Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: English Tea Shop
Tea Description:
Peppermint Melon: Green tea, cinnamon pieces, licorice and peppermint leaves with melon flavour.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t too sure about this Peppermint Melon Green Tea Blend from English Tea Shop when I read the ingredient list. Melon and peppermint sounded alright together, but cinnamon and licorice? I love cinnamon and I absolutely adore licorice, but, I wasn’t sure how these sometimes zesty spices would taste with the melon flavor.
But as it turns out, the cinnamon and licorice are very faint, barely-there notes in this cup. The melon and peppermint dominate, and I’m happy to report that even though peppermint can sometimes overwhelm a blend, it’s not doing that here. The peppermint is more of an uplifting note, allowing the melon to shine through very nicely.
The green tea is a little lost in this though. By the time I reached mid-cup, I found myself wondering where the green tea was. I can taste hints of vegetation (more grassy than vegetable), but there really isn’t a lot of green tea taste to this cup.
But the melon and mint notes are nice. The mint tastes cool and refreshing and it’s a really pleasing accent to the melon flavor. The melon is sweet.
Overall, a tasty tea that tastes more of melon than of tea, and because of that, it’s just a wee bit disappointing. I would like a little more tea flavor here. Not the best tea that I’ve tried from English Tea Shop, but for the melon-ness of this … I found myself glad that I tried it.
On The Fourth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent Me This Tea…
Day 4 of the Christmas Countdown. Today’s “gift” would be four calling birds … or colly birds. Which are supposed to be black birds.
I found this picture online doing a simple image search – if it belongs to you, please don’t get upset with me. If you want me to take it down, I will. I just thought it was kind of funny, and I have always wondered what the heck a calling bird looked like.
Anyway, I am glad that Della Terra Teas didn’t send me 4 calling birds and instead sent me this tea …
Cinnamon Diletto
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tisane Description:
On this, the fourth fantastic day of Christmas, why not spice it up a bit? Both you and the calling birds will be calling for more!
Enjoy this amazing Cinnamon Diletto. With all the spice that makes everything nice, not just the calling birds will be happy, you will be as well!
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve mentioned on previous occasions, I’m never too thrilled to try a rooibos blend, as it tends to be one of my least favorite tisane bases. But after taking a whiff of this Cinnamon Diletto from Della Terra Teas – the tea for the 4th day of Christmas – I looked forward to trying it.
Very cinnamon-y! So cinnamon-y, in fact, that you miss the rooibos flavor, which works out just fine for me. There is some body to this tisane which comes from the rooibos, and there is also some nutty, earthy tones that complement the cinnamon notes so seamlessly that you don’t really realize that what you’re sipping is a rooibos tisane.
The cinnamon has a sweet flavor, but there is a zingy spice to it too. It’s a very warming tea – a delightful choice for winter evenings while relaxing. It’s one of those tisanes that has me sort of astonished, really, because the blend is so simple! It’s just rooibos and cinnamon and safflower petals. There isn’t anything fancy about this rooibos blend. But the cinnamon and rooibos were blended in just the right amount to create a deliciously warm, spicy-sweet drink that I can’t believe I’m sitting here enjoying as much as I am.
So far, Della Terra Teas’ Christmas box is 4 wins out of 4 teas!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Rooibos Vanilla Virgin Chocolate Bar from Raaka Chocolate
About This Product:
Raaka Virgin Chocolate bars, hand made in Brooklyn, New York. The Vanilla Rooibos bar combines unroasted cocoa beans with vanilla rooibos tea, stone ground to perfection in small batches. Tasting notes: Cherry and toasted marshmallow.
To Learn more about Raaka Chocolate, click here.
To Subscribe to Knoshbox, click here.
Taster’s Review:
I received this chocolate bar in my April Knoshbox (yes, it has been a while, I tend to horde my gourmet chocolates for times when I really need chocolate. Like now!) and because this Virgin Chocolate Bar from Raaka Chocolate is also made with vanilla rooibos, I thought that I’d offer a product review on this confection right here on SororiTea Sisters, rather than my foodie blog.
The first thing I noticed about this is the packaging … I love the zentangle-ish wrapper! Very cool! The chocolate itself is a dark chocolate and it has a crisp “snap” to it when I break the bar.
