Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Whispering Pines Tea
Tea Description:
Purely delicious, this exciting berry-white blend will have you hooked! One of the best iced teas at Whispering Pines.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have not had a lot of experience with elderberries, in fact, I think I’ve only had them as a component in tea blends!
This is really tasty. The delicately sweet taste of the white tea is showcased nicely with the tart taste of the elderberry and rosehips. It doesn’t taste too sweet, nor does it taste overly – or artificially – flavored. It has a pleasant berry background note with hints of green grass and hay in the foreground. I taste a hint of flower to the cup, and a slight honey-esque tone as well, which was kind of surprising to me, because I don’t usually taste a honey note with white tea … but there it is!
The brewing suggestions for this tea (on the Whispering Pines website) suggest a steep time of three minutes, using 160°F water. While I got the temperature right, I didn’t steep this for just three minutes, I chose to double it and steep it for six, which is my normal “go to” time for most white teas.
And I’ve got to say, I really enjoy it using these brewing parameters, it is tangy from the berries and rosehips, but a nice sweetness from the white tea comes through too. I didn’t find it to be too tart for my liking, but, it does have a strong tart flavor, so if you are one who tends to be sensitive to tartness, you might want to add a little sweetener to this, a little coconut sugar will help to tame the sour pucker from this tea.
I think that a lower brew time would help reduce the dry astringency that I experience with this tea, but I don’t find the astringency to be unpleasant. Instead, I find that it adds a certain crispness to the cup. Overall, this is a very refreshing tea, one that I think would make a stunning iced tea (although, it’s much too cold for iced tea right now!)
I found this to be a very agreeable first experience with a tea from Whispering Pines Tea!
Fruity Sangria from Utopia Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Utopia Tea
Tisane Description:
Inspired by the traditional red-wine Sangria, our Fruity Sangria consists of elderberries, citrus, and lemongrass creating a flavorful cup. Fruity Sangria has large amounts of antioxidants and prevents cell damage. This beverage is great to drink anytime of the day and is wonderful over ice!
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Yikes! Hibiscus!
Actually, the hibiscus isn’t too bad here. It mostly affects the color of the brewed liquid, which is a deep, ruby red color. As long as you don’t steep it too long, the hibiscus doesn’t become syrupy … I steeped this for six minutes, and I wouldn’t recommend steeping it any longer than that. Now, it isn’t syrupy or too tart, but, I can sense from the texture and the taste that if it had gone much longer, this would have been a syrupy, tarty cup.
Overall, the cup is sweet – tart with an emphasis on the tart. There is an pleasant fruity flavor to this – I taste the elderberries and there is a fermented grape/wine-y kind of taste to it, with hints of citrus and berry throughout the sip. As it cools, I get more of the sangria kind of taste, and the flavor of the hibiscus seems to soften somewhat. This is much better as a cold drink than as a hot beverage.
It’s tasty, and I like alright. It’s not bad, but it’s not great, either.
However, I am aware that there are many out there that like the flavor (and health benefits!) of hibiscus, and I think that they’d really enjoy the bright citrus and berry flavor of this tisane. This may be right up their alley.
Sichuan Caravan from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’er
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
A perfectly integrated blend with Yanxin’s Reserve ’04 pu’er, elderberry and spice that spans the whole flavor spectrum. . . .
We love pu’er for its multi-dimensional complexity. One of the most interesting and often overlooked elements of the pu’er experience is the vaguely numbing and tingling sensation that fine pu’er leaves in the aftertaste. Our goal with this blend was to highlight this textural quality of great shu pu’er, while at the same time creating a warming, rich and perfectly integrated taste experience.
We start with the incredible Yanxin’s Reserve ’04 Shu Nuggets. This tea is known for its pastry-like dessert flavors, and its smooth sweet aftertaste. We build on that richness with one of our favorite ingredients to pair with shu pu’er, dried elderberries. The dark sweetness of the elderberries brings out the natural berry qualities of the pu’er itself, and lingers on the sides of the tongue.
Next we draw out the pastry sweetness of the pu’er with a touch of licorice root, which helps highlight and blend the sweet spice of ginger root. Ginger starts to emphasize the tingling texture of this fine pu’er, but on its own, it doesn’t push quite far enough. That is why we added a touch of Sichuan peppercorn to round out this tea and make it whole. Sichuan peppercorn has a uniquely numbing flavor that elevates this blend to a new level. Taken as a whole, no one flavor stands out above the others. They work together smoothly to emphasize everything warm and satisfying that we love about shu pu’er.
NOTES:
elderberry
sichuan pepper
ginger
licorice
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Verdant once again impresses with a blend that is masterfully created. I hesitated to order a sample of this because I do not like licorice, not even a little. However I love elderberry, love pu’er, and throughly enjoy anything with any kind of pepper in the blend. I had never heard of sichuan pepper so I was intrigued. Also it is getting cool in my area of the world, and anything that sounds remotely like chai is on my mind.
Also I know that often when tea is blended masterfully, as Verdant always does, some of the ingredients we often would shy away from do not come across on the palate as they would in their straight from. So I took a risk, although I knew it was a small one, that I may not enjoy this tea, and got the sample anyway. I could not be more pleased that I did!
As with any pu’er you get multiple flavorful steepings and this truly is a tea to sit down and take your time with.
What I love most about this tea is the leathery aspect. It is reminiscent of a historical library with old leather bound books in abundance. The elderberry is so present with a tart yet sweet existence that sneaks out now and then delighting the tongue with its ripe sweet flavor. The mouthfeel is creamy and thick. The pepper gives the perfect amount of “bite” without hiding the other flavors beneath it. Of course the pu’er allows for a sweetness of its own and that trademark earthiness that I love so much. There is a marked presence of ginger so if you are not one who enjoys a ginger flavor this may be the one thing that would dissuade you from trying this tea. However I have had many teas with ginger as a flavor element and none, so far, have been up to par with the quality of this ginger.
