French #7 from Blue Hour Tea. . .

Don’t let the flowers fool you: this Earl Grey blend is POWERFUL. It’s packed to the gills with the Earl’s trademark bergamot, plus lavender and cornflowers. This blend packs a punch. DO NOT OVERSTEEP IT.

Tired? The smell itself is so strong that it will wake you up immediately. Cranky? The flavor will get your gears in motion. Dead on the inside? The caffeine will give you a shove.

This is like Earl Grey’s spunky hippie sister got into his tea stash and started messing around with it

“I picked these today,” she whispers, dropping a handful of blossoms into the mix. “These will make it pretty AND align his chakras. He’s so UPTIGHT sometimes.”

And then the Earl gets in there and he’s like “OH MY GOD, MOONBEAM, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

Then he sips it and says, with a sigh, “Oh. It’s pretty good.”

And goes back to bureaucracy or whatever it is Earls do all day. She’ll wander back into the fields, going on a walkabout, not to return until the winds and the moon usher her back to the castle. He never knows when she’ll drop by, but he’s secretly glad when she does. She keeps him on his toes.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  Blue Hour Tea
Description

This is by far our most fragrant tea, just one sniff and you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the beautiful streets of Paris! Our French No.7 blend uses a base of rich Earl Grey tea and has been mixed with a generous portion of lavender & cornflowers to create its wonderful floral aroma and flavour.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Genmaicha (Australia) from Blue Hour Tea. . . .

I steeped this at 190 degrees with 1stp tea and 1 cup water for about one minute. (The recommendation was 1-3 minutes, but after one minute it smelled super toasty even from across the room so I figured I’d better drink it before it got strong enough to knock me over.)

This tea does interestingly include a bit of matcha in the ingredients despite being a genmaicha, which is a great addition as far as I’m concerned. Also, I’ve never had a tea from Australia before (that I know of), so I was quite excited by this opportunity!

Once steeped, the tea was hazy and a bit cloudy, possibly from the dissolved matcha, and had a grassy but very light green color. Even in the fragrance I could definitely find the green-tea-flavor melding with the toasted-rice flavor. The liquid was a little thicker than expected, and as I took my first sip I found that it doesn’t taste quite as toasty as it smells. There was a bit more of the buttery, savory green tea flavor than I’d expected based on the fragrance, especially at the beginning of the sip. However, the overall flavor profile was nicely blended with most of the strength of the nutty, toasty flavor coming more at the end of the sip. This tea was smooth, not bitter at all, and it was somewhat astringent but not too astringent.

With sugar it was really great, and yes, I tried it with milk as well, although I know that’s kind of weird. The flavor was actually unexpectedly wonderful–like eating a bowl of matcha-flavored rice cereal for breakfast. (I don’t know if that’s actually a thing, but it should be.)

 

So the verdict altogether is that if you like genmaicha, you’ll like this tea, and if you like matcha-flavored cereal, you should try it with milk and sugar. In addition to being delicious it should also be really great for you (unless your doctor has told you not to drink caffeine, of course), since green tea and matcha both have plentiful health benefits. The only downside is that, although you can steep it multiple times, the second steeping isn’t quite the same because the match gets mostly used up in the first steeping.

I really enjoyed drinking this tea and would happily drink lots more of it if given the opportunity.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy:   Blue Hour Tea
Description

Our Genmaicha is a combination of the fresh flavour of green tea with the undertones of roasted rice and the added richness of matcha tea. This premium Genmaicha is grown in the Acheron Valley in Victoria, Australia. There are only a handful of farms growing tea in Australia and this is one of our favourites.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Spicy Honey Chai from Blue Hour Tea. . .A Different Take on Chai. . .

Waaaaaay back in the day, I was a barista. Not the cool, hipster baristas we all know and love now, but the nerdy high schooler kind who like making weird drink concoctions when the cafe is slow. I’m sure you can imagine it.

Anyways! Even back then, before I knew how much my love of tea would grow, I wasn’t a coffee drinker either, and was constantly looking for a new warm concoction that I could sip will slinging drinks to our customers. Enter: chai. I instantly fell in love with the creamy, warming spices and found myself finding new ways to brew it on the daily.

