Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
Mango Tango is a fresh take on the classic tradition of flavored black teas. This blend of crisp Ceylon and fresh passion fruit and mango creates a light and fruity combination that is great any time of year. It brews into a deep, reddish liquor with a heady, bright aroma that lends itself to versatility; a steamy pot will warm you up when it’s cold out while an iced cup will keep you cool on hot summer days.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The name of this tea brings back memories! When I was flavoring and blending teas way back when … I too had a mango flavored black tea … and it was named Mango Tango. But after taking the first sip of this tea, the only comparison between this tea and that one is in name only. This tea is much different!
We both started with the same tea base: a high quality Ceylon tea. But The Tea Spot wasn’t content with just mango … no. They also added passion fruit essence to their blend to create an incredible tropical taste that’s really quite delightful.
The combination of mango and passion fruit makes for a very satisfying taste: sweet, luscious, and smooth. And while I am sipping this hot at the moment (it’s far too cold outside to even think about iced tea! I want something warm and comforting!) and I am finding it very delicious served hot, I think it would make a really amazing iced tea too.
I’m really enjoying this tea – this and the other amazing teas that The Tea Spot offers has placed them as one of my favorite tea purveyors out there. I haven’t yet found a tea from them that disappointed me!
Which is why I recently signed up to win FREE tea for a year from The Tea Spot! All you have to do is like them on their Facebook Page, and then fill out this very short (VERY SHORT!) entry form here. It really doesn’t get much easier than that! You can earn a double entry by simply answering the question “What Inspires You?” on their facebook page! Just think … YOU could win a year’s worth of FREE tea! Wow!
Climber’s High from The Tea Spot
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Roasted Yerba Mate, Black Tea, Green Tea, White Tea, Pu’erh,
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
A super-charged blend of teas, spices and herbs formulated to provide a refreshing daily lift for people with active, high-energy lifestyles. Climber’s High is a high-powered way to increase your intake of beneficial antioxidants such as flavonoids and catechins, as well as a host of healthy vitamins, trace minerals, beneficial phyto-constituents, and caffeine. It was originally conceived to assist people in adjusting to higher altitudes. This spiced yerba mate chai tea is both good for you and a pleasure to drink.
Ingredients: roasted yerba mate, black tea, green tea, white tea, pu’erh, ginger root, cinnamon, green cardamom, licorice root, ginseng root, saffron, black pepper, clove, fennel, safflowers, peppermint, tulsi, and cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Chai is on my mind lately with the change in seasons where I live, yet honestly chai was not on my mind at all when I reached for this sample from one of my SororiTea Sisters! I simply wanted something that would set well with my upset tummy I have had for the last couple of days, also something minty as I have not been really able to taste much either. Last night I was drinking some vanilla mint tea after trying unsuccessfully to enjoy some other samples. Today I grabbed for this and even though I am still a little stuffy I could smell such yummy aromas and I knew in that moment I could stomach it! So it got steeped.
This is not your typical chai yet it has many chai elements. One may think that they threw everything in here but the kitchen sink and thus may not really end up tasting like anything favorable but surprisingly it is wonderful. You don’t need to be sick, or needing to adjust to altitude sickness to enjoy this savory cup! They even put a little chocolate in there for the sweet tooth and the chocolate does come through nicely but is not over done. This is not a “chocolate tea” it is savory yet every now and then I get a little bit of sweet on the lips and a subtle chocolate taste on the palate.
The yerba mate gives you a nice kick start to your day without leaving you jittery or nervous, while the pu-erh is grounding and centering. I tasted the black pepper notes, which I always enjoy in a tea, the cinnamon, clove, ginger and other savory elements are all quite present but the mint is what seems to linger the longest in a minty sweet manner, as if I had just had a light candy mint. I also do pick up the vanilla as well. Truly this tea has it all and then some and yes at times the flavors get muddled a little as a true blend should but it is quite easy to pick out singular flavor elements as well.
If I was not aware that there were so many types of tea in this blend and I had to tell someone from taste alone what the base tea was I would admittedly be confused, but if pressed I would say mate, pu-erh, then black in that order.
For me, the best part of this discovery is that I have a new favorite chai. I have about three chai now that I absolutely love and will rotate in my stash all winter long.
Coconut Milky Oolong from The Tea Spot
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
A decadent dessert tea, to be sipped & savored. Our Taiwanese Milky Oolong has a smooth yet fruity and creamy taste. It’s blended with shaved coconut to create a delicate and calming experience in aroma and flavor. If you love coconut milk sweets and sophisticated oolongs, this is your tea. Discover this guiltless dessert – simply extraordinary!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever taken a sip of a tea and find that it is so good that it just totally exceeded your expectations – and your expectations were high to begin with? I mean, something that was so good that you exclaim: OH YUM! without even thinking about it?
That’s what happened to me when I took a sip of this tea. My expectations were already high … because, well, I love Milky Oolong tea, I adore coconut, and I cannot recall ever having been disappointed by a tea from The Tea Spot. But as good as I thought this tea would be, I was still not prepared for it to taste THIS good!
This is sweet and creamy and decadent … and yeah, I expected that from a Milk Oolong and a Coconut tea. And I also expected the flavors of the Milk Oolong and the coconut to meld really well together. But … oh wow! This is so creamy. Sweet and coconut-y, but not in a way where the coconut oppresses the palate and prevents it from tasting the sweet, creamy taste of the Milk Oolong.
The Milk Oolong has faint floral notes, and of course, that decadent creamy note over which those of us that love Milk Oolong swoon and vegetative notes that marry well with the other flavors of the cup. This tea offers such a pleasing balance of the creamy, sweet taste of coconut and of Milk Oolong, it tastes a bit like the creamy custard of a coconut cream pie! YUM!
