Tangy Orange Carrot from Steeped Tea isn’t really a tea, per say, but a tisane…one could even call it a ‘veggie tea’, however, there aren’t any actually tea leaves in this one, folks!
What it DOES have is: Carrot bits*, Apple bits*, Sea Buckthorn peel*, Ginger*, Turmeric root*, Orange wedges*, Pumpkin bits*, Anise*, Natural flavors*. *Organic.
I have had this one HOT which was pretty good, but I prefer it cold or ICED, instead.
When infusing I used about a teaspoon or two of the loose tisane ingredients and let them sit in the hot water for about 5 minutes. If cold brewing you can do that overnight, as well.
As for the flavor, the carrot, orange, apple, and ginger blend nicely. The pumpkin and spices are an afterthought but I’m glad they aren’t overdone, too.
This is a nice tisane COLD in late summer or WARM for fall. So, basically, a win…win!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Steeped Tea
Description
This tea looks to be no longer available but click below for blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fruit Salad/Bird and Blend Tea Co
Fruit Salad by Bird and Blend Tea Co. is inspired by “Fruit Salad chews – the glorious childhood penny sweet!” according to the Bird and Blend Tea Co website. I actually realized that just now because when I purchased it, I thought it was inspired by an actual fruit salad. Having never even heard of a Fruit Salad Chew before, I did a bit a research and it would seem that they are chewy candies with raspberry and pineapple flavoring.
Obviously I have never tried Fruit Salad Chews before but brewed hot, this tea has a bit of an artificial waxy quality that Starburst minis tend to have. That is where the similarities between this tea and a chewy fruit candy ends. This is not all that sugary or sweet. In fact, it almost would be better if Bird and Blend was trying to recreate an actual fruit salad because this is a generically fruity and tart tea, more akin to a melange of fruit than fruit chews. Definitely nothing distinctively raspberry or pineapple here, at least in the hot tea.
I also cold brewed this tea to see how that would compare to the hot brew. It was left in the fridge for approximately 24 hours. Cold brewed, this tea is a little sweeter than the hot tea as some of the hibiscus is tamed by this brewing method. I also get more apple flavors among a melange of fruitiness. Again, not much in the way of raspberry or pineapple though and not as sweet as one would expect from a tea inspired by candies.
This to me is like many fruit teas out there. They all have a similar flavor profile with apples and hibiscus. A little sweet and a little tart. With that said, this is less tart than other fruit teas I have had but also has a fair amount of lemongrass flavor. It is nice enough but nothing particularly special. Easy to drink but easy to forget.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Bird and Blend Tea Co.
Description
No not the healthy ‘dessert’, the glorious childhood penny sweet! Still a much-loved classic, still wrapped in the iconic orange and pink striped wrapper and still paired with those dastardly Black Jacks (who ever liked those!?) Fruit Salad chews really were the best!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Strawberry Rose Champagne/The NecessiTeas. . . .
A while back I won an Instagram giveaway which made me the proud new owner of a Sacred Lotus Love tea tumbler and the recipient of three NecessiTeas blends: Orange Fluff, Pineapple Mimosa, and this tea, Strawberry Rose Champagne. However, the giveaway was for people living in the U.S. and since I live in Canada, I provided my father’s address, which is in California. I have used my Dad as a tea mule many times before so I knew this would be fine with him.
Normally, my dad mails me anything I send to him but this time around he personally delivered the goods since he came to Toronto for my brother’s college graduation. This personal delivery was of course accompanied by my Dad’s typical comments like “tea is for sick people” and “tea has no flavor” and “why do you keep buying tea?” In fact, this time around he told me he had no interest in tea and even if I offered him tea, he would not try it. This was particularly entertaining because later that same night, I brewed this tea as a teapop and he all of a sudden was intrigued. After confirming that the tea was cold, he even asked to try it!
He sniffed it first and said it smelled interesting and then at first sip looked at me and our conversation went as follows:
Him: “I thought this was tea?!” Me: “it is” Him: “no, it’s soda” Me: “no, it’s a teapop”
He then told me that this was “ingenius” and then proceeded to drink two glasses of this tea. He was amazed that it was actually flavorful and carbonated and delicious, all without added sugar (which is especially important to him as he is diabetic).
When I finally got to try it, I enjoyed it quite a bit too. It was a touch too floral at times but it had a nice berry flavor. I hope that was because of the tea and not the strawberry perrier I used to make this a teapop. It also had an effervescence that was very reminiscent of champagne and a touch of that familiar alcohol dryness.
It’s a nice tea and definitely does well as a teapop. I like that it is different than so many other fruit blends that rely heavily on hibiscus/rose hips to create a flavor. I wish there was less rose, but that is more my personal preference than a criticism of the tea. With that said, given it converted my ever-critical father into a believer, I am definitely delighted I got a chance to give it a try and I am pleased I have a whole lot more leave left to experiment with.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Inspired by the delicate floral and fruity notes in a glass of sweet champagne, this tea blends the voluptuous scent of blooming roses with the sweet flavor of fresh-picked strawberries. Steep up this bubbly concoction with friends before your next GNO or for your better half after a romantic dinner for two. Cheers!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lovely Break/Lov Organic. . . .
