Product Information:
Where to Buy: Fit Life Tea Co.
Tea Description:
For the health and safety of you and your loved ones, insist on using containers made only with materials approved by the U.S. FDA as safe for carrying foods and liquids.
Our premium BPA-free drinking bottle has a convenient flip-top handle and a built-in straw. Its slender design makes it easy to always keep plenty of water or Fit Life Tea on hand wherever you are. It measures 9” tall x 2.5“ in diameter, so you can stow it anywhere and hydrate often.
You owe it to your cells to do everything you can to keep unwanted plastic residues from migrating into your fresh food, water and tea. Keep your water and Fit Life Tea tasting pure and delicious with this smart and stylish BPA-free bottle.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m not one to get all excited over a plastic bottle. I try to avoid all that is plastic when it comes to tea. My iced tea pitcher is glass and I went through quite a lengthy search to find the one that suited my needs to a T(ea) and when I broke the handle on that pitcher, I went out and got another one just like it.
So a plastic bottle for drinking iced tea? Not really something I would have been in the market for or bought for myself. But when Fit Life sent me one of their 24 oz. BPA Free Plastic Bottles, I decided I’d try it. So, I brewed a couple of Fit Life teas and let them cool completely before pouring them into the bottle and chilling.
And something about that bottle enchanted me.
I don’t know why I love this bottle so much, but it rarely leaves my side now. This is what I drink my iced tea out of (and not just the teas from Fit Life!) and I also drink my favorite drink – Matcha infused Maple Water – out of this bottle too. Like I said, my newest favorite cold drink drinking vessel.
I won’t pour hot liquid into this – I still don’t trust the act of ‘heating’ plastic even if it is BPA free. But I think I can use this for iced tea and water and be OK with that! In fact, I think I’m very OK with that! I really love this bottle!
Iced Tea Blend from Tetley
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tetley Tea or where Tetley Products are sold.
Tea Description:
Round, stringless tea bags are made with our unique Perflo tissue—sturdy, yet soft and porous, for faster tea infusion and better flavor release. 2 tea bags make 2 quarts of iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t usually buy bagged teas off the supermarket shelf – and by this I mean to say, I just don’t do it. I guess I’m a bit of a tea snob. But when Tetley sent me a box of their Iced Tea Blend to try, I was willing to do so because a) that’s what I do, and b) tea. Tea makes me happy.
And really, when it comes to iced tea – especially cold-brewed iced tea – I really do prefer a bagged tea to a loose leaf tea. When drinking hot tea, I’m all about the loose leaf but when it comes to cold-brewing tea for iced tea, I prefer the convenience of a bagged tea because less mess = happier me.
So, I was actually happy to have this tea sent to me to try. I’m getting a little low on my cold-brew tea options (time to shop) and this helped to postpone my shopping for a little while, anyway!
To brew it, I filled my half-gallon glass iced tea pitcher full of freshly filtered water and then I dropped in two of the large tea bags from Tetley into the pitcher. Then I put the lid on the pitcher and stashed it in the fridge overnight.
Note: This is essentially “sun brewing” the tea too, because the sun doesn’t actually heat the water sufficiently to ‘brew’ the tea when you put out a jar of sun tea. By cold-brewing the tea using my above described method, you’re doing the same thing that you’d be doing to make sun tea except that my cold-brewed tea is now chilled. Eliminated a step! Yay!
The flavor: it tastes like black iced tea. This is an enjoyable unflavored black tea blend. I think I would prefer this to most other readily available grocery store blends. It’s refreshing and thirst quenching and the flavor is there.
This tastes like a pleasant iced tea. It doesn’t taste “dusty” the way some of those supermarket teas can taste. It’s smooth – not astringent and not bitter. It is brisk without an overly aggressive flavor. It’s a medium to full flavored tea, I suspect it’s a Ceylon or since it’s a blend, it’s comprised of mainly Ceylon leaves. It has that very clean, moderate, no-nonsense type of flavor that Ceylon tea is known to deliver.
If I were in need of an iced tea fix and I wanted a good, unflavored iced tea, I could see myself grabbing a box of this tea off the shelf. And since it is an unflavored tea, it allows for many interesting possibilities: try adding a few thin slices of lemon to the iced tea pitcher when you’re brewing it, or perhaps some crushed mint leaves or a couple of cinnamon sticks!
Soul Good Organic Oolong from Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Description:
A perfect cup of all natural apple cider to warm you up this autumn and winter.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The last couple of weeks have been crazy and the next week is going to be even more so – so it’s nice to have a tea like this Soul Good Organic Oolong from Tea Leaf Co. to help me collect myself and find a sense of calm. Tea is delightful like that – I love how I can sip it and it helps to de-stress me.
And what a delightful tea this is!
Even though it’s not autumn or winter – I am enjoying this cup of “apple cider” tea. It’s pleasantly sweet with a nice essence of apple and warm spices. And even though these flavors are prominent, they don’t overwhelm the sweet Oolong tea which appears to be a Tie Guan Yin based on the little green pellets of tea that I saw when I was measuring out the tea.
And the flavor and texture suggests a Tie Guan Yin tea to me. It’s sweet and has a soft, slightly creamy mouthfeel. There’s a light, buttery flavor to the tea that melds quite beautifully with the notes of apple and the spices.
The ginger is really nice – it’s warm and peppery without being too spicy. Generally when I think “apple cider,” I think of cinnamon flavor but I like that ginger is the star of this show – I’m really enjoying how nicely the apple and ginger taste together.
