Thoughts on Himalayan Bliss Estate, Nepal, First Flush 2017 / Yatra Tea

Not to be confused with a Darjeeling.

Many of the same attributes found in a Darjeeling can also be found in this tea. (Starting to feel like Darjeeling should be a tea type like black, green, etc). Fresh in both smell and taste.

This interesting clonal tea is apparently surrounded by other Darjeeling estates and while this doesn’t automatically make it better for processing it as a Darjeeling it does help in developing the flavors.

Just like the mountainous regions of Taiwan make amazing oolongs.

Anyway, this tea is very refreshing. As it’s cooled I find myself enjoying it more. It doesn’t have quite a muscatel flavor like many Darjeelings do but it has that fresh aftertaste.

This tea is honestly hard to describe because it really doesn’t have any descriptors on the flavor wheel. Try it yourself, you’ll see what I mean.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Yatra Tea Company
Description:

2.5 gms (approx. 1 tsp) per 6 oz of filtered water, steep for 3-4 mins at 203 F/95 C.

Vary leaf quantity, brewing time, and temperature per individual preferences.

Champagne gold color, with a sweet, fragrant aroma, and clean, refreshing taste.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Trader Joe’s Peppermint Tea. . . .

I love peppermint tea. I love the way it both relaxes and uplifts me. I especially love having a cup when I’m having stuffy sinus issues. It just wakes me up, and makes me feel happy to start my day.

I was at Trader Joe’s yesterday, and I decided to try their peppermint tea. You cannot beat the price. I paid $1.79 for a box containing twenty tea bags. They’re practically giving it away!

I brewed myself a cup this morning, and knew I was going to love it as soon as the boiling water hit the tea bag. My whole kitchen smelled minty right away! It has a wonderful mint flavor, not too strong and not too weak. It’s definitely a very high quality peppermint tea, don’t let the low price scare you.

My tummy was a little upset after breakfast because i just had to have that last bite when I shouldn’t have, and so I had another cup of this tea, and it really did help settle my stomach, I feel much better now.

This is definitely a new favorite, and with an absolutely unbeatable price I see this being a staple in my tea cupboard.

I imagine this would make a really refreshing ice tea as well. I plan on making a big pitcher this summer to help cool off after a long hot day.

This tea is caffeine free, so it’s safe for those of us trying to watch out caffeine intake, and it’s also perfect for anytime of the day or evening!

If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, I can’t recommend trying this delicious, refreshing tea enough!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Herbal
Where to Buy :  Trader Joe’s
Description

Visit your local Trader Joe’s for more info!

#FanaticFriday: Spiced Cucumber Melon Green Tea from 52Teas

Because I am such a fan of 52Teas, I thought I’d take over SororiTea Sisters to chat about a few of their blends. Though this blend isn’t a new one, I finally had a chance to try it so its new to me!

Spiced Cucumber Melon Green Tea is one that arrived in one of my mystery grab bags that 52Teas offered not too long ago.  I’m a huge fan of their green teas but being one that isn’t a huge fan of spicy teas, I wasn’t sure what I would think. But I wanted to go out of my comfort zone a bit, so I steeped up my water to 175F, allowed the tea to steep for a few minutes, cool for a bit, and took my first sip.

This blend is a mix of green tea, cucumber, peppermint, lime leaves, ginger, black pepper, habanero pepper and natural flavors.  What I found so fascinating about this blend was how refreshingly cool the tea came across while having a spicy kick in the background. An odd mix of flavors but one that really works well.

Each sip yielded this gorgeous cucumber melon flavor with hints of lime and peppermint (think mojito style) at the beginning and the aftertaste is where the  spicy kick came to play.

A wonderfully strange mix of flavors but one that I’m loving! Such a refreshing mix of cucumber and melon with an air of spice.  This blend is still violable but I’m not sure for how long seeing as I just emailed 52Teas to see how much of this tea they have left. I might just have to buy the remaining inventory!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
52teas3_1430856114__73092Description

Spring is here and with that brings some fresh flavors – like Cucumbers and Melons! Last year’s Cucumber Cantaloupe Oolong went over really well, so I thought I’d like to bring the flavors of cucumber and melon together again but this time with a green tea base and with a touch of warm spices to contrast the cool fruit flavors of cucumber and melon (yes, cucumber is a fruit. I looked it up on the internet and I know the internet wouldn’t lie to me, right?) Then I added a touch of mint and lime to perk up the palate.

