Around 2pm is when I’m grabbing for something to keep me going for a few more hours. This little ditty has been saving me from grabbing a sugary snack for the past week and I am completely in love with it.
Wild Leaf Active Teas offers a line of teas with a healthy thought behind each tea. I regularly drink their Slim tea in the mornings and adore that rich jammy earthy flavor. I’ve found in the mornings that I do have more energy but I do drink a few servings of this tea before hitting the road in the morning. I can’t say I’ve noticed any other side effects but I drink this tea more for the flavor and the energy, not so much the weight loss or boosted metabolism.
So this last time when my subscription was about to be shipped out, I emailed Wild Leaf Active Teas and asked if I could add in a tin of their Charge tea. Their Charge tea is a conventionally arranged eye opening tea bag full of green tea, yerba mate, and mint.
Brewed up hot, this tea provides a refreshingly energetic way to get rid of those 2pm heavy eyelids that I seem to get. The flavors mingle so well. Earthy yerba mate combined with a buttery green tea that as a slight vegetal feel with a cooling refreshing finish. A smooth cuppa to enjoy for sure.
Brewed up cold, this ice tea just gives and gives. Again you get all of those same earthy yerba mate notes and that same green tea feel, but it seems like the mint flavor is richer and more intense. So refreshing and cooling. I see this as being a perfect tea for those warm summer afternoons heading our way or even a fabulous ice tea to drink while at my parents’ pool.
I’m a huge fan of green tea, yerba mate, and mint, so I knew this would be a huge hit for me. What I hadn’t expected was how much my family would dig this tea. My dad actually asked me to get him some of this tea and my hubby has asked me to give him this tea in the mornings as a cold brew.
Charge is another widely loved tea in my family. So far there hasn’t been a tea from the Wild Leaf Active Tea lineup that I haven’t loved. Slim is still my favorite with this one and Smart following right behind. Even though these are bagged teas, they are so full of flavor that I find myself grabbing them more and more, especially when I’m at work or am in a bigger hurry than usual.
For me, Wild Leaf Active Teas are full of flavor, love, and that added zip that I need to get me thru the day.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green/Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: Wild Leaf Active Teas
Description
Power up with invigorating whole leaf Yerba Mate, Green Tea and Peppermint. KA-POW! Ain’t nobody got time to crash. Win the war on naps with this bold, dark, invigorating tea because we have things to accomplish!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pomegranate Mojito from Zest Teas. . .
I have to admit I was scared to try this. I’ve never had a mojito, and I never liked rum when I did drink so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I brewed this into iced tea because it just seemed like it needed to be served cold. As soon as the warm water hit the sachet, I got a wonderful fruity smell that made me wish I was at the beach. I felt instantly safe and eager to try this. I added no sweetener, just brewed it into my iced tea container and chilled it overnight. When I had my first sip, I got a wonderful fruity citrus-y flavor, no hint of rum!
The ingredients have peppermint listed as a flavor, but I really didn’t get a strong peppermint flavor. Really, the pomegranate and lime kind of blended perfectly together, neither one standing out. This would be a wonderful drink to take to the beach, or to have on a warm summer picnic. It’s fruity, and very refreshing. I also don’t think it needs any additional sweetener.
I used one sachet for a pretty big pitcher of tea because this is highly caffeinated tea, and I’m doing my best to avoid caffeine. Even though I made this pretty diluted, it still had a strong flavor. I can see myself having this in the summer on those days when I do need a little extra energy.
I was reading some reviews on the website, and the consensus is that this tea gives that nice little boost of energy from the caffeine, without the crash that coffee can give you. If you like fruity and citrus-y teas, you might want to give this a try, and close your eyes and dream of the beach!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Zest Tea
Description
At Zest, we start every morning with a Mojito. This aromatic blend of young hyson green tea, peppermint, lime, and pomegranate will bring back memories of lounging on a beach, or maybe whatever memories you have left of college. Either way, our Pomegranate Mojito Green Tea is an amazingly refreshing blend, great for any time of day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Super Starling drinks English Breakfast from Solstice Tea Traders. . .
After killing myself at the gym this morning*, I needed a little bit of comfort. Black teas are my go-to morning cuddle buddy. They never cause DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). They never make me sweaty. I never collapse after drinking one.
