Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tea Description:
White Tea with Chai (Cardamom, Cinnamon, Black Pepper, Cloves, Ginger and Nutmeg)
Taster’s Review:
When I opened the pouch that held the tea bag that brewed this cup of White Tea Chai Blend from Tea of Life, I lifted the tea bag to my nose to get a whiff of what I would soon be tasting. And … I was a little surprised and just a little dismayed that I couldn’t smell much in the way of spice. I mean, spices should be FRAGRANT, right? When I smell a chai, I like there to be no mistake of what I’m smelling. I like to smell those vibrant, warm spices.
But, I didn’t smell a whole lot of spice from this chai, at least, not in it’s dry form. However, now that the tea has been brewed, I can really smell those spices. What a lovely aroma! I smell (in order of most prevalent scent): pepper, clove, cinnamon and cardamom. I am picking up hints of nutmeg and ginger too.
And the main reason why I want to be able to smell the spices is because I want to taste them when I take a sip! I love chai: I love that spice! And I can taste those spices here! The black pepper is the most dominating flavor that I taste in this cup, but because I can also taste the other spices, this doesn’t taste like a black pepper white tea, this tastes like a white tea chai!
The white tea is soft and deliciously delicate, and now that I think about it, it’s probably good that the spices presented such a subtle fragrance because had the spices been stronger than they are now, they would have surely overpowered the sweet white tea and I am enjoying the way the white tea is represented in this blend. It is soft, sweet, and it evokes thoughts of the taste of rain on fresh spring leaves. Not that I go out and start licking the leaves after a rain … but if I did, this is how I would like that to taste. It’s only because I don’t know that this is what I would taste that I don’t go out and start drinking rain off of leaves.
And I like how the pepper POPS in this. It makes for a really interesting and different tasting chai. Normally, pepper is a accenting ingredient, here, it takes more of a central focus. I like pepper, and I like how it’s brought to life here.
Overall, a really enjoyable chai!
Cucumber White Tea from Tazo
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Learn more about Tazo here.
Tea Description:
A replenishing blend of delicate white tea, real cucumber and lime peel.
Taster’s Review:
I had my reservations about this tea. First of all, when I think Tazo, my first thought is of Steven Smith, who started Tazo. And then I’m reminded that this company was later acquired by Starbucks and in my opinion, they ruined it.
So, now, my happy thoughts of Tazo and Steven Smith (aka the rock star of tea!) have been tainted by Starbucks and speedy, spendy coffee. But as I prepared this Cucumber White Tea from Tazo, I decided not to let my notions (be they ill-conceived or not) affect my opinion of this particular tea experience. I would do my best to go into this moment with an open mind.
When I opened the pouch, I smelled the lime. The cucumber, not so much. The taste is similar: I taste lime. I don’t taste a lot of cucumber here. I do taste some white tea notes: fresh, light, and almost melon-esque with hints of the air in the countryside after a hay field has been cut. I can also taste SOME cucumber notes … but they are diminished by the presence of the lime.
The lime tastes tart and slightly bitter. I can taste the pithy taste of the lime peel. But it also has a bright, juicy taste too … I can taste all of the lime here, as well as the crisp notes of the white tea. I just find myself wishing I tasted more cucumber. After all, this tea is called Cucumber White Tea.
Overall, it’s not a terrible tea. It has a light, refreshing taste with a bright acidity from the lime. Not bad … just not great.
Product Review: Golden Amber Teadrops
About Teadrops:
Elaborate tea ceremonies have a time and place. However, if you desire high quality tea and are short on time and tea props, then meet Teadrops.
Each Teadrop is a portable morsel comprised of finely sourced tea from India, natural sugar, and aromatic spices creating a blissful tea blend that can be enjoyed any time, any place, with just hot water. No special tools, no steeping time, no tea expertise necessary.
About Golden Amber Teadrops:
Imagine yourself immersed in a tropical valley of vanilla orchids, watching the amber sun as it magically dances across the distant mountain peaks. This beautiful image is what Golden Amber Teadrops evokes when one drinks it. A simple vanilla white tea, that is gentle to the senses, soothing, and sweet. White tea is the mildest of all tea varieties and subtly blends with pure vanilla in perfect harmony.
Learn more about Teadrops here.
Taster’s Review:
After tasting the Cardamom Spice Teadrops, I was very excited to try the other flavors that this company has available. The next teadrop in my teacup? Golden Amber! It’s made with white tea leaves and vanilla.
When I opened the little cellophane wrapper of the Golden Amber Teadrop, I could smell the vanilla. It smells so good!
This is really quite tasty. The white tea base tastes like a fine quality white tea. I taste white tea: sweet, crisp, light, refreshing, with notes of hay and a slight earthiness. I also note hints of melon which is complemented nicely with the sweet, creamy vanilla flavor.
The vanilla is soft and this accentuates the soft, subtle notes of the white tea in a really lovely way. There seems to be just the right amount of vanilla in this tea for me – enough to provide that luscious, sweet flavor of vanilla that I love but not so much that it overwhelms the delicate quality of the white tea. A really delightful balance has been achieved with this product.
