Strawberry Orange Mint/Voće Tea

Out of all the teas I’ve had recently, I keep coming back to one: a very nice fruity/herbal tea with huge pieces of orange (for a tea at least!). I’m not typically a fan of fruity teas—strawberry is my one weird exception.

Voće’s Strawberry Orange Mint is just that. No additives or sweeteners, just orange and strawberry pieces with a little bit of spearmint. It’s simple and tastes really nice on its own. There’s no shortage of flavor and you don’t get the odd taste that sometimes comes from similar teas, which are often unnaturally sweet.

And while I’m still not sold on citrus forward teas, this one is enjoyable, especially over ice. It’s well-balanced and the stronger orange and spearmint flavors don’t cover up the lighter strawberry flavor. I still prefer my teas with a bit of bitterness and astringency, but this is definitely something I’d go for seconds of.


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:b  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Voće Tea

Description

For all you mint lovers out there, this is your tea—a refreshing blend of organic strawberries, organic orange slices, and organic spearmint. It has just the right balance between fruit and mint. Delicious to the last drop!

Ingredients: organic dried strawberries, organic dried orange slices, organic dried spearmint.  Packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and milk products.

Each box contains 8 biodegradable tea bags. When you order a box of our teas, you have several options for packaging. If you can do without any external packaging, we strongly encourage you to select that option when you’re placing items in your cart. We also offer a recycled/recyclable cardboard box (97% post consumer). In addition, you have the option of having your tea delivered in a clear recyclable PET gift box for an additional $1 charge.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Bonita Peach Rooibos Herbal Tea from The Spice & Tea Exchange. . . .

I bought this tea because it allegedly contained strawberry flavoring in addition to peach. Strawberry peach? OH MY GAWD RIGHT? Unfortunately, I can’t really taste strawberry. The peach flavor is Batman, with orange/citrus notes as Robin.* The strawberry is, I guess, Alfred, back at the mansion? Poor Alfred never goes anywhere.

* (Robin is not as large or important as Batman, but still factors in the plot.)

Despite strawberry’s mysterious absence, I still tend to reach for this as an iced choice on days I’m trying to avoid soda/caffeine. It’s very sweet. The peach/orange, as previously mentioned, are the main players. The green rooibos adds a light, woodsy, sweet background. There’s something slightly astringent about the mix, but I don’t mind that.

There’s nothing about this blend that I’d clamor for you to try. I probably won’t re-buy it. However, it’s a solid, dependable workhorse for decaf iced tea, and I appreciate its presence in my cupboard.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Rooibos/Herbal
Where to Buy:  The Spice & Tea Exchange
Description

Green rooibos redbush plant is flavored with summer fruits and flowers, to produce a refreshing caffeine-free blend. Delicious served either hot or iced.

 

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Juicy Strawberry from Dave & Soloman’s Tea. . . .

With a name like juicy strawberry, I just knew I had to make this tea into iced tea. The tea itself is a beautiful loose leaf, and it looks like petals and dried strawberry. The smell alone is totally delicious. It smells like fresh berries. You know when you walk by strawberries in the grocery, that’s the smell.

I brewed some up in my iced tea pitcher, and added no sweetener. This morning I poured myself a glass to have with breakfast, and all I can say is WOW. It tastes like strawberry punch. It absolutely needs no sweetener, it has a natural organic sweetness and it tastes just like strawberries! Like real strawberries, not a manufactured strawberry flavor. No Red #40 in this tea.

Hands down this is the most delicious fruity tea I’ve tried. It’s a lovely light pink color, and it’s just so refreshing. This would be great for anyone trying to kick a sugary soda habit. I feel like kids would probably love it too, especially if they like fruit punch.

This will be a delicious iced tea to have on a warm summer day, sitting in the shade and just sipping tea and enjoying life.

I’ve tried quite a few Dave & Soloman’s teas, and hands down this is my all time favorite. If you like naturally sweet, fruity teas, do yourself the biggest favor and try this. I feel like I’m not even doing it justice. Absolutely divine is the best way to describe it!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Tisane
Where to Buy: This tea company is no longer operating.