The ginger does not overwhelm the cup but rather says “yes I am here” politely with each sip. So perfectly blended is this cup that it is easy to pick out each element, forgetting the others, for a while, but then they meld together perfectly in a balanced unifying harmony. So the individual ingredients are the melody, the balance of the blend itself is the harmony, with the chorus being the huge smile on my face after every sip. Nowhere did I taste licorice as an individual component however perhaps I did not want to. Perhaps it is just as the tea description says: “Next we draw out the pastry sweetness of the pu’er with a touch of licorice root, which helps highlight and blend the sweet spice of ginger root.” Perhaps this is in fact why I feel that ginger does not overwhelm. When a master blender is given the same ingredients as a not so experienced blender the end result can be quite different. So licorice does not take on a single note of its own but rather tames the ginger from being too strong of an element. That is exactly what I get in my own tasting of this tea.
I no longer partake in drinking alcohol however I would compare this tea to a fine liquor such as a single malt scotch, or a fine brandy perhaps. I can envision myself sitting in a Victorian library, on a chaise lounge, curled up with a great book, bound in leather of course, (the book, not me), and a cup of this elegant tea.
Laoshan Village Chai from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Chai is a wonderful thing. When the spices and tea are just right, there is something alchemical about the flavors with or without milk and honey. We set out to build a better chai, starting with the tea. We use our chocolatey, malty Laoshan Village black tea as the base, and build up from there with traditional additions like cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and peppercorn. We found that it wasn’t quite rich enough as a simple chai, so we added burdock root for a graham cracker sweetness, fennel for a lingering aftertaste, elderberry to deepen the flavors and finally, saffron strands to make the whole concoction perfectly smooth and creamy.
Ingredients: Laoshan Black Tea, Ginger, Cinnamon, Clove, Fennel, Cardamom Seeds, Cardamom Pods, Elderberry, Peppercorn, Burdock, Saffron.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve mentioned before, I love chai and while I’ve tasted and reviewed many really wonderful chai blends, I don’t think I’ve found one that lives up to my Masterpiece Chai. And while this Laoshan Village Chai from Verdant Tea is REALLY good, I can’t really compare it to my Masterpiece Chai because they are really two very different chai blends.
As with any chai, though, it is important to consider the base tea. And Verdant Tea used their Laoshan Black tea which I previously reviewed, and in my opinion that makes a big difference in the brewed cup. The flavor is rich and malty and even has hints of chocolate-y notes in the background and these notes add so much to the overall cup.
The “usual” spices – cinnamon, clove, ginger and cardamom – are all present and are balanced quite well here. Also sometimes found in chai blends are pepper and fennel; Verdant added some of these spices to this chai as well. These spices make up a delicious base of spices that bring to mind many of the usual terms that I use to describe chai: spicy, sweet, tangy, and zesty.
But Verdant Tea was not content to stop with just the “usual” and added a few other interesting spices such as burdock root and saffron. And WOW what a difference these two spices make. The burdock root gives it a sweetness and a sort of “bread-y” depth. Together with the ginger, it gives a flavor that is a bit like gingerbread.
The saffron adds such a distinct flavor to this as well as an amazing aroma. Savory bitterness but also a delightful sweetness and hint of spice that you don’t typically experience with a chai … except for those that might include saffron.
I absolutely LOVE the way the spices come together here. It is spicy, but not what I’d call super-spicy or spicy-hot. Instead, it is more of a savory spicy flavor with medium heat. This is more flavorful than it is spicy … if that makes sense. This is a chai I’d recommend to someone looking for a fairly warm but not too spicy chai – one with a good balance of spices that keeps the taste buds actively exploring. This is also a chai I’d recommend to foodies because of the diversity of flavor to the cup.
Superb! Very well done, Verdant Tea!
Patriot Tea (Daughters of the American Revolution) from Local Coffee & Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Local Coffee & Tea
Product Description:
Daughters of the Revolution vowed to “drink tea made from weeds” instead of imported tea. Thankfully they chose herbs, fruits and flowers to make their tea and as a celebration of those early beverages we now present them to you in this beautiful tea!
A CERTIFIED ORGANIC Rooibos blended with lavender the “Herb of Harmony”, rosehip shells, dried red and black currants, rose petals and bilberries. Heady, perfumed lavender notes with a floral, fresh, fruity and mellow flavor. This is a very relaxing tea for consumption any time of day or night. Naturally caffeine-free.
Taster’s Review:
It took me a while to finally taste this tea. But I didn’t hesitate with this tea because I didn’t think I would like it. In fact, I was quite certain I would enjoy it. I love lavender, I love currants, so I felt that this tea had a lot of potential, even though it is a rooibos blend. The reason I postponed trying this tea is because of the name. I wanted to save this tea to review closer to a patriotic holiday … like the 4th of July. But the 4th came and went and I had forgotten about this tea.
So… here I am now a couple of months after July and I figure that now is is as patriotic a time as any. And really, do we really need a reason to celebrate our patriotism? Especially if that patriotism is demonstrated through tea!
This is a delicious rooibos blend. It has a very nice amount of lavender essence, providing a beautiful, heady scent and delicious, sweet flavor without tasting too lavender-y. I love lavender, but it can be a little too much at times. Here, it’s just right. The rose adds a hint of flavor that proves to be very harmonious with the lavender notes.
The elderberries and currants add a tasty berry flavor that is pleasantly tart. That tartness offers a nice contrast to the sweet floral taste and gives the overall cup a nice sense of balance.
This is a very tasty “tea made from weeds!”