Pomegranate Melon from Fusion Teas

PomegranateMelonTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green Rooibos/Yerba Mate

Where to Buy: Fusion Teas

Tea Description:

This unique combination merges tangy pomegranate and sweet melon into a surprisingly complex tea. Every sip takes you on a journey of flavors that is sure to intrigue and delight.

Tasting Notes:
candied apple, rainforest, campfire

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Let’s start this review off with talking about how gorgeous this blend is.  I love the pops of bright colors.  Just makes the tea blend so warm and inviting.  The aroma I get from the dry leaf is the same.  Sweet and alluring.  From the beginning, I’ve got high hopes for this tea.

Brewed this tea up like an herbal- 5 minutes at 212F and just let the aroma take me away.  This tea reminds me of summer.  Summer pool parties and the beach.  The melon fragrance is very prominent, giving you that summer feel.  After the five minutes was up, I took my first sip.

This tea has such a lovely melon flavor. Melon in tea is hard to accomplish but they’ve done it with this blend.  This reminds me more of a cross between watermelon and honey dew.  Almost like the fruit you would see at a pool party.  That is exactly what this tea tastes like.  A huge bowl of fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, and honey dew.  The pomegranate flavor is there but it is more in the background giving a slight tart contrast.  The green rooibos is giving the tea an extra tang of sweetness while the yerba mate is bringing it back down with a grassy finish.  This tea would be a phenomenal iced tea in the summer months or if you need to brighten up your day, this tea would definitely do it.

This may not be a tea I could see drinking everyday but I think this would be a great tea to serve at a party or over ice with some fresh berries in it while relaxing outside.  Such a tasty treat!

Winter Wonderland from Simpson & Vail

winterWonderlandTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green Rooibos

Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail

Tea Description:

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening
In the lane snow is glistening
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland…”

A wonderful blend of green rooibos with cacao and cinnamon and flavored with Bavarian chocolate, cinnamon and hazelnuts. When we sampled this in our store we heard “Best rooibos ever!”, “A new favorite”, “Great everyday tea”. It brews to a golden cup with the delicious aroma and taste of cinnamon baked goodies (we were reminded of apple fritters). Smooth and warming, this blend has the more pronounced taste of cinnamon and hazelnuts, while the Bavarian chocolate is an underlying taste that rounds out the other flavors. Delicious in every season!

Ingredients: Organic green rooibos, organic cacao nibs, organic cinnamon pieces, flavoring, white and blue cornflower petals

Learn more about this tea here.

Tea Description:

I adore and love green rooibos blends. I have considered red rooibos my arch enemy for some time but there is something fresh, soothing, and delightful in green rooibos blends.  I’ve had several Simpson & Vail blends but I have had my eye on their holiday blends for some time.  So when they offered a chance for me to review them, I jumped all over the opportunity!

This particular blend is a green rooibos base with chocolate, cinnamon, and hazelnut.  Um. . .sign me up!

I brewed this up at work and shared a cuppa with a fellow co-worker.  5 minutes later, we were each enjoying this treat.

First sip in and I was looking up and trying to justify buying more of this tea. For 2 oz at $4.25- this tea is a steal!

This flavor profile for this tea is this lush amazing decadent dessert tea that keeps you wanting more and more. My co-worker said it reminded her of apple pie.  Me-it reminded me of a slightly honey cinnamon sweetness with hints of the hazelnut and chocolate towards the end of each sip.  The more the tea cools the more hazelnut and chocolate become pronounced. There are subtle hints of a coconut goodness as well.  Such a great mix of flavors.  And just so good. This would be great to share and enjoy a cuppa with family and friends over the holidays. Another fantastic tea from Simpson & Vail. I really don’t think they have a bad tea to offer! Off to get another cuppa.  This is going to be one I need to have on hand regardless of the time of year! Looks like I’m going to have to stock up on this delight!