And the apple is wonderful here – it’s a strong flavor. My own experience with tea blending has taught me that apple can be a difficult flavor to nail but Tea Leaf Co. has nailed it here! It’s sweet and apple-y and authentic! This tastes very true-to-the-fruit!
A really lovely tea – and while it does have a very autumnal flavor to it, this is something I can see myself enjoying year round!
Barista’s Matcha Tea from My Matcha Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: My Matcha Life
Tea Description:
Barista’s Matcha tea is a great tasting matcha without the premium price. Perfect for those who enjoy the unique matcha tea flavor and experience but don’t always want to buy a premium ceremonial matcha, especially when mixing with other ingredients. Drink Barista’s Matcha tea on its own as a traditional matcha tea with hot water or, ideally, just add Barista’s Matcha tea to your lattes, smoothies and blender drinks. And enjoy!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a day or two since I had a bowl of Matcha so the arrival of this Barista’s Matcha Tea from My Matcha Life was timely! Oh, sure, I have some Matcha on hand (always!) but I’m happy to try something new to me.
For my first sampling of this Matcha, I prepared it hot in my chawan. I scooped out a couple of chashaku scoops of Matcha into my sifter and sifted the Matcha into my chawan. Then I added water heated to 160°F and whisked until the powder was completely incorporated in the liquid.
How much water? I’ve been making Matcha for so long that I just eyeball it, but the amount of hot water should be 2 – 3 ounces to every 1/2 teaspoon of Matcha powder. You can adjust this to your own liking, of course!
And this Matcha is delicious! The dry powder was a bright green. Not quite as bright and vivid as a top-quality ceremonial Matcha would be, but it’s not that drab green either. It’s a nice color.
The tea froths up nicely. Most of the froth disappears pretty quickly, but I still had some frothy bubbles on the surface up until my last sip. Not a lot … but some.
I did notice that the tea didn’t stay sustained in the liquid for very long. Because this is a ‘barista’ Matcha, this is a Matcha that is intended for (and better suited for) smoothies and blended drinks like that. But it is tasty enough to serve as a good everyday Matcha!
It has a smooth, buttery flavor. Even though the Matcha didn’t stay incorporated, after I re-whisked the tea, I didn’t pick up on a gritty or chalky texture and that earns extra points in my book!
It’s a really beautifully sweet Matcha – no bitter tones which I do often experience with some “not ceremonial” quality Matcha so that also earns extra points with me.
For my second tasting of this Matcha, I decided to try it with my new and latest obsession – Maple Water! YUM! Seriously yum. If you haven’t tried maple water + Matcha – you must!
I’ve spent some time perusing the My Matcha Life website and they have just about everything that a Matcha beginner needs to get started in their journey with Matcha! They don’t have a chashaku (this is a bamboo scoop used to scoop out Matcha) but you can use a 1/2 a teaspoon measuring spoon! And this Barista Matcha is a really good Matcha – it is one I’d recommend to those beginners as a starting Matcha!
2005 Changtai Yun Pu Zhi Dian “Top of the Clouds” Sheng Pu-erh from Crimson Lotus Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Crimson Lotus Tea
Tea Description:
This is a very special puerh prepared by the Yunnan Changtai Tea Industry Group. The blenders who work for Changtai are true masters of their craft. The leaves in this puerh are a blend of 15 mountains, Spring picked in 2005. The name for this cake “Yun Pu Zhi Dian” means “Top of the Clouds”. Since Yunnan means “Southern Clouds” this name has a double meaning. It refers to the heavenly experience and also that this puerh contains the best from Yunnan.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve often thought of pu-erh as a cooler weather type of tea because it’s a tea that I prefer to be served hot. As the tea cools, I find that the flavors begin to mute and become lost.
And yes, I do drink hot tea even in the summer months, in fact, I drink more hot tea than I do iced tea in the summer months, but, I don’t drink as much hot tea in the summer as I do in the cooler months.
So when I drink a pu-erh, I’m often reminded of the cooler days of autumn and winter, but as I sip this 2005 Changtai Yun Pu Zhi Dian “Top of the Clouds” Sheng Pu-erh from Crimson Lotus Tea, the tea seems to be evoking thoughts of late spring and early summer.
Perhaps it’s the lovely notes of fruit that develop throughout the infusions, starting off with a soft hint of apricot and in later infusions, I notice that the sweet apricot notes are accentuated with a contrasting sour note of tart apple.
Perhaps it’s the lovely background note of flower that seems to bring to mind thoughts of floral aromas filling the air in the spring. Or maybe it’s the delicate woodsy notes and hints of vegetative earthy tones that remind me of the trees as signs of their springtime foliage begin to grow.
This tea is beautifully smooth and sweet with notes of fruit and honey. In the earliest infusions, the fruit notes are strongest, but as I continue to steep, the honey develops and the fruit begins to wane somewhat.
Meanwhile, the woodsy notes are developing. These aren’t musty wood notes, but clean, vibrant woodsy tones. The tea has a sweetness to it that is balanced with the aforementioned notes of sour apple.
I’ve only just been introduced to this company – Crimson Lotus – but I am quite impressed with this tea. They specialize in Pu-erh teas. Those new to Pu-erh will find this a fantastic resource of teas that are good ‘starting out’ Pu-erh (and since they specialize in Pu-erh, they’ll be a great resource of knowledge for you too!) And for those of you who are more experienced with Pu-erh, I think you’ll find that Crimson Lotus has an amazing selection of intriguing teas.
As for me, I highly recommend this Top of the Clouds Sheng! It’s delightful!