Strawberry Rose Champagne/The NecessiTeas. . . .

A while back I won an Instagram giveaway which made me the proud new owner of a Sacred Lotus Love tea tumbler and the recipient of three NecessiTeas blends: Orange Fluff, Pineapple Mimosa, and this tea, Strawberry Rose Champagne. However, the giveaway was for people living in the U.S. and since I live in Canada, I provided my father’s address, which is in California. I have used my Dad as a tea mule many times before so I knew this would be fine with him.

Normally, my dad mails me anything I send to him but this time around he personally delivered the goods since he came to Toronto for my brother’s college graduation. This personal delivery was of course accompanied by my Dad’s typical comments like “tea is for sick people” and “tea has no flavor” and “why do you keep buying tea?” In fact, this time around he told me he had no interest in tea and even if I offered him tea, he would not try it. This was particularly entertaining because later that same night, I brewed this tea as a teapop and he all of a sudden was intrigued. After confirming that the tea was cold, he even asked to try it!

He sniffed it first and said it smelled interesting and then at first sip looked at me and our conversation went as follows:

Him: “I thought this was tea?!” Me: “it is” Him: “no, it’s soda” Me: “no, it’s a teapop”

He then told me that this was “ingenius” and then proceeded to drink two glasses of this tea. He was amazed that it was actually flavorful and carbonated and delicious, all without added sugar (which is especially important to him as he is diabetic).

When I finally got to try it, I enjoyed it quite a bit too. It was a touch too floral at times but it had a nice berry flavor. I hope that was because of the tea and not the strawberry perrier I used to make this a teapop. It also had an effervescence that was very reminiscent of champagne and a touch of that familiar alcohol dryness.

It’s a nice tea and definitely does well as a teapop. I like that it is different than so many other fruit blends that rely heavily on hibiscus/rose hips to create a flavor. I wish there was less rose, but that is more my personal preference than a criticism of the tea. With that said, given it converted my ever-critical father into a believer, I am definitely delighted I got a chance to give it a try and I am pleased I have a whole lot more leave left to experiment with.


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Fruit Tisane

Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas

Description

Inspired by the delicate floral and fruity notes in a glass of sweet champagne, this tea blends the voluptuous scent of blooming roses with the sweet flavor of fresh-picked strawberries. Steep up this bubbly concoction with friends before your next GNO or for your better half after a romantic dinner for two. Cheers!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Peppermint Crunch Inside-Out Lattes/The NecessiTeas. . . .

Tea Experimenting is continuing today with another go at an inside-out latte. Last time I used On Wisconsin by A Quarter to Tea and the floral base and honey notes just didn’t compliment the prep method. So, this time around I went for a richer, more chocolatey tea, Peppermint Crunch by the NecessiTeas.

My first step was to make concentrated tea ice cubes by steeping the tea per the company recommendations but using about double-triple the amount of leaf I would use regularly for the amount of water. Once it steeped long enough, I put the concentrate in an iced cube tray and left it to freeze overnight.

Once the ice cubes were frozen, I was able to take them out of the tray and fill a glass with them. I then topped the glass with milk and waited for the magic to happen. The ice cubes slowly flavored the milk and the more they melted, the more peppermint flavor they imparted. They also produced a chocolate quality but not exactly a creamy chocolate bar, more like a chocolate cookie. Actually it had me thinking thin mints…dipped in milk and I was quite happy.

I also decided to take some of the ice cubes and blend them with milk. This is what I did last time with On Wisconsin and I used too much ice, making for a slightly chunky drink. This time around, I went heavy on the milk and light on the ice and it turned out much smoother. Though initially it separated into a milky foam on top and the flavored milk below, it eventually melted back into each other given I got distracted for quite some time before actually getting around to drinking this. Flavorwise, this had a nice creamy peppermint to it, with a sprinkling of cocoa. It has a similar taste to the milk over ice but with slightly less chocolate. Personally I think that is because the ratio of tea ice cubes to milk was less in this drink and thus it was more water and less tea flavor. Nevertheless, both inside-out lattes were quite good and rather refreshing on a humid day.


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas

Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for blends that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Strawberry Shortcake from The NecessiTeas. . . .