Oriental Beauty from Sanne Tea

OrientalBeautyTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy: Sanne Tea

Tea Description:

Oriental Beauty is also known as Bai Hao (white tips) Oolong, or Champagne Oolong. The beautiful name, many people believe, is from Queen Victoria. When brewed, the leaves generally spread in water, like a graceful lady dancing with gorgeous finery.

To make Oriental Beauty, farmers have to grow tea trees without pesticides, so Jacobiasca formosana, a type of green leafhopper insect, can feed on the leaves, stems, and buds. This leads to the tea plant’s production of monoterpene diol and hotrienol which gives the tea its unique flavor. Tea leaves bitten by the green leafhopper insect lose their green color and appear bronzed or washed out, eventually becoming atrophic and curly. It is why the high quality Oriental Beauty shows five different colors: white, red, yellow, green and brown.

The tea leaves are only harvested and made in summer, when the green leafhopper insects are most active. What makes Oriental Beauty more precious is that the unique sweetness is produced when the leaves only bitten by Jacobiasca formosana. Tea leaves, infested with other insects, like Ectropis oblique and Toxoptera aurantii, won’t produce honey flavor. This uncontrollable eco system makes Oriental Beauty one of the rarest teas in the world.

The tea comes from Cuku, Pinglin Dist, near Feitsui Reservoir area. All tea leaves have to be handpicked to ensure that each leaf has been bitten by Jacobiasca formosana. Because of the difficulty involved in harvesting this tea, a professional tea picker can only harvest 0.7 to 1kgs each day.

This tea has natural ripe fruit and honey flavors with a smooth texture and multiplayer floral finish. When brewed, the tea liquor has a clean and bright golden color. The full-bodied, mellow, and aromatic flavors will bring you ultimate luxury experience

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is a tea I’ve heard stories about and I couldn’t wait to try it. I’ve heard rave reviews from Sanne Tea and when I was able to take the opportunity to try out their teas, I jumped on it!

After being sick for almost the last month, my taste buds are slowly coming back to me.  Being a tea blogger and not having your taste buds in check isn’t a fun experience. But slowly but surely, I started feeling better to the point where I was ready to try this tea out and find out what the excitement is about.

The description paints a gorgeous pictures of what the tea is supposed to taste like an I have to say. . . it is dead on!

This tea does have this amazing honey like flavor that I am just devouring and loving. Full-bodied, smooth, and just plain delicious, this tea delivers on everything the description states. First you get this lush honey sweet flavor, then a note or two of a ripe fruit (I swear I was picking up fresh strawberries!), followed by a unique floral finish. Gorgeous from the start. You really can’t go wrong with this tea. I can’t wait to try the rest of their offerings and steep up more of this beauty!

HoneyBee Tea from Sunshine Cottage

honeybeeTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Sunshine Cottage

Tea Description:

Lightly floral with a lingering honey taste, a sip of this tea conjures up images of honey bees in the warm summer sun visiting flower after flower – This is definitely a happy tea!!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I adore Sunshine Cottage teas.  I have reviewed several of their teas and have found very few that I don’t just fall in love with instantly!

As the description indicates, this tea is a happy tea.  The warm honey notes and the irresistible black tea base mix well together giving you a smooth and sweet cuppa that makes you smile.  I haven’t tried this iced but I will. As good as this is as a hot cuppa, iced I can only imagine how incredible this tea would be. I am planning on ordering more soon to try this as a cold brew or even try mixing this up in a cake mix to liven up a treat.

My only issue with this tea is how bitter it gets quick if you oversteep which I did on my second infusion.  But my first infusion was pure honey heaven! The honey was sweet and natural tasting without any strong astringency notes.  I can see this being a great tea to be served at tea time with some little biscuits or treats.  Matter of fact, I think I might just plan my own tea party and serve this.

If you haven’t tried Sunshine Cottage teas, you are missing out.  These are some of the best flavored black teas I’ve had in a while! The are fresh and so much fun!