Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Luhse
Tea Description:
STORY:
Unbeknownst to most, Queen Song longs for the day when she meets her island mate, King Kong. She has recently taken up hula dancing to keep fit and has begun wearing sexy, eye-catching outfits to attract attention. Despite the gang’s misgivings, she can be found wearing risque coconut bras when she is not at work.
TEA DESCRIPTION:
Coconuts have migrated into your cup of tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Another Luhse sample from my recent order. Nice Coconuts is a white blend, flavoured with coconut. The dry leaf smells amazing – strongly of coconut, with an undertone of creaminess, and a hint of something almost rum-like. Alcoholic, at the very least. The dry leaf looks to be a mixture of silver needles, which are white and downy, and white peony, which is blackish-brown in appearance and not particularly fresh looking. There’s a predominance of broken leaves and twigs. Scattered throughout are red safflower and blue cornflower petals, and a smattering of dried coconut shreds. There’s enough leaf in the pouch for about two cups, although if your cup is larger than average you might want to use the whole sample (about 3 tsp), as per the recommended parameters. My cup is on the smaller side, so I went with 1.5tsp of leaf, and gave it 2 minutes in water cooled to around 175 degrees. The resulting liquor is a medium yellow-green; the scent mildly coconutty with a floral undertone.
To taste, this one is deceptive! I wasn’t convinced at all by the scent of the brewed liquor, but it’s actually very pleasant. The initial sip is all coconut cream; sweet, tropical amazingness! It has remarkable depth of flavour, with just a hint of rum rolling around the mid-sip, and an almost thick mouthfeel. It’s like a decadent dessert – rum babas, maybe, with a side of coconut ice cream. It’s possible to taste a little of the white tea towards the end of the sip, although it’s by no means prominent. Just an edge of floral, hay-like sweetness. Mostly, the white tea seems to contribute most towards the mouthfeel, and doesn’t at all overpower the sometimes-delicate flavour of coconut. This really is a delicious, summery cup. I’m impressed with this blend, and it’s definitely one I’d consider repurchasing in the future.
Yorkshire Bold Organic Black Tea from AmiTea Organics
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: AmiTea Organics
Tea Description:
Bold, smooth and delicious, this is the perfect, soothing, “start your morning” tea. This is my version of the famous Yorkshire tea. Of course the actual ingredient ratios have long been a secret, but I feel I have unlocked them, and now it is in an all organic version, just for you.
I have blended malty Assam and Nilgiri teas from India, A warm, rich Tanzanian tea and a smidge of smokey Chinese Yunnan, together they make a fabulous tea, hot with milk, or even iced for sippin’ on a hot day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is just delicious.
The malty goodness and rich well balanced flavor of this fantastic unflavored blended black tea is just perfect. Perfect for that first cup of tea to wake you up in the morning or in the afternoon when you need a pick up to get you thru the rest of the day. I really enjoyed this one.
First infusion was strong and rich. Brewed up like a traditional black tea, this tea was such a delight. I didn’t pick up any smoky notes like the description says, but I am fine with that. I have had a lot of smoky teas lately and was happy for a break. Second infusion, the strong malty touch was still there. Not as strong, but still discernible.
I have yet to have a tea from AmiTea Organics that I haven’t just adored.
I didn’t try this one iced. Next time I will. I would love to try this as an iced tea. I couldn’t help but keep brewing this up hot. It was hitting the spot, giving me that warm and cozy feeling.
The best part of this tea was how there wasn’t a high astringency factor. I thought for sure there would be, but this was just smooth black tea deliciousness.
Another winner from AmiTea Organics!
Hydrate from Yellowstone Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green/White
Where to Buy: Yellowstone Tea Company
Tea Description:
Hydrate is a blend is a rich blend of green tea and white, making this blend high in minerals that fortify the skin and help sustain health and hydration.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been in a green tea drinking mood lately. Some of have been good. Some not so much. This particular blend was a hit with me.
Hydrate is a blend of green and white tea from Yellowstone Tea Company, a tea shop I found on Etsy. They have a wide variety of teas and when I saw this blend online, I just had to try it. The picture on the website looks very nice but looks like a blend I’ve seen on other sites. When this tea arrived, I had to do a double take. This tea blend is vibrant and gorgeous! The goji berries popped with a red color and the cornflower had such a deep blue. I couldn’t get over how fantastic and fresh looking this tea appeared. The chunks of fruit were just as impressive. Huge chunks of papaya and orange peel. I was taken with this tea at first sight.
I brewed this blend up like a green tea. As I look more at the ingredients, there is also oolong tea in this. I wasn’t sure which way to go with it so I decided to just go the green tea route. Let it steep for about 3 minutes in my tea pot while I worked away on a project. The smell was so inviting. Fruity goodness was cruising thru the air. One of my co-workers even asked me what I was eating or drinking. They couldn’t get over the fresh tropical like smell that this tea was creating.
I took a sip and BLAM-O! I was hit with all of these fresh fruity tastes and such a clean green tea finish. I really only picked up the green tea which gave a slight earthy grassy taste. The two flavors really worked well. I couldn’t identify every flavor separately but together they created a delicious treat for this afternoon. The tea blend has a tropical like feel to it with the papaya. The ingredients for this blend also listed pomegranate- which was very subtle. I only picked up a slight tart taste.
