Tea By C or Tea By Claire saved me this afternoon. Let me explain. My current company is going through a lot of structure change and reorgs which equals lots of meetings to go over all of these changes. Not knowing which tea I wanted to try, I thought I would grab one of our recent samples for SororiTea Sisters and Moscato Oolong was what I grabbed.
This tea blend is a unique tea blend-oolong tea, dried grapes, and natural grape flavor. I’ve had other moscato flavored tea blends before but I can’t say I’ve ever had a blend where there were actual HUGE dried grapes.
Because I wasn’t sure exactly how long the meetings would go, I quickly grabbed my Libre Tea Infuser, threw a few scoops of the tea in, ice, and water. Dialed in for the meeting and started to take notes. A few minutes later I took my first sip.
And can I say, my tastebuds rejoiced. This tea is one delicious cold brew! The oolong has this subtle yet present smoky flavor and there is definitely a moscato/grapish taste throughout the entire sip. The flavors are bright and pop perfectly. At the end of each sip, there is also this touch of minerality that just adds to the pleasant experience of enjoying this tea.
As the meeting continued, so did my enjoyment of this tea. As I would sip down each tumbler full, I would add in additional water and enjoyed more of the cold brew delight.
After a few hours of doing this-I have to say, I’m extremely delighted with this tea. This tea really delivered a different and unique taste that I adored. I’m now really excited to see what other tea varieties Tea By C offers. Because after this particular tea, I’m hooked.
And to get you hooked, Tea By C has offered our readers a 15% discount with promo code: SORORITEA.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea By C
Description
Inspired by sweet Moscato wine, this oolong tea is blended with dried grapes to yield a young fruity flavor. This tea is a treat that will make anyone with a sweet tooth smack their lips and reach for seconds.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Colombian Andean Princess Black Tea from Simpson and Vail. . .
Grape-y Goodness? Yes, please! But Colombian Andean Princess Black from Simpson & Vail is much more than that thanks to the simple – yet impressively unique – list of ingredients! The ingredients in this loose leaf tea are Colombian Black Tea, Isabella Grape Skin, Andean Raspberry, and Hibiscus Flower.
If any tea has done Hibiscus Flower perfectly it’s THIS tea! I wouldn’t change a thing about the hibiscus ratio or any other ingredient ratio in this lovely loose tea!
The grape and raspberry combination really make this special. Everything seems to have the same color hue when dry that it camouflages within the packet of ingredients!
S&V states on their website that this tea blend balances the naturally acidic flavor characteristics of Colombian fruits with the sweet flavor of Black Tea. Isabella grape is a hybrid distinguished by its high acidity and enhanced level of antioxidants. Andean raspberry is a type of blackberry found in northwest South America that is noted for its high vitamin C content, calcium, and phosphorus. Andean Princess tea brews to an amber cup with a full fruit flavor.
I enjoyed reading a bit more on this tea and the region it hails from which is the mountainous region of Colombia, in an area steeped in biodiversity, along the western slope of the Andes, is the Bitaco tea estate. They say the gentle mist from the mountains, rich soil, and ample rainfall all stimulate the growth of the tea bushes, producing a tea with unique characteristics.
I was excited to also learn that Bitaco Tea owns over 200 acres of tea plants that are cultivated at over 6,000 feet above sea level in the region of Choco. This region enjoys a high rainfall and has exceptional biodiversity. The tea gardens are located next to a thriving, protected rain forest, the Bitaco Regional Forest Reserve, where there is a wide diversity of flora and fauna: 256 bird species, 28 amphibian species, 23 reptile species and 772 species of plants. The garden, located near the Equator, enjoys a consistent climate which results in a bountiful production of tasty, delicate tea-tips that are picked and processed throughout the year.
Bitaco Tea not only cultivates exceptional teas, they also are committed to their community – (which you know we LOVE to talk about ChariTEAs here at the Sororitea Sisters). They created the Agricola Himalaya Foundation to develop and improve programs focusing on education, especially for local children. Activities focus on the improvement of infrastructure, recreational opportunities, local culture and access to technology.
This is a complete CommuniTEA Tea! Share with others and enjoy and KNOW it comes from people who also are passionate and care, too!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
This Blend balances the naturally acidic flavor characteristics of Colombian fruits with the sweet flavor of Black Tea. Isabella grape is a hybrid distinguished by its high acidity and enhanced level of antioxidants. Andean raspberry is a type of blackberry found in northwest South America that is noted for its high vitamin C content, calcium, and phosphorus. Andean Princess tea brews to an amber cup with a full fruit flavor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jingle Bells from Lupicia. . . . .
Mary’s recent tasting of Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel inspired me. I figured if she could have a Chanukah tea in May, there was no reason I couldn’t have a Christmas tea. So, here I am, sipping on Lupicia’s Jingle Bells, a black tea scented with fresh grapes and fruity champagne (different than their old Jingle Bells tea which was citrus and yogurt from my understanding).
Grape is not a flavor you find too often in teas. I mean it does show up here and there but more times than not fruitier teas tend to lean more towards citrus, berries, stone fruit, orchard delights, or even tropical offerings. Grapes are just far less common, though each Christmas Lupicia brings out this blend and it is delightful.
While other companies focus on more traditional Christmas flavors like orange and spice or cranberries and spice or peppermint blends, Lupicia serves up something unique.
To me, this blend tastes like grape juice mixed with a bit of black tea. Very strong on the artificial grape flavor but with a bit of briskness/astringency from the base. Interestingly enough, that astringency actually works here as it promotes the champagne quality, adding a little bit of a citrus note without being overly citrus in flavor. For me, this reminds me of when I was younger and my mom would give me grape juice or sparkling grape cider on the holidays and let me pretend it was wine/champagne.
This tea is hard to describe but accurately named. It is something unique during the holidays that provides a welcome change to the more prevalent holiday flavors.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
