Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Byron Bay Tea Company
Product Description:
Brighten your day with this clean, balanced and lively infusion of Green tea, Siberian Ginseng, Gotu Kola and mixed berries. A perky and delightful tea to pick you up in the morning, inspire your afternoon, or energise your evening. A healthy alternative to coffee. Enjoy!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I am liking this Energy Green Tea Blend from Byron Bay Tea Company, even though I really didn’t think I would like it. It’s got two strikes against it right at the start: hibiscus – yikes! ginseng – ugh! But I’m enjoying it … it would seem that it’s a hit even though it started out with a lot going against it.
The berry flavor is strong. I can taste the currants and the strawberries and hints of blackberry. And yes, I do taste the hibiscus, but somehow, when paired with berries, hibiscus is less … difficult for me to drink. Hibiscus seems to highlight the tart notes of the berry and somehow make the berries taste a little more like berries.
The green tea is tasted in there too, although I will say that the flavor is slightly obscured by the rest of the ingredients. I taste the fresh vegetal tones of the green tea though, and I like the way all these ingredients work together – yes, even those ingredients that I’m less than enthused about!
Overall, this is a refreshing drink, and it lives up to its promise as stated in its name – it’s an energizing beverage that will help get you going when you need that snap of vitality.
Orange and Bavarian Cream Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Matcha
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
As childeren we all liked to experiment with flavors. Where do you think peanut and jelly sandwich came from? We think it’s time to try it again, but this time with Matcha flavors.
Pick any 2 flavors and we’ll make your custom Matcha for you.
Some samples:
Vanilla-Chocolate
Chocolate-Mint
Mango-Banana
For those that do not like the “grassy” taste of Sugar Destroyer Matcha, but would like to keep it’s great benefits, how about:
Mango-Sugar Destroyer
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I blended Orange with Bavarian Cream matcha and oh my goodness it is so delicious! Did you ever have orange cream soda, or orange and cream candies? Well that is what this is like! You can even make a soda drink out of it by adding some sparkling water if you want to!
I always prepare my matcha into a creamy latte with milk and sweet cream non dairy creamer but with some, like this one I do add some sparkling water to give it a bubbly burst.
I absolutely love my mixture and there are so many blends you can create on the Red Leaf Tea Site! Literally thousands of combinations and if you want to get really inventive you could even add a third flavor!
The Orange and Bavarian Cream blend harmoniously together. I had considered getting one of their two vanilla flavors instead of Bavarian Cream but I am glad I choose Bavarian Cream this time. Next time I may play with the Madagascar Vanilla or French Vanilla matcha instead.
Such a decedent treat any time of day and a real pick me up. I love how matcha gives me such a special energy boost without dropping me down low after.
All of Red Leaf Tea’s Matcha are naturally flavored. I look forward to playing around and mixing up a lot more blends!
Chai Spice from Jade Monk
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Jade Monk
Tea Description:
Leave It to Tanuki, the mischievous raccoon-dog of Japanese folklore, to mix the subtle spices of Indian chai and the powerful health benefits of Jade Monk
®matcha green tea. Chai Spice captures the playful, unexpected spirit of Tanuki with a hint of sweetness and a balanced taste of cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. Lurking behind the complex flavor is the enhanced antioxidant power of Jade Monk®matcha, ready to help fortify the body and clarify the mind. Keep the legend alive-celebrate Tanuki and Jade Monk®, with a cup of Chai Spice, hot or cold, today.
Learn more about this energy drink mix here.
Taster’s Review:
Since my most successful samplings of the Jade Monk products have been when I stirred the finely ground powder into cool water, that is what I chose to do this time. I think that the stevia tastes better when it’s cold than when it’s hot … and after a couple of conversations with other tea drinkers, I’ve discovered that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
First impression: this is sweet. Beyond the sweetness, though, there’s a pleasing set of spices. Leading the spice charge is cinnamon, followed by the cardamom and clove. I like this simple list of spices. I think that this would have been an interesting drink if there were some ginger – it would have given the flavor a bit more of a peppery spice. As it is, the spices here seem to be on the sweeter, more exotic side. That’s enjoyable too, but, I think a contrast with some ginger-y heat might be nice.
I don’t taste a lot of the Matcha, here, but, I guess that’s the point. Matcha tends to be an acquired taste – not everyone is as crazy for it as I am … and I’d consider myself to be moderately crazy for it. There are some people who MUST have their daily matcha, while I can go a day or two … sometimes even a week or two without really thinking about it. But lately, I’ve been on a bit of a Matcha kick – I love the energizing effect it has on me.
And THAT is the point of this powdered tea mix. Energy! These Matcha drink mixes allow the drinker to enjoy the benefits and energizing power of Matcha without the strong vegetative tones that some people find off-putting. So, while I do find myself missing the flavor of Matcha here, I know that there are those that will find this tea to be right up their alley.