I want to start by saying that CuppaGeek sent me this sample a long time ago and I stupidly let it get lost in my stash. Though my teas are kept away from Sunlight in a cool and dry place, this was only stored in a single ziploc bag and might have had some flavor deterioration due to improper storage. As a result, my review should be considered with that in mind…

When I looked up the NecessiTeas’ Strawberry Shortcake on their website, it was suggested to try it hot or poured over ice. I decided to try it both ways since the sample I was sent was quite generous. I brewed both the hot and iced tea for 3 minutes in 185F degree water, my standard temperature for brewing white teas.

The hot tea is very subtly flavored but pleasantly so. Again the subtlety of the flavoring could be due to flavor deterioration from age and improper storage but then again a Strawberry Shortcake is a lighter and more gently flavored cake so that could also be intentional. Subtle as it is, there is still all the components of its namesake in the flavor. The white tea makes this buttery, like an angel food cake, while there is a smooth creaminess to the tea as a whole. The strawberry sneaks up on you but really fills out the aftertaste. It is good and now I am kicking myself for not trying it sooner because I want more strawberry and more cream but perhaps there was more when the tea first arrived. I guess I will never know.

The iced tea I don’t like as much. That creaminess that is portrayed in the hot cup is entirely lost here. Instead it is a whole lot of white tea flavors with a touch of strawberry tucked in. No cream. No cake. More sweet hay notes and that little bit of fruit. It is also just the slightest bit soapy from the base.

All in all, this tea is middle of the pack for me. Granted I might have felt differently if I’d try this sooner but I also might not have. There are other teas that have been stored in a similar fashion for an equal amount of time that still pack a flavor punch. This is just too subtle and since I don’t love white teas, I find myself seeking more flavor. It is pleasant enough but one I feel I might forget as I continue on my tea journey.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  White
Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for white tea blends that are!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

EggNaughTea from The NecessiTeas. . . .

The holidays are fast approaching and that means eggnog. Lots of eggnog. And eggnog means eggnog lattes!!! They don’t say “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” for nothing.

I figured what better tea to make as an eggnog latte than EggNaughTea, a caffeine-free blend of honeybush, nutmeg, marigold petals, marshmallows, and flavoring? However, to be able to discern the tea from the latte, I also decided to make it as a plain tea. Both were brewed in 200F water for a little over 5 minutes.

Sipping on the hot tea, I can tell this is a high quality honeybush base, especially since it is one of the only things I am tasting. Sweet honey flavor. I wish I could say I was tasting the nutmeg, vanilla, or rum that is supposed to be here but alas they are lost on me.

Nevertheless, while I may find it a little lackluster tea plain, this is making for an ah-mazing latte! It boosts the nutmeg and vanilla in the regular eggnog, while the honey of the base makes this scream “decadent dessert”. Think sweet creamy custard deliciousness.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas
Description

This tea is a holiday blend so check out The NecessiTeas site for all of their great holiday blends!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Grandma’s Apple Strudel from The NecessiTeas . . . .

My grandmother was more of an apple crumble lady herself. My dad’s grandmother, however, could apparently make a mean apple strudel. Now I never met his grandmother but I have gone to a Hungarian restaurant, Old Country Inn, with my Dad who has told me that the strudel there taste’s just like she used to make so that’s my basis of comparison here.

In order to recreate Grandma NecessiTea’s strudel, this tisane is a blend of apples, raisins, cinnamon, chicory, almonds, vanilla, and natural flavoring. I brewed this hot, steeping about 3 teaspoons of tea in 16 ounces of 200F water for 5 minutes.

The first thing this tea brought to mind was the Forever Nuts blend by DAVIDsTEA. Both teas have that warming and sweet nutty flavor to them that takes over. At first when I tried Forever Nuts, I loved the flavor but it is strong and I was quickly turned off of it to the point that even the smell was off-putting. However, whether it be the long time I went without a tea like this or the subtle differences between this and the DAVIDsTEA version, I don’t mind this so much.

The apple is definitely the foundation flavor of this blend, coating your tongue with its sweet and fresh cinnamon-apple note. At first it is a bit of light vanilla that sits atop the apple but that quickly is taken over by the heavier and nutty almond and chicory flavors. There is a baked good vibe here and though the different components all together sound like an apple strudel, I find in actuality this tea doesn’t come together quite how it should so instead it is a jumble of flavors. In fairness, that could be due to my negative experience of Forever Nuts and the similarity to that but as I sip, I just can’t help but think that this is not the Apple Strudel tea for me.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas
Description

This tea does not appear to be available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!