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.
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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!
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Herbal Tea/Plum Deluxe
This tea couldn’t have come at a better time. All this stormy weather makes you just want to stay at home with a cup of tea. And I don’t think I could have picked a better “comfort” tea for today.
I usually reserve spiced teas for the holidays. They can be overwhelming year round and aren’t my favorite during warmer weather. But this tea is very lightly spiced and smells amazing—like someone just pulled a tray of snickerdoodles out of the oven. (And it has me really wanting some of my mother-in-law’s snickerdoodle cookies right now!)
This is the perfect tea to brighten up a cold or rainy day. While it smells pretty spicy, the taste is very mild. Just a tiny bit of cinnamon with a vanilla flavor that takes the edge of the spice. It’s made with green rooibos and nothing containing caffeine, so it’s also a nice evening tea if you’re sensitive to caffeine.
The tea itself is lightly sweet on its own, but I added a tiny bit of orange blossom honey to my second cup. I steeped my first cup for 6 minutes and the second cup for 8 minutes. The second cup was spicier, but beyond that, there wasn’t a noticeable decline in flavor, which was nice. I was afraid the light flavors might quickly go bland, but it held up just as well!
This one should definitely go on your list of teas for a rainy day (literally and figuratively!). It’s comforting, even heartwarming, and is just the thing to brighten up an otherwise unpleasant day.
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Leaf Type: Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
We’ve heard some of our teas described like a cookie-in-a-cup, but this tea is exactly that! Everybody loves a classic sugar cookie tea. This one is inspired by our staff favorite – snickerdoodles! – we created a calming herbal tea perfect for an evening night cap or just a smooth afternoon pick me up. We use our favorite herbal tea – green rooibos – paired with a variety of vanilla extras and a unique spice blend that comes together perfectly. It’s just lightly sweet and lightly spiced, making for a great cookie flavored tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Osmanthus Ceylon/Zesta Tea
Osmanthus is one of my favorite florals and makes an excellent spring tea. If you’re not expecting it and are accustomed to mild florals, it’s little overwhelming. Osmanthus is really sweet and usually doesn’t need any kind of sweetener! (Some milder variants go well with honey but this one, in particular, is on the sweeter side.) Stick to the 3-minute steep time—it doesn’t need anymore. If it’s too sweet, you might enjoy a second steep.
The first steep is very sweet, fruity, and almost overpoweringly floral. It’s not as tangy as Ceylon normally is, so you’re left with this smooth, mild sweetness reminiscent of apricots. It also kind of reminds me of honeysuckle, but slightly less of a woody flavor.
The second steep is a little better and has a more rounded flavor. You get a bit more of the tangy flavor typical of Ceylon, slightly bitter, with hints of apricot and a light floral taste. It’s definitely one of those teas I would share with a friend who has a sweet tooth. Pour the first cup for them and hold the second for yourself!
I like this one in moderation. It was a bit too sweet for me to enjoy in any frequency, but the second steep definitely won me over. I’d recommend this to anyone who is a fan of sweet and floral teas.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zesta Tea
Description
Native to Asia, Osmanthus flowers are famous in China for their flavour and scent. This tea combines handpicked flowers with fine Chinese black tea to brew a cup which is fragrant yet pleasantly light with a slightly fruity taste.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Dragon’s Tooth/Swallowtail Tea
First off, I have to say that this tea is nothing short of amazing—it ties in everything I love about greens and oolongs in a perfectly smooth, sweet cup of tea. I expected something a little more vegetal/grassy with how green the leaves were but I was pleasantly surprised with a nice floral taste.
While this might go good with honey, I wound up not adding anything to it. Any sweetener would cover up something that tastes perfect on its own, detracting from sweeter floral notes.
Part of the sweetness of this tea reminds me of fresh spring water. There’s a hint of minerality, but it doesn’t leave an aftertaste. I got two steepings out of this one and may even try a third, as the flavor didn’t change much aside from losing a little of its floral flavor. It was still about as bold as the first brew.
This one’s a keeper! I’ll definitely be adding this to my “must have” list.
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Swallowtail Tea
Description
This wonderful Mao Xie oolong has dramatic floral notes of lilac and jasmine, with the complexity of butter, stone, and steamed greens.
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Sleeping Dragon Tea/Adagio Teas
Gunpowder green tea was among the first green teas I’d tried as a kid. It’s a little nostalgic and is now my go-to drink when I’m having a rough day and just need a pick-me-up. It’s also probably responsible for my affinity for smoky-tasting teas and wines.
Sleeping Dragon picks up some of those notes from a good gunpowder tea, especially in the first cup. The first steep is rich, smoky, with subtle hints of fruit. Steep a second time and you get more of a fruity, lightly sweet green with a smoother, well-rounded flavor. (If you don’t like smoky tea, you can steep for 1.5 to 2 minutes and cut back on those flavors.)
This is a tea that’s fun to watch in a glass teapot—pellets slowly unfurl into long, beautiful green leaves that have a wonderful fragrance. If you’re not a fan of really grassy green teas, I highly recommend this one. It’s also a great intro to loose-leaf greens for friends who are new to green teas—it’s a very mild flavor that won’t send curious tea drinkers running the other way.
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Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Sleeping Dragon green tea is grown at about 3,000 feet in the mountainous Fujian province. The tightly rolled leaves and silvery fuzzy buds give this tea its signature shape and name. In the cup, it delivers a soft, fruity sweetness enfolded by a rich smokey note similar to a gunpowder, but more complex and crisp in the finish. Sleeping Dragon remains a great cup for a green tea novice or those who oppose the grassy character of some varieties.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!