Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
Pineapple, check. Brown sugar, check. Creamy butter, check. Delicious cake, check. What do we get… Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This tea starts off with a delicious tea base, and finishes off with a rich pineapple, brown sugar and creamy cake taste. Absolutely one of our owners personal favorites!
Ingredients: Black tea, pineapple bits and flavor, cream flavor, cherry bits*
Allergens: contains dairy.
Suggested brewing tips
Serving Size: 1 level tsp./6oz serving
Water Temp: 210°F
Steep Time: 2-3 minutes
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really can’t believe I have not reviewed Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Della Terra Teas yet! I absolutely love this tea. It is one of my top five favorites from Della Terra and let me tell you it is darn difficult to come up with a top five because they are all so very good! This tea is also one of my stash perma teas too. I always have to have some on hand.
It is so yummy, so sweetly perfect. When I first tried this tea, back when it was first released by Della Terra Teas, I remember being worried it would be too pineapple flavored. Not that I mind a pineapple tea but I really was not looking for a tropical flavor in Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I was not disappointed! I wanted a cakey tasting tea and oh boy this is it! This tastes more like cake flavored tea than any tea I have tasted that was supposed to taste like cake. The pineapple is juicy and sweet but not so overpowering that it takes on too much of a tropical flavor. There is a honeyed note or a syrup like note to it that reminds me of the drippings from sugared pineapple. The aroma is mouthwatering!
This is a very sweet tea so don’t fault it for that but it also is not cloying and does not have a lingering sickly sweetness in the mouth. Another thing to love about this tea is the number of steeps you can get out of it. I was able to get six steeps from this leaf before it began to lose any flavor!
I am always impressed with Della Terra Teas and I am even more impressed by their customer service and amazing deals they offer on their Facebook page.
Caramel Apple Oolong from 52 Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s a premium oolong tea from the Fujian province in China blended with large pieces of freeze-dried Fuji apples and natural and organic flavors. And no, I didn’t mistype: Fujian Oolong and Fuji apples. Serendipitous. I didn’t even realize I had done that until I typed it.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Caramel Apple Oolong from 52 Teas is one of those teas that I begged and prayed for a re-blend of, and it was indeed re-blended! I love how on 52 Teas website you can sign up to be notified of a re-blend, and it is also 52 Tea’s method to determine which teas are most requested for a re-blend!
So this tea has an excellent oolong base, and the perfect flavors to make you feel like your sipping on sweet succulent caramel apple juices! The caramel flavor is well balanced so that you also get a wonderful fresh fujian apple taste as well, and I do know my apples, I love Fuji apples, and this tea tastes exactly like them! The apple tastes so fresh I swear I can taste the skin!
Some sips provide a slight bit more caramel flavor and some a slight bit more apple flavor but overall most sips are well balanced. I find I enjoy that sip now and then with one flavor more than the other because I do love both apple and caramel so now and again I get a boost of one flavor or another to give me my fix.
Oh and let’s not forget the oolong, its a nice quality oolong that does provide a very good base for this flavor combination, as Frank says, serendipitous, but it works perfectly!
I will savor each sip of this tea, then put in my bid for a re-blend and once again, cross my fingers. A stash must have!
Monkey Picked Oolong from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
Deep in the forests of Southern China, tea leaves are still harvested by hand from wild tea trees. These are considered to be gourmet, premium teas among the Chinese, and there is always a light body, a delicate clarity, and an earthy nature to the brews of these leaves that is never found elsewhere. At one time, tradition says, the monks of a certain temple, desirous of harvesting more of these wild tree leaves at a quicker pace, trained dozens of monkeys to climb to the tops of the tea trees and pick the youngest leaves and pekoe buds up there! These monkey-picked leaves were then converted into oolong tea, the monk’s favored beverage. Today, Chinese tea drinkers call the very best oolong teas made from wild tree leaves, “Monkey-Picked,” even though more reliable methods of harvesting are now employed. Premium “Monkey-Picked” Oolong is rare, labor-intensive, and extremely delicate in flavor. It can be brewed for multiple infusions, with many declaring that the second steeping is the best! “Monkey-Picked” Ooloong has an extremely complex bouquet, with an earthiness in the brew usually found only in aged Pu Erh tea! Known to the Chinese as Ti Kuan Yin tea, or Goddess Tea, this ultimate oolong is a rare treasure for our Red Leaf customers! Try some today!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am a huge fan of oolong tea. Money Picked Oolong from Red Leaf Tea is a great one! The price is more than fair for this quality tea. At 7.99 per ounce it is robust with fruity juicy flavors and deep earthiness. The aroma is intoxicating and inviting. You can taste and smell ripely sweetened berries, and a caramelized sugar flavor that is just outstanding!
