Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
What’s the matter? You never heard of Granana?
Well, okay, me either. But it sounded like fun and so here it is. Premium shou mei white tea blended with freeze-dried grapes and bananas, and organic flavors. A little sweet, a little tart; a little smooth, a little piquant… One thing I can almost guarantee is that you won’t find this blend any where else. It’s up for you to tell me whether that’s a good thing or not. =)
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
When I first opened the package of this Banana Grape Flavored Shou Mei White Tea from 52Teas, my first thought was this smells like candy. It was the scent I might experience if I were to open a package of chewy Runts or a package of Nerds. It smells sweet – sugary sweet – and fruity.
And my first thought after my first sip was very much the same experience. It tastes a lot like fruit flavored candy. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with my two least favorite candy flavors. Sure … I like bananas and some of the banana flavored teas that I’ve tasted are some of my favorite teas of all time! I even like grape, although here I’m a lot more particular. I like grapes – as in the fruit. I’m not always so wild over grape flavored beverages, although I have tried a few grape flavored teas and really enjoyed them. But … I don’t like banana or grape flavored candies. Especially grape flavored candies. They taste too much like sweet candy and not enough like the fruit.
But here we are, dealing with one of my least anticipated tea flavors that 52Teas has ever produced. (Sorry, Frank!)
All that said … this isn’t too bad. It certainly isn’t my favorite tea that 52Teas has ever created, so I’m not about to tell you that it is. However, I don’t hate it either. The Shou Mei lends a certain earthy quality to the cup that helps “ground” the sweet, fruity flavor of the banana and grape. As I continue to sip, I start to notice the sweeter tones begin to subside and I notice more of the true fruit notes. Surprisingly, what I’m liking best about this is the way the grape notes and the natural flavors of the Shou Mei meld together.
Overall, this is a fair representation of both banana and grape flavors, and the white tea is not overpowered by the sweetness of the fruit notes. It’s a decent tasting tea that is better served iced than hot. Not bad, but not great either. It’s alright, but I don’t think I’ll be chomping at the bit to order more.
Doke Organic Silver Needle Second Flush White Tea from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Driftwood Teas
Tea Description:
Doke Organic Silver Needle is one of the finest examples of a white tea I have ever tasted. It’s easy to see the care that has gone into the hand harvesting of each one of these buds and personally I think this is easily more than equal to even the very best examples of silver needles being produced in China’s Fujian Province at the moment.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I find myself in total agreement with Azzrian’s assessment of this tea: “Doke Organic Silver Needle Second Flush from Driftwood Tea offers a crisp, clean, and juicy sweet cup.” It certainly does!
This is one of the finest Silver Needle teas that I’ve ever encountered – and I’ve consumed quite a bit of Silver Needle Tea!
The dry leaf is beautiful: long, silvery spears covered in soft downy fuzz, and the liquid they produce is softly fragrant with notes of fruit and perhaps a hint of hay, reminding me of the smell of the air after a field of hay has been harvested.
The flavor is delicate – no big surprise there. But what does surprise me is how abundant the flavor of apricot is in this cup. It is as though the flavor just bursts onto the palate. The background notes are of hay, hints of a grassy vegetation, and vague floral tones. There is a slightly dry astringency to the cup – slight! Those of you who tend to be “astringency-shy” … I don’t think you’d be put off here. This is more “juicy” than it is astringent.
It is a very enjoyable Silver Needle – as I said, one of the very best I’ve tried. I’d highly recommend this one.
The Royal Wedding White Tea Blend from Tea For All Reasons
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tea for All Reasons
Tea Description:
White Champagne Raspberry Rose – An exceptional blend of White Champagne Raspberry Tea with Rose Petals and Pearl Dragees that is striking in flavor though light and delicate; a blend truly fit for a future king and queen.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This Royal Wedding White Tea Blend from Tea For All Reasons is a really pretty blend. I’m not usually one to really appreciate the whimsy of candy sprinkles in a tea blend, but, I like the pearl dragees in this. There aren’t a LOT of them in this, and maybe that’s why I can appreciate them in this blend. There’s just a couple tossed in this for some added splendor to the dry leaf.
