Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where To Buy: The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants
Tea Description:
Licorice root, fennel, anise, and gunpowder green tea, with a touch of cloves brews up sweet to the taste and full of licorice loveliness.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve mentioned Chuck’s Produce several times on this blog. I love this store! It not only offers great produce, but other high quality foods as well, including some great teas from local vendors like The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants.
In the bulk section of Chuck’s, I can get these teas bulk, which means I can get as little or as much as I want. I like that flexibility, because as I’ve said before, I’m a tea taster. I like to try a little bit of every tea rather than having a large quantity of a favorite. And the bulk section lets me get just enough for a pot full of tea, but not so much that I’ll have more than I need.
So, when I noticed this Licorice Green Tea from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants, I was excited! I love licorice!
This has a powerful licorice flavor from not only licorice root, but also fennel and anise. It tastes licorice-y, reminiscent of a strong black licorice candy. The clove comes in and cuts through the licorice a little bit to keep it from tasting like those licorice cough drops. The clove is just the right touch for this blend.
With my first couple of sips, I found myself wondering where the green tea was in this blend, because I really couldn’t taste it. All I was tasting was licorice and clove. But after a few sips, the smooth flavor of the Gunpowder green tea came though. The green tea notes are a little overwhelmed here. I taste the nutty flavor of the green tea, and a soft buttery note which is something that I don’t usually note in a gunpowder green. I find it interesting how different ingredients in a blend like this can bring out different qualities in a tea that I haven’t really experienced (or rarely experienced.)
Even though I feel like some of the green tea flavor is lost here, I really do like the licorice-i-ness of this tea. This tea is a licorice lover’s delight, but this isn’t that wimpy fruit flavored licorice stuff that they sell at the concession stand in a movie theater. This is REAL licorice flavor, so if that’s not your thing, this is not the tea for you.
Napalm Ferret Green Tea Blend from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I apologize if this disappoints anyone, but this week’s tea tastes like neither napalm nor ferrets. And no animals were harmed in the manufacture of the tea.
Instead, what we have here is a tea blend from the warped imagination of one of our former tea bar customers. I’m honestly not sure exactly what it means or why it was so important to him, but then, that’s kind of the way a lot of the conversations at Zoomdweebie’s went for me–a bit over my head: like, outer space over my head. But that’s okay.
After explaining to me that he really wanted me to make a Napalm Ferret tea, Joe and I sat down to determine what exactly would constitute a Napalm Ferret tea. He decided right away that it needed to be a gunpowder base, with bananas because ferrets like bananas, I guess. It also needed cinnamon chips and just a touch of cayenne pepper. And that is how Napalm Ferret tea was born.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about Zoomdweebie’s fundraising campaign to reopen the Tea Bar here.
Taster’s Review:
I found this Napalm Ferret Green Tea Blend from 52Teas to be … entertaining … before I even opened the pouch. I started laughing out loud when I read the label, which reads:
*NOT flavored like ferret or napalm.
No animals were harmed making this tea.
This is one of the reasons why I love getting tea from 52Teas – Frank is a real person and he has a great sense of humor. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he makes tea … FUN! And since I spend a great deal of time drinking tea … I want it to be fun.
And this is a fun blend. The aroma of the dry leaf is primarily cinnamon, but I smell notes of banana, as well as the cayenne and the green tea … and these components alter the cinnamon-y notes just enough to offer what I’ll call a skewed cinnamon scent. Skewed … but I like it!
And I really like how it tastes! The cinnamon and cayenne work together to offer a burn in the back of the throat that starts off soft and builds gradually. By mid-cup, the sensation in the back of my throat is a very warm burn … but it burns so good!
And the banana … I like that it’s there. It offers a soft, sweet fruity note that offers a pleasing distinction between the heat from the cinnamon and cayenne pepper. The green tea is light and delicately sweet, with hints of a background “smoke” that enhances the overall “napalmishness” of this cup. (Yes, napalmishness is a word, I just made it up for the purposes of this review as I could think of no other word that worked quite as effectively as napalmishness. Hey, I’m a tea reviewer, trust me, I know what I’m doing!)
