Tink’s Fairy Dust White Tea Blend from Tealee

Tinks_Fairy_DustTea Information:

Leaf Type:  White

Where to Buy:  Tealee

Tisane Description:

There’s something magical about this aromatic combination of soothing ingredients. Perfect for the moments you find yourself day dreaming about Neverland.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The dry leaf aroma is absolutely beautiful!  I smell strong notes of lavender and I love the way they meld with the lime leaves.  Lovely!

To brew this tea, I used my Breville One Touch – yeah, I don’t usually use my Breville to brew white teas, but because the leaf is a little smaller here, I felt comfortable using the Breville this time.  I measured 2 heaping bamboo scoops into the basket of the tea maker and poured 500ml of water into the kettle.  I set the timer for 3 1/2 minutes and the temperature for 165°F.  Then I let the machine do it’s thing.

The brewed tea is almost as beautifully fragrant as the dry leaf.  This is a tea that you want to inhale deeply when you lift the cup to your lips – smell it first! – and then take a sip.  It will make the experience even more enjoyable!

Nice!  I was a little worried when I smelled the strong lavender – I worried that maybe the lavender had been overdone.  Too much lavender ends up tasting too perfume-ish or soapy and even though I love lavender, I don’t want to drink something that tastes like I should be bathing in it instead.

Fortunately, the lavender is just right!  It is strong enough to offer a powerful aromatic experience but not so powerful that I am not able to enjoy the flavor as much as I enjoy the fragrance.  This is really lovely!

The lavender is the strongest flavor of the cup, and it has a sweet flavor that is distinctly lavender.  Sweet and floral, but not perfume-ish.  When I drink teas with lavender, I feel an almost instant “calming” effect and I don’t know if that’s because my brain knows that it just drank lavender and lavender has that effect on me, but I’m starting to feel that – I feel relaxed and as I continue to sip, I feel myself becoming more and more calm.

The lime leaves taste light and citrus-y, and this citrus note is especially noticed in the aftertaste.  I can feel a distinct “lime” note on my tongue – as if I just had tasted a tiny bit of lime.  I like the way the lime notes play with the lavender – it’s an unexpected but delightful flavor combination.

The white tea is a delicate flavor.  It’s soft and sweet.  It’s a nice base for these flavors, because a more aggressive tea would be less “calming” and I like the way the lavender is soothing me.

A really pleasant blend!  Tealee has some really enticing tea blends on their website.  Lots of teas to explore!

Fairy Dust Rooibos from Tealish

Tisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Tealish

Tisane Description:

Drink this tea and you’ll feel like you’ve just been sprinkled with fairy dust, it’s so good. With notes of strawberry and kiwi, this blend of green rooibos, apple, strawberry, kiwi, orange blossoms, elderflower, and mistletoe, is our favourite way to escape to never never land once (or twice) a day.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

This is really REALLY tasty!

As I’ve said once or twice (or perhaps thrice!) before, I prefer green rooibos over the oxidized red version.  The green rooibos is slightly fruity in flavor (as opposed to the woody notes of the red rooibos), and it has a light, almost sparkling kind of taste to it.  I think given the name of this tea (Fairy Dust) I think that green rooibos was the perfect choice as a base for this blend.

The strawberry and kiwi are the two strongest flavors, with floral notes filling out the background.  The rooibos doesn’t offer a strong flavor, but, I do taste it, and it marries with the fruit tones in this blend very nicely.

The strawberry tastes fresh and authentic, tasting like I just bit into a bright red, ripe, juicy berry.  YUM!  The kiwi is a nice flavor to accompany the strawberry as I’ve often thought the kiwi tastes a bit like a cross between a strawberry and a melon.  It enhances the delicious strawberry taste, and adds a pleasing dimension to the cup.

I sipped my sampling of this tea (sent to me by a friend) hot, but as it cooled, I noticed the fruit flavors emerged even more, so I suspect this would be an absolutely AMAZING iced tea.  One that you can serve to kids as well as adults without worry that you’ll be overstimulating anyone with caffeine (as it’s naturally caffeine free).  A great summertime tea!