Spanish Sunset White Tea Blend from Lemon Lily

Spanish_SunsetTea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  Lemon Lily

Tea Description:  

While the first tea was floral and earthy, this little blend goes full throttle on the floral. A blend of leaves from raspberries and strawberries with dusting of rose and rosehip, this tea is a natural relaxant. While some may say these herbals all hold some amazing capabilities in the world of natural healing, lowering blood pressure or relieving bloating and cramps, we like it because it’s full of flavour without tasting like a bar of soap. You can actually taste all the subtle notes of each leaf and flower as the sip develops on your taste buds.

Learn more about the eighth edition of Postal Teas shipment here.

Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

The three teas that were showcased in the eighth edition from Postal Teas all had several things in common.  The first and most obvious is that they were all three from Lemon Lily.  The second (and also pretty obvious) is that they were all white tea blends.  The third is that they are all blends that focus on floral flavors.

They were all unique too:  the Maple Leaf is indulgent and maple-y and Beauty & The Beet has a pleasant earthy tone with the beetroot powder and this blend delights with it’s soft hints of berry.  But all three have strong floral overtures.

I like that while they are very flowery, they don’t taste soapy.  I don’t feel like I’m drinking Aunt Matilda’s perfume.  The flavor of the white tea is delicate but discernible and keeps this cuppa tasting like TEA.

This particular blend focuses more on the rose notes than do the previous two blends from this edition.  But I like that the sharper floral notes are softened with mellow fruit flavors from the strawberry and raspberry leaves.  These components add a soft, sweet fruit note without overwhelming the beautiful floral notes.

And the softness accentuates the lovely floral notes of rose perfectly.  I like that all the flavors seem to unify in a very seamless way, but each note is discernible.  I experience the nuances of each component in the blend.  A sweet, earthy, hay-like note from the white tea.  Mild fruit notes from the strawberry and raspberry leaves.  And of course, the beautifully sweet, soothing flavor of rose.

I steeped this tea in my Kati Tumbler, using 2 bamboo scoops of leaf (again, this is a highly flowery loose leaf blend and I find that a little more leaf is appropriate when steeping it).  I heated 12 ounces of water to 165°F and steeped the tea for 3 1/2 minutes.  And again, I am in agreement with Postal Teas:  you really should allow this tea 10 minutes to cool after steeping.  The flavors really pop after the 10 minutes.

The eighth edition from Postal Teas was a big WIN in my opinion.  Thank you, Postal Teas for putting together this remarkable box of tea joy!

Beauty & The Beet White Tea from Lemon Lily

Beauty_and_the_BeetTea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  Lemon Lily

Tea Description:  

Organic, delicate, earthy but not grassy. This blend of organic white tea is gently paired with organic beetroot Powder, organic lavender, organic passionflower, organic rosehip, organic rose buds Dry, it’s beautiful to look at. Steeped and allowed to rest for about ten minutes and you really start to taste the floral notes. But the touch of earthy sweetness from the beetroot balances out the floral, keeping it from tasting soapy.

Learn more about this month’s Postal Teas shipment here.

Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

The photo above doesn’t really show the beetroot powder.  When I received my pouch of this tea in my Postal Teas box this month, I was kind of surprised by the hot pink dust that had settled to the back of of the pouch.  It kind of looked like freeze dried lipstick that had been pulverized into a powder.

I guess I could have said it looks like powder blush in the pouch, but, I couldn’t see anyone wanting to wear this particular shade of pink on their cheeks, but I could see it on someone’s lips or possibly their fingernails.  Then again:  freeze dried nail polish that had been pulverized into a powder – that seems like it would be a lot more effort to pulverize nail polish into a powder than it does lipstick.

Anyway … this blend has been dusted with powdered beetroot and it’s a vibrant shade of pink.  And when you steep the tea, the tea becomes a ruby red color.  It almost looks like it has hibiscus in it.  Almost.  Fortunately, beetroot doesn’t taste like hibiscus.  I prefer beetroot.

This is one of the more interesting teas I’ve reviewed lately.  First of all, love the name.  Love it.  And I can’t recall having a tea blended with beetroot powder.  I may have.  It’s just nothing comes to mind immediately.  And you would think that something as unique as beetroot powder would stick in the memory, you know?

Similar to the Maple Leaf tea that I tried a few days ago from the same company, this tea is very floral.  I am tasting notes of lavender and rose distinctly.  The passionflower is a bit more demure in this blend, which is not surprising as it tends to be rather mild tasting.  I like how the beetroot softens the flavors of the flowers a little and brings it’s own unique flavor to the cup.  It’s sweet and I can taste a hint of the vegetable flavor of the beet.

The white tea is a little less discernible in this blend, but I do taste it.  The light, airy, hay-like note of the white tea seems to complement the floral notes.  This tea is earthy (which also complements the floral notes), floral, very slightly vegetal, and very enjoyable – albeit different! – to drink.

