Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Blend Bee
Tea Description:
Say s’oolong to low energy, naughty cravings, slow metabolism & unwanted stress.
Oolong Gone is specifically designed to help boost metabolism, increase energy and reduce stress. Along with a myriad of other benefits, this blend of Oolong, Ashwagandha root, Hibiscus, Rose Buds, Strawberry Leaf, Lemon Peel and Licorice root tastes fruity and fabulous. Drink 30-45 minutes before meals several times a day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Lear more about Amoda Tea.
Taster’s Review:
I have always wanted to try Blend Bee Teas and thankfully the last box I received from Amoda Tea had Blend Bee Teas in it.
If you aren’t familiar with them, Amoda Tea is a monthly subscription service. Each month you receive a sampling of teas from one company, showcasing their teas and allowing you the chance to try teas that you might not have tried. I just love that concept. Other boxes send you a mix of different teas from different companies but the way Amoda Tea works, you get a nice sampling of what that particular company offers. Pretty great concept!
This blend from Blend Bee is an Oolong/Herbal mix that sounds amazing. All of the ingredients just sounded fantastic and the dry leaf mix smelled gorgeous. I brewed this blend up with the parameters that were on the package and took my first sip.
As gorgeous as this tea smelled, I have to be honest and say I didn’t really care for the taste. There was something off with the tea that I can’t place my finger on. I’m wondering if its the ashwagandha root. All of the other flavors mix well together and from what I can tell would make a glorious tea on their own. The are strong notes of lemon and strawberry. Those two flavors with the oolong note were heavenly.
I would love to try this tea without the ashwagandha root. Regardless, I’m still very excited to be given the change to check this tea and company out. I’m already on the website of both Amoda Tea and Blend Bee to see what looks interesting!
Lime Green with Envy from BlendBee
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
You don’t see as many lime teas as you do lemon because it’s so much more sour than a lemon and can be tough to balance in a tea. Here it really works though. The lime is tame. The strong green teas and the raspberry leaf give the tea backbone – a little bit earthy, vegetal and what hints at a black tea flavour.
What’s In It:
All organic ingredients: sencha green tea, china green tea, lemon peel, raspberry leaf, lime extract.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Amoda’s Monthly Subscription Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Let’s all say that when I opened up this month’s Amoda Tea box, I squealed. . . LOUDLY! I love Amoda Tea’s monthly box and to see a company that I have been wanting to try for some tea featured, well, I was a happy girl to say the least.
Each month Amoda Tea puts together a thoughtful offering for their customers. What I love is that when I open the box up, they have lovingly packaged my teas with my name on it. That just makes you smile!
This month they featured BlendBee, a company that I first heard about on Twitter. When I saw that there was a sampling of Lime Green with Envy, I couldn’t get my infuser out quick enough. This tea is described as a green tea with a sour twist. That is a lot for a tea to live up to. So I prepared my water and sat somewhat patiently while the tea steeped. 3 minutes later I was ready to take my first sip.
My initial thoughts? Wow, they got this right! I can really pick up that lime flavor. Sour but not overly so that I’m puckering up as I drink the tea. The green tea base is laying down a nice flavor that is somewhat grassy with notes of a vegetal finish. Each flavor contrasts the other in a very nice way. This tea was crisp and refreshing!
As much as I loved this tea hot, I wanted to try it cold so I popped in a few ice cubes, threw the infuser back in the tea and let it steep for a few more minutes.
What I got in return was one of the best iced teas I’ve had in a bit. This will be one of those teas that I’ll be remembering for some time to come. Cold this tea just shines. I would love to finish this glass off with a nice lemon or lime wedge and possibly turn this tea into a mojito even. Cooled down the lime flavor really shines thru and I’m reminded of summer. A great tea to have to bring some sunshine in your day.
This month’s offerings have made me realize that I need an Amoda Monthly Tea Box in my life every month. I will be asking for a subscription for Christmas and if Santa doesn’t bring me what I want? I’ll be getting for myself!
Jestha Jasmine Green Tea from Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Jestha Jasmine begins with Nepal’s premium Pokhara green, a light, clean and crisp tea with beautiful full leaves. To this is added fragrant jasmine blossoms and orange peel to create a very serene cup of tea. Jestha Jasmine tea is perfect for warm weather and makes a really nice iced tea!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
25% of profits from our Nepal teas will be donated to the ‘Nepali Tea’ Restoration Fund for earthquake relief. Learn more here.
Taster’s Review:
I was intrigued by this Jestha Jasmine Green Tea from Nepali Tea Traders. I’m usually not all that excited to try a non-Chinese jasmine tea because I’m usually disappointed by them, but, I can’t recall having been disappointed by any teas from Nepali Tea Traders so I decided to go into this experience with an open mind and who knows? I might actually find a jasmine tea not from China that I like!
I brewed this in my Breville One-Touch. I usually steep jasmine teas in my gaiwan and then strain the tea into my Yi Xing mug that is designated for jasmine teas, but because this also has orange in it AND because I wasn’t so sure if I’d actually enjoy it and want the flavor to taint my jasmine mug, I decided to just use a ceramic mug and brew this tea in my Breville. I poured the entire contents of the sampler from Amoda Tea into the basket of the Breville and then added 500ml of water to the jug. Then I set the temperature to 175°F and the timer for 2 minutes.
