Anyone else feel that when they drink tea on an empty stomach that it doesn’t always feel great? Sometimes I am totally fine and others it just makes me nauseous. Yet I tend to go to my kettle first thing in the morning anyways and then stress about what to make for breakfast. Well today I decided to do something a little different with my tea and ended up adding it to a breakfast smoothie.
I made a concentrate of Mango Black Tea by Capital Tea Limited by steeping 3 teaspoons of leaf in 4 ounces of 200F water for 2 minutes. The concentrate got added to a mixture of 2 frozen bananas, 200 g of honey greek yogurt and a cup of milk. I put half the mixture into a glass and got to drinking, figuring that this would allow the other ingredients to serve as breakfast while still getting my tea fix. Two birds…one stone.
The good news is I have no nausea and I have a nice comfortable full feeling. The bad news is the mango flavor was almost entirely drowned out by the other ingredients. I taste some of the tea base which I think is playing off the tartness of the greek yogurt. In addition, it is clear there is something more than honeyed banana contributing to the sweetness but its a little difficult to discern anything specifically mango.
Since I got this tea in a tea swap and am unsure how old it is, I thought perhaps there was some flavor deterioration which could account for the lack of its flavor in my smoothie. To test out my theory, I brewed up a cup of this tea just as a plain tea and got to sipping only to find a whole lot of fresh, ripe mango juiciness atop a slightly metallic ceylon base. A really nice mango breakfast tea actually because it tastes like a mango flavored tea as opposed to just mango.
At the end of the day, both beverages were good. I believe the tea did add to the flavor of the smoothie though not as much as I hoped. Next time I will play around with the ingredients to try and coax out more tea flavor.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Teas Ltd
Description
This tea does not appear to be on the website anymore but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
GOÛT RUSSE 7 AGRUMES/Palais des Thés
I recently found this tea buried in my yet-to-be-sampled-stash. I don’t know why it took me so long to try it. I probably saw ‘fruit tea’ on the label and disregarded it while wanting a black tea. But in fact, this tea does have a black tea base. It’s a flavored black tea.
Gout Russe 7 Agrumes from Le Palais des Thés hails from a delicate recipe that combines black tea with the tart flavors of 7 citrus fruits: lemon, lime, sweet and Seville oranges, grapefruit, bergamot, and mandarin.
Many of us have had orange flavored black teas but this takes it to the next level. It wasn’t an Earl Grey type flavor – just a straight up citrus of all sorts type flavor. I really enjoyed it. It’s terrific hot but delightful iced, too!
Gout Russe 7 Agrumes from Le Palais des Thés…I give it two thumbs up. If I had 3 thumbs…I would give it 3 thumbs up!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Palais des Thés
Description
An outstanding blend of black teas, evoking lemon, lime, sweet orange, bitter orange, grapefruit, bergamot and mandarin. Created by Le Palais des Thés during its first years of existence, this cocktail of 7 citrus fruits was later added to different base teas. An exclusive recipe. Can be served hot or iced.
Different of the teas produced in Georgia, Russian blends are the ones that have been drunk regularly in Russia since the 17th century. These latter teas, which in the beginning were blends of black Chinese teas, became more diversified at the end of the 19th century by the introduction of Indian teas at the Russian court, most notably Darjeeling. Since then it has been the custom to refer to all blends of Darjeeling and different Chinese black teas as Russian blends teas, whether or not they are scented with natural citrus extracts.
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Hazelnut Cookie/Spice & Tea Exchange. . . .
The official description for Hazelnut Cookie by Spice & Tea exchange ends with: “Add cream and sweetener for a delicious dessert beverage.”
Wait… so… they’re saying… I need to do all the work? Shouldn’t something called “hazelnut cookie” do the job on its own? Why is the buck being passed to me?
I NEEDN’T HAVE WORRIED. This is creamy & sweet on its own.
It has a smooth, rich flavor that works its way through your mouth and into your spirit. (Turns out that what we once thought was “the esophagus” is actually where your soul resides.) There’s almost a citrus-y tang to the sweetness, which I think *might* be the Ceylon’s natural spices.
Does this taste like a hazelnut cookie? I’m not actually sure. I don’t think I eat hazelnut cookies often.
