Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Description:
Inspired by Sauvignon Blanc, we blended natural ingredients to create a green tea blend that is medium bodied, with a burst of fresh grapefruit offering a racy hit of crisp acidity.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not a big wine drinker. I have an occasional glass of wine, but, it is really a very rare occasion, indeed. Tea is my beverage of choice, so if I were to drink wine, I’d prefer it to be a wine infused tea, like this one from Vintage TeaWorks
And I’m really loving this Green Tea Sauvignon. The green tea flavor shines through with a hint of buttery vegetation: very soft, subtle and smooth. It adds a pleasant sweetness to the sweet, fruity notes of Sauvignon Blanc, and softens the acidity of the wine and grapefruit, without completely muting them. 
I love the way the grapefruit is showcased in this tea. If I hadn’t brewed the pot of tea myself, if I hadn’t measured out the tea … I would have thought: WOW! This is an amazing grapefruit tea – and maybe my search for that amazing grapefruit tea is over with this tea! The grapefruit is strong without being too overpowering, and it manages to capture the sweeter, juicier characteristics of the grapefruit without the bitterness of it.
As I don’t drink a lot of wine, it probably would have taken me a moment to place the wine in this, because it is a softer, sweeter wine-like flavor. That is not to say that the wine is not prominent – it IS. What I am trying to say is that this tea has been so cleverly blended to bring out the very best in each component that it doesn’t taste just of tea, or of grapefruit, or of wine, but, performs as a beautiful composition of all three. It comes across sweet and smooth – not overly tannic and not tart. Just absolutely delicious!
Organic Matcha Infused Sencha from Aiya
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Aiya
Tea Description:
Matcha Infused Sencha is a blend of traditional Japanese Sencha tea leaves and premium Matcha green tea, giving you the best of both worlds. The fresh brisk flavor of Sencha is enhanced with the health-giving properties of premium Matcha green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Every so often, I encounter a tea that seems to have a very rejuvenating effect on me – one that seems to invigorate me from the inside out. This is one such tea.
It has a lovely flavor – hints of a sweet creaminess from the Matcha, and a very vibrant, fresh leafy kind of flavor from the Sencha. It has a pleasant vegetative tone to it – it doesn’t taste overly grassy or anything – just hints of sweet, grassy tones as well as notes of freshly steamed vegetables. Imagine those two notes melding together into one unified flavor – you’d have what I’m tasting now. Not quite grassy … then again … not quite vegetable. Somewhere happily in between.
But even more gratifying than the flavor here, is the way it is making me feel. Having just recovered from a light bout of flu-like symptoms (a 24 hour thing that seemed to do more to wear me down than anything) I really needed something to reawaken me from the inside. Something to recharge me, so to speak. And I can feel this tea doing just that. I can feel it start to rebuild the torn-down, run-down, achy muscle sort of feeling that I have been enduring over the past 2 days following my 24-hour-flu-like-thing.
I’m liking this more and more – not just for the way it tastes, but for the way it is helping me to feel. This tea gets two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Organic Matcha Infused Genmaicha from Aiya
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where To Buy: Aiya
Tea Description:
Matcha Infused Genmaicha is a traditional Japanese Sencha blended with toasted brown rice and premium Matcha green tea. The refreshing flavor of Sencha combined with the nutty flavor of toasted brown rice, plus the resilient color and mild sweetness of Matcha make this tea distinctly delightful.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Aiya is one of those companies that never ceases to impress me. The quality of their teas are superb! I’ve tried several teas from them now, including their trio of Matcha selections and their Gyrokuro. I was quite impressed with those teas and am just as impressed with this Matcha Infused Genmaicha.
First thing that I notice is the color of the dry leaf. The quality of the Matcha used to enhance this Genmaicha is high, as the coloration of the dry leaf is a bright green. After steeping, I amazed at how light in color the infusion is, and even more amazing is that I do not notice any unincorporated Matcha “dust” floating around in the tea which is something that is often present in Matcha enhanced Genmaicha teas. The brewed tea is often “cloudy” because of the Matcha, but that isn’t the case here.