Joy! This is the way that a jasmine tea that hasn’t been processed in China SHOULD taste. It doesn’t have that artificial jasmine flavor to it. I suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that the jasmine notes come from the addition of the jasmine blossoms rather than the use of jasmine oil. The jasmine tastes delicate and natural – not perfume-ish! It has a lovely floral essence without tasting like soap.
And I really like the touch of orange in this blend. It adds a pleasant juicy, citrus note that isn’t overwhelming and the orange and the jasmine complement each other very well.
The green tea base is quite enjoyable as well. It’s soft and has a hint of creaminess to it. I like the way the creaminess of the green tea plays to the other flavors in this tea. It softens the floral notes so they aren’t too sharp and adds a lovely sweetness to the tangy citrus flavor.
A really surprising Jasmine tea! I’m very picky about my jasmine – and I’m enjoying this. I’d recommend this to other jasmine tea drinkers too!
Choco Shou Pu-erh Tea from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
f you’re new to pu-erh, this is a great introductory tea. If you’re not new, you’ll still enjoy its vanilla chocolate goodness. This is slightly earthy and woody, as you might expect from an aged tea. The taste is smooth, rich (there’s mini chocolate chips in this afterall) with a lingering sweetness. Go ahead and try this hot with milk or even as an iced latte.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said on several occasions, I’m usually hesitant when it comes to sampling pu-erh. I actually have enjoyed most of the pu-erh that I’ve tasted over the years but if I had to choose between pu-erh and most other tea types, I’d probably go with something else. I’m not a big fan of the earthiness that seems to go along with most pu-erh and especially with shou pu-erh. And as the name of the tea indicates, shou pu-erh is the base tea used for this Choco Shou Pu-erh Tea from Camellia Sinensis which is the last of the four teas that I’m sampling from this month’s Amoda Box.
And while I don’t usually like that earthy flavor of pu-erh, it works with this particular blend. The earthiness actually enhances the flavor of the chocolate and gives it a deeper, richer flavor. So while I may not be all excited about a shou pu-erh, I do get excited about a tea that complements the flavor of chocolate.
Yay chocolate!
So, yes, this is earthy. But not so much that it knocks me upside the head with a flavor that makes me think that I steeped soil instead of tea. This tastes much better than I would assume the steeped soil would taste – I’m going to go with that assumption because I’m not going to steep soil and drink it. Just not gonna do it.
The chocolate flavor here tastes dark and decadent, like an expensive chocolate bar that says 70% cacao on it. If you prefer your expensive chocolate bar to say “milk chocolate” on it, add a splash of milk to make a latte because this tea tastes amazing as a latte!
To steep: I used my Kati Tumbler rather than my gaiwan to steep this tea because of the little chocolate chips in the blend. I felt like the Kati was the better way to go. I did rinse the tea for 15 seconds before infusing though – you’ll want to do this with any shou to help wash away some of those stronger earthy notes. After the rinse, I infused the first cup for 2 1/2 minutes in 190°F. I added 30 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
I resteeped twice – creating three very flavorful cups of tea – with the first two much more chocolate-y than the third. The third was still quite nice, just not as much chocolate flavor.
So smooth! No bitterness (not even from the chocolate!) and no astringency. Just a deep, mellow, luxuriously chocolate flavor that I would happily drink on a regular basis. As I said before: the chocolate flavor lasts through a couple of steeps – I got two very chocolate-y steeps out of the tea before the chocolate notes began to wane.
This tea gets a thumbs up from me. Quite good!
Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Roiboos
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
What makes this extra good? One, it’s organic. Two, the coconut is subtle, rather than being the main note. Three… is that banana I taste? How unusual, but very pleasant. Together with the green rooibos, this is a fantastic combo. Soft, sweet and creamy. You can try it hot or iced.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Rooibos blends just aren’t my favorite. They just aren’t. But I do enjoy green rooibos more than I do red rooibos – I find that light, fruity note of the green rooibos to be appealing, especially when it’s part of a fruit flavored blend like this Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis.
I think that the above description from Amoda Tea to be pretty spot on: the coconut notes are soft and unassuming, and the banana adds a pleasant flavor to this delightful tropical fruit flavored tisane. The overall flavor is indeed “soft, sweet and creamy.”
The creaminess is kind of a surprise for me, because I haven’t had a lot of green rooibos blends that have been what I’d categorize as “creamy.” Usually, they’re light and crisp and have almost a ‘bubbly’ type of character to them. I suspect the coconut and banana flavors brings a bit of creaminess to the party.
The pineapple adds a little bit of brightness to the cup. The apple is not particularly distinguishable, but I do note a little bit of apple-like sweetness that enhances the overall cup.
I really like this: it’s a soothing, gentle kind of flavor, the kind of tisane you want to curl up to late at night. And because it’s naturally caffeine-free, you can do just that. It’s sweet and it’s fruity without tasting like a cloying fruit punch concoction. It’s quite tasty, really.