I highly recommend this one to those of you who like Milk Oolong … and love coconut!
Special, Limited-Time Offer: Now through November 9, you can save 15% on your purchase of Coconut Milky Oolong from the Tea Spot! Just put the tea in your shopping cart, and use the coupon code cocooolong at checkout, and enjoy your savings … and the tea!
Bolder Breakfast from The Tea Spot
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
This new American black tea blend combines bold flavor, rich color, & full body with hints of chocolate. This robust breakfast blend is made from our favorite strong black teas from high altitude estates in China, India and Sri Lanka. We have combined these black teas with pu’erh, an aged black tea from Yunnan China, and dark chocolate essence. This tea yields a rich, dark liquor and a warm, well-rounded flavor that takes very well to milk and even better in the form of a tea latte. The high caffeine content and robust flavor makes this the perfect tea to help kick your coffee habit!
Features:
50-60 mg Caffeine / Serving
More caffeine than other teas, half of coffee
Ideal morning boost: Makes great lattes!
Satisfying, robust, dark chocolate flavor
Gluten-free & Sugar-free
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A steepster friend sent me a sample of this tea. I already knew she had excellent taste as she buys a lot of tea from another of my favorite tea vendors. Still, I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this tea. I get a lot of samples to select from, and taste a lot of teas, and I am choosy on which I write reviews on because I want to introduce blog readers to the best of the best. Still sometimes I do feature a tea that is just okay with me, but I know others would enjoy very much as not all teas will be to my personal flavor palate liking. This however is one that is right in my wheelhouse!
First we begin with a very nice pu-erh base. Earthy and sweet, a little fruity but not too much. There is a light incense like flavor such as sandalwood but don’t worry it doesn’t taste like perfume! Then we have a decedent chocolate flavor that is outstanding and I am a chocolate flavored tea snob as many already know. I can’t stand chocolate flavors that taste like cheap Easter egg candy you can buy at the dollar store! When it comes to chocolate in tea it has to be top notch, and this is! Then a light berry note peeks out from behind the scenes just to give this tea a nice bright cheery lift to help you perk up in the mornings.
This tea is deep and rich like coffee and is a great tea to convert your coffee drinking friends over with, yet not too bold that true tea lovers would be turned off. Many reviewers on The Tea Spot site claim that they totally replaced their coffee intake with this tea! And of course there are the wonderful benefits of pu-erh to enjoy!
This tea does have some lovely layers to it yet is blended quite well so no one flavor totally takes over the cup yet with the layers there are some notes that jump out at you now and then just to say “hey, wake up you, lets have a great day!” Each time the fruity flavor peeks through its like a little surprise that perks me up, each time I get a hint of the woodsy flavor I feel comforted and grounded, which can be helpful in the mornings! Granted there is chocolate in this tea but I would not call it a “chocolate tea” chocolate is simply one of the many layers in this tea, soft and delicate to my palate.
Yes I will be ordering more of this tea as soon as my tea budget regenerates! I see myself having this in my morning tea rotation several days of the week!
Be sure to enter The Tea Spots Free Tea for a Year Contest! Info on their facebook page here or go directly to the contest entry form here.
Pink Rose Lemonade from The Tea Spot
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot – be sure to check out the coupon code featured just after this review for a limited time offer on this tea!
Tea Description:
Pink Rose Lemonade is a swirling collage of flowers with a hint of lemon and wintergreen. Like a fancy floral confection, this delicately handcrafted tea will refresh and soothe your palate. Pink Rose Lemonade is totally guilt-free, as it has no caffeine and is naturally sweet. Lemon, rose, mint, chamomile, and lavender spring to life in this absolutely fabulous herbal tea. Pink Rose Lemonade tastes distinctively wonderful brewed hot or cold.
Learn more about this caffeine free tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Along with my Steep & Go, I received three samples of teas that go well using this cold-brew device: Boulder Blues, Climber’s High, and this tisane. Of those three, this one is my favorite to use in the Steep & Go. This was really surprising to me, because, I tend to avoid chamomile blends. I don’t dislike chamomile, but I don’t really like it either. However, the combination of ingredients in this herbal tisane works together so well, especially when cold-brewed in the Steep & Go.
It’s also quite good when hot-brewed and served warm just before bedtime. I especially like the aroma of the hot-brewed tisane. It smells so beautiful – I can smell the rose and the lavender and the combination of the two flowers is absolutely enchanting.
And it tastes pleasant too! The lavender and chamomile are very relaxing, and I find it tremendously soothing especially after a busy day. The flavors are sweet and lemony, with a foreground of floral notes and a background note of mint. The mint is not nearly as strong as I thought it might be, as mint tends to be a rather aggressive herb. Here, it takes the back seat and allows the other flavors to express themselves in a tasty and calming way.
But as I mentioned above, I really prefer this tea when cold-brewed using the Steep & Go. I recommend allowing this to steep at least ten minutes, but it really gets good the longer you let it steep. I found that after about a half an hour, the flavor was just perfect: light and thirst-quenching. I found that the bright, lemony notes were very refreshing, the hint of mint brought a cool, crispness to the taste and the floral tones added a pleasing contrast. It was pleasantly sweet without sweetener – this is the perfect on-the-go beverage.
To be honest, when The Tea Spot sent me this tea to try with the Steep & Go, I had my doubts… I guess I come from the school of thought that believes that the best flavor can be achieved through hot brewing a tea … but I am coming around to the whole idea of cold-brew after trying this tisane cold-brewed! This one made a believer out of me!
Special, Limited-Time Offer: Now through October 14, you can save 15% on your purchase of this Pink Rose Lemonade from the Tea Spot! Just put the Pink Rose Lemonade in your shopping cart, and use the coupon code sororitearose at checkout, and enjoy your savings … and the tea!