But it definitely tastes like dessert, drank straight, and that’s enough for me.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Spice & Tea Exchange
Description
The rich taste of Ceylon black tea is paired with the natural flavor of toasted hazelnut in this smooth and aromatic tea. Add cream and sweetener for a delicious dessert beverage.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Gourmet Root Beer/52 Teas. . . .#sipdown
What a weird time we are in right now. . .The majority of us are in lockdown and are experiencing feelings and situations that are new to us. Trying to keep sane with working remotely and e learning for our kiddos is starting to become our new normal. I typically work remotely anyway but not with my stepsons and kiddos e learning and my husband working right beside me as well. On top of all those new experiences, I have been sick for literally over a month now with a respitory infection that seems to be lingering so there is currently a me sized imprint in my couch. I finally have enough energy ( or should say I just made myself get back to) to start getting my routine back which included pulling out my tea stash and making an effort to drink down some delights that I still have.
One of the first delights that caught my eye was Gourmet Root Beer from 52Teas. This is an older tea but one that I remember enjoying the first go around. Instead of brewing this tea hot, I decided this would be a perfect tea to cold brew while I work on hot brewing other teas. And what a great choice I made!
To start, I used a tea straw, my handy tervis, some ice, and cold water. I emptied the contents of the loose leaf tea into the cup, added the ice and cold water and let the cup sit for a bit. There was quite a bit of leaf left probably too much for one serving but I wasn’t paying attention and just dumped the contents into my cup. I’ll blame that oops on my current mediciation that is making me a bit loopy.
First sip in and I was reminded of how much I adore 52Teas. Not just because of the incredible flavors they are able to create but just the love and passion that goes into each blend. The rootbeer flavor is the front runner for sure witha touch of the anise falling behind. Fresh and delightful! I can’t say that I taste a whole lot of black tea notes but since I cold brewed the tea and the brewing hasn’t been going long, I think I’m mainly picking up on the extracts and I’m not mad at that.
Fast forward ten minutes and I’ve added a bit more cold water and took another sip. Again, the root beer and sarsaparilla flavors are the front runners with notes of the black tea starting to lightly drift in. Again, still not mad at the flavors coming across especially with all of the medicines. This bright pop of rootbeer flavor is exactly what I have been craving.
Not sure how this tea would be hot brewed but that is the beauty of tea. . .so many different ways to brew and enjoy. And now after this afternoon ditty, I’m craving 52Teas. . .looks like I know how I am going to be spending my birthday money!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Morning Blend/Fraser Tea
When I first became a hot tea drinker – and such a thing was relatively unheard of when I was growing up in the hot and humid South where sweet iced tea reigns supreme – I began with breakfast blends and always added milk and sugar. Then as I discovered higher quality teas, milk and sugar went by the wayside, and so did all those dusty blends that needed smoothing and soothing.
Now and then I still enjoy a breakfast tea. They can be quite nostalgic for me. But they have to be good enough to be enjoyed sans additions.
When I received this sample of Morning Blend from the Sisters to review, I knew it was a breakfast tea but my prior experience with Fraser made me pretty sure it would be drinkable even without additions.
This isn’t builders’ tea. This is a blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Chinese black teas that steeps up to a cup quite suitable for breakfast and quite nice on its own if you like your tea plain. It is lightly malty, with very light briskness and medium body. The aroma is complex with fruity notes.
The description says that there is orange peel in this tea but note that this does not taste like an orange flavored tea. If you were given a cup to taste with no information about the tea, I don’t think you would say it was an orange tea or even that you knew there was orange peel in it. Ceylon teas naturally have fruity notes with some high grown ones having pucker worthy lemon notes, which can be too harsh for me at times, and I perceive the orange peel in this as simply part of the classic Ceylon citrus note, but citrus fruity and not so astringent. It adds a bit of interest to the high notes here without taking center stage.
As usual, I roped a passerby into trying the tea while giving as little information on what to expect as possible. The verdict? “This is very smooth.” Not something you hear about breakfast tea every day.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Fraser Tea
Description
Why choose between English, Irish, or Scottish Breakfast teas when it’s possible to enjoy the finest qualities of each in a brand-new way? Boldly blending Assam, Ceylon, and Chinese organic black teas, our signature Morning Blend Organic Black Tea is crafted with a focus on flavor, health, and well-being in mind.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