My only issue with this blend is that there is stevia in it. I couldn’t taste the stevia until the cup had cooled off a bit, but after it did cool, the stevia was a bit overwhelming. I’m not sure how this tea would be cold brewed-but I would love to find out. My only advice with this tea is drink it while the brew is still hot. Letting it cool brings out a stevia flavor that many may not enjoy. Beyond that, I am really happy with this one and plan to pick up more. I love finding new tea companies and this one met all my expectations and then some. Looks like I have a new tea for the summer!
Exotic Floral Green Tea from Mela Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mela Teas
Tea Description:
Ceylon green tea is mixed with Sepalika flowers, a classical Ayurvedic ingredient, said to induce calmness and tranquility. Maintains all the health properties of green tea, with the added benefit and buttery taste of the Sepalika flower.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ever have a day where it feels like nothing is going right? It isn’t like things are going wrong per say. Just that before you have one project finished, another one pops up and another and still yet another. That is my day today.
Every day when I come to work I bring a bag full of different teas along with me. You never know what kind of mood you will be in once you hit the office. My office has a full kitchen in it so I have lots of tea ware goodies. Today was the kind of day that I pulled out the big guns and went for a refreshing soothing green tea that I hoped when get me thru the rest of the day.
I reached for my sample of Exotic Floral Green Tea from Mela Teas. Their Colombo Garlic tea was phenomenal. I know, garlic tea. . but it was so very good. I had high expectations for this tea as well.
I steeped this beauty up per the instructions on the package- 170F-3 min. As the tea steeped at my desk, there was a light floral fragrance in the air. Not overwhelming, just ever so slight. Made me smile and I breathed in deep. Just knowing I was about ready to indulge in this tea made me start to relax.
First sip and I was gone. This tea has such a beautiful quality to it. The green tea is there with a slight bitter edge but it works well and counteracts the sweet floral taste. This blend reminds me almost of a tea you would drink while reading a romance novel or one of my beloved Jane Austen novels. Such a delicate tea all around. Not being a jasmine fan, I really wasn’t sure what I would think of this tea. Before I knew it, my tea cup was empty and I needed more.
This tea is subtle with just the right amount of floral and natural flavors that create a soothing and relaxing atmosphere. I literally have papers all over my desk but I am not freaking out in the slightest. This tea came to my rescue!
Honey Citrus Raspberry Green Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
M&K’s own unique blend! We take Chinese green teas, blend them with three citrus fruits, licorice root roasted in honey, and actual raspberries! Not too fruity, not too simple, it’s a perfect blend of green tea and fruit. We use local honey from California beekeepers and local California orange peel.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After having tried quite a few different teas from M&K’s Tea Company, I must admit that this one isn’t my favorite. And I thought it would be one I like quite a bit because the name offers quite a bit of promise! Citrus, Honey and Raspberry flavors in a Green Tea? Yes, please!
But the execution is a little off for me and I can’t really pinpoint it yet, so maybe in the process of writing this review, I can figure it out.
To brew this tea, I measured 1 bamboo scoop of the loose leaf tea into the basket of my Kati Tumbler. Then I added 12 ounces of 175°F water and let the tea steep for 2 minutes.
The green tea base is pleasant: it’s a combination of two Chinese green teas: gunpowder and Huangshan Maofeng. Together they give the tea an enjoyable texture – soft and creamy – and a smooth, lightly buttery taste with hints of smoke and vegetation.
The citrus note is subtle to this and most discernible when the tea is slurped (this helps aerate the liquid on the palate and it “enlivens” the flavors for your palate). I taste tart and tangy notes of citrus with a light sweetness of the honey. I also get a hint of bitter from the citrus peel.
Then I pick up on the sweet notes of licorice. Because the licorice root has been roasted in honey, the flavor of the licorice has been softened – I’m not getting that sharpness that I often get from licorice root. I think that this works for this particular blend because if the licorice root hadn’t been softened somewhat, it might have taken over the blend and we’d have Licorice Citrus Raspberry Green Tea instead of Honey Citrus Raspberry Green Tea.
Instead the licorice just adds a hint of almost candy-like sweetness to the cup that I actually enjoy. It might be my favorite thing about this particular blend
The raspberry is also quite subtle and I think that is what I’m thinking is off. I feel like I’m tasting more hibiscus and raspberry leaf to accentuate the raspberry than I’m actually tasting raspberry and that’s unfortunate.
So, there you have it, I’ve pinpointed my issue with this tea: I’d like the flavors of citrus and raspberry to be a little more prominent in the blend. I do like that the green tea is a dominant flavor here and I like the little contrast that the licorice root adds, but I think that because this tea is called Honey Citrus Raspberry Green Tea that I’m wanting a little more focus on the citrus and berry notes.
It’s not a bad tea but it’s not as great as I thought it would be. I’ve enjoyed many of M&K’s blends though, so I won’t hold this against them, because while it’s not my favorite tea that I’ve had from them, it’s tasty. It’s good, just not as great as some of the other M&K’s experiences that I’ve had.