I steeped this in my Kati Tumbler and I chose to steep it in this cup for one reason:  the beetroot powder.  I didn’t want to have to scrub the jug of my Breville One-Touch after beetroot powder had steeped in it!  It’s a lot easier to scrub my Kati Tumbler!

After shaking the pouch thoroughly (to redistribute the powder that had settled), I measured out 2 bamboo scoops of tea into my Kati and heat the water to 170°F and steeped the tea for 3 1/2 minutes.

Postal Teas recommends letting these teas cool a bit to let the flavors develop and I agree with that.  As this particular tea cools, the flavors not only develop but the texture develops too.  The beetroot seems to thicken somewhat to create a pleasant, brothy type texture to the cup (without it feeling syrupy the way a hibiscus blend would).

I’m really happy that I had this opportunity to try this tea!  Thank you, Postal Teas!

Maple Leaf White Tea from Lemon Lily

Maple_LeafTea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  Lemon Lily

Tea Description:  

Loaded with blossoms, and scented with star anise and maple syrup, this white tea is show-stoppingly beautiful as well as a treat to sip. Again, we can’t stress enough that you need to let these delicate little cuppas need some time to cool. Once you do the grassy white tea blooms into the warm, smooth anise flavour, accented with a touch of maple.

Learn more about this month’s Postal Teas shipment here.

Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

Yay!  My Postal Teas box arrived!  It’s a happy day when I open the mailbox to find tea!  I just love receiving parcels from Postal Teas and I was very excited that this month the teas featured are from yet another new-to-me company:  Lemon Lily.  A cute company name that brings a smile to my face because it makes me think of my youngest daughter.  Her name is Lilith and we often call her Lili.

So the first tea I decided to try from this month’s box is Maple Leaf.  All three of this month’s teas sound delightful, but Maple is what captured my attention immediately.  I love maple!

I decided to brew this in my Breville One-Touch.  I don’t usually steep white teas in my Breville because the leaves tend to be bulkier and need more room to expand so I usually steep a white tea in a teapot or in a Smart Tea Maker like this to give those leaves the room they need.  However, upon examination of this tea, I saw that it was mostly flowers.  I thought that the tea would have plenty of room to expand as it needed to in my Breville given the flower to tea leaf ratio of this blend.

As an added bonus, because this tea needs time after steeping to develop its flavor, I was able to set the Breville to steep – 4 bamboo scoops of leaf to 500ml of freshly filtered water (remember, there’s a lot of flowers in this, so I used extra leaf to compensate); 170°F; 3 1/2 minutes – and go take my shower.  When I returned, the tea was brewed and it had been sitting for about 13 minutes.  That seemed to me to be adequate “development” time.

lemonlilyLOVELY!  I had my doubts about this after seeing all the flowers in this.  It was hard to find tea leaves among all the flowers.  But they’re there – because I can taste the tea.

I can also taste the flowers.  This is a beautifully floral tea, but I’m glad to say that it doesn’t taste perfume-y.  It has a wonderfully flowery aroma, it’s beautiful to smell as well as sip.

I can taste the notes of anise.  I like the way the licorice-y flavor of anise melds with the flowers.  They seem to play very nicely together.  The anise adds just a hint of spice to the sweetness of the flowers.  It’s quite pleasant.

And most importantly, I can taste the maple!  OK, OK, I guess you could argue that it’s most important to taste the tea.  And yeah, I’m with you on that.  But, when I drink a maple tea, I want maple baby!  And this blend has got the maple going on.

The sip starts off immediately with notes of flower.  I taste the lavender and chrysanthemum.  I like that while these floral notes are strong, they aren’t overdone.  Even though it looks like they might be overdone when you take a look at the blend – there is a really well-crafted balance between tea, flower and maple notes here.

Maple and lavender are not necessarily two flavors that I ever thought of combining.  But they work.  Somehow … they work very well together.   The maple seems to soften the sharpness of the floral notes just enough so that this doesn’t come off tasting like soap.  The anise adds just the right amount of warmth to the cup while adding a touch of sweet licorice that tastes right at home with the sweet maple notes.  The flowers add dimension to the sweetness while keeping everything balanced “just so” – to keep this from becoming too cloying or dessert-like.

And then there is the tea.  The tea is a softer flavor here, not just because white tea tends to be a delicate tasting tea anyway, but also because there IS a lot going on in this blend.  But I can still taste the subtle notes of sweet, hay-like flavor from the white tea.

A very enjoyable blend.  Quite a wonderful start to this month’s Postal Teas box!

Postal Rooibos Blend from Monarch Tea Co.

MonarchTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Monarch Tea Co. or Monarch Tea Co. on Etsy

Tea Description:

Warm and rich, perfect for dessert or just when you want that sweet fall moment to yourself.  

Ingredients:  Rooibos, caramel pieces, sunflower and calendula petals, chamomile blossoms, natural flavors.

Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

This rooibos blend is a very finely chopped tisane!  It appears to be both red and green rooibos and they’ve been chopped into near dust particles, along with the petals and the chamomile.  Everything appears to have been pulverized to a near “powder like” consistency:  a very fine cut.

I brewed this in my Breville, measuring 2 bamboo scoops of the tisane into the basket of the tea maker and adding 500ml of water to the jug.  With most tisanes, I would use 3 bamboo scoops, but because of the fine chop on this, I decided that more than 2 would be too much.  The finer cut means that there is more surface area exposed and lots of flavor will be released and more loose leaf would result in too strong a brew.  I set the parameters for 195°F and 10 minutes and let the tea maker do the rest.

This is a tasty blend.  Not my favorite of the three teas that I received in my Postal Teas box for October, but I’m certainly not disappointed by it.

Because it’s a blend of both green and red rooibos, I find that the flavor is sweeter and slightly more fruity tasting rather than a strong, nutty flavor.  This fruity note accentuates the chamomile flavor which has a natural apple-like flavor.  There are hints of nutty flavors in the background which complement the caramel notes.  It is sweet, soothing and relaxing to sip.  It’s a light cup – both in taste and texture.

It has a pleasing, autumnal taste to it, making it just the right thing for the October box.  It’s cozy and would make a great tisane to sip late at night when you’re craving something a little bit sweet but nothing that is going to be too filling or overstimulating.

Apple Embrace Black Tea from Monarch Tea Co.

AppleSpiceEmbraceTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Monarch Tea Co. or Monarch Tea Co. on Etsy

Tea Description:

This warm and inviting blend brings memories of sitting fireside with a good book. Notes of apple, cinnamon and spice come together to warm and soothe. Ingredients: black tea, dried apple, cinnamon pieces, blackberry leaves, safflower petals, natural flavours.

Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

I was very excited to receive my Postal Teas box today.  This box is actually September’s subscription – which arrives in October.  Kind of confusing.  Maybe I should just call it October’s box?

Anyway, this month’s featured tea company is Monarch Tea Company.  I was excited to see that this is the featured tea company this month, because I had noticed that this company was featured earlier this year, before I became a subscriber.  I’m glad to have this opportunity to try some of their teas.

The first tea that I am trying is this Apple Spice Embrace.  Perfect for this evening for two reasons:  first, it’s a cold and wet day here in the Pacific Northwest and a warmly spiced tea suits me just fine on a day like this.  Second, my daughter is visiting this evening and its a tea that I think she’ll also appreciate.

I notice the packaging right off the bat.  The teas are in Kraft, foil-lined pouches and they are “sealed” with a bit of whimsical black polka dot fabric tape.  The front of the package has a label with the name of the tea and the ingredients (all the important stuff to know), and the back of the pouch is marked with the elegant Monarch Tea logo.  I like the combination of whimsy and elegance and simplicity.

When I opened the pouch, I inhaled deeply to take in the fragrance.  I notice a “black tea” aroma with notes of cinnamon.  The cinnamon isn’t overpowering and I kind of expected it to be (it seems that in blends like this, the cinnamon is the main event, and I like that it is a gentle presence here.)  There is a light apple-y scent beneath the notes of cinnamon.

I brewed this tea in my Breville One-Touch, pouring 750ml of freshly filtered water into the jug and measuring 3 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket.  Then I set the temperature for 212°F and the time for 2 1/2 minutes.  When I poured my cup of tea, I enjoyed the scent:  hints of apple mingling with notes of cinnamon and a front note of black tea – much like the dry leaf, although it isn’t quite as aromatic.

This is a tasty cup of tea.  The black tea notes are prominent.  A brisk tasting tea – I suspect a Ceylon – but there are some subtle malty notes to this as well.  It’s smooth and moderately astringent.  A sweet, honey undertone that complements the apple notes.

The apple note isn’t in your face.  It’s a subtle taste of apple, offering a slightly sweet, delicately tart flavor that reminds me of the flavor of an apple pie filling, complete with a light touch of cinnamon.  I think that the cinnamon is my favorite part of this tea because it is a rather light touch of the spice.  All too often when it comes to cinnamon in a tea, it’s been added with such a heavy hand that it becomes all about the cinnamon.  Here, the cinnamon softly accents the tea.  It’s a gentle warmth.  Lightly sweet, lightly spiced.

Overall, a really pleasant autumnal tea and as I eluded to at the start of this review, it’s just perfect on a day like today when it’s cold and wet.  I like that I’m curling up to a warm cup of apple-y spiced goodness.