If I could offer any constructive criticism of this tea, it would be that I think I’d like just a little bit more banana to this. Just a little bit more. I can taste the banana and I like the way it comes through here, but, I think … just a little bit more would be nice. However, I found myself quite satisfied with how this tea turned out … I really like it.
At the end of my reviews of teas from 52Teas lately, I’ve been including a bit about the fundraising campaign to reopen Zoomdweebies. But, this time, I think I’m going to include a bit written by Frank himself, found on the notes about this tea:
If you would like to support our effort to reopen Zoomdweebie’s Tea Bar, so that creative minds like Joseph’s can continue to thrive in a groovy environment like our tea bar, PLEASE visit our crowd-funding campaign page via the link above. Alternatively, if you think folks like Joseph should not be left freely wandering the streets, PLEASE support our crowd-funding effort so we can corral him with the rest of the freaks and geeks that make up Zoomdweebie’s. We promise, they’ll likely spend a lot of time at the tea bar and less time wandering the streets thinking about napalm ferrets and quoting Charlie the Unicorn.
I hope you’ll help them keep this dude off the streets of Wichita. I’m sure that the citizens of Wichita will thank you too!
Secret Garden Tea Blend from Kaleisia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black, Green & White Teas
Where to Buy: Kaleisia Tea
Tea Description:
The most popular blend of all times. This blend consist of white peony white tea, sencha green tea, darjeeling black tea, gunpowder green tea, dragonwell green tea, jasmine pearl green tea, mango, pineaple, papaya, orange peels, strawberry, red currants, sour cherry bits, and apricot bits. A very well rounded fruity tea that is sure to please anyone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Secret Garden Tea Blend from Kaleisia Tea has a little bit of EVERYTHING in it! White tea, green tea, black tea … fruit bits … and a whole lot of flavor!
Since this blend seems to be primarily green tea, I went with a lower brew temperature (185°F) and steeped the tea for 2 1/2 minutes in my Breville One- Touch. And the results are tasty!
Fruit flavor hits the palate first, although … it is more like a “medley” of fruit flavors rather than one specific fruit note. Kind of like a bite of ambrosia salad where you taste several fruit notes all at once and it’s difficult to pin-point exactly which fruit you’re tasting. It’s a very refreshing fruit taste though!
As far as tea flavor goes, green tea is what I taste most. That sweet, sort of leafy/grassy note that is very fresh and crisp. It’s a nice contrast with the sweet and sour fruit notes that tantalize the palate at the start of the sip. There is a sweet, creaminess to the tea notes as well, is that the white tea or the buttery notes from the Sencha? I can’t be sure, but, I like the way it comes together with the fruit notes. I don’t taste a whole lot of white tea here, nor do I notice much from the Darjeeling black tea, although I can’t say that this blend would taste the same without those tea leaves being a part of this blend.
As I continue to sip, I realize that I’m tasting mostly a “tropical” sort of taste: notes of pineapple, mango, and papaya, with a strawberry background note. I taste the sweetness of the apricot too. The sour tones of the currant and the cherry come through near the finish, but these are not very strong flavors. The fruit notes, overall, are more “melded” together as a unified flavor … like some kind of “ultra-fruit” but, if I aerate the sip by slurping, I can pick out individual fruit notes.
I like that this blend is more sweet than it is sour, because I’m not a huge fan of the sour taste as I’ve said many times. While this does seem to be a rather “busy” blend … I find it enjoyable. I like it better iced than hot, so, I’ll be brewing more of this later for my iced tea pitcher and enjoy it all day long tomorrow!
Absinthe Aethers Green Tea Blend from Solstice Brews
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Solstice Brews
Tea Description:
That curl of steam that rises in the air with a fresh cup of tea…happens to smell identical to absinthe. Enjoy the flavor of the green fairy without the wicked hangover!
