Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tea/Tisane
Where to Buy: Cha Tale
Tea Description:
Beautifully presented with a sweet and creamy taste. Detox
1 portion per cup, 3 min at 95°C Serve: Hot or Cold, Perfect on its own
Contains: Goji Berry, Chrysanthemum, Cassia Seed, Rock Candy
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Detox Tea from Cha Tale is one of the better if not the best tasting Detox Teas I have had thus far! This tisane only contains Goji Berry, Chrysanthemum, Cassia Seed, and Rock Candy. That’s it! Of course the flowers provide a bit of floral flavor and the Rock Candy gives you that bit of sweet but not TOO sweet! The Goji Berry is a wonderful addition and I would be fibbing to you if I said that I didn’t take one of them and nibble on it after infusing! I really LOVE that this had Cassia Seed in it, too! I have been doing a lot of research on it and the benefits are darn impressive! I will say this tisane isn’t much for aroma but it’s pleasant on the tongue and leaves you hydrated but also craving more of the semi-sweet treat! If you are looking for a Detox Tea be sure to check this one out!
Eight Treasures Yabao Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh & Green Tea
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Yabao is an incredibly intriguing tea, evoking marshmallow sweetness, spice, and even cooling cedar notes. By combining it with a light sun dried green jasmine from Yunnan, and whole vanilla bean, this brew steeps up perfectly smooth, thick and velvety. The floral elements of the vanilla and honeysuckle are extended to the aftertaste with marigold and rose petals, and the spice of the yabao is sharpened with goji berry. This well-integrated take on the traditional “Eight Treasures” is sweet but nuanced, and great hot or iced.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This Eight Treasures Yabao Tea from Verdant Tea is absolutely delightful! Then again, I was expecting nothing less from a company like Verdant Tea. I can’t recall ever being disappointed by a tea from them!
This blend takes the natural creamy sweetness of a Yabao tea and combines it with vanilla bean to enhance the rich, creamy notes and the decadent sweetness. These two components together would be enough to send this tea drinker into a blissful tea experience, but, this is EIGHT Treasures … so Verdant Tea didn’t stop there.
The jasmine green tea adds a little bit of a vegetative taste and a distinct jasmine note. The floral tones are further accentuated with the addition of marigold and rose. I don’t notice the marigold a lot, but, the rose has a distinguished flavor. The tasting note from Verdant Tea suggests an “orchid” note and I am getting that here, although I find that I taste more jasmine and rose than orchid.
I taste the goji berry and the berry adds a tart, tingly sensation toward the finish that offers a nice contrast to the smooth, creaminess of the vanilla and marshmallow notes of the Yabao, and the sweet flowery tones. My first few sips I noticed a slight “resinous” taste … and as I continued to sip, and after reading the tasting notes from Verdant that suggest a Cedar note, I realize that this is the resinous note I was noticing at the start. Slightly woody, slightly earthy … with an invigorating crisp, cool sensation.
The most surprising thing about this tea is just how good it is iced! I was astonished by it’s iced flavor. It is sweet and fruity and very refreshing! The next time you place your order with Verdant … add this tea to your shopping cart – you won’t be disappointed!
Goji Berry Pom from Praise Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
This tea blend is very special – decorated with sun-dried goji berries and golden rosebuds. Goji berries have a reputation throughout Asia for their contribution to well being. A deliciously crisp, fruity, and healthful tea.
Taster’s Review:
This is a very flavorful cup of tea. The black tea is the strongest flavor, but notes of berry and pomegranate weave their way through every part of the sip – right through to the aftertaste.
The black tea is a brisk tea, but I wouldn’t call it an aggressive one. It is probably a Ceylon – it is flavorful and strong enough to emerge as the dominating flavor of the cup without overwhelming the flavors of pomegranate and goji berry (as well as the delicate citrus notes!) There is a pleasant undercurrent of sweetness to the tea, and it is smooth and fairly even-tempered. It doesn’t taste bitter. There is a moderate amount of astringency.
The flavors of goji berry and pomegranate are tart, but I’m not finding them to be too tart. The sweetness to this tea (a little from the fruit, a little from the tea) proves to be just enough to keep this tea from being too tart. And I think that is what I like most about this tea. I have been drinking a lot of sweet fruit teas lately, and while I do enjoy those, this is a very refreshing change without going too far off in the opposite direction.
This is delicious hot, but, do try it iced! It is very refreshing, especially in this summer heat!
Secret Weapon from David’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Product Description:
This blend just might give you the edge you need to stay healthy. It’s a white Bai Mu Dan, so it’s naturally high in immunity-enhancing antioxidants. Plus it contains licorice and goji berries, a Chinese wonderfood reputed to have 500 times more vitamin C than oranges. The best part? The almonds and cocoa nibs. They don’t fight colds, but they make this an amazingly tasty weapon of choice.
Taster’s Review:
After quickly reading the description, I couldn’t help but think that this tea had a lot going on … maybe a little bit too much. The beautiful mix of nuts, berries, tea leaves and petals did little to assuage those thoughts.
But somehow, it works. The strongest flavors are the almond and chocolate – and that’s quite alright with me. The flavor of the goji berries is a distant note until near the end of the sip, where its tartness emerges and lingers into the aftertaste.
The licorice was barely noticeable until after the first few sips. And even now, I’m about halfway through my first cup, and I find that the licorice is still a bit hidden. It reveals itself in the aftertaste with a pleasant sharpness, but I can’t help but wish that there was just a little more licorice flavor. Then again, more licorice might upset the delightful flavors I’m experiencing now, so maybe not.
One might think that the white tea would be lost in this sea of strong flavors, but, to my surprise, it isn’t. The white tea comes through, very crisp and clean. It seems to add a taste that I’d compare to a breath of fresh air wafting through the other flavors. It adds a refreshing lightness to the cup that I really like.
If this is “health food” – consider me a health food junkie! YUM!