Strawberry Flavored Genmaicha from 52Teas. . . . Sounds Delish!

by Sophia

I am a sucker for flavored genmaichas. I absolutely love them. Once I tried flavored genmaicha, plain genmaicha never tasted the same! So, of course, when I saw that 52 Teas had come out with a new flavor I definitely had to try it. I am not opposed to fruit blends but they’re also not my favorite. Strawberry is yummy, though, so I was excited for this.

Upon opening my taster packet I could just smell the strawberry and toasted rice! Yummy. There were also chunks of freeze dried strawberries throughout the whole blend which made me happy. I did notice there’s also flavoring that was added, which made me happy as well. For the most part, tea’s flavor usually comes from added flavoring. The pieces of dried fruit are mostly for show and dont give off much flavor when steeped, but I still like to see them in there.

I steeped this one for about 3 minutes with hot water and upon taking my first sip I knew I loved it. It had a subtle-but-there strawberry flavor and it mixed well with the green tea and toasted rice. The only thing I would say was that I wish there had been one more component and what came to mind for me in that respect was maybe vanilla. Like, a strawberries and cream genmaicha. Or maybe a strawberry shortcake gemaicha. Maybe Anne had wanted to just make this one simple, straightforward, and yummy- and she totally achieved that. But, for me, I feel like I was left wanting just a little bit more of “something”. Either way, this was still delicious and if you like strawberry, you’ll definitely like this!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

This blend is no longer available but click below for blends that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Green Tea

A Tea Tastes Like Strawberry Milkshakes #Lupicia

by VariaTEA

Like many other tea companies, Lupicia offers specialty teas for Christmas. This is one of those specialty teas and I was delighted when I came across this tea bag. For one thing, I have had this before and from what I remember I enjoyed it, so I was happy to revisit it once again. And, for another thing, Lupicia has some of the most adorably packaged tea bags out there (second only to Tea Trunk’s super cute elephant teabags perhaps). This particular tea bag depicts a chipmunk and a cat working together to make a strawberry shortcake so that’s pretty awesome.

Sipping on it now, it reminds me just how much I don’t love Lupicia’s black tea base. Lupicia makes delicious rooibos blends and they have some of the best flavored oolongs on the market but for some reason their black tea always tends to take over their softer and more subtle flavorings. It is somehow smooth yet astringent and creates a heaviness that is out of place next to the more delicate notes of strawberry and vanilla. Those flavor notes, however, are this tea’s saving grace. The vanilla is creamy while the strawberry is more like strawberry flavoring, the sweet and artificial candy-like flavor that is akin to strawberry milkshakes.

Ultimately, this has a good flavor to it but the base takes over and pulls out the more processed quality of this tea. I enjoyed the cup though I have had much better offerings from Lupicia in the past. In fact, I have had a strawberry/vanilla green tea from Lupicia that I recall liking a great deal. All in all, it makes for a nice cup of tea but I don’t think I will be seeking this out anytime soon.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Lupicia
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Lupicia

Strawberry TranquiliTEA from Cup of Love. . . . .

by teaequalsbliss

Strawberry TranquiliTEA is another lovely offering from Cup of Love. It contains green tea, REAL strawberries, and papaya pieces. 3 simple ingredients that really PROVE that LESS is MORE!

The green tea that is used is a light and smooth sencha. The strawberries I wouldn’t be surprised if Stavros at Cup of Love dried them himself! (I know he did with the watermelon in another of his flavors and it was AWESOME) And the Papaya chunks are plump and powerful. BOTH fruits present are deliciously mouthwatering!

It’s fragrant to the nose, juicy-sweet on the tongue, and comforting, relaxation, and shines a lingering JOY on my day!

This is as close to sunshine in a cup as you can get and I have to say I’m quite the fan! This is tasty hot, warm, cold, iced!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green Tea
Where to Buy: Cup of Love
Description

Pure liquid relaxation!  A rich, elegant aroma and flavor that is both satisfying and enticing.  Distilled from the finest Sencha Green Tea and perfectly blended with mouthwatering strawberries and papaya, this lovely blend will transport  you to a place of sheer joy; peace and happiness.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

teaequalsbliss

Co-Founder/Co-Creator of Sororitea Sisters at Sororitea Sisters Jennifer (TeaEqualsBliss) is in her upper 30s and lives in the eastern snowbelt area of the US with her husband, 3 dogs, and cat (however the number of furkids can change at anytime as she LOVES providing a forever home for many shelter animals. Her several interests include music, movies, veganism, sports, traveling, collecting Baseball Cards and Unicorns, Radio, Computers, Crafting, and of course…TEA. She started drinking tea at the tender age of 3 thanks to her Grandmother and her love for tea has gotten stronger with each year! In addition to being a co-founder/co-creator of Sororitea Sisters - her main site is MyBlissfulJourney.com. Find out more about Jennifer on MyBlissfulJourney.com.

This post was posted in Cup of Love, Green Tea

Alpine Strawberry from Mountain Witch Tea Company. . . . .

by Mary

Around this time every year, I get a craving for berries. Fresh, bright, juicy and sweet– I don’t know if it’s subliminal marketing towards pinks and reds from all the Valentine’s Day goodness floating around in the month of February or the sheer ferocity of Midwestern cabin fever (let me eat a plant that doesn’t taste like water just once, PLEASE), but the craving just keeps getting stronger and stronger. So when I noticed this tea sitting in my stash, I was almost surprised that something promising bright, juicy berry flavors had even lasted this long into the winter!

The dry leaf is pretty innocuous, mostly homogenous leaves with a fairly traditional black tea scent. When brewed, it’s a nice dark and roasty golden that takes nicely to honey. I can’t say that I’m picking out too much of the vibrancy of fruit flavors that I was hoping for, but rather a more mellow, subdued freshness to balance the black that is pretty pleasant. Maybe my desire for magical flavors to transport me right back to summer had my hopes a little too high, but for a flavored black, it’s got some interesting notes with light and fresh notes coming out as I sip further. A lovely one to sip as we count down the days until spring (41, but who’s counting?!) (Me. I’m totally counting.)!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Mountain Witch Tea Company
Description

It’s so hard to find strawberry tea! So we made our own. Our Alpine Strawberry tea is a sweet, tart delight made with black tea, strawberry leaves and our special Alpine strawberry flavor. Great hot or iced.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Mary

Hi there! I'm Mary, a 27-year-old mental health professional living with my fiancé and our quirky kitten in the Midwest! I've loved tea for as long as I can remember-- in fact, I have vivid memory of being four or five in a tea shop and being mesmerized by all the tea flavors and proclaiming that I "was going to be kind of adult who drank tea, not coffee." A stint living (and tea-drinking my way through) London and twenty-some years later, I'm still channeling that sassy four-year-old and loving my tea habit. When I'm not sipping a cuppa, you'll find me reading, doing yoga, traveling, exploring my own city, planning our wedding and experimenting with different healthful and healing foods in my kitchen.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Mountain Witch Tea Co.