EggNaughTea from The NecessiTeas. . . .

The holidays are fast approaching and that means eggnog. Lots of eggnog. And eggnog means eggnog lattes!!! They don’t say “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” for nothing.

I figured what better tea to make as an eggnog latte than EggNaughTea, a caffeine-free blend of honeybush, nutmeg, marigold petals, marshmallows, and flavoring? However, to be able to discern the tea from the latte, I also decided to make it as a plain tea. Both were brewed in 200F water for a little over 5 minutes.

Sipping on the hot tea, I can tell this is a high quality honeybush base, especially since it is one of the only things I am tasting. Sweet honey flavor. I wish I could say I was tasting the nutmeg, vanilla, or rum that is supposed to be here but alas they are lost on me.

Nevertheless, while I may find it a little lackluster tea plain, this is making for an ah-mazing latte! It boosts the nutmeg and vanilla in the regular eggnog, while the honey of the base makes this scream “decadent dessert”. Think sweet creamy custard deliciousness.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas
Description

This tea is a holiday blend so check out The NecessiTeas site for all of their great holiday blends!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Lemon Biscottea from BlendBee. . . .

I made this tea the other day and then I got distracted and never got around to drinking it. Thankfully my Sororitea Sisters were generous with their sample and I am getting to enjoy it now…and enjoy it I am!

Comprised of South African Honeybush Red Tea, Lemon Peel, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass, Jasmine Flower, Agrimony Herb, Marshmallow Root, and Lemon, Vanilla & Custard natural flavor extracts, this Lemon Biscottea tea claims such benefits of reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, helping depression, controlling blood sugar, and much more. However, I personally never cared for any of the health benefits claims. For me only one thing is important and that is taste…and this delivers on taste.

This is creamy and lemony. It reminds me of Fauchon’s L’Hiver or Butiki’s Lemon French Macaron for those that have tried those teas. The flavor is soft and fluffy, probably in large part due to the marshmallow root. Lemon is clearly the star of the show but it is a gentle and sweet lemon that compliments the vanilla and custard pastry notes perfectly, as opposed to a bright citrus or a harsh sour. As it cools, there is a more herbal quality at the end of the sip which I’d attribute to the lemongrass. As a whole, it certainly captures a treat but to me I would say it is more akin to a pastry than a biscotti.

Regardless of how you’d describe this, this is definitely a dessert tea. A little more herbal than I like but only when it cools so best to drink this one hot.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy:  BlendBee
Description

Tea party anyone? This beautiful blend will whisk you away to a lovely tea party set with delightful treats, close friends, fresh spring flowers and lemon trees. This naturally caffeine free blend is absolutely divine hot as well as cold brewed on a warm day.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

My Peeps from The NecessiTeas. . . . . .

What do you do when you have a box of forty teas to taste and review? You hope and pray that there are some caffeine free blends so you can do some of your tasting at night! And if you don’t like rooibos, you pray that there will be some HONEYBUSH BABY!

And hallelujah, my prayers were answered! I don’t think I have had a honeybush tea I didn’t like and this one looks absolutely adorable! Tiny freeze dried marshmallows, pink sugar crystals dotted here and there like sparkling gems, plus brown sugar sweeten this blend, but the main flavor shining through for me is the honeybush base.

Adorable doesn’t cut it by itself. The tea has to taste good, too, and this one tastes like a holiday with a touch of vanilla. We don’t usually add sugar to tea in this house so there was a moment of hesitation as we tried it. But even with three sources of sugar in the blend, the tea is not too sweet. There really isn’t enough of it to turn me off. We made a whole pot, we are drinking a whole pot, and I don’t have to worry about lying awake all night.

Three cheers for My Peeps! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Easy Like Sunday Morning from Plum Deluxe. . . . .

A love letter to this delightful, chocolate-y lavender tea, from Mary (a fan).

