Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company
Tea Description:
A great coffee alternative! Smooth dark and rich this blend of chicory, cacao, cinnamon and many other delicious herbs create a satisfying brew for morning or afternoon. Due to the presence of cacao nibs, which contain caffeine, don’t drink Dark Forest near bedtime.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have loved every tea that I have tried from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company. Their teas are delicious and just knock your socks off sort of fantastic. This particular blend I am trying is their Dark Forest Herbal Tea. Now the description from what the tea consists of online and what I have in hand is different so I think they may have changed up the formula. The blend I have consists of chamomile, ginger, eucalyptus, lemon myrtle, and peppermint.
To begin with, I am not a huge ginger fan. I do like it on occasion but it isn’t my favorite. I know ginger is great for the body so I will drink ginger teas and even enjoy it in food every once in a while, but I do not go searching for it.
So let’s talk about the journey it was to actually drink this tea. First off, I dropped the bag and half of the contents fell out. Ugh. I boiled the water and forgot about it. Boo. And I measured way too water for my new Doctor Who mug and I had tea all over my desk (I used a gravitea steeper). Yep. It seemed like this tea was doomed from the start. By the time I was able to take a drink of this tea I was ready!
The dry leaf reminded me of a sweet pumpkin spice bar. The mixture just smelled heavenly. I prepped my water and allowed the tea to steep for about 5 minutes. And I would recommend that being the time you allow the tea to steep if aren’t a fan of ginger like me. I have a feeling any long than that and the ginger would overtake the tea.
My first sip of this tea and I was surprised and how lovely it was. I was afraid the ginger would overpower and leave the rest of the flavors behind but that wasn’t the case at all. Each flavor was noticeable at different times and mingled together so nicely. The ginger was light but there to spice the tea up, the lemon myrtle provided a bit of that citrus undertone, the chamomile was giving the tea a familiar herbal feel to it and the peppermint gave the tea a fresh flavor. Really well done. Who would have thought those ingredients would make such a lovely herbal?
As delicious as this was, the new upgraded blend sounds just as good! I’m going to have to try that one soon!
Another impressive tea from The Jasmine Pearl!
Blue Lady from Positiviteas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Positiviteas
Tea Description:
“The Blue Lady” is a delicate cup of manners at your fingertips. This little lady is equipped with the four light flavors of Blueberries, Lavender, Lemongrass, and Nettle. Usually, these four ingredients pack a bit of a punch – except for the Lavender. With the Lavender acting as the base, the other three ingredients are added to compliment, but not overpower the lightness and mildness of the base. All together, this brew is full-flavored, but it still keeps the courtesy to not overwhelm your mouth with strong flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Floral teas have been a craving of mine of late, but lavender and I have really never been friends. But I always try it knowing that one day I would find a blend with lavender that I would love. And that has happened!
Positiviteas is an Etsy Shop that offers amazing blends like Pucker Up and Sunny Afternoon that make you want to impulse buy some tea. So many wonderful different blends and I want to try them all!
Blue Lady is a blend of blueberries and lavender for the most part. There is a distinctive floral perfume like fragrance to the dry leaf mix. I brewed this up as an herbal, pulled up my big girl pants, and tried a new tea that I wasn’t sure I was going to like.
Huzzah! This tea is amazing! Thank you Positiviteas! This tea is delicious, refreshing, and soothing. One of those cozy and charming tea blends that really sings to your soul and settles your nerves. One of those blends you kick up your feet and let the delicious flavors take away the stresses of your day.
Sweet slightly fruity floral notes are what you get in each sip. There is a floral perfume flavor but not one that has a bit to it like other teas. This tea is graceful with the lavender, giving you just a hint of that floral note. I’m quite surprised at how much I adore this tea.
For me, this tea would be a fabulous stress reducing tea that you indulge in after a hard day. This tea could very easily be my new evening tea blend!