Ever since then, even if my tea tastes have expanded, chai remains my first tea love. So when I dug this sample out of my stash, I was SUPER pumped to go back to my roots and give it a chai (see what I did there? ;))! First things first– the dry leaf is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Blue Hour adds honey to this blend so that the leaves harden together a bit, to unfurl when steeped. I brewed as they recommended, warming a small pot of coconut milk on the stove and tossing the leaves into steep as it warms up.

The result is a creamy, slightly-sweet-but-not-saccharine (from the help of the honey), ginger and pepper spiced cup of goodness. This chai perfect tows the line between hitting all the traditional notes I love in chai while being like nothing I’ve ever had before. It was delicious, and brought me right back to the good old barista days. I’d definitely drink this one again!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Blue Hour Tea
Description

Our Spicy Honey Chai is made using our unique blend of whole roasted spices, a Single Estate Assam black tea with a bit of heat from black pepper and ginger and it’s all finished off with a good portion of raw honey fromCoal Lake Honey Farm. This makes for a well balanced mug of chai, which is best when brewed in milk.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

French No.7 from Blue Hour Tea- An Earl Grey Tea Blend

Seeing is that I will not being going to France anytime soon I figured the best way to awaken my senses and transport myself over there – meditatively – is by sipping on French No.7 from Blue Hour Tea.

If you are drawn in by intensely fragrant teas make sure you put French No.7 from Blue Hour Tea on your list TO TRY! Basically this is their version of Lavender Earl Grey but a pepped-up version! Try certainly did NOT skimp on the contents of this tea and the proof is in the aroma!

The infusion is pretty impressive, too! French No.7 from Blue Hour Tea infuses to a lighter to medium brown color in the cup. The taste on the tongue is completely Lavender and Earl Grey. There is a very fresh end sip and after taste. Almost minty but I’m not saying there is actual MINT in this blend – it just seems so fresh, airy, and awakening at the end of the sip and with the after taste.

French No.7 from Blue Hour Tea is perfect for rough mornings or a tea if you want to clear your head, mind, and/or senses!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Flavored Black Tea
Where to Buy: Blue Hour Tea
logoDescription

This is by far our most fragrant tea, just one sniff and you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the beautiful streets of Paris! Our French No.7 blend uses a base of rich Earl Grey tea and has been mixed with a generous portion of lavender & cornflowers to create its wonderful floral aroma and flavour.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Genmaicha from Blue Hour Tea #VeganMoFo2016

Today’s Vegan MoFo prompt is “Far Away” and basically if we dug straight down – where would we come out?  Based on where I am it would be the ocean but the closest land-wise would be Australia which was ironic because I was just sipping on Genmaicha from Blue Hour Tea and that hails from Australia.  Acheron Valley in Victoria, Australia, to be exact.

Genmaicha from Blue Hour Tea is your standard yet sturdy Genmaicha.  There are no surprises with this Genmaicha from Blue Hour Tea but that isn’t a slam to this tea rather a praise!  It’s everything you would expect from a Genmaicha.  Fresh green tea, roasted and toasted rice, and and rich matcha make up this offering from Blue Hour Tea.  It’s sweet, nutty, and vegetal.  It’s toasty, roasty, and mouth-watering.  A real winner!  Genmaicha from Blue Hour Tea offers a top-notch tasting tea!

 


logobluhourHere’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Blue Hour Tea
Description: Genmaicha is a combination of the fresh flavour of green tea with the undertones of roasted rice and the added richness of matcha tea. This premium Genmaicha is grown in the Acheron Valley in Victoria, Australia. There are only a handful of farms growing tea in Australia and this is one of our favourites.

Flavour Profile: Toasty rice, Fresh finish, Grassy

Dosing – 1 slightly heaping teaspoon (2-3grams) per 250ml water

Brewing Temperature – 80-90°c

Brewing time – 1 to 3min

Recommend Additions – This green tea is best enjoyed on its own.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!