This tea is called Lovely Break and boy could I use one of those. My law school decided to take exams right up until the very last day they could, December 21st, which made for a very short break following weeks of significant stress and pressure. As much as that sucked, it would have been okay if the other side of our holiday wasn’t also weeks of significant stress and pressure. Yeah…for some reason the geniuses at Western thought it would be awesome to start the new semester off with a January Intensive period which requires completing a highly involved research paper and reading 1000s of pages of case law. So a lovely break would be wonderful right about now.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this tea is the Lovely Break for me. It is a fruit tisane with apple, rose hip, elderberry, blueberries,hibiscus, white hibiscus, moringa, and flavoring. It is meant to blend the sweet taste of wild berries with the delicious notes of cookies. While I sort of get the wild berries, the cookies are a definite no go. This tea is a whole lot of hibiscus and generic berry. Sort of sweet but mostly tart.
So while it was fun to try something new, this tea is not what I would call a lovely break, even if writing this review gave me a minute away from all the legal stuff. Now back to work…
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: Lov Organic
Description
Red berry and biscuit flavoured blend of hibiscus, plants and fruits
Take time out from a hectic day with Løvely Break.
This delightful, delicate, organic infusion blends the sweetness of red fruits with the comforting notes of biscuits from your childhood to create a moment of true relaxation. Its dessert notes and fruity sweetness deliver a delicious cup of loveliness that tastes like a yummy treat.
Løvely Break is inspired by “Fika”, the traditional daily break that Swedes enjoy together over a hot drink and a pastry.
This naturally theine-free infusion invites you to share a relaxing moment with friends and colleagues – it’s the new tea-time treat!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Ginger from Voce Fruit Tea. . . .
Even though I am a 10-15 daily cuppa tea drinker kinda gal, sometimes I just want something else. Something a bit different and that is normally when I find myself drawn to herbals or fruit tisanes. That is where Voce Fruit Tea comes into play.
I was looking for some kind of dried fruit or inclusions that I could easily throw into my water bottle to help me drink more water. I’m not a fan of the powdered kool aid style drinks or the liquid equivalent. I wanted something a bit healthier that would last at least a day without having a huge impact in the terms of waste and without me having to cut up a ton of fruit every morning. I had seen a few other types of single serving dried fruit packs where you can toss a few pieces into water, but I didn’t like all of the waste that accompanied them. So when Voce Fruit Tea popped up in my search, I was super excited to see what they had to offer.
Voce Fruit Tea was founded in the hopes of finding a way to create a healthy hot fruit beverage that adults and children alike would enjoy (along with a few other reasons) that didn’t require a ton of sugar or honey added to the beverage. Instead of using tea leaves, Voce Tea uses huge pieces of dried fruit to create their flavor combos. So instead of having a bag full of tea leaves, you have a bag full of organic fruit and spices. The tea bags they use are environmentally friendly to boot. Exactly what I was looking for.
So finally the time came to try the first flavor that caught my eye, Lemon Ginger. With all of the sick ick going around my house lately, Lemon Ginger blends have been my go to. This tea bag contained huge pieces of ginger and a lemon slice. What I love was seeing regular ginger pieces instead of crystallized ginger.
Brewed with freshly boiled water and allowed to steep for 7 minutes, fresh notes of lemon were quickly filling the air.
I allowed the tea to cool for a few moments and took my first sip- and I AM IN LOVE. For all of my lemon ginger fans, check this fruit tea out. You will not be disappointed. What to know why? Because this fruit tea tastes exactly like what it is supposed to. Lemon and Ginger. Gorgeous fresh lemon citrus notes play off of the spiced ginger so beautifully. What you see is literally what you get. No added sugar or added preservatives.
I eagerly sipped this tea down and begun to prep another cuppa. And then another, and then another. I think I had at least five or six steepings of the tea last night and wanted to see how far I could draw out the flavor so I tossed the tea bag into a glass of ice water and still am getting that wonderful lemon ginger flavor, though less in strength of course- and I’ve refilled my glass at least four times today.
After having just one of their offerings, I know I’m going to be a daily Voce Fruit Tea drinker. Such an easy way to incorporate more water into my life. I’m so excited to try out the other flavors. . . .Goldenberry Banana Cinnamon and Cherry Lemon Apple. . . I’m looking at you!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit/Tisane
Where to Buy: Voce Fruit Teas
Description
After we started Voće, we had a close friend, Quentin, who told us that he really liked lemon ginger teas. Not wanting to disappoint, we started this flavor just for him. We have designated it Brew #17 because Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet.
And we’re so glad we did because few flavors go together as well as lemon and ginger. In our blend, we don’t skimp on either. Voće lemon and ginger tea features whole slices of lemon and big chunks of ginger, for a refreshing taste that is out of this world! Like many of our teas, one bag of lemon ginger can be used to brew several cups of Voće.
Ingredients: Organic dried lemon slices, organic dried ginger. Packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and milk products.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