O’Malley’s Escape from Treehouse Teas

OMalley'sEscapeTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Treehouse Teas

Tea Description:

If you like Pina Coladas and gettin’ caught in the rain this tea is for you! It’s a favorite herb and fruit tea that bursts ingredients of pineapple, apple, rosehip, coconut pieces and hibiscus petals. If you are allergic to coconut stay clear. Small Batch Blended and from Sing Buri, Thailand. It has a low antioxidant level and its a caffeine free herb and fruit tea. Steep: 5-10 minutes at a temperature: 100C, 212F. This can be re-steeped for additional cups! Also, makes great popsicles and pink tea for tea parties!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

With a description like the one above, my expectations for this tea were pretty high.  I mean who doesn’t love a sweet tea that carries you away!

The tea mix itself is beautiful.  I adore the colors and love how pretty it looks as the tea steeps.  The dry mixture smells fabulous.  Sweet and tropical.  My excitement level was rising to taste this sweet tropical treat!

I brewed this up per their recommendations and was enjoying how the water was turning into a beautiful pink color.

I took my first sip and sadly- this tea didn’t hit the target for me.  I wanted to love this tea so much.  At first taste, you can pick up an almost strawberry flavor that reminds me of a strawberry Popsicle.  The flavor isn’t very strong and is more on the weaker side.  The coconut is subtle and gentle.  I think with a tea that is being considered a pina colada, I wanted the coconut flavor to be strong.  I didn’t pick up any pineapple or even any of the hibiscus tartness.  This tea was more of a lightly flavored strawberry flavor.  I can see this being a great tea for a little girl’s tea party but not for me.  I would like my flavors a bit stronger.

My last thoughts on this tea is that maybe this tea is one that needs to be cold brewed or even steeped longer than the 10 minutes to really bring out the flavor.  I did share the remainder of this tea with a tea drinking co-worker and her thoughts were in line with what I was thinking.  Regardless, I’ve enjoyed the teas that I’ve tried from Treehouse Teas for the most part.  Just a few I haven’t cared for.  This tea blend would have been one that would have totally caught my eye so I am glad that I was able to try it, just not sure this would be one I would need to try again.

Sipdown #37!

Smashberry Tisane from Piper & Leaf

smashberrypiperTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Piper & Leaf

Tea Description:

 An Incredible Fruit & Herbal Infusion of Tart Apples, Sweet Strawberries, Rosehips, & Special Herbs

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

smashberry4I enjoyed a fantastic day today with my parents, boyfriend, aunt, grandparents and kiddos.  We celebrated Mother’s Day and just had a great time together.  My dad was in a tea drinking mood and I was excited to share with him.  We plowed thru the tea I brought and had fun doing it.  We even received samples of herbs from Litehouse Foods for a fun addition to the tea.  (A full spread on the amazing Litehouse Foods samples will be coming soon).

What better to pair with a Strawberry Herbal tea?  Lemongrass and Mint from Litehouse Foods.

smashberry1Threw my sample of this strawberry tisane into my tea pot and threw in a couple pinches of both the spices.  These spices are so much fun.  They actually expand with water and are freeze dried.  I brought the water to boil in the ol whistling kettle and then let it steep for about 10 minutes.  Grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard and dumped some ice in and served.  I had wanted to garnish the cup with a strawberry but my mom had already cut them up for strawberry shortcake.  At that point, I wasn’t going to complain.  I had strawberry shortcake in my future.

smashberry2Before I could even take my first sip, my dad had downed the cup.  I asked him what he thought of it and he said it was good and that it felt good on his tummy.  Crisp and fresh like.  I agree.  The tea had this fantastic strawberry flavor with a hint of lemon and mint.  The apple flavor was very subtle and in the background.  It reminded me of something you would serve to little girls while they are having a tea party.  The chunks of fruit are huge in this tisane and nothing in this sample was crushed up.  You can tell Piper & Leaf take time creating their teas.  Each tea I have sampled from them so far has had giant chunks of fruit or herbs.  The tea has tasted fresh and crisp.  Definitely impressive so far.

I can’t say I would buy anymore of this particular tisane.  It was good and adding the herbs was a lot of fun.  Even though it was really good, I just can’t say it wowed me to the point of thinking I need more.

What I can see myself doing is picking up more of these herbs and seeing what I can come up with or what creative ways I can use them to freshen up tea that may need a simple tweak here and there.