Dearest chocolate-lavender honeybush, you unexpectedly tricky surprise. Prior to our first meeting, did I think you might be a little much? Perhaps– and yet, I added you to my tea order regardless. And when you arrived, did I not shove you to the kind-of-back of my tea cabinet, purposefully ignoring you a little bit until the time was right? YES. And YET: when your brewing time arrived, did I know we’d soon fall in tea-sipper-and-tea-leaf love? Certainly not. Did I assume your notes of chocolate would be that strange combination so often found in chocolate teas, that of overwhelming, fake, and flat– all at once? Did I doubt that you’d be the one in a million to change my mind and actually make me believe that could chocolate tea could be delicious? I mean– I hoped. But I was skeptical.

(Interlude: I’m well aware that if this were a REAL love letter, there sure would be a lot of caveats in my profession of love. Let’s be grateful that tea isn’t a sentient love-letter-recipient.)

OH, but you chocolate lavender tea– you are just perfect. You’re mild and sweet, comforting and cozy and rich just as a chocolate tea should be, but rarely is. You require no added sweetness, but you’re a match made in heaven with a dollop of decadent coconut cream on top. You’re the standard I now hold all other chocolate teas against– this is now a much, much higher bar than it ever had been before.

Dear chocolate lavender honeybush tea, you truly are as easy as a Sunday morning. And any Sunday that involves chocolate is a win by me. Mmm.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Herbal
Where to Buy:  Plum Deluxe
Description

When we launched our line of hot chocolate blends, we found our favorite flavor was chocolate and lavender.  The rich decadence of the chocolate was enhanced by a tiny flourish of floral calm.  So that’s when we realized it would make the perfect herbal tea!

Everything feels easier after a calm cup of this blend.  Honeybush tea and cacao nibs are paired with fresh Oregon lavender to make a dreamy cup of perfection.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Peeps from the Necessiteas

Two of our Sisters recently reviewed My Peeps from The NecessiTeas. . .here is the first one!

Springtime is historically the season for Peeps: those iconic, yellow sugar-coated marshmallow chicks.  The company behind Peeps has done quite a bit of branching out since those original Easter Sundays.  Now Peeps come in every seasonal shape and color, pumpkins and frankenstein heads for fall, snowmen and gingerbread men for winter, and more flavors and kooky combinations than you can imagine. 

I’m partial to marshmallows, whether big soft marshmallows in my hot cocoa, mini marshmallows in my Lucky Charms, or marshmallow-coated snowball cakes– you name it.  And yes, I like Peeps too.  The Necessiteas captured the sweet whimsy of marshmallow peeps in this delicious tea blend.  

This decaf honeybush blend is super jam-packed with strong vanilla, almost caramel flavors.  In both smell and taste, the foremost flavor in the blend is the beyond-vanilla buttercream frosting, meant to be ultra-reminiscent of marshmallows and marshmallow cream.  It’s hard to imagine exactly what flavors make marshmallows so distinctive, but the sugary sweetness with clean vanilla are a close match.  The honeybush is a great tea to use as a base, the leaves being gentle enough not to overpower the marshmallow flavoring.

Just in case the flavor alone wasn’t enough to entice you to try a cup of this brew, the loose leaf have mini marshmallows and pink sugar crystals to add sweetness and cuteness in equal measure.  


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The Necessiteas

Easter just would’t be the same without peeps. In fact, you could say that peeps are to food what ugly Christmas sweaters are to clothing. You know whether you prefer chicks to bunnies, fresh to stale, or plain to chocolate-covered. I personally prefer slightly stale pink bunnies! When it comes to peeps, you either love them or you hate them. Their sugary, marshmallowy sweetness is enough to make your teeth ache, and I’m ok with that! I decided to make a healthier version of my favorite Easter treat by blending naturally sweet honeybush with mini marshmallows, pink sugar crystals and organic flavors. The outcome? Same sweet, marshmallowy goodness, minus the toothache!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!