Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Parenteau’s Gourmet Foods
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Red and black currents, raisins, hibiscus, Saskatoon berries, blueberries, seneka root, natural flavours.
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
So this tisane is locally made and sold, and it features the Saskatoon Berry which isn’t as well known as it ought to be. I happen to live in Saskatoon Saskatchewan – and the berry is so popular around here that the city is named after the berry, and not the other way around. As such, any tea that features Saskatoons (of which there aren’t enough) very easily get my attention.
I decided to do a cold brew for my first try; sadly there’s a lot of hibiscus in the blend so a cold brew seemed like the best way to hold back some of the expected tartness I’ll likely be experiencing. Thankfully, there’s also a lot of berries in the blend as well but even still, not thirty seconds after I’d poured the water over the leaves the water was already the colour of McDonald’s mascot Grimace. The hibiscus in the blend was working quickly.
By the time the brew was done, it was a deep, dark almost maroon colour – but just slightly more purple. It reminded me of the colour of red wine. The smell is mostly hibiscus. That’s not very promising, but I’m still holding out that this’ll deliver the Saskatoon berry flavour I know and love anyway.
And the moment of truth; taste test!
The initial flavour here is a tart hibiscus flavour as anticipated; however, thankfully this isn’t all hibiscus. Similar to other berry/hibiscus teas I’ve had before like Rum Cream, from another local company (McQuarrie’s Tea & Coffee Merchants), this starts tart and softens into a more mellow berry drink; it’s quite juice-like. I can definitely taste Saskatoon berries myself, but I also really taste the blueberries and black currants in the blend. Thankfully, I don’t get much flavour from the raisins – I’m not a raisin person, so it’s no loss for me.
For people unfamiliar with Saskatoon Berries picture something sort of like a blueberry and cranberry cross. They’re great straight, in pies, in jam or jelly, and as syrup. Really, they’re just great in general. It’s that simple.
I am enjoying this cold brew a lot though I’m craving a richer, more full Saskatoon berry flavour. If they used more Saskatoons and cut down a little on the amount of other berries in the tea, I think this could be amazing without having a more monotone and flat flavour. As is, I’m concerned people not familiar with Saskatoons are mainly going to focus in on the other berries in the blend and the hibiscus and miss out on the great flavour.
And what a loss that’d be.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Giant Peach Green Tea & Peach Flavored Juice Blend from Tazo
Product Information:
Peach is such a happy-go-lucky fruit, brimming with golden possibilites. When it’s mixed with ripe apple and the easy smoothness of green tea, you can’t help but run barefoot through the tall grass.
To Learn more about Tazo Tea, visit their website.
Taster’s Review:
While shopping this evening at my local grocery store, I picked up a bottle of this ready-to-drink Giant Peach Green Tea & Peach flavored Juice Blend from Tazo. I don’t usually even bother to stop and browse through the supermarket’s selection of RTD teas, because it’s been my experience that these convenient beverages are more sweetener than they are tea. And I like tea. I like the taste of it. I find myself put off a bit when the flavor is overpowered by sweetener. It’s not just disappointing … it’s almost an insult!
But something about this particular bottle of tea caught my eye. I think it was because there wasn’t any sediment that had built up at the bottom of the bottle. This was clear. I don’t know if that really means anything to any of you. I just don’t like it when I buy a bottle of anything and all the flavor seems to be settled at the bottom of it, and I have to shake to distribute this “sediment.”
As far as a Peach flavored Juice blend, this is … well, this is sweet. It tastes like peach. It’s sweet. I taste notes of apple. It is very fruity. It’s sweet. Did I mention that already? Well, that’s because it’s really sweet. Too sweet for my liking, but, I guess I can see how some might find this appealing. Someone who likes sweet drinks might really like this.
As far as a “tea” goes … this isn’t doing anything for me. I taste next to no tea flavor in this. And that’s really a very generous statement to suggest that there might be some tea flavor to this. If I slurp it as I sip, I can pick up hints of green tea-ish taste. But, it’s very faint. It’s barely there. It’s so barely there that it’s not even worth trying to taste it.
This was not a tea drink that was crafted for someone who actually likes tea. Perhaps I should say that this was not a tea drink that was crafted for me. You might like it. If you’re looking for a peach juice cocktail type drink, I think you’ll enjoy this. If you’re looking for a tea drink with peach notes, I believe that this is going to leave you feeling at least a little disappointed.
Health Juice from Shui Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Shui Tea
Product Description:
Herbal blend of freeze-dried orange, grapefruit, tangerine, apple, blackberry and carrot, mixed with lemongrass, hibiscus, eucalyptus, and beetroot. This blend is a harmony of sweet and tart flavors. A poet would describe this blend as a “mélange of fruit ecstasy”. We stick with delicious. Great hot or iced.
Taster’s Review:
Now that the holiday season is pretty much over, it’s about the time that most of us are starting to think “healthy” to compensate for our holiday indulgences. Well, this tisane will get you on your way!
And you know what? This is a tisane you’ll want to drink not because it’s healthy, but because it tastes good!
When I first opened the package, I could smell eucalyptus which can come off either as a pleasant smell to some and medicinal to others. I happen to like the smell of eucalyptus so long as it’s not an overpowering scent, and while this tea smells primarily of eucalyptus, it doesn’t overwhelm the nostrils.
I had planned on steeping this for 5 minutes, but, at 4 minutes, I noticed that the tisane had taken on a very deep red color, and I feared that this would be a strong hibiscus-y tea. Since I’m not terribly fond of hibiscus, I stopped brewing at this point.
And at 4 minutes, the results of the steeping is quite pleasant. The hibiscus notes are very faint, the liquor is not thick or syrupy, and only the occasional tart note.
This tisane is citrus-y with a pleasing background of smooth, sweet apple, beetroot and carrot. These ingredients lend more to the surface of the tea than they do to the flavor – giving it a little bit of sweetness and body so that the citrus tones do not come off as too acidic. The overall effect is that of a refined, pulp-free juice like you might enjoy at a juice bar.
The eucalyptus is not as strong in the flavor as the aroma would suggest, but I do get the sharp, fresh taste of eucalyptus trying to peek through the citrus notes.
Overall, a very pleasant beverage – that is is healthy is just a bonus!