Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
As cool as a cucumber and as crazy as a kiwi: I’d say that about sums up 52teas. With a twist of lime on the side. Here’s our caffeine-free African honeybush blended with freeze-dried kiwi and natural and organic flavors. A cool, caffeine-free treat. Well, cool if you make iced tea of it, I suppose.
Learn more about this honeybush blend here.
Taster’s Review:
The last time I checked, there were still quite a few pouches of this tea available. I’m really quite surprised by this … and maybe it’s just me, but, when I see a tea called “Cucumber Kiwi” … that’s something I MUST TRY! It’s one of those flavors you aren’t going to come across very often, and I love trying the unusual flavors.
But there is another reason for my surprise, too. I mean, this is a honeybush blend from 52Teas, and I have not found a tea company that offers better flavored honeybush blends than 52Teas. Some of their other blends may be iffy, but, most (if not all) of the honeybush blends have been stellar. One only need try a blend like Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush or Chocolate Malt Honeybush to know what I’m talking about here.
And while this one might not be quite as good as the Chocolate Malt or Coconut Cheesecake, it is REALLY good. The flavor is sweet and fruity, but there is just a hint of tartness in there too to keep it from being too cloying.
It has a very intriguing balance of flavors, it’s one of those teas that keeps me sipping just to try to nail down what I’m tasting. One sip, I’ll notice the kiwi as the strongest flavor … the next, I’ll taste a strong burst of citrus-y flavor. In the next sip, I’ll notice the cool taste of cucumber. It all comes together in such a pleasing way and I really like that.
Tropical Delight (Iced Tea) from Empire Tea Services
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Tea Description:
Mango, Passion Fruit and Kiwi flavors with Ceylon tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this earlier this morning and let it chill in the fridge until this afternoon, because I knew I’d be out and about running errands, and I wanted to be able to enjoy this tea as it was intended – as an iced tea.
I did manage to take a quick sip or two as a hot tea, though, and enjoyed it that way as well. But, I do think that this is much better as an iced tea. The flavor was a bit strong as a hot tea, but because flavors tend to soften as they cool, those big, bold flavors had become just right when it chilled.
This is really tasty. The flavor of the Ceylon tea is prominent, and what I like here is that this is not some wimpy, lackluster Ceylon – this is a robustly flavored, brisk Ceylon that is tasty enough to stand on its own. As a chilled tea, it has a pleasant level of astringency, and has a very thirst-quenching, refreshing quality to it.
The flavors start out a little bit subtle. After the first sip or two, while I can smell the fragrance of the fruit … the flavors are slow to emerge. The first note that I taste is the mango and then after another sip, I begin to notice the passion fruit. The kiwi is the last to come forward, and at first I wished I could taste the kiwi flavor a bit more, but, by the time I reached the end of the glass, the kiwi had reached a very satisfying level.
I like how the flavors develop. They start out soft, and now as I am nearly finished, I can taste the sweet tropical flavors in the aftertaste … making me want more!
Nice and refreshing – a great treat as these hot summer days begin to wane into the cooler autumn months ahead; I like that it’s still warm enough to fully enjoy a delicious glass of iced tea, and this tea makes a great iced tea, indeed!
Fairy Dust Rooibos from Tealish
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tealish
Tisane Description:
Drink this tea and you’ll feel like you’ve just been sprinkled with fairy dust, it’s so good. With notes of strawberry and kiwi, this blend of green rooibos, apple, strawberry, kiwi, orange blossoms, elderflower, and mistletoe, is our favourite way to escape to never never land once (or twice) a day.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really REALLY tasty!
As I’ve said once or twice (or perhaps thrice!) before, I prefer green rooibos over the oxidized red version. The green rooibos is slightly fruity in flavor (as opposed to the woody notes of the red rooibos), and it has a light, almost sparkling kind of taste to it. I think given the name of this tea (Fairy Dust) I think that green rooibos was the perfect choice as a base for this blend.
The strawberry and kiwi are the two strongest flavors, with floral notes filling out the background. The rooibos doesn’t offer a strong flavor, but, I do taste it, and it marries with the fruit tones in this blend very nicely.
