Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
This tea blend is very special – decorated with sun-dried goji berries and golden rosebuds. Goji berries have a reputation throughout Asia for their contribution to well being. A deliciously crisp, fruity, and healthful tea.
Taster’s Review:
This is a very flavorful cup of tea. The black tea is the strongest flavor, but notes of berry and pomegranate weave their way through every part of the sip – right through to the aftertaste.
The black tea is a brisk tea, but I wouldn’t call it an aggressive one. It is probably a Ceylon – it is flavorful and strong enough to emerge as the dominating flavor of the cup without overwhelming the flavors of pomegranate and goji berry (as well as the delicate citrus notes!) There is a pleasant undercurrent of sweetness to the tea, and it is smooth and fairly even-tempered. It doesn’t taste bitter. There is a moderate amount of astringency.
The flavors of goji berry and pomegranate are tart, but I’m not finding them to be too tart. The sweetness to this tea (a little from the fruit, a little from the tea) proves to be just enough to keep this tea from being too tart. And I think that is what I like most about this tea. I have been drinking a lot of sweet fruit teas lately, and while I do enjoy those, this is a very refreshing change without going too far off in the opposite direction.
This is delicious hot, but, do try it iced! It is very refreshing, especially in this summer heat!
Garden of Eden from Praise Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
A harvest of fruity flavors awaits you with this stunningly energetic black tea that combines the lush tropical richness & colors of summer fruits of apple, mango, peach, papaya, and orange peel. A superb iced tea. Try with some brown crystal sugar. Indulge your taste buds.
Origin: China
Ingredients: Organic Chinese Black Tea, Apple, Mango, Tropical Fruit, Peach, Papaya, Orange Peel
Taster’s Review:
Delicious!
The fruit flavoring is very strong in this tea. It is a beautiful medley of fruit: crisp apple, juicy mango, lush peach, sweet papaya and tangy orange. Each of these flavors are well-represented in this tea, and I like that despite the strong fruit presence, the flavor of the black tea does not become hidden.
The black tea is a brisk tea. It isn’t what I would call a particularly bold or assertive tea, but it is strong enough to hold its own. It offers a very tasty base for the ambrosial blend of fruit. It has a moderate amount of astringency but so long as it is not over-steeped it doesn’t taste bitter.
It is difficult to say which fruit is the most pronounced in this blend, because I can taste notes of each. At the start, the peach is what stood out most for me, but as I continued to sip, the orange started to really pop. The apple is smooth and even and has a constant presence in this cup from start to finish. The papaya and mango compliment each other well and give this tea definite tropical flair, although I don’t know that I’d call this a “tropical” tea. It is a fruit flavored tea with tropical notes.
I really enjoyed this tea. I liked it hot and iced, but in this weather – it’s best iced. I don’t know if that opinion would change if I were writing this review in autumn or winter, but since we’re experiencing some very warm weather I want most of my teas cold! It doesn’t need sweetening – it’s very tasty served straight – but I found that a little bit of agave nectar (a little goes a long way with this tea!) highlighted the flavors wonderfully. I don’t recommend adding milk, though, as I think it would overwhelm the unique balance of flavors that this tea has to offer.
Another awesome tea from Praise Tea!
Sweet Lily from Praise Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
Our Organic and Fair Trade Sweet Lily white tea is wonderful treat.
Cultivate your love for tea with this wonderful blend of Pai Mu Dan and dried apples. Deliciously fruity and very healthy it may be one of the smoothest blends you’ve tasted, providing a gentle lift any time of day. Delightful hot or on ice. Try some with white crystal sugar.
Origin: South Indian
Estate: Oothu EstateIngredients: Apple, White Tea – Pai Mu Dan
Taster’s Review:
I love the name of this tea. Perhaps it is because my daughter’s name is Lilith, and we often call her Lili – Sweet Lili! (Yes, I know the name of the tea is Sweet Lily, but they are pronounced the same.) I really like the aroma of the dry leaf – it has a light flowery scent that reminds me of the air on a bright spring morning. It smells fresh and clean and beautiful.
The tea brews to a lovely plum-red color – which leads me to realize that in addition to the apple and white tea, this tea also contains either hibiscus or beetroot. The dry leaf looks like hibiscus (only because I have less experience with dry beetroot than I do dry hibiscus); but the brewed tea doesn’t taste hibiscus-y. So perhaps it is beetroot. Or maybe it’s hibiscus. Really, since I can’t taste that tart-y hibiscus taste, it doesn’t matter to me whether it is hibiscus or beetroot. So long as it tastes good! And this tastes good.
The white tea is not overwhelmed by the crisp apple taste. The white tea has a light, fresh taste that is only barely vegetative – and only when I really concentrate on the taste can I actually taste that barely vegetative taste. It tastes much the way I described the smell: fresh, clean and beautiful.
While apples evoke thoughts of autumn for me, this tea is very spring-like, in my opinion. Perhaps it is because the apple flavor is a gentle taste that I would describe as sweet with a hint of apple-y tartness. The flavor gradually becomes stronger as I reach mid-cup, but this never really becomes a strong apple flavor. It is soft and soothing, like a precious spring morning … the calm after a spring rain.
I really enjoyed this cup of tea. I found it to be delicious hot, but just a little too mild in flavor for iced tea. The flavors can be perked up with a little sweetener though. A very nice tea, I like it.
Oolong Royal Tea from Praise Tea
Tea Type: Oolong Tea
Where To Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
This enchanting oolong is softly flavored by the wonderful union of red aronia berries, bright mango cubes, passion fruit and dark red rose petals. A royal treat for even the finest of palettes.
Origin: Formosa (Taiwan)
Ingredients: Formosa Oolong, Mango, Aronia Berries, Rose Petals
Steeping Guidelines:
Water: 176°- 194°F | Use 1 Tsp per 6 ounce cup | Infusion Time: 2 – 3 minutesInfusion tips:
Use COLD filtered or spring water, whenever possible
Don’t over boil water, Don’t over steep tea
Remove leaves after recommended time (adjust to taste)
*Vary time according to taste, & remember that steeping tea leaves beyond 3 minutes does not contribute to flavor, only bitterness.
If you want a stronger taste, use more tea leaves instead of steeping for a longer time
Tasters Review:
DRY – Oolong Royal Tea from Praise Tea looks like a woodsier Oolong mix. The aroma is mostly oolong and mango. I can tell there is a little something else fruity-wise too but it’s not really identifiable as berries or passionfruit.
Once infused the liquor is pretty dark for an oolong- much like a medium-brown colored black tea. It smells slightly fruity and woodsy.
The taste is DARN GOOD. It’s a smoother oolong taste with hints of sweeter-wood but the fruit notes pair up beside the oolong very well. All of the fruit ingredients mesh well with each other and no one ingredient really barges in front of the others.
The rose hides out in the background and if I didn’t take the time to really notice it I probably would miss it.
Completion Tea from Praise Tea
Tea Type: Green Tea/Black Tea Blend
Where To Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
A fabulous blend of select black and green teas with fruity, peach-like notes. A Black and Green Tea Blend is a unique new way to enjoy the nutritional benefits of Black tea plus the anti-oxidant properties of Green tea.
Tasters Review:
Completion Tea from Praise Tea is a great green tea and black tea blend! I’m always interested in blends with more than one tea type base!
The fruity-peach and floral-rose type tastes meet in the middle as do the green tea and black tea tastes! Everything is pretty even taste-wise and nothing is too overpowering!
Having said that…this IS a flavorful blend! I really enjoyed all of the flavors here! Well Done!