Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Art of Tea
Tea Description:
Organic Silver needle is the most sought after white tea and is only harvested for a few days each year in the northern district of Fujian, China. This magnificent tea has a light golden flush with a unique savory aroma and a woodsy body. The finish is pleasant with a lingering, yet balanced sweetness.
Water Temperature: 175-185 F degrees
Caffeine Content: Medium
Steep Time: 1-3 minutes
Suggested Serving Size: 1 Tbsp/8oz
Ingredients: Organic, Fair Trade Chinese White Tea
Origin: Fujian, China
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Organic Silver Needle from Art of Tea surprised me! I am not a huge fan of white teas. Well I suppose a more accurate statement would be that there are few white teas I have found that really wow me. I have found a few though! This white tea sort of wow’d me, it more so surprised me, confused me a little, and has made me want to drink a lot more of it to really understand it. Why all the confusion you may ask? Well to begin with the dry leaf is stunning, white, downey, soft, cuddly, lol yes, cuddly. It makes me wish I could buy enough to just pour all over my bed and lay upon it at night. Its so dreamy! But that is not what got me. What “got” me, is that the initial aroma of this tea is of cucumber! And that is exactly what it tastes like to me as well. Fresh, watery, cucumber! Yet, wait for it, its not watery at all! Its rather quite creamy! Creamy, fresh, mouthwatering cucumber!
It is also quite sweet on the palate. A warm natural sweetness that does not so much coat the mouth with a cloying sappy sugar but one that is sweet and creamy like a condensed milk. So what we have here, is a sweet, creamy, cucumber, tea. Strange I think. Usually I get a totally different flavor profile from Silver Needle!
I had this before bedtime, and I could not stop thinking about it as I fell asleep. I woke up this morning to my spent leaves, as I had several steepings, and just wanted to wake up enough to make another cup, have another session with this perplexing tea. I am not sure quite yet how I feel about it exactly. I need to overcome my pre-conceived notions of what this was “supposed” to taste like and just enjoy it for its unusual and wonderful nature unto itself. On the other hand I am craving it like crazy! A huge thank you to my Steepster friend for sending me this tea! My views may be changing on white teas, I may need to explore them with more abandon!
I am not going to say this is my all time favorite white tea, as it is so unusual, but it is one that I would like to have in my stash! I can’t wait to try this cold brewed although I don’t know if I would appreciate a milky, creamy, cucumber tea, cold. Yet I have plenty to play with so I will give it a try. Cucumber to me says summer, yet creamy and milky are more reserved for cooler months. Maybe I am just too narrow minded. Its just such an unusual flavor profile to me.
Time to make that other cup I was talking about … discovery ongoing….
Cucumber Kiwi Honeybush from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
As cool as a cucumber and as crazy as a kiwi: I’d say that about sums up 52teas. With a twist of lime on the side. Here’s our caffeine-free African honeybush blended with freeze-dried kiwi and natural and organic flavors. A cool, caffeine-free treat. Well, cool if you make iced tea of it, I suppose.
Learn more about this honeybush blend here.
Taster’s Review:
The last time I checked, there were still quite a few pouches of this tea available. I’m really quite surprised by this … and maybe it’s just me, but, when I see a tea called “Cucumber Kiwi” … that’s something I MUST TRY! It’s one of those flavors you aren’t going to come across very often, and I love trying the unusual flavors.
But there is another reason for my surprise, too. I mean, this is a honeybush blend from 52Teas, and I have not found a tea company that offers better flavored honeybush blends than 52Teas. Some of their other blends may be iffy, but, most (if not all) of the honeybush blends have been stellar. One only need try a blend like Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush or Chocolate Malt Honeybush to know what I’m talking about here.
And while this one might not be quite as good as the Chocolate Malt or Coconut Cheesecake, it is REALLY good. The flavor is sweet and fruity, but there is just a hint of tartness in there too to keep it from being too cloying.
It has a very intriguing balance of flavors, it’s one of those teas that keeps me sipping just to try to nail down what I’m tasting. One sip, I’ll notice the kiwi as the strongest flavor … the next, I’ll taste a strong burst of citrus-y flavor. In the next sip, I’ll notice the cool taste of cucumber. It all comes together in such a pleasing way and I really like that.
Cucumber Mojito Green Tea from Inspired Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Inspired Leaf
Tea Description:
Crisp, refreshing mint and lime mojo. Amazing on the rocks! Inspiration No. 26: Tea makes your eyes twinkle.
Ingredients: Organic green tea, peppermint, cucumber, lime pieces, lime leaves, lime juice, stevia, natural flavors.
Caffeine level-low.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is very refreshing! Perfect for this time of year, when the weather is warm and you’re in search of a bright-tasting, cooling, vibrant cup of tea! This tea is definitely all that!