Now, I’ve got to say that I’m not as fond of raw chocolate as I am of the “roasted” chocolate. The roasting of the cacao beans seems to add a depth to the chocolate that I just don’t experience in the raw chocolate. But that’s not to say I dislike the raw chocolate, I just prefer it to be made from roasted cacao. Here the chocolate is dark (67%) and it has a bold, rich flavor that is both bitter and sweet.
I can taste the rooibos, and the rooibos offers a slightly fruity tone to the chocolate. The tasting notes on the Raaka website suggest a “cherry” flavor, and I don’t know if I’m getting cherry, exactly. I definitely taste the vanilla, and it enhances the overall “creaminess” to the bar, which I really like. I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate, but, there is something to that creaminess of a milk chocolate bar that I do enjoy, and the vanilla notes here add that element without the milk.
When I allow the chocolate to melt over my palate, I notice more of the aforementioned cherry notes, as well as the toasted marshmallow notes as described on the website, so, I highly recommend savoring this bar like this: breaking the bar into small, bite-size bits, and then putting the small piece on your tongue and allowing the warmth of your mouth to soften the chocolate. That’s when you’ll really enjoy the fullness of flavor from this chocolate bar.
Overall, a really delightful chocolate experience. Then again, when is chocolate NOT a delightful experience? If you’re looking for a good raw chocolate bar … I think that this one from Raaka is my favorite of the raw chocolate bars that I’ve tasted thus far.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Indian Spice Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Green
About This Product:
A snappy blend of curry, spices and green tea. Tastes like your eating at your favorite Indian curry restaurant.
To Learn more about this Millie’s Savory Teas, click here.
To Subscribe to Love with Food, click here.
Taster’s Review:
In my September Love with Food box, I received not one but two new-to-me savory teas from Millie’s Savory Teas to try, including this Indian Spice Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth. Even though I was a little disappointed with the Tomato Basil variety of Millie’s Savory Teas, I still found myself excited at the prospect of trying a couple more of these tea infused sipping broths.
And much to my surprise, I like this Indian Spice flavor much better than I liked the Tomato Basil. I love Tomato, so I expected that to be the one I liked best, but I think that the Indian spices work much better in this tea infused sipping broth concept.
The aroma of the dry “bag” is that of curry, but I also taste the smell of “bouillon” too. You know the smell of the bouillon cubes? Yeah, I smell that salty/savory scent of bouillon. And this broth … is a little on the salty side (don’t salt it before you taste it!) but it isn’t too salty for my taste. I taste a hint of carrot and onion to this too.
It still tastes more like broth than it does green tea … but I can taste more of the green tea here than I did in the Tomato Basil. What’s more, I’m finding this broth to be so soothing and comforting. I think this would make an ideal light meal … perhaps with a piece of fruit.
This sipping broth gets a thumbs up from me. This is one I might buy again!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Vanilla Chai Scones Mix from Sticky Fingers Bakeries
Where to Buy: Sticky Fingers Bakeries
Product Description:
A lightly sweet scone bursting with fragrant spices like cinnamon, cardamom and ginger. Perfect with tea.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a little while since I’ve reviewed a scones mix, and the reason why is that it’s been a while since I’ve made scones! And it really should not have been so long since I’ve made scones! My daughter loves them, I love them … it’s a perfect treat for the both of us.
Sticky Fingers Bakeries makes some of my favorite scones mix, and I really enjoyed this Vanilla Chai flavored scones mix! As I’ve said before, what I love so much about this scones mix is that it’s so easy to prepare! Just add water and mix, and then either roll out and cut into wedges, or just drop by large, rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheet. It really is that simple.
Instead of using water when I prepared this mix, I used milk. I find that the flavor is just a little bit richer, and I like that. It’s still really delicious prepared with water, but the milk just adds a little more richness to the scones.
The scones come out fluffy and a little moist. They aren’t overly dry or too dense. The scones made with this vanilla chai mix were really yummy. The spice level was delicious – I could taste notes of ginger, cinnamon and I could even taste a hint of tea in the flavor. I didn’t get a whole lot of vanilla flavor though.
The spices were on the mild side, though, this didn’t taste like a spice cookie or gingerbread. It tasted like a biscuit with spice accents. Definitely enjoyable. Really good with honey butter. I just softened some butter and mixed in some honey. Most honey butter recipes that I’ve seen also call for some orange zest, but, I didn’t have an orange on hand, so I just grabbed some honey and some room temperature butter, and it came out delicious. Add the honey gradually and taste it as you add it … you can always add a little more honey but you can’t take it out once it’s in there!
A tasty tea time treat!