Nor is there any Matcha settling to the bottom of the cup, even now as I am nearly halfway finished with the cup. This is truly Matcha Infused Genmaicha, and not Matcha coated Genmaicha: I taste the flavor of the Matcha which is sweet, slightly creamy and vegetal, but I don’t see the unamalgamated bits of Matcha which tend to float about and eventually settle to the bottom of other Matcha coated Genmaicha.
And the difference this makes is remarkable, not just in the appearance of the brewed tea but also in the flavor. This doesn’t taste quite as thick or creamy as a Matcha coated Genmaicha, nor does it have that sometimes chalky aftertaste. Instead, this tastes very smooth and there is a lightness to this that is uncommon when it comes to Matcha drinks. It is rather refreshing!
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate Matcha in its many forms, but, it’s nice to have this unique take on Matcha with this Matcha Infused Genmaicha. It’s sweet and even … crisp on the palate! Overall, the cup is sweet, and not just from the Matcha but also from the flavor of the roasted rice which gives it a sweet, toasty note. The green tea is vibrant and fresh and lightly vegetative.
A really delicious, soothing, restorative tea! I like this quite a bit.
Wild Monkey Marsala from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Product Description:
Here it is at last! The Wild Monkey Marsala Tea, a wickedly zesty tea that comes from our wine-infused group. There are several spicy teas available from Red Leaf Tea, and we think that this may be the most exotic one of all! We begin with a strong Chinese black tea and then add a heavy dose of cinnamon to that sweet and rosy brew. We finish this complement of dominant flavors with the powerful musty sweetness of an infusion of marsala wine. It all balances out perfectly, with the marsala melding into the black tea and the cinnamon lending a peppery effect. Let the Wild Monkey into your tea service today!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little worried about this tea prior to tasting, but, it really is quite tasty. I think that it is the wine. While I’ve enjoyed almost all of the alcohol-infused teas that I’ve tried, I am always a little apprehensive; I’m not big on strong alcohol flavors. Fortunately, it’s been my experience that the flavor of the alcohol compliments the tea flavor, and it is the flavor of the tea that prevails. And that is the case here, too.
The aroma of the dry leaf is a bit unusual, but certainly not unpleasant. The sweet, fruity scent of the Marsala wine is apparent, and the cinnamon is quite strong. It smells sweet, spicy and rather intriguing, actually.
The flavor of the cinnamon and the Marsala wine meld together quite nicely here, the cinnamon is warm and spicy and it does have a slight peppery kind of taste to it. The Marsala wine is sweet and fruity, and the combination of the two tastes a bit like mulled cider. It doesn’t taste strongly of wine, but I can taste hints here and there that are reminiscent of wine, especially as it cools.
And the flavor of the tea is there too; it is a good, strong black tea base that creates a pleasant backdrop for the flavors of the wine and cinnamon. Together the flavors of wine, cinnamon and black tea offer a very well-rounded, smooth taste for the palate to enjoy. There isn’t a whole lot of notable astringency to this tea. The aftertaste is cinnamon-y sweet and pleasant.
I really enjoyed this tea, a delightful tea to sip on these chilly winter afternoons, as it will warm you from the inside out.
Earl Grey Tea-Infused Chocolate Truffle from Arbor Teas
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Company Description:
A milk chocolate shell filled with dark chocolate ganache infused with the citrusy tang of our Earl Grey Black Tea.
Taster’s Review:
Editor’s Note: This review represents part 6 of 6 reviews, one review for each of the six flavors in the truffle collection available from Arbor Teas
I realize that I’ve probably said this about each and every truffle in this collection – but this one is the best!
The creamy milk chocolate is a perfect match with the Earl Grey tea – and while the chocolate IS the dominate flavor (it is a chocolate truffle, after all), the flavor of the black tea and bergamot do come through.
The flavor is very satisfying. The chocolate is rich and sweet and absolutely delicious. The bergamot has a clean, citrus-y note that lends a lightness to the taste. The black tea notes are very soft in this, but not completely overwhelmed by the chocolate.
These chocolates are available during the months of November through February, so there’s no time to waste! I think I discovered them on the Arbor Teas website back in March of this year, and it’s seemed like it took forever for November to finally get here so that I could try them! I’ve been so looking forward to them, and they have EXCEEDED my high expectations. They are really fantastic!