As for me, I found it enjoyable. It goes down easily, tastes good, and motivates me to get the things done that need to get done! (And I’ve got a lot of stuff that needs doing!) So, for this burst of energy, I have to thank Jade Monk!
Lime Blossom from Jade Monk
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Jade Monk
Tea Description:
Some Japanese believe a fox can live for 100 years or more, acquiring additional tails the longer he roams the countryside. The faithful also say foxes can assume the shape of humans, playing tricks on friends and family. These mythic spirits-the Kitsune-possess supernatural powers, but luckily for you the Jade Monk
®matcha Kitsune are only interested in seducing your taste buds with the unexpected tang of lime and aroma of spring flowers, fortifying your body with enhanced matcha polyphenol potency, and calming your mind with clarifying effects of our shade-cultivated Jade Monk®matcha green tea. Phew!
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
When it came time for me to sample this packet of Jade Monk, I was very thirsty and feeling a little too warm. Outside it’s 95°F and while that may not seem very hot to some of you … it’s hot for me. And it’s humid. Maybe not as humid as it is in Minnesota (my husband is from Minnesota, and when I complain about the humidity he says “It’s not humid!”) but for this girl who grew up in Northern Nevada where there was next to no rainfall and even when it was raining the humidity was still zero… It’s uncomfortably humid to me. I wanted something to quench my thirst and hopefully re-energize me a little, while cooling me off.
So, I decided to get a little adventurous. I put a small amount of freshly drawn and filtered water in the pitcher of my blender, along with several ice cubes and the contents of this packet, and I blended it until I could no longer hear the rattling of the ice particles inside the pitcher. Then I poured it into a glass to enjoy some ice cold, lime flavored Matcha.
And I am enjoying it! It is really good like this. It ended up being a bit like a slush … the ice part did, anyway. There is still a good amount of green colored liquid to this too, kind of like when you get a slush and it starts to melt a bit … the liquid that forms at the bottom … that’s what I have in front of me.
Of the three Jade Monk offerings that I’ve tried thus far, this one is my favorite. I don’t know if it’s because I prepared it in the blender, or if it’s just that I like this flavor better. But this is cool and refreshing. The lime tastes tart and sweet … but not too extreme on either end. It isn’t too tart or too sweet. It’s a bit like a limeade, but with a hint of Matcha in it.
The Matcha is not real distinct, just as it has not been in the other Jade Monk flavors, and I’ve come to expect that. This is definitely a drink mix that has been designed with a broader customer base in mind, appealing to those who might find green tea to be a little too vegetative or not quite to their liking. This one is also sweetened with stevia, like the other two were, but I’m finding that the colder the beverage, the less funky the stevia tastes. In fact, with the first few sips … I didn’t really notice the stevia at all. I notice it now that I’m nearly finished with the glass, but, it does not interfere with my enjoyment of this cool, refreshing homemade slush … in fact, I think I’d take this over a slush from the convenience store, any time!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Muscle Pump by Green Tea HP (Sold by Green Tea Pros)
Product Description:
Muscle Pump is another wonderful addition in a line of Green Tea HP products that is a health supplement hat helps with, muscle maintenance, blood flow, & muscle recovery. Healthy blood flow is the key to delivering important nutrients throughout the body. Muscle Pump promotes and Facilitates this objective.
To Learn more about Muscle Pump, click here.
To Learn more about Green Tea HP and Green Tea Pros, click here.
Taster’s Review:
I always find myself slightly cringing at the thought of trying these teas from Green Tea HP. And, the fact of the matter is, the cringe is unfounded, because every single one of the products that I’ve tried from Green Tea HP has tasted really good!
These are instant tea powders that come in little “pixies,” and they mix up quick and easy into a glass of water (filtered please!) … OR for the individual on the go, just pour the pixie into a bottle of water and shake it up. It dissolves instantly, and there’s no undissolved sediment at the bottom of the glass … it all gets evenly incorporated.
This Muscle Pump has a sweet, berry-like taste that tastes a bit more like a berry punch than it does a tea. And I think that this is where I think I tend to “cringe.” It’s because it doesn’t really taste a whole lot like tea. It tastes more like an energy drink or one of those drinks you mix from a powder (think Crystal Light), and part of me worries that it might be sweetened with aspartame – and I’m really REALLY allergic to aspartame. But, it isn’t sweetened with sugar OR aspartame and it is diabetic friendly. I’m not a diabetic, but, when it comes to sugar I like to control how much I put into my body and I like that this doesn’t have any sugar in it. And I really appreciate that there is no aspartame!
And even though it doesn’t taste a whole lot like green tea (I’ve said before that these are more geared toward those who don’t drink a lot of green tea but want to enjoy the health benefits of green tea), I still enjoy the flavor. It is sweet and pleasant, and I think of all the different Green Tea HP flavors I’ve tried thus far, this one might be my favorite. And to think I was so afraid to try it! I’m liking this!
And I now feel like I have enough energy to go and clean the kitchen floor!