O’Malley’s Escape from Treehouse Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Treehouse Teas
Tea Description:
If you like Pina Coladas and gettin’ caught in the rain this tea is for you! It’s a favorite herb and fruit tea that bursts ingredients of pineapple, apple, rosehip, coconut pieces and hibiscus petals. If you are allergic to coconut stay clear. Small Batch Blended and from Sing Buri, Thailand. It has a low antioxidant level and its a caffeine free herb and fruit tea. Steep: 5-10 minutes at a temperature: 100C, 212F. This can be re-steeped for additional cups! Also, makes great popsicles and pink tea for tea parties!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
With a description like the one above, my expectations for this tea were pretty high. I mean who doesn’t love a sweet tea that carries you away!
The tea mix itself is beautiful. I adore the colors and love how pretty it looks as the tea steeps. The dry mixture smells fabulous. Sweet and tropical. My excitement level was rising to taste this sweet tropical treat!
I brewed this up per their recommendations and was enjoying how the water was turning into a beautiful pink color.
I took my first sip and sadly- this tea didn’t hit the target for me. I wanted to love this tea so much. At first taste, you can pick up an almost strawberry flavor that reminds me of a strawberry Popsicle. The flavor isn’t very strong and is more on the weaker side. The coconut is subtle and gentle. I think with a tea that is being considered a pina colada, I wanted the coconut flavor to be strong. I didn’t pick up any pineapple or even any of the hibiscus tartness. This tea was more of a lightly flavored strawberry flavor. I can see this being a great tea for a little girl’s tea party but not for me. I would like my flavors a bit stronger.
My last thoughts on this tea is that maybe this tea is one that needs to be cold brewed or even steeped longer than the 10 minutes to really bring out the flavor. I did share the remainder of this tea with a tea drinking co-worker and her thoughts were in line with what I was thinking. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed the teas that I’ve tried from Treehouse Teas for the most part. Just a few I haven’t cared for. This tea blend would have been one that would have totally caught my eye so I am glad that I was able to try it, just not sure this would be one I would need to try again.
Sipdown #37!
Chamomile Creme from Yellowstone Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Yellowstone Tea Co
Tea Description:
Need a little time to unwind after a long day? Chamomile Creme is the perfect blend of vanilla bean, twig tea, lemongrass, licorice, toasted coconut, chicory, stevia leave, and of course, chamomile. A perfect nighttime tea that’s naturally caffeine free.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Chamomile is one of those ingredients that people either love or hate. I am in the pool of tea drinkers that love it. I drink it all hours of the day, not just night time. Chamomile blends iced are delicious and I love drinking it after a larger lunch, like today. I ate just a bit too much so I reached for this tea, hoping it might help.
I brewed this up with boiling water and steeped it for 5 minutes. Then I allowed this to cool off so I could add ice for an iced tea treat.
How did it taste? This was quite good. This definitely isn’t an ordinary chamomile tea blend. I love the additions of the lemongrass and the coconut. The flavors give this blend a unique flavor. What I really take away from this tea is the creamy silk like texture that I’m getting. Very good. I don’t really pick up the stevia and the chicory gives the tea a hint of a roasted profile. The licorice adds in a hint of sweeetness. This is a keeper!
Alps Breeze from Lipton
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Lipton
Tea Description:
Don’t see this one listed on the website anymore but I did find a Steepster review page. This looks to be an older tea or one that is available only overseas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Still on my journey to drink down some of my tea cupboard when I came across this delight. Yes. Another tea bag. And to my surprise, I’m drinking Lipton. I can’t remember the last time I drank Lipton so I’m curious to see what I think.
Lipton seems to be one of the tea companies a lot of newbie tea drinkers tend to stray towards. I think its more of a convenience factor. You can find Lipton teas pretty much at every grocery store around. This particular tea is a mint and eucalyptus herbal tea. I couldn’t find it on their website but I did find a Steepster entry for this blend.
Brewed this like I would any herbal- 5 min with 212F for the water temperature. I took a sip and felt that the flavor wasn’t as strong as it should be so I let the tea bag stay in the water for a few more minutes.
Took another sip and I can’t say that I don’t like this but I can’t say that I like it either. This is one of those teas that you like just about everything in the flavor profile except for one ingredient. In this one, I think it might be the eucalyptus. I’ve had eucalyptus in tea before and liked it but maybe mixed with mint, this one has a weird one off flavor. Or maybe this is just an older tea.
I have a few more tea bags of this one so I’m going to try a cold brew to see if the weird flavor mellows out a bit. Regardless, it was still a fun tea to try!