Last week I reviewed another tea from Voce Fruit Tea, their Lemon Ginger. I was instantly impressed with how delicious, fresh, natural, and amazing the tea. Today I wanted to try their banana offering. I’m sort of a banana freak and am always on the search for a banana flavored tea. You find them here and there but typically the banana flavor comes off light or chemical tasting. After having the Voce Fruit Tea’s Lemon Ginger, I knew that this banana flavor was going to be on point since they do not use anything but dried fruit in their blends.
For this blend I brewed the tea with freshly boiled water and allowed the tea to steep for 7 minutes and just left the tea bag in the mug while I enjoyed the brew. I did this with the Lemon Ginger offering and the tea just seemed to get better and better the longer the tea brewed and the Goldenberry Banana Cinnamon is no different.
First off you are greeted with fresh notes of banana and cinnamon. And that is exactly what you get in taste as well. The banana flavor reminds me of a quality dried banana chip instead of a fresh banana. Regardless, the banana flavor is delicious and doesn’t have that artificial feel like I’ve had in the past. The cinnamon adds its own charm playing well with the banana flavor. For the goldenberry piece, I can’t really say I taste much berry like flavor. I am getting a sweetness here and there that I can’t identify so I’m wondering if that is the goldenberry. The description of this tea indicated the tea should taste like banana bread and I have to say, they are pretty close to nailing that flavor profile.
Over all, this tea is downright delicious. After having a few cuppas of this hot, I’m excited to try this as a cold brew like I did with the Lemon Ginger. I was able to drink off of one serving of the Lemon Ginger for almost tea days- brewed both hot and cold and I have a feeling this serving of Goldenberry Banana Cinnamon will be the same.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit
Where to Buy: Voce Fruit Tea
Description
You might not be familiar with goldenberries, but they are widely considered to be a superfruit, with a bright flavor that is similar to apricots. Our blend of organic goldenberries, organic bananas, and organic cinnamon is an unexpected treat that is reminiscent of warm banana bread, right out of the oven. It has a smooth and subtle flavor that goes down nice and easy.
Ingredients: organic dried bananas, organic dried, goldenberries, organic cinnamon chips. Packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and milk products.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Unwind and Relax / Great Tea Road Co.
This is my first herbal tisane post for SororiTea Sisters. . . or at least the first in a very long time.
As a purist I just tend to not drink much herbal but I do love Evening in Missoula and I was curious as to the taste of this one compared with that.
Let me tell you it is different. This one has a bit of a kick with the cinnamon. Personally I don’t find it very relaxing but then I may be biased with my love of the aforementioned tisane.
If you are a fan of cinnamon with hints of chamomile this could be a good fit for you.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Great Tea Road Co.
Description:
Amazing aroma with great taste. This tea will help you relax after your long day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cheerful Blend from Tealyra. . . .
One can often tell something about a tea from it’s name. Teas like Foggy Coconut or Chocolate Delight come to mind. These teas make it clear what will be in your cup when all is said and done. Sometimes tea companies get a bit creative and come up with fun names like “Ghoul Gulp”, “Fairy Dust”, or this Tealyra tea, “Cheerful Blend”. These teas appeal to emotions or create certain associations in order to pull you in. The issue is, when you don’t really know what is in a blend, it is easy to overlook a tea. That is what has happened to this blend that has been bumping around my tea stash for over a year without ever being tasted.
The other day I was inventorying my teas and I looked this one up. I was intrigued by the unique ingredient list: apple bits, carrot bits, ginger bits, pumpkin bits, coriander, banana chips, and natural flavorings. I thought it sounded like it would make for a nice cold brew so I dumped the whole sample in a water bottle and left it to steep overnight.
Taste wise, it is unlike anything I have had before. It is sweet but not dessert-like. It has a lot of carrot and banana chip flavors. Almost like I am drinking the little bit of water that always seems to be in bags of baby carrots, while snacking on banana chips. The more I drink, the more pumpkin sweetness intermingles with the carrot. Unfortunately the sweet together just builds and builds and eventually the tea, though interesting, is just too much. I was hoping for some ginger to cut through and add something different to the layer upon layer of sweet but I never got any.