There is a slight rock mineral flavor that is not drying at all, rather quenching which I find interesting because mineral flavors are generally drying on my palate. This is a welcome and unique experience .
The flavors linger on the palate for quite a long time, beckoning me to take another sip, yet as I am generally one to drink my teas rather quickly, there is something that makes me just want to sit back and allow the flavors to meld over my palate, and just enjoy the after taste.
The color of the cup is delightful, deep golden orange almost verging on an amber color. Very cheerful to look at, and even more joyful to savor.
Red Leaf Tea is my “go to” place for straight and flavored matcha, but don’t overlook their abundant selection of straight and flavored teas!
I tend to be a big fan of Dong Ding Oolong, but this Monkey Picked Oolong from Red Leaf Tea my just be winning my top spot for oolong love!
White Persian Melon from Golden Moon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Tea Description:
First in the world to find flavored white tea, Golden Moon Tea presents rare white tea enlivened with the nectar of succulent melon. This luxurious delicacy is light, refreshing and exotic.
Ingredients: White Bai Mudan Tea Scented with Sweet Melon Nectar
WHY IT’S SPECIAL:
** Persian Melon has a flavor that is a mix between a cantaloupe and a honeydew
** Uses the flavor of the Persian Melon, which is a popular flavor in the Middle East
** Emits a sweet and refreshing aroma of freshly cut melons
** The subtly of the White Tea base allows the Persian Melon to shine
** Fantastic iced
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL OF:
** This tea is only for those who love cantaloupe and/or honeydew
** The Middle Eastern Persian Melon is rarely found in the U.S.
** The melon flavor is assertive, yet balanced
** White Persian Melon has low amounts of caffeine
** Recommended for up to 3 steeps
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
White Persian Melon from Golden Moon Tea is one of my top five favorites from this company.
There is just such a light and lively flavor to this delicate Bai Mudan. The aroma is sweet and juicy fresh and reminds me of why I am longing for summer.
This tea is so excellent iced but also wonderful hot.
I love cantaloupe but unfortunately eating it gives me a headache every time, but this tea I can drink endless amounts of with no nagging headache. Perhaps this is due to it being Persian melon and not cantaloupe but the flavor profile is very similar and I can get my cantaloupe fix this way. It is a little lighter than cantaloupe though and I see where the description of a mix between cantaloupe and honeydew comes in because honeydew to me was always a bit more watery in flavor.
White Persian Melon also has a tad bit of a wine like flavor to me, almost bordering on a brandy like essence which I really enjoy.
As the tea cools even slightly the sweetness peeks out more. I would not personally add sweeteners to this tea although I could really see the flavors explode with it, especially a sweetened iced tea. I just usually try not to add sugar to my tea and I really do not feel this one needs it. I can see how adding sugar could take it from this light refreshing state to a decedent dessert tea.
Unfortunately I only have a sample of this one, thanks to a Steepster.com friend, but this is one I plan to order for summer time sipping!
Strawberry Cupcake from Simpson and Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
When you sip this delectable brew the strawberry taste first hits your tastebuds followed by the rich, creamy, chocolate “cake” taste. Some of our staff like this blend with agave or sugar, but I find it’s delicious (and less caloric) as is! The aroma is as enticing as the taste – sweet, baked strawberry cupcakes. Yum! The cup leaves a lingering creamy taste of fresh fruit that makes it hard to resist another and another and another sip!
Ingredients: Indian black tea, strawberry pieces, strawberry leaf and strawberry cupcake flavoring.
Brew tea at 212ºF – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Strawberry Cupcake from Simpson and Vail is one of the freshest tasting strawberry teas I have ever sampled. As a dessert tea however I do wish it were a little fuller in the mouthfeel. That is not to say it is thin or watery but I do think that somehow the ripe fresh juiciness almost hurts the thickness in the mouthfeel. I know that does not sound like too bad of a thing now does it? Because it does taste so amazingly fresh almost as if biting into an actual strawberry! I guess I was just anticipating by the decedent aroma and darker colored cup that it would be richer.
Seriously though, I can’t even get past how bursting with juiciness this tea is to focus on the chocolate flavor, or the cakey bakey goodness in the cup.
The after taste of this tea is almost like a fruit flavored beer. There is this flavor of very light delicate hops and a slight wheat essence in the background and it lingers on the palate.
I really rather like this since a lot of teas have a wine like flavor, or even mixed drink type flavor, this is one of the few that have this beer type flavor!
The chocolate in this tea is good, perhaps not outstanding, as I have had better chocolate flavors in tea, but on the other hand it does not turn me off, and a lot of teas with chocolate flavoring do. I would give this chocolate flavor an 8 out of 10 which by my standards is really excellent.
I have been surprised by this tea and am thankful to my Steepster friend who shared it with me. Yup this goes on the wish list and I will order it sometime in the future.