It’s sweet and gently spiced. It’s refreshing and it’s a little different. It’s really good.

Taster size is approximately 1/2 ounce.

ingredients: organic green teas, organic freeze-dried cucumber, organic ginger root, organic peppermint leaves, organic lime leaves, organic crushed black pepper, dried habanero peppers and organic natural flavors.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Casale’s Green from 212 Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy: 212 Tea 

Tea Description:

Named after our friends Chris and Melissa Casale, owners of The Fix Barbershop here in lake Oswego. They were the first local business to serve our tea and instantly fell in love with this blend. Casale’s Green is the perfect blend of Pacific Northwest Peppermint and roasted Japanese Houjicha. The result is a smooth toasty green tea note followed by a clean mint finish.  

Mellow with a sweet mint flavor, a pleasant toasty note and hints of chocolate.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

 

Alright, do yourself a favor. . .if you haven’t tried or checked out 212 Tea take a moment and do just that. They are a tea company out of Portland that know how to do tea right. They are passionate and enthusiastic, attributes that you want in a tea company. They even encourage you to send them tea jokes. Now that is seriously my kind of tea company!

This particular tea is something special! I instantly fell in love with the toasted sweetness I was picking up along with traces of mint from the dry leaves. I couldn’t get water into my tea kettle fast enough!

Brewed this delight up with water at about 190 degrees and allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes.  I didn’t even allow the tea to cool off. I instantly took a sip and was greeted with some tea loving! This tea had lovely notes of a rich buttery base of green tea that had a nice well balanced solid note of a roasted flavor while the mint gave the tea a freshness that made you just devour it as fast as you could.  Seriously, I have already inhaled about three cuppas of this delight from one session and am warming water for a fourth. It is that amazing.

The tea is a cooling refreshing one that warms at the same time. One of those teas that help you melt the day away while indulging your taste buds.  I will say towards the third infusion I was getting a slight chocolate note but for the most part I didn’t really pick up any chocolate and I am completely fine with that. I’m loving the cuppa that I’m getting out of the tea right now!

Rhubarb Oolong from Stylin’ Tea Blends

stylintealogo175x100Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy: Stylin’ Tea Blends

Tea Description:

Unfortunately no longer available, but if you see this tea, you have to grab it!

Other Oolong offerings from Stylin’ Tea Blends. . . . . . .

Taster’s Review:

I know. A rhubarb tea.. .  how odd, right? I thought so too.  Probably why it took me so long to give it a go.  Let’s start with how this tea looks.  This tea had the most gorgeous oolongs intertwined with a few larger rose pieces.  A really stunning blend.

The aroma this dry leaf gave off was sweet and slightly floral.  I had always thought rhubarb was more of a tart flavor so I was very shocked and pleasantly surprised when my nose encountered this glorious aroma.  This tea released an aroma that I want bottled in air fresheners and candles alike.

I brewed this up like I do my oolongs- about 190F or so and about 3 minutes to start.  I still had my hesitations.  My brain kept saying- This tea has RHUBARB in it!!! And I honestly couldn’t get past it.  Finally the tea had cooled slightly so I could take my first sip.

Ever have a tea that made you hear glorious singing and just made you sigh? Well this tea did just that.  I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever had rhubarb before but I’m seeking it out! This tea was brilliant, bright, and vibrant. The oolong was a mellower base allowing the flavors to really produce a solid feel.  The flavorings were slight, but enough so there was this slightly sweet yet tart flavor with just a kiss of floral love.  I can’t describe how amazingly light and refreshing this tea was. This is a tea that will make you dream about the next cuppa you get to have of the blend.  It was that good and I still can’t get over how much I adore this oolong blend.  I wish it was still available from Stylin’ Tea Blends because I want gobs of this tea.  I actually felt like crying after the 6th steeping and I knew it was getting close to the time I would have to head home for the day.  I knew I would have to say goodbye to this tea but I am hoping a quick google search will get me more of this gorgeous blend.