Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Far Leaves Tea
Tea Description:
A classic Taiwan Oolong, grown high above lugu valley this summit tea has a soaring floral opening and a rich lasting finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Getting some of this Dong Ding Oolong from Far Leaves Tea to sample from my SororiTea Sister Anne was such a lovely surprise! Not only do I love a good oolong, but I have never had a tea from Far Leaves Tea, so this is a real treat!
I love the cute canisters the tea comes in and while I did not find anything regarding this on the website, yet, I am almost certain that the container is fully recyclable, that is if you do not choose to reuse it!
The dry leaf is typical for a green Dong Ding oolong and has a lovely light floral aroma. I am getting a bit of a white lilac aroma from the dry leaf.
Once steeped the liquor smells of vanilla, cane sugar, and lilac. The color of the liquor is golden yellow, or a very light amber tone.
The taste in the first steep is more toward the floral side with just a hint at nuttiness, not as buttery or creamy as some Dong Ding, but there is a slight vanilla undertone to the taste. If you swish the tea around in your mouth you will feel more of the creaminess and richness. The resulting aftertaste is floral.
The leaf holds up well to several steeps, at least four, with each steep releasing the flavor notes at different intensity levels.
The astringency in this tea is the perfect level for this type of tea.
I generally prefer a dark roasted oolong but this is quite lovely and the quality of this tea makes me want to explore more of Far Leaves options.
Yunnan Golden Strand Spring 2011 from Stone Leaf Teahouse
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Stone Leaf Teahouse
Tea Description:
Jinggu, Spring 2011
Smooth, velvety, nutty
The most delicate combined with the robust; a skilled harvest of just the tips of the tea plant, exposed to the outside world for one day, then processed as black tea. Features characteristic earthy tones of Dian Hong, yet yields an incredibly soft, sweet cup. Notes of grape, slight pepper, and olive.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Yunnan Golden Strand Spring 2011 from Stone Leaf Teahouse has the sweetest bready flavor. It reminds me of raisin bread, or fig cake. There is even a yeasty quality to the sip that makes it even more like a true gourmet baked good.
While it is sweet, very sweet, there is something interesting about this tea that brings it toward a savory note as well. I do get the olive note that is mentioned in the description, and just a light taste of black pepper, which is very nice, but I also taste bulgar wheat, and milo.
The mouthfeel of this tea is heavy but not thick. It fills the mouth and has a near creamy feel, but with all the sweetness it finds a way not to become syrupy. It has a clear finish.
The leaf itself is beautiful, one of the lightest colored Golden Strand teas I have encountered.
Other notes worthy of mention are caramel, cocoa, fruit, hay, cane sugar, indeed it is a strange brew, but quite delicious.
Stone Leaf Teahouse never fails to provide tea of the highest quality.
Cranberry Pomegranate from Rooibee Red Tea
Product Information:
What It Is: Ready-To-Drink beverage crafted from Red Rooibos
Where to Buy: Goodies Company
Product Description:
Refreshing and delicately flavored with cranberry and pomegranate, Rooibee Red Tea is sure to please. It’s also rich in antioxidants, low in calories, naturally caffeine-free, and certified USDA organic. What’s not to love?
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently, I subscribed to a new monthly subscription with Goodies Company, a company that sends out monthly “foodie” tasting boxes. This bottle of Rooibee Red Tea was one of the products in my very first box, which I received a couple of months ago, but am just getting around to trying it now.
I guess you could say that I’m very often reluctant to try Ready-to-Drink teas. I usually find them to be too sweet for my liking, as most of them seem to be crafted with more sugars and sweeteners than actual tea. Add that with the fact that I’m not wild about red rooibos, and you have a product about which I am – at the very least – skeptical.
However, I’m finding this to be quite pleasant to drink. I like that the sweetener used here is Cane Sugar rather than corn syrup, so it doesn’t have that sickeningly, sticky sweet taste that not only sticks to the tongue but to the teeth. The rooibos is naturally sweet, so I think they should have maybe added a little less cane sugar here than they did, because this is still rather sweet.
The flavors of cranberry and pomegranate are not overtly obvious, they meld well into the flavor of the rooibos to create a very unified taste that is part nutty, sweet rooibos, part cranberry and part pomegranate. I notice that the taste of the fruits is most prominent in the aftertaste, where I get a gentle berry tingle on the tongue that tastes very much of both cranberry and pomegranate, but I think that this could be tastier of the two fruits were better represented during the sip and not just after.
Overall, I enjoyed this bottle of RTD rooibos. It is sweet, yes, and a tad too sweet for my liking, but, it was also very refreshing, and nice to drink after a meal. It managed to curb that tendency to hunt down some dessert when I sipped it right after my meal, and I do like that.
Will I buy it again? Probably not. I might try another flavor of the Rooibee Red Tea if I happened to find it while I was out and about, but, I don’t know that I’d go out of my way looking for the product, nor do I think it would be my first choice of beverages if given a wide variety of choices, but if the choices are limited, and the Rooibee Red Tea products happened to be one of those limited choices, I might choose it.
Caramel Sutra Chai from Domo
Tea Type: Chai
Where To Buy: Domo
Product Description:
Caramel Sutra Chai Tea
Chai has been the drink of choice in India for hundreds of years – a delicate, aromatic blend of freshly ground spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves which calls to mind all the adventure and mystique of ancient India. Now Domo has captured the spirit of the Indian sub-continent: Domo Flavour-Enhanced Chai is a fresh blend of spices with natural cane sugar and premium black tea, designed to seduce you with its sweet aroma and rich, sensual flavour. It’s a temptation you’ll love giving in to.
Contents: Caramel Sutra Chai Tea, 1lb resealable pack
Dimensions:
$20.99 CDN
Tasters Review:
Have you ever had a friend – whether it be in High School, College, the Work Place, or just thru an association or another friend that is just so different…so unique that you are just drawn to their personality and enjoy being around them because they are so VERY interesting and unlike another else you have ever met or been around?
Well, Caramel Sutra Chai from Domo is just like that friend.
This is truly unique! I’ve NEVER tasted ANYTHING like it before. It was truly a surprise on several levels! It seems to be perfect for the time of year…FALL. It’s very much reminiscent of Fall flavors and scents!
Prior to whisking I could smell wonderful Fall Spices along with the chai aroma, sugary-sweet caramel, and almost a hot chocolate type smell as well! Very wonderful, indeed! During and After whisking it was a very flavorful Fall-like-chai type aroma. I could still pick up on the Caramel smell as well.
The taste is out of this world! It’s brilliant that I can pick up on the sugar AND the caramel tastes as well as the chai! As it cools I can taste more Chai than Sugary-Sweet-ness…but the aftertaste is a lingering caramel and very nice!
YUM. This is very different, very satisfying, and I seem to be drawn to it because how unique yet flavorful it is. This is a Chai Product you MUST check out!