* (10 flights on the stairmaster, a mile on the treadmill, then a variety of circuit training nonsense that at one point just had me laying on a mat, reaching for my inhaler.)
Comforting though this blend is, it’s still got that black-tea kick. This one’s an eye-opener. It pries your face open, Clockwork Orange style. Are you nodding off at your desk?
NOT ANY MORE YOU’RE NOT. WELCOME TO THE DAY.
The flavor is a nice smooth blend, a bit malty and raisin-y. I have a feeling that, if you mixed some with an herbal tea (maybe berry-flavored), you’d have a great iced tea. This could be a strong backbone for a kickin’ blend.
If you’re the sort of person who does this sort of thing. Which I do. I like to play alchemist all the time. Is it unclassy to throw ingredients into other teas? Probably. But I’ve come up with some awesome stuff. (I have also — full disclosure — completely failed.)
So give this one a try, either straight or with a buddy. At the very least, you’re in for a good morning jostle.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Solstice Tea Traders
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Taking The Day On With My Morning Blend from The NecessiTeas. . .
I drank three cups of this before I wrote this review because I read that there were chocolate/cocoa nibs in here — but I could never find them. I’ve never given up on locating Waldo, so I don’t know why I’d quit on this tea.
But friends, despite the delicious chocolate smell in the dry leaf, I cannot pinpoint any chocolate flavoring in this tea.
Which is not to say the tea is bad. It’s a lovely Assam-y bread-y malt-y mix. A dark blend of sultry Eastern European men telling fortunes and learning to box. Like, if the Winter Soldier were a tea, this might be the one.
The caffeine content is no joke. I could actually feel my brain rousing itself. “AHA. THE DAY. GOT IT. ON IT NOW.”
It’s weird that wake-up juice comes from natural sources like tea leaves. Doesn’t caffeine seem like something that would have come from a lab, like some kind of drug? You could imagine some sort of mad scientist raging “LIKE GARFIELD, I HATE MONDAYS. I MUST IMPROVE MY LOT.” And storming around, lab coat flapping behind his frenzied, sweaty body, as he crafted a glowing substance that looks a lot like alien pee and/or Mountain Dew.
Nope? Just me?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
If you are looking for a wake-me-up, perk-me-up cup in the morning, that’s off the beaten path of coffee, look no further. This strong black tea has the smoothness of chocolate, and the boldness of roasted cocoa beans. Doctor it as you would a cup of coffee, with milk and sugar to start off your day!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sensiblyscript’s Tasting Notes on Passion Berry Jolt by Tiesta Tea. . . .
I steeped 1tsp tea for 4 min. in one cup of water at 200-205 degrees, which produced a cup of tea with a nice dark amber color. Though there’s no berry coloring, there’s plenty of berrylike fragrance. The tea leaves themselves are attractive, with marigold and cornflower petals providing some nice color contrasts.
The berry smell blends with the black tea fragrance surprisingly well. (On a side note, I’m glad they used a high-quality black tea for this blend, as I tend to tire easily of “black tea” bases that have no actual tea flavor so that all you can taste is the flavoring.)
First sip: Not too astringent or acidic, which is nice. There is a bit of astringency, though. The berry flavor I’m finding in this tea is a bit friendlier, somehow, than most berry flavored teas I’ve tried. Perhaps a bit smoother? I’m sensing a rich, strawberry-like flavor here, and maybe a bit of raspberry as well. Maybe that’s why it’s less astringent and acidic than other berry-flavored teas that are heavy on the raspberry and blueberry. (It turns out that the strawberry-like flavor must have been from the “natural passion fruit flavors” in this tea. I guess I’m just not that familiar with passion fruit.)
It’s also not bitter at all, which I appreciate.
While the black tea flavor is present and isn’t overwhelmed by the berry flavor, it’s not super prominent either and doesn’t overwhelm the berry flavor. They exist side-by-side rather elegantly.
When I add milk, it tastes like berries and cream just as I’d hoped. MMMMmmmm! I like it best this way. (Okay, that’s not really a surprise.)
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tiesta Tea
Description
Ingredients: black tea + natural passion fruit flavors + cornflowers + marigold petals + raspberry bits
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
