Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal & Pu-erh
Where to Buy: BijaBody Health + Beauty
Tea Description:
Nightly Beauty Tea’s blend of aged pu-erh with calming, beautifying herbs and spices-such as gotu kola, chamomile, red raspberry leaf, lemongrass and ginger- strengthens digestion, healthy skin function, mental/physical calm and enhances your dazzling elegance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
OK… so this was a tea that made me a little nervous. Lots of herbs AND Pu-erh? Yeah, not exactly high up there on the oh-my-goodness-I-really-must-try-it-now list. But now that I’m tasting it, I’m enjoying it. In fact, I like this a lot, and I could see myself drinking this on a regular basis.
After examining the contents of this sample package, I noticed that there seemed to be more herbs than tea in this blend, so, I decided to steep it at 195°F for 8 minutes to get the most out of those herbs. And I’m quite satisfied with the result.
There is a LOT going on with this blend. The first flavor I notice is the sarsaparilla, and it gives the cup a very root beer kind of taste. I then notice the ginger – it adds a gentle, soothing warmth without tasting too spicy. The cacao adds a hint of chocolate-y flavor to the background. Also in the background, I notice a citrus-y note.
Overall, the cup is very herb-y tasting without tasting too medicinal. The Pu-erh does manage to make its presence known. It adds an earthiness to the cup that balances everything out. I find this to be a very satisfying cup – quite soothing and calming – I feel the stress drain from my body!
This is my kind of beauty regimen!
Organic Gaba Oolong Tea from Zi Chun Tea Co
Tea Type: Oolong (Gaba)
Where To Buy: Zi Chun Tea Co
Product Description:
This is a great tasting oolong tea – with a flavor more closely resembling a light tasting black tea. It is becoming very popular because of it’s unique health properties. It contains copious quantities of GABA – a highly sought after health supplement.
Tasters Review:
It’s a beautiful thing when you find something that tastes good and is good FOR you, right!? Well, this Organic Gaba Oolong from Zi Chun fits the bill for both!
This is a very refreshing tea! A solid Oolong! This also has slight nutty-sweet type notes throughout the sip which I really appreciate!
If you haven’t tried Gaba yet PLEASE do! And this one is a great please to start!
Flu Fighter from CaryTown Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: CaryTown Teas
Product Description:
Organic Flu Fighter Blend is a soothing medicinal blend that is designed to help your body fight infection.
Reputed ingredient properties: Ginger root and Lemon Verbena to calm an upset stomach, Elder berries & flower, Cardamom, Chrysanthemum and Holy Basil to boost your immune system and fight infection and reduce fever, Chamomile to sooth an aching body, Linden flower for nasal congestion and Hibiscus, which is extremely high in vitamin C.
Taster’s Review:
My husband has been sick for a few days; he has the flu. I don’t want the flu; but I don’t like needles, so I avoid shots whenever possible. Flu shots are optional so I don’t get them. I think I’d rather risk the flu than get a shot. That being said, I still don’t want to get the flu, so I am hoping that this tea will help out!
The first time I brewed a cup, I steeped it for only five minutes, which is my usual maximum steep time when it comes to teas with hibiscus. However, after those five minutes, I can barely taste the hibiscus. There is a hint of tartness that accents the elderberry flavor. This tisane has a very light taste and texture – and usually with a hibiscus blend, the texture is quite thick.
Which leads me to think that this tisane is safe for a longer steep time! For my second cup, I steeped it for a full eight minutes, and the flavor is much stronger. Even so, the flavor of the hibiscus is not the most dominate flavor here. There is – of course – some tartness from the hibiscus, and a little more thickness to the body than with the first cup, but the hibiscus did not overpower the cup the way I thought it might! What a delightful surprise, this tisane!
There is a bright, lemony flavor in the background of this tisane, and a sweet-tart berry taste in the foreground. I can taste hints of a minty-like taste from the tulsi (holy basil) that sort of weaves its way in and out of the sip. There is a slight warmth from the ginger and cardamom – not much! – and it gives it a very soothing effect. Adding to that sense of calm is the chamomile. The ginger and cardamom flavors develop as I make my way down the cup, but even by the end of the cup, the taste is not strongly spiced.
