Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Two Leaves and a Bud
Company Description:
Two leaves’ African Sunset rooibos (red) tea brews up rich and lemony with just a hint of lemongrass tang to craft a sweet and interesting flavor. High in anti-oxidants and trace minerals with zero caffeine, African Sunset and other red teas only grow in South Africa. With a spicy, somewhat astringent herbal flavor, African Sunset makes for a great tea alternative.
Taster’s Review:
As alluded to in the above description (from the Two Leaves and a Bud website), this tisane does have a sweet and interesting flavor. Rooibos tends to have a naturally sweet flavor – often to the point of being too sweet for my liking (and I have a sweet tooth!) But it’s not so much that it’s sweet, but it’s the funky aftertaste that comes along with that sweetness. It reminds me of artificial sweetener – not my favorite flavor. But that is not to say that I dislike all rooibos blends – there are some that bring together just the right combination of flavors to offset that funky sweet flavor that I dislike.
Like this blend – African Sunset – from Two Leaves and a Bud. The tart lemony flavors successfully cut through some of the sweetness to give the cup a nice balance.
I previously reviewed this tea, and I like it just as much now as I did back then. It is light-bodied and fresh-tasting – and a very nice tea to enjoy later in the evening. It is naturally caffeine free so this tea won’t leave me feeling restless at bedtime. When served hot, it is a comforting tea to curl up to and sip leisurely. When served chilled, it is a refreshingly light beverage. It’s a nice tea to have on hand at all times!
Açaí White Tea from Two Leaves and a Bud
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Two Leaves and a Bud
Company Description:
Special harvest long whole-leaf tea leaves and buds create this super light but full tasting white tea. Light enough in the cup to be called “white” with acai flavor to round out a great cuppa’. The rich taste is a distinct combination of berry flavor and subtle chocolate. Try iced with a touch of agave!
Taster’s Review:
I admit it – I’ve never actually tasted an açaí berry. I’ve had quite a few teas that are flavored with açaí berry. Many of those teas have been quite tart to the point of being too sour for my personal taste. As a result, I’ve acquired a bias against açaí berries.
But, after tasting this tea, I’m thinking I may need to rethink my thoughts about the açaí berry! (Yeah… think about that sentence for a moment)
This is a really tasty tea. It has a soft, gentle white tea flavor that is fresh and smooth, and is not obscured by the flavor of the açaí berry. I can taste the chocolate-y notes that the company description suggests, and I can also taste the berry and the berry flavor is sweet. Yes, I said SWEET. Not tart. Not sour. But pleasantly sweet!
This tea is not completely void of tartness (it really wouldn’t be a berry flavored tea without just a little bit of tart flavor, would it?) and there is a tart note that hits the palate in the finish. It sort of tingles! It’s not unlike the way my mouth feels and tastes after eating a fresh berry. Not pucker-y tart – just a tingly tartness that lets me know that I’m drinking a berry flavored tea.
And I like it!
Organic Mountain High Chai from Two Leaves & a Bud
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Two Leaves & a Bud
Company Description:
Chai is typically made with black tea and a variety of sweet flavors such as cinnamon and orange peel. Two leaves and a bud offers a traditional chai that starts with real Assam tea (not cheap “blending tea”) and adds cinnamon, clove, and cardamom spices. Fabulous with milk and honey! Add some frothed milk and Vanilla Sugar to make an awesome Chai Latte!
Taster’s Review:
OK, I have to admit that I’m a bit biased when it comes to chai. As a tea artist, I spent about a year creating my own chai blend, and I’m quite proud of it. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t have an appreciation for other chai blends as well.
This is a fairly simple, straight-forward chai blend – a good, solid Assam tea base with the basic spices: cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. However, the simplicity of this blend should in no way indicate that this tea lacks in flavor, because it doesn’t!
The Assam tea is malty and rich, and gives this tea a bit of tooth! The cloves are very pronounced in this blend. The spices are not spicy hot, but they do add a pleasant warmth to the cup.
I enjoyed this tea as a latte (and used my handy-dandy Aerolatte Frother – which I also purchased from Two Leaves and a Bud a few months ago!), although I did not steep the tea in milk. I find this to be a rather messy endeavor, and I’d rather not deal with the clean-up. Instead, I brewed the tea in water (using a bit less water than I normally would for a sachet) and then zapped a splash of milk in the microwave to get it warm (but not too hot). I then whipped the milk into a very rich froth with my Aerolatte Frother and poured the brewed tea over the foamy milk and stirred in a drizzle of raw honey. The result is a cup of creamy goodness: warm and spiced and delicious.
Organic Orange Sencha from Two Leaves and a Bud
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Two Leaves and a Bud
Company Description:
East meets West in this Japanese green tea blend! Sencha is the most consumed tea in Japan. It is long leafed tea, finished in the sun. Our Orange Sencha includes sunflowers, orange peel and just a hint of Italian red orange to add the slightest sweet & spicy tang to this classic green tea.
Taster’s Review:
What a refreshing tea!
The Japanese Sencha tea tastes fresh and crisp. The orange flavor is sweet and juicy. They come together in one cup to create a beverage that is light and rejuvenating. They are well-balanced with neither flavor overwhelming the other. I also note a very slight sharpness to the cup from the sunflower petals. It is just enough to help cut through some of the sweeter notes. The result is a tea that is sweet, tangy and enjoyable any time of the day.
I think what I like best about this tea is that the flavors are delicate, natural tasting and in harmony with the high quality Sencha tea. It tastes like tea – it doesn’t taste syrupy or over-done with the flavoring. It doesn’t taste like one of those powdered soft drink mixes. It tastes like tea!
I tried it first hot. It was smooth and delicious, and I was quite content to finish my cup the way I began. But then my husband came in and offered to take me out to lunch – how do I refuse that? My teacup was left on the kitchen counter to get cold.
When I returned home several hours later, I found that the tea was just as delightful cold as it was hot – perhaps even more so! This would make a fabulous sun tea – just pop a few of the silky pyramid sachets into a jar of cold water and sit it on a sunny porch to steep. A few hours later you’ll have a jar of sunny, delicious goodness that will be a delight to kids as well as adults. A perfect summer-time treat!