I think with some more ginger, this tea could be a real winner. It is different than most of the other fruit tisanes I have tried which rely heavily on apple or hibiscus but unfortunately it quickly becomes one note: sweet. This needs something to gives this more flavor and more depth. As it is, I am content with just the one cup.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Tealyra
Description
Cheerful Blend is a sweet, orange-hued veggie infusion ideal for those looking for a healthy veggie tea with a pleasant mild fruit taste!
Brew up a taste of a freshly juiced health tonic with our Cheerful Blend! Our organic Cheerful veggie fusion blend features a fine base of dried apple bits, pumpkin, carrots and banana chips, to that we have added pure dried ginger and coriander for a sweet and healthy treat!
At first sip, a rich banana nectar flavor takes the lead, it is wonderfully complemented by naturally sweet carrots, then finishes with pumpkin-ginger. The veggie tisane has a thick velvety body, similar to fresh made juice.
Cheerful Blend will encourage a gentle detox and strengthen your immune system health from the inside out! Sunny days are ahead! Try it hot or iced for a zingy refresher!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hood River Rooibos from Beach House Teas. . . . .
Hood River Rooibos from Beach House Teas is a delicious decaf herbal blend with rooibos, ginger, and honeycrisp apples. I love the fall, and sometimes I love extra honey sweet apple teas with lots of cinnamon and flavoring, but Hood River Rooibos has me re-thinking what I want in my herbal apple teas this season.
This tea is simple and delightful. The woodsy rooibos is flavorful without caffeine or bitterness. A touch of ginger root adds just enough sweet spice to make you think you’re drinking something special and seasonal.
The honeycrisp apples are really the ingredient that shines. The naturally sweet fruit flavor of the apples doesn’t need any sugar or honey to taste indulgent and refreshing. Because there aren’t any powerful spices like cinnamon or cloves, you get to taste all the apples for themselves. Even a chai-lover like me doesn’t miss the cinnamon in this blend.
This tea makes me nostalgic for the fresh fall apples in the orchard of my hometown. This is the perfect blend to warm you up when your picking apples off the tree, or when you’re just daydreaming about fall and all its wonderful flavors.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description:
Hood River Rooibos is 100% organic rooibos tea blended with ginger root and Pacific Northwest Honeycrisp Apples. This combination of sweet apple mixed with the heat of ginger and the earthy flavor of rooibos is perfect for the winter season.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Sage Superherb by Republic of Tea. . . .
I steeped this tea five minutes with one tea bag in about one cup of 190 degree water. Although I do normally use loose leaf tea, the convenience of pre-bagged tea is tempting too! Especially when it’s high-quality tea.
After steeping, it’s become a yellowish color and smells a bit pineapple-ish with an undertone of sage. The sage isn’t too overpowering, at least judging by the fragrance.
First sip: Yes, the pineapple may actually be stronger than the sage here. It’s also quite sweet. It has a bit of a stevia flavor, almost. The pineapple flavor blends with the flavor of the sage leaves and, according to the ingredients list, orange leaves as well to create a pleasantly fruity drink. It’s much more palatable than drinking an infusion of straight sage, which is important if you’re going to be drinking this on a regular basis. Yet the woodsy, flowery flavor of the sage does come through as well.
This is listed as an herbal tea for hot flashes, although I wouldn’t know anything about how effective it would be for such a complaint. It’s probably good for colds/sore throats as well; it’s comforting, soothing, and relaxing. Or if you’re looking for a more culinary use it would probably go well with cookies for a snack, although I’m not a tea pairing expert either.
It’s definitely sweet and seems well-balanced in flavor, and whether you end up drinking it on a daily basis or just as an occasional novelty, I hope you’ll be glad you tried it too!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
As women, we have the power to create and nurture life, all while juggling hormonal changes and external stresses. For centuries, women have relied upon the same powerful herbs found in our organic SuperHerb Teas to keep them balanced, and now they can easily be part of your daily life as well.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