The strawberry tastes fresh and authentic, tasting like I just bit into a bright red, ripe, juicy berry. YUM! The kiwi is a nice flavor to accompany the strawberry as I’ve often thought the kiwi tastes a bit like a cross between a strawberry and a melon. It enhances the delicious strawberry taste, and adds a pleasing dimension to the cup.
I sipped my sampling of this tea (sent to me by a friend) hot, but as it cooled, I noticed the fruit flavors emerged even more, so I suspect this would be an absolutely AMAZING iced tea. One that you can serve to kids as well as adults without worry that you’ll be overstimulating anyone with caffeine (as it’s naturally caffeine free). A great summertime tea!
Thé des Alizés from Le Palais Des Thés
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Le Palais Des Thés
Tea Description:
A green tea enlivened by flower petals and delicately scented with pieces of white peach, kiwi and watermelon. The green tea and the juicy freshness of the fruit are wonderfully balanced. Can be drunk hot or iced.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to try this tea … it was the first that I’ve tried from this company, and I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Le Palais Des Thés that I wanted to experience their teas for myself!
And I am happy to report that this tea has certainly lived up to the reputation that this company has built for itself. This is splendid!
The green tea is the most prominent flavor and that pleases me. I am glad to find that Le Palais Des Thés does not overdo it on the flavoring! The green tea tastes refreshing! Sweet, lightly grassy, and smooth, with a soft mouthfeel. Very little astringency … just silky, sweet flavor that glides over the palate from start to finish.
The flavors of kiwi, watermelon and white peach meld together deliciously, providing a flavor that is mouth-watering and sweet … but it is a natural kind of sweetness, not a cloying, candy sweet flavor. The overall cup is light, fruity and vitalizing.
I enjoyed this hot, and as good as it is, I can’t help but think that this would be STUNNING as an iced tea … and with that warm weather approaching, this would be a good one to have on hand when you want to impress your guests with a gourmet iced green tea.
Kiwi Lemon Oolong from Shanti Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
The strong flavour of oolong is cut by a zest of citrus. The combination of strong flavours balance each other well creating a unique experience for both new and old drinkers of oolong teas.
Taster’s Review:
While the tea market is seemingly saturated with flavored teas; coming across a flavored Oolong is still a bit of a rarity. That is to say, there seem to be far fewer flavored Oolong teas than there are other tea types (with the exception of Yellow, Pu-erh and Darjeeling … there seem to be even fewer flavored versions of these types of tea) So, I am very excited to be able to try this Kiwi Lemon Oolong from Shanti.
And this has to be one of my favorite flavored Oolong teas to date. It is absolutely amazing!
The Oolong base is a darker Oolong, and it offers a background that is somewhat earthy and smoky, with a hint of cocoa flavor. It has a slightly creamy texture to it; a very smooth, silky kind of mouthfeel. While the flavors of the Oolong are not extraordinarily strong, they are prominent enough to shine through the stronger fruit notes, letting me know that this is TEA that I’m drinking, and not some fru-fru fancy-frilly fruit drink.
Lemon and kiwi are not two fruit flavors that I would have imagined combining, but they work together surprisingly well. The lemon is the strongest flavor in this cup although it is not overwhelming. It has a bright, sunny character. It is sweet, a bit like lemon curd! The sweet, smooth flavor of the kiwi is very complimentary to this sweeter side of the lemon. The tartness of the lemon is more of a background flavor, arriving to the foreground just before the finish and lingering in the aftertaste.
The kiwi is a considerably softer flavor in comparison to the lemon notes, but, I like how it pops up here and there, making its presence known throughout the sip. It provides a sweet flavor, almost melon-like.
While I generally prefer my Oolong teas to be served without additions, this is one Oolong that benefits from the addition of a little sweetener (I chose a drizzle of honey). This really helps the fruit flavors POP … especially the kiwi notes. It is still delicious without the honey, but it was more difficult to discern the kiwi flavors without it.
This one is a MUST TRY for flavored Oolong fans!