Before I tasted this, I expected it to taste quite medicinal, but it doesn’t. It does have a herbal-y taste to it, which is to be expected, but, it doesn’t come off as medicine-y, it is more like a pleasing chamomile tea that one might enjoy at the end of a long day to encourage a feeling of tranquility.
I do recommend a little drizzle of honey with this blend – honey is not only loaded with antioxidants, but it also enhances the flavor as well, which is a little bland without the honey. But with just a little honey, I am finding this to be a really enjoyable drink.
Health Juice from Shui Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Shui Tea
Product Description:
Herbal blend of freeze-dried orange, grapefruit, tangerine, apple, blackberry and carrot, mixed with lemongrass, hibiscus, eucalyptus, and beetroot. This blend is a harmony of sweet and tart flavors. A poet would describe this blend as a “mélange of fruit ecstasy”. We stick with delicious. Great hot or iced.
Taster’s Review:
Now that the holiday season is pretty much over, it’s about the time that most of us are starting to think “healthy” to compensate for our holiday indulgences. Well, this tisane will get you on your way!
And you know what? This is a tisane you’ll want to drink not because it’s healthy, but because it tastes good!
When I first opened the package, I could smell eucalyptus which can come off either as a pleasant smell to some and medicinal to others. I happen to like the smell of eucalyptus so long as it’s not an overpowering scent, and while this tea smells primarily of eucalyptus, it doesn’t overwhelm the nostrils.
I had planned on steeping this for 5 minutes, but, at 4 minutes, I noticed that the tisane had taken on a very deep red color, and I feared that this would be a strong hibiscus-y tea. Since I’m not terribly fond of hibiscus, I stopped brewing at this point.
And at 4 minutes, the results of the steeping is quite pleasant. The hibiscus notes are very faint, the liquor is not thick or syrupy, and only the occasional tart note.
This tisane is citrus-y with a pleasing background of smooth, sweet apple, beetroot and carrot. These ingredients lend more to the surface of the tea than they do to the flavor – giving it a little bit of sweetness and body so that the citrus tones do not come off as too acidic. The overall effect is that of a refined, pulp-free juice like you might enjoy at a juice bar.
The eucalyptus is not as strong in the flavor as the aroma would suggest, but I do get the sharp, fresh taste of eucalyptus trying to peek through the citrus notes.
Overall, a very pleasant beverage – that is is healthy is just a bonus!
Orange Cream Green Tea from GreenTeaHP/Green Tea Pros
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Green Tea Pros
Company Description:
GreenTeaHP is a proprietary blend of highly concentrated green tea antioxidants that are specific to green tea. It also contains extracts and other ingredients such as açaí, noni juice, pomegranate extract, l-theanine, resveratrol, and bioperine.
Taster’s Review:
I have to tell you that I was quite hesitant to try adding one of these little pixies to a glass of water (or bottle of water if you’re on the go!) – so I stashed it away and forgot about it. But now that I’m trying it I wish I would have tried it way back when I first received it from my SororiTEA Sister!
It’s actually very tasty – not to mention very good for you!
This particular packet is Orange Cream flavored and is very true to the flavor. It tastes like a creamsicle. My first impression of it was “Tang” – you know, the breakfast drink mix? But it has a creamy backdrop to it that is much more like a liquefied dessert confection!
I don’t taste a lot of green tea to this… and my thinking is that this was made more for the person who “doesn’t like green tea but still wants the health benefits from it” than the tea enthusiast.
That being said, I still am quite enjoying this – it has a delicious, refreshing taste to it. It does have a bit of that “diet drink” kind of taste, and I don’t usually like diet drinks… but, if they tasted like this I’d be more inclined to like them!
And this doesn’t have aspartame in it – which is a big bonus in my book because I can’t consume aspartame. It has sweetener in it (Sucralose… which is basically splenda), so you don’t need to add anything else to it, and really, it is very sweet and strongly flavored – so I recommend using at least 12 ounces (or even a little more – it’s got a real strong flavor at 12 ounces!)
I also recommend giving it a really good stir (or shake, if you’re adding it to your water bottle) and continue to stir or shake as you drink it, because I did experience some settling of the powder at the bottom of my glass. I used my frother and it gave it a foamy froth on top.