Rose Chateau by The Love Tea Co

I steeped this tea at 200 degrees in about a cup of water for about four minutes.

This is another selection from the Love Tea Company, who donates a quarter of their proceeds to mental health causes. Their teas also come in cute little reusable canisters!

The dried leaf has rose petals and other flower petals too, it looks like. According to the ingredients list these could be hibiscus, calendula, or sunflower petals, which are all included in the blend! In addition, there’s green tea in here and some curled oolong bits and some pieces of dried fruit (which turn out to be rosehips based on the ingredients list). It smells mainly fruity, with some rose/floral scent.

The steeped liquid looks almost pinkish-peach and smells like strawberry with floral notes and some savory green tea flavor.
I steeped for four minutes because it didn’t seem very strong at three (and I prefer getting stronger flavor out of my tea when I can).

First sip: it tastes a little astringent and strawberryish; the rose flavor isn’t overpowering here (maybe I just didn’t get any rose petals in my scoop of leaf?). It’s delicate and reminds me the most of a strawberry-flavored green tea, which is quite nice and desserty. There’s a bit of seaweedy vegetalness in the back of the throat. A few particles of tea escaped the strainer so I’d recommend a fine mesh if you don’t like that sort of thing (although mostly they’re just sitting on the bottom of the cup not causing a problem).

Overall it’s light, floral/fruity, but with a hint of buttery aftertaste (from the oolong), so I’d say it’s great for afternoon or evening relaxation (unless you’re super-sensitive to caffeine; green tea generally has just a little).


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green/Black
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Company
Description

This blend was created by a Canadian Master to evoke the character and spirit of France’s best rose vintages.  It’s combination of some of the most luxurious green and black teas available today.  Like wine, it goes perfectly with cured meats and fine cheeses.  Milk and sugar are NOT recommended with this one.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

ImmorTaliTea from Cup of Love

Black Tea, Orange Pieces, Blackberry Leaves, Safflower Petals, Lemon Balm Leaves, Strawberry Pieces, Calendula Petals, Sunflower Petals, Elderberry Pieces, Raisin Bits, Hibiscus Peals, Apple Pieces, Rosehip Bits, Passion Fruit Pieces, Kiwi Pieces, Raspberry Pieces, Rose Petals, Cornflower Petals, & Peppermint are the ingredients that went into ImmorTaliTea from Cup of Love.  Therefore a LOT of time and effort went into this flavor combination!

It has a nice balance of fruity, spicy, mint, sweet, and sour!  The black tea base is NOT over the top darker than dark or stronger than strong but it leaves enough room for the other ingredients to come out and play!  I mean take a look at the FRUIT in this tea!  Orange, Strawberry, Elderberry, Raisin, Apple, Passion Fruit, Kiwi,  and Raspberry!  YUM!

Then for the herbal side of things you will notice in both aroma and taste the Blackberry Leaves, Lemon Balm, and Peppermint!  Refreshing!

Let’s NOT forget the the floral side of things…Safflower, Calendula, Sunflower, Rose, and Cornflower.  Fine and Fragrant!

But the amazement doesn’t stop there!  There is the tart of the Hibiscus and Rosehip Bits that tickle your taste buds, too!  There is a LOT going on but each and ever ingredient plays its part here!

I prefer this one cold but it’s pretty tasty hot, too!  ImmorTaliTea from Cup is one of those teas that will certainly keep you guessing!

 


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Cup of Love
Description:

Black Tea, Orange Pieces, Blackberry Leaves, Safflower Petals, Lemon Balm Leaves, Strawberry Pieces, Calendula

Petals, Sunflower Petals, Elderberry Pieces, Raisin Bits, Hibiscus Peals, Apple Pieces, Rosehip Bits, Passion Fruit

Pieces, Kiwi Pieces, Raspberry Pieces, Rose Petals, Cornflower Petals, & Peppermint

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

A-Tisket A-Tasket Green Tea by Adagio

tiskettasketTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Adagio

Tea Description:

A sunny, citrusy green tea, with a hint of delicious vanilla. Contains green tea, lemongrass, sunflower petals, citrus peels, and lemon and vanilla flavor.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Over time, this has become one of my favourite Adagio teas, and it takes a lot for me to say that. This is a green tea blend, part of the Sunlit Blooms collection, containing lemongrass, citrus peel, and lemon and vanilla flavourings. The dry leaf is primarily green tea, and the leaves are medium to dark green, fairly long and folded. No specific variety is given, but I’d say Dragonwell as an educated guess.