As with the Cardamom Spice Teadrops, these are also sweetened. I wished there wasn’t sugar added to the Cardamom Spice, and I wish there wasn’t sugar added to these Golden Amber Teadrops. However, they aren’t too sweet. That is usually my big complaint with pre-sweetened products: they’re too sweet. Like RTD teas. Way too sweet. But this … isn’t. This is sweet but not cloyingly so, and I like the way that the light sweetener here highlights the vanilla notes.
This product also does have the sediment at the bottom of the teacup. But as I mentioned with the other teadrops I tried, none of that sediment affects the sip until I get to about 1/2 inch to the bottom of the cup. Once you reach that point, stop drinking and you won’t get floaters in your sip.
As you may remember in my review of the Cardamom Spice Teadrops (you can check out that review by clicking on this link), I mentioned that I felt that this company should consider developing a “refill” box option for their teadrops. The beautiful wooden “slide” box is amazing, but, I felt that for those customers who wanted to buy teadrops again … well, they might not need another wooden box, you know? So, why not offer a refill option at a lower price for those returning customers.
Well, they listened to me! (I love it when that happens. Occasionally, I do have good ideas.) They now offer a refill option for their three tea flavors. Nice! They also offer free shipping on all their orders: more niceness. And these Golden Amber Teadrops … are also very nice!
I am really happy with this product. These would make a really nice gift for a tea drinker who is a frequent traveler, or someone who needs some convenience with their cuppa!
Sugar Plum Shou Mei White Tea Blend from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
This year’s Christmas week blend is inspired by goodies the vision of which supposedly danced in sleeping children’s heads before they had My Little Ponies to dream about. So here’s my attempt at a sugar plum shou mei complete with some lavender flowers. I sure hope you enjoy it.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I was thrilled when I saw what tea 52Teas created for the week of this past Christmas: a Sugar Plum Shou Mei White Tea Blend! I love sugar plums! That it to say, I love the Jelly Belly type of sugar plum that’s a jelly sort of candy. I haven’t tried a real sugar plum. I don’t think I’m really entirely sure of what a real sugar plum actually is.
Which I guess opens things up for 52Teas to be very creative with this blend, right?
It took a few sips before I started to really recognize the “plum” notes in this tea. I could taste the white tea in those first few sips: sweet, light hay-ish notes, and a crisp, melon-ish like quality is what I could taste.
After the first few sips, I started to notice some plum-like qualities. Sweet and juicy! Then I noticed hints of lavender starting to emerge. But the aroma of the lavender here is stronger than the lavender’s contribution to the flavor profile of this tea. I can smell the lavender as I sit here, enjoying the scent of the tea wafting out of the cup but the flavor is much softer, like a whisper of lavender, a hint of lavender that caught a ride on the airy notes of the white tea.
This is pretty tasty. It’s not quite as strongly flavored as I anticipated it being based upon my experiences with 52Teas. But it does have the flavors I’d expect from a “sugar plum” flavored tea: I taste the tea, and I taste notes of sweet plum. I don’t know if this tea excites me enough to start filling my head with dancing visions, but it’s a tasty cuppa.
Cran-Grape Shou Mei from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I assure you, I am not dead.
I’ve been down with the flu early this week and then I got so busy with our Kickstarter rewards that I nearly forgot to post the tea of the week! Shame on me. And it’s a yummy one too. Soft, sweet shou mei blended with cranberries and grapes. Yummmmm.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
As soon as I opened the pouch of this Cran-Grape Shou Mei from 52Teas, I could smell the grape. Or perhaps, I should say, I could smell grape candy, because that’s what it smells like. It smells like the grape <insert favorite grape flavored candy here>. Yeah, that’s what this smells like. The grape scent was so strong that I couldn’t really detect any cranberry notes, or any white tea notes for that matter.
Once brewed, the fragrance mellows out a little bit. Now, I still smell grape, but it actually smells like grape … and not so much like grape candy. There are still hints of candy-like sweetness, but, the aroma becomes a little more complex after the tea is brewed. I even smell a wine-like note in there. And I can smell hints of white tea too. Much more promising than the dry leaf scent.
The grape flavor is the strongest note that I taste, and the sweetness of the candy-like grape taste is curbed with the tartness of the cranberry. This combination keeps the grape from tasting too cloying. But, I have to say that this isn’t my favorite fruit combination. I’ve never made any big secret of my dislike for grape flavored things. But the cranberry does improve the flavor considerably.
The white tea is a little obscured by the strength of the fruit flavors. I notice the white tea notes a little more when I slurp the sip, and then I taste the earthy qualities of the Shou Mei, and a slight “hay-ish” taste that offers a palate-pleasing contrast to the fruit notes.
This tastes alright. It’s not my favorite 52Teas blend. (I have much higher hopes for the next blend that I’ll be tasting: Rum Raisin! YUM!) I like this much better as an iced tea than when it’s served hot.