Based out of Savannah, GA, The Spice & Tea Exchange has this little number…Earl Grey Creme. Sure…lots of companies feature an Earl Grey Creme but this one I’ve had time and time again and it never disappoints.
It could be that I have already written about Earl Grey Creme from The Spice & Tea Exchange before here at SororiTea Sisters but if I did it was a LONG time ago!
I decided to make a strong cuppa with approximately 2 teaspoons of loose leaf and infuse for about 3 minutes. By doing so the comforting flavors meshed together well. It was creamy, citrusy, soft, warm, and comforting.
I did try to do a 2nd steep and it is possible if you don’t mind a more muted flavor and really want to stretch your tea stash but the 1st cup is where it’s at!
Thumbs up from me on Earl Grey Creme from The Spice & Tea Exchange!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Spice & Tea Exchange
Description
The comforting flavors of vanilla and cream combine to lighten the citrus notes of a traditional Earl Grey. With its soft, warm flavors, this is a great tea to start off your day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bonita Peach Rooibos Herbal Tea from The Spice & Tea Exchange. . . .
I bought this tea because it allegedly contained strawberry flavoring in addition to peach. Strawberry peach? OH MY GAWD RIGHT? Unfortunately, I can’t really taste strawberry. The peach flavor is Batman, with orange/citrus notes as Robin.* The strawberry is, I guess, Alfred, back at the mansion? Poor Alfred never goes anywhere.
* (Robin is not as large or important as Batman, but still factors in the plot.)
Despite strawberry’s mysterious absence, I still tend to reach for this as an iced choice on days I’m trying to avoid soda/caffeine. It’s very sweet. The peach/orange, as previously mentioned, are the main players. The green rooibos adds a light, woodsy, sweet background. There’s something slightly astringent about the mix, but I don’t mind that.
There’s nothing about this blend that I’d clamor for you to try. I probably won’t re-buy it. However, it’s a solid, dependable workhorse for decaf iced tea, and I appreciate its presence in my cupboard.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos/Herbal
Where to Buy: The Spice & Tea Exchange
Description
Green rooibos redbush plant is flavored with summer fruits and flowers, to produce a refreshing caffeine-free blend. Delicious served either hot or iced.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Caramel Creme from Spice and Tea Exchange. . . . . .
I was delighted to find this tea in my best friend’s kitchen today. It was her child’s third birthday, and I was celebrating by raiding her tea without permission.
This tea — Pumpkin Caramel Crème by Spice & Tea Exchange — is not currently available, but there are several dessert teas you may like on their site
Before we get started on this review, please do not tell me it’s “too late in the season” for a pumpkin spice latté or tea. I will drink one in the dead of summer if I want. We live in a global economy where all fruits, vegetables, and teas are available to us all year round, gosh darn it.
But if you ARE the kind of person who believes in seasonality, you will be pleased to hear that this tea doesn’t taste like pumpkin at all. I got caramel. I got crème. I did not receive pumpkin from this taste. It’s possible that I happened to get a scoop that was lacking in a pumpkin ingredient.
What this tasted like, most of all, was one of those maple syrup cupcakes with caramel icing that my husband’s cousin makes. It’s approximately something like this. It was extremely sweet, but a brown-sugar sweet instead of a white-sugar sweet. A more substantive, deep sweet.
“This,” I said to my best friend appreciatively, “is really good.”
“It is!” she said. “My mother-in-law got it for me!”
I have decided to blog about it and say something kind about them both as a thank you. So here goes:
My best friend is very kind and stylish; her other-in-law is the very nicest around; her husband is a genius; her kids are adorable; her house is charming; and her dogs are cuddly. She does not complain when I let myself into her home without knocking — or start up a kettle to try her teas without asking. She is the Patron Saint of Tolerance (and Good Hair).
And the tea is yummy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: The Spice & Tea Exchange
Description
This tea is no longer on the site but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Kyoto Rice Green Tea Blend from The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Description:
(Genmaicha Tea) Kyoto green tea leaves are blended with popped and roasted rice, to make this a brothy infusion with a unique appeal. Moderate Caffeine.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I drink a Genmaicha tea, I want that sweet, roasty-toasty flavor. And that’s just what I’m getting from this Kyoto Rice Green Tea Blend from The Spice and Tea Exchange!
This is a good quality Genmaicha, with the lush, green tea flavor combined with the sweet, toasted rice flavor. It has a nice, medium body to it: smooth and brothy (just like the description above implies).
I don’t know that I’d stop in to my local Spice and Tea Exchange just to pick up some of this Kyoto Rice tea, because there are a lot of companies out there that offer good quality Genmaicha like this one … but, since they do carry some other blends that usually always interest me, if I’m low on Genmaicha I might pick up some from them. It’s a good one, and I always like to have some Genmaicha on hand!
Mint-Chilla Chai-Nilla from The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh, Chai
Where to Buy: The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Description:
An organic pu-erh chai tea with creamy vanilla and bright peppermint. A rich, smooth tea that adds a refreshing twist to the traditional chai tea flavors. Moderate caffeine. Contains: green pu-erh tea, vanilla, peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, licorice root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I received this from a fellow Steepster and I was totally not expecting to! When you wake up to a nice box of unexpected samples from a friend – that is the best day ever! This tea was included in that box. I have never sampled anything from The Spice and Tea Exchange before that I can recall so I grabbed this right away to try! The name of this tea also got me, with its quirkiness.
The puerh base here may not be the most complex out there by any means but it does provide a nice bold backdrop for the other flavors and is strong enough on its own not to let strong flavors like mint, for example, take over.
The puerh has a leather aspect to it, and a slight sandalwood note. A very nice puerh to use in a blend. I would not want to see a highly prized puerh used in a blend personally, yet I also want one with enough character to give the backdrop a good blend deserves and I feel that The Spice and Tea Exchanged selected a good base for this blend.
The vanilla is noticeable and the spices are quite lovely. Nothing tries to take over here. There is a wonderful mint lift which still allows the vanilla to have its time in the sun. Something of an after dinner mint flavor is what I am getting. You know those Chocolate Andes mints in the green wrapper? Yup that kind of mint flavor, so good! Now I am not saying that this tea tastes all that chocolaty but the spices and puerh tend to lead it in that direction just a little.
On the spices, they are lovely! I am not one for licorice or anise in any amount by nature although there are a few blends out there that have surprised me – this is one of those blends. I feel that The Spice and Tea Exchange has captured the best elements of a chai and added the fun vanilla and mint aspects very well all in a really solid puerh base.
I have had three very successful steeps from these leaves and am going on steep four.
This tea does make me want to check out The Spice and Tea Exchange website now and see what other teas they have to offer. I can also order my spices and herbs there as well. That is a bonus! It is always nice to try a new company and enjoy the cup, even more surprising when it is not a blend I would choose for myself yet I still enjoy it. That leaves a great first impression!