I am sipping a small cup of this hot at the moment (mostly because I couldn’t wait for it to cool!) and saving the rest to let it cool so that I can enjoy it iced. I don’t like to add ice to my tea, because even if I brew it at double or triple strength, I find that the ice just waters it down too much for my liking, and I suppose I could go through all the trouble to make tea ice cubes, but, that seems like more trouble than it’s worth in this household, since I’m the only one who drinks tea on a regular basis, and there are other people who are using the ice cube trays!
Instead, I prefer to brew the tea at normal strength and let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating, and then serving it chilled, straight, no ice. Sometimes, I might add a thin slice of citrus, but with this tea – no need. The lime is already in there!
And the lime is zesty without being too tart. It isn’t overly assertive, and neither is the peppermint. The mint IS the strongest flavor here, but, I like that it’s been tempered with the other ingredients, and it isn’t overthrowing the whole balance. I can even taste the cucumber here! I had, of course, hoped to taste the cucumber, but, I wasn’t so sure that the delicate, refreshing taste of cucumber would shine through the strong notes of lime and peppermint. It certainly doesn’t overpower them, but, its there, and it adds a very lovely element to the overall cup.
And, let us not forget about the tea! This IS a tea, after all, and I expect to taste it. The green tea adds a fresh, slightly vegetal taste to the cup. It is somewhat buttery and sweet, the mouthfeel is soft, and I like the way that the green tea seems to complete the cup in a very enjoyable way.
One thing I would like to point out here though, is that I wish that they did not add stevia to this blend. In fact, I wish that other tea companies would stop doing this too. It seems to be a growing trend, adding stevia to enhance the sweetness. I like to decide on my own how sweet I want the tea to be, and then I like to add the sweetener of my choice. I find that most stevia leaves a funky, somewhat metallic aftertaste that I’m not crazy about, and while the aftertaste here is not badly affected, I do taste the stevia, and I wish I didn’t.
While this cup is delicious served hot, it is best enjoyed iced, in my opinion, served as I indicated above: brewing at normal strength, bringing to room temperature and chilling in the fridge. It is a perfectly refreshing drink for these warm summer months that await us!
Cucumber Mint from Tea Forté
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Forté
Product Description:
Special reserve green tea with invigorating cool notes of cucumber, fresh mint and the taste of sweet blueberries.
Taster’s Review:
We (the SororiTea Sisters!) have been sampling some of the newest teas from Tea Forté as part of their new Skin-Smart line. And so far, I’ve been liking what I’ve been tasting!
This Cucumber Mint green tea tastes very fresh and exhilarating (thanks to the mint), and yet quite soothing (thanks to the cucumber). The green tea base is light and has a somewhat grassy taste that seems to enhance the flavor of the cucumber. I have tasted a few cucumber flavored teas now (not a lot, but a few), and I think that this is one that I find to be very true to the flavor of cucumber. It doesn’t seem muddled by the other flavors in the cup, the cucumber really shines through.
The mint has a crisp, clean taste and doesn’t overwhelm the cup – mint can sometimes be a selfish herb and take over the whole composition of the cup. But that doesn’t happen here. The mint is an accent flavor, and it does its job right.
As for the blueberries, I don’t get a lot of berry flavor here. There is a hint of berry sweetness as well as a distinctive tangy taste toward the tail of the sip which can be more discerned in the aftertaste than during the sip.
I like the focus of this Skin Smart line; I like that Tea Forté recognizes that beautiful skin starts from the inside! Click here for more information about the Skin Smart line from Tea Forté. And I especially like that this tea not only promotes a healthy complexion but is also quite tasty.
Here’s to good skin health!
Cucumber Fusion from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green & Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
This week, we have a fusion of premium green teas and oolongs blended with freeze-dried cucumber bits and natural cucumber flavor. A real refreshing taste of spring. These “savory” teas have been going really fast, so don’t miss out on this one. When it’s gone, it’s GONE.
Taster’s Review:
In February 2010, 52Teas released a Cucumber Melon tea that turned out to be my first experience with cucumber flavored teas. I was quite impressed with that particular tea, so I was quick to order this tea when it was announced in April of this year.
This tea tastes so refreshing and light. It tastes like spring! It really does. It is fresh and crisp, like the crispness of the air and the fresh sense of life that follows the cold of winter.
The tea base is an Oolong and green tea base. The Oolong gives the cup a smooth, silky texture, while the green tea adds a fresh, lightly grassy taste that melds very well with the savory cucumber tones. There is a slight sweetness to the cup, but I would say that it is more savory than sweet.
It is difficult to describe the flavor of this one, because how does one really describe the flavor of a cucumber? Yes, I can taste the cucumber, and it is distinct, but, it isn’t a strong or in-your-face kind of flavor. But then, the flavor of a cucumber isn’t really in your face either. It is a mellow flavor – very delicate – it’s a perfectly serene kind of tea that is sure to instill a sense of peace even after the most hectic of days.
As I write this, I am sipping it hot, but, I find it even more refreshing as an iced tea. The savoriness of the cucumber really emerges when iced, making for a cool, crisp drink that satisfies my thirst.