Each flavor presents itself softly to the palate – the white tea is subtle, with it’s light, airy, earthy notes. The rose is also subtle – adding just a hint of it’s distinctive floral quality to the cup. I like the way the rose petals complement the champagne and raspberry flavors.
The raspberry is sweet with just a twinge of tartness to it that tickles the tip of the tongue in the aftertaste. The champagne … is a very delicate taste, tasting ever so softly of grapes. I can almost “taste” the bubbles too.
It’s a really nice blend, and a nice way to commemorate the royal wedding. But since they’ve been married for a while, I guess what I shall raise my cup to is the newest addition to the royal family!
The Road To Hana White Tea Blend from Indie Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
TeaDescription:
The subtlety of the added flavours is what we love about this tea! The white peony is the star with its delicate hay, fruit and floral aromas. You have the leaf’s natural round mouthfeel coupled with the coconut flakes that makes for a creamy cup of tea. Hints of the dried mango and tart hibiscus = a seriously delicious tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very happy when I received this month’s Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea and discovered that Indie Tea was the featured tea purveyor for July. Indie Tea is one of my favorite tea purveyors because I love their fun, fresh and funky attitude toward tea! Their packaging is fun and their blends are deliciously different – with cool names to match their unique flavors.
One of the teas that was included in this month’s box – Lover’s Lane – is one that I’ve previously tried and reviewed. So, I won’t be writing another review for that tea, but, I am certainly happy to be tasting it again! In the meantime, I am going to tell you a little bit about this blend that I’m sipping right now – The Road to Hana White Tea Blend from Indie Tea.
And it is YUM! It’s got a great tropical flavor to it with the coconut and the mango notes, as well as the hibiscus. (Which is also quite tropical!) The hibiscus, gratefully, is not overdone here. It didn’t even really color the brewed tea very much … there was a slight pinkish hue but really, this looked more like a white tea than a hibiscus-y tea.
And it TASTES more like a white tea than a hibiscus-y tea too. And I’m very happy about that.
The white tea has a soft, delicate flavor (no surprise there, right?) and lends an earthy, sweet base for the additional sweetness of the fruity mango and creamy coconut notes. The hibiscus adds just a hint of tartness and it’s just enough of a contrasting note to offset the sweeter tropical fruits. Indie Tea has managed to achieve a nice balance of tart and sweet that leans more toward the sweet than the tart.
This has a nice mango flavor. The coconut is more “creamy” than coconut-y tasting … and I like the creaminess as it complements the white tea nicely. The result is a sweet and creamy cup of tropical lusciousness that has just a subtle tart note. Tasty!
A really nice choice by Amoda Tea. I like this one, and I’m glad I got to try it.
Cucumber Mango Flavored Shou Mei from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Yeah, I’m guilty. I got a little mango crazy this month, but this is the last one (for now). I kept thinking about those yummy cucumber mango salsas and it occurred to me that a nice white tea with some mango and cucumber would make a super refreshing iced tea.
I do tend to think in terms of iced teas most of the time, but I know I’m not alone now that the weather is getting warmer.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this Cucumber Mango Flavored Shou Mei from 52Teas smells absolutely INCREDIBLE! It smells so good that I almost want to pour the whole pouch into a bowl and put it out as potpourri.
But, I won’t do that, because, I’d rather drink it!
When this tea was announced for the week of May 20th, I was instantly intrigued. I really enjoyed the other cucumber blends that 52Teas has created, and I wanted to see how well the flavors of Cucumber and Mango stood up against such rivals as Cucumber Strawberry (just to name one of several cucumber blends that 52Teas has come out with!)
And I’d like to say that this is definitely a tasty addition to 52Teas cucumber collection. The Shou Mei is sweet, vegetative (in a hay-like sort of way) and earthy, and I like the way this tea showcases the delicate flavor of the cucumber, which has a crisp, vegetal, and sweet flavor.
The mango is the strongest component of this combination of flavors. It tastes sweet and juicy, and even though it IS the strongest flavor here, it is not so strong that it overwhelms the entire cup. I taste the other flavors. I like that.
This is really refreshing. I am sipping it hot at the moment, but I can hardly wait for my iced tea pitcher to be empty again so that I can brew some of this for iced tea! YUM!