Ingredients: Gunpowder Green Tea, Lemongrass, Anise Seed, Fennel Seed
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am not at all familiar with the flavor of Absinthe. I once bought a tiny “sampler” bottle of it while shopping in a liquor store with my husband, but, I didn’t get to try it, because my brother in law decided he wanted it. And so he pours it and mixes up some concoction with sugar but, he didn’t like the drink he made with it so it didn’t get consumed. I did notice a strong licorice-y scent from the liquor though. And the aroma that I’m smelling from this Absinthe Aethers Green Tea Blend from Solstice Brews is very similar to what I remember from the alcoholic beverage that my brother in law prepared but didn’t drink.
But I’ll be honest … the main reason why I bought the tiny bottle of Absinthe is because Vincent Van Gogh was on the label. Yeah … I was suckered in by packaging. What can I say? I’m a Van Gogh groupie.
Anyway … I’m really enjoying not just the licorice-y scent of this Absinthe Aethers tea but, also the flavor of it! It has a fantastically snappy, warmly spiced licorice note to it, and the hint of citrus from the lemongrass offers a really compelling contrast. These interesting flavors do not detract from the smooth, sweet, slightly smoky and earthy notes of the gunpowder green tea, but seem to enhance the overall cup. I really like how the flavors all come together.
The fennel and anise give it that licorice-y taste that I’ve been raving about, but also a nice warmth and hint of spice to it. Not really “spicy” … but a sense of warmth that is not unlike the warmth you might experience when you sip a glass of liquor. Not an unpleasant warmth … something gentle and soothing. And that seems to be the overall experience that I’m getting from this tea – a very gentle, soothing comfort.
A really well-conceived blend from Solstice Brews!
Divine Temple from Georgia Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Georgia Tea Company
Tea Description:
This name of this tea is perfect, for it is divine to drink. Before you take your first sip, inhale the aroma which comes from your cup. You sense a combination of fruits, many fruits. Now take your first sip; there is a sweetness to the palate. But you also sense a substantive base which complements the sweetness. This comes from the multi-blend of white and green teas. No wonder this is our bestselling tea. It is perfect for an afternoon break. And you get all the health benefits which come from the high amount of antioxidants in the green and white teas. What more could you ask!
Steeping time: 175°F / 2-3 min / 2.5 teaspoons per 10oz
Ingredients: white tea China Pai Mu Tan, green tea Darjeeling, green tea China -Fog Tea, -Sencha, -Lung Ching, -Gunpowder, -Jasmine, -Jasmine Jade Pearls, candied mango bits (mango, sugar), candied pineapple bits (pineapple, sugar), candied papaya bits (papaya, sugar), flavoring, orange peels, strawberry bits, red currants, sour cherry bits, apricot bits
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Divine Temple from Georgia Tea Company tastes like a fine wine. This tea is scrumptious and truly divine. I love the mixture of white tea and sencha which I can detect from all the other various teas within this really cool blend. Oh and yes as the description states, you want to drink this in before taking your first sip. The aroma is just to die for. This is the kind of blend that I could see myself being buried with, surrounding me, tucking me into my hand built casket. Sorry the review was turning a little dark there, but in all seriousness, whoever created this blend really hit the nail on the head here. They must surely be very proud of themselves, then again, this is a really hard tea to top.
So what is this tea anyway? Well as you can see, the ingredients list a whole array of yummy goodness, white teas, green teas, fruits of all types from berries to citrus. I can really taste the tropical fruits but the berry notes also jump up and dance for me now and then, especially the cherry. One may think that this tea is just too confused, the flavors won’t stand out, it will be a muddled mess. Nope, its damn tasty, that is what it is and there is some sort of backdrop here, that just screams white wine. This is surely a tea to be chilled and guzzled in the summer and this tea blend will absolutely be gracing my shelf in the kitchen that hosts my summer stash, but right now I am quite enjoying this tea warm, and when warm, the liquor of this tea, which does have a liquor note in it, is almost reminiscent of a warmed brandy.
