I will say my stomach, which was a bit queasy, is slightly settled. I think the ginger has a lot to do with that and to be honest, I would probably have preferred to just drink a ginger tea for this health benefit. However, it did help which means this does have some merit to its claim that it will “make you feel good from the inside out”. Plus, it is one of the more tolerable tasting detox teas I have tried.
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Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This wellness blend will make you feel good from the inside out. This antioxidant rich blend of organic honeybush and rooibos is combined with marigold, birch leaves and juniper berries to promote a healthy immune system and cleanse away the effects of harmful toxins.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orange Fluff/The NecessiTeas
This is one of three NecessiTeas I won in an Instagram giveaway about a year back. I was really excited to try it and yet for some reason I have not gotten around to doing so until now.
My plan was to make it hot but the package itself recommended making this iced. So I prepared it both ways, steeping both the hot and iced tea in 175F water for 3 minutes. The iced tea just got poured over ice.
The hot tea, which is not particularly hot anymore, is really quite good. The green tea was fragrant after steeping which made me worried this would taste like grass but my fear was obviously unwarranted because the flavor of the hot tea is more akin to the scent of the dry leaf, which is basically like a delicious creamsicle, except more marshmallow than vanilla. There is just so much bright and candy-like orange flavor mixed with fluffy and sweet marshmallow goodness. I personally haven’t tried an Orange Delight, the inspiration of this tea, but now I know I want to because this is delicious!
The iced tea, on the other hand, is not as much to my tastes. I find the green tea base comes out a lot more at the expense of the marshmallow flavor. Personally, I am not a fan of green tea so for me, this is a step down from the hot cup. The orange flavor still comes through strongly, but without the marshmallow it is more dull and in line with the fruit. So this iced tea is more an orange green tea and the hot tea is more Orange Fluff, a more sweet/candied flavor.
Personally I will be enjoying the rest of my 2 ozs of this tea hot because despite the company recommendations, I think that is the way to go. This is yet another successful NecessiTeas blend that I would recommend and will for sure be sharing with friends. It’s a good one, and I am especially impressed given it is almost a year old and still packs a flavor punch.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is currently not available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!