There’s also a generous scattering of sunflower petals, which I assume are there to carry the lemon and vanilla flavourings. Lemongrass and citrus peel are less in evidence, although it’s possible to find the occasional piece if you stir the leaf up and look hard. This hardly sounds encouraging, but as this one actually turns out to be a great tea I’m going to refrain from further comment.

I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The resulting liquor is a bright golden yellow, and smells mildly citrusy. To taste, it’s a different story entirely. Lemon cream, in the best bakery sense of the words! Although the green tea is a large proportion of the mixture, it’s completely unobtrusive in the finished cup, and super-smooth to boot. This means that the flavours really shine through, with lemon the first flavour to emerge, followed by a wash of vanilla and cream in the mid-sip. It’s truly wonderful, and sipping on this is putting me in mind of a huge lemon sponge coated in light, fluffy vanilla buttercream.

The lemon here is candy-like and a little tart, which works with the sweet, desserty vibe of the blend overall. Personally, I could probably take a tad more sharpness with all the creamy sweetness, but it’s so great I can’t say I’m all that concerned. This is lemon cream in tea form! A dessert replacement if ever there was one!

Adagio can be hit and miss in my experience, but this one is a definite hit. It’s just so perfectly put together, with really well balanced flavours. This is a must-try blend for anyone who appreciates a good dessert tea. I don’t think there are many that can match this one for pure lemon creaminess. Spectacular!

Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas

Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas
Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: Steep City Teas

Tea Description:

“Just remember, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour, and I know the sour ”-Vanilla Sky.

Well, we know the sour, so we only bring you the sweets. Inspired by the movie’s frozen picturesque sky, this blend will leave a smooth, soft, velvety vanilla note wrapped with a slight grenadine touch. It really is a beautiful vanilla sky for your taste buds to behold.

Ingredients: Black tea, calendula, sunflower petals, and natural flavors.

 

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas is their version of what many of you may know as Monk’s Blend.

There is a trick to this tea however, and it fairs far better when iced. I do not find this to be as true with Monk’s blend from a couple other companies I have tried, but with Steep City’s Vanilla Sky it is so much better when you let it cool to a room temp or even slightly cool. The vanilla flavor comes out so much stronger, and the grenadine is more present as well.

This is not a tea for everyone, I have seen many reviews for other companies Monk’s Blend get varied reviews – more of a love it or hate it, to middle of the road, meh type of tea. What I have found however may change some people’s opinions of this blend. Also I have seen that many people just don’t care for grenadine. Regardless if you have this tea, from Steep City or another vendor in your stash, give it a try cooled, or even iced or cold brewed in your fridge.

For me, Monk’s Blend was one of the first teas that I was introduced to loose leaf with so it holds a special place in my heart, I also do like grenadine. Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas is a nice cup, with plenty to offer in the vanilla aspect with just a hint at grenadine, so for those of you who do not know if you care for the grenadine or not, this is a good one to try.

I will say, this is by far, not my favorite tea from Steep City Teas, they have some blends that are out of this world, but I can see why they would want this in their offerings, because it is a rather well known blend.

If you really want to indulge in some of Steep City’s amazing teas I suggest:

Cinnamon Apple Crunch

Miami Mango

and

Yaya Strawberry 

 

Just to name a few.

You can also check out all the Steepster reviews on their teas here.

Serenity from Element Tea

Tea Type: Black Tea

Where To Buy: Element Teas

Product Description:

This tea combines the decadent pleasures of delicious vanilla and grenadine. The warm and comforting finish will make this your tea of choice.

Brew Time: 3 – 5 minutes

Ingredients: Decaffeinated Black Tea, Calendula, Sunflower Petals, Natural Flavors

Tasters Review:

The first time I sampled this I didn’t read the product description on it until after I tried it first!  I wondered “what the heck am I tasting” and I mean that in a very positive way!  It was just that I couldn’t quite put my finger – or in this case my tongue – as to what that lovely flavor was!  Come to find out it was Grenadine but with the combination of the vanilla it really changed it up a bit and tasted ‘out of this world’!  It created it’s own new taste!  It’s floral and fruity but fun and almost candy-like!  I really like these two tastes together especially when it accompanies a nice, solid black tea base!

This is also a great tasting decaf tea!  Probably one of my all-time favorite decaf teas, actually!