Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Lemon Lily
Tea Description:
Loaded with blossoms, and scented with star anise and maple syrup, this white tea is show-stoppingly beautiful as well as a treat to sip. Again, we can’t stress enough that you need to let these delicate little cuppas need some time to cool. Once you do the grassy white tea blooms into the warm, smooth anise flavour, accented with a touch of maple.
Learn more about this month’s Postal Teas shipment here.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Yay! My Postal Teas box arrived! It’s a happy day when I open the mailbox to find tea! I just love receiving parcels from Postal Teas and I was very excited that this month the teas featured are from yet another new-to-me company: Lemon Lily. A cute company name that brings a smile to my face because it makes me think of my youngest daughter. Her name is Lilith and we often call her Lili.
So the first tea I decided to try from this month’s box is Maple Leaf. All three of this month’s teas sound delightful, but Maple is what captured my attention immediately. I love maple!
I decided to brew this in my Breville One-Touch. I don’t usually steep white teas in my Breville because the leaves tend to be bulkier and need more room to expand so I usually steep a white tea in a teapot or in a Smart Tea Maker like this to give those leaves the room they need. However, upon examination of this tea, I saw that it was mostly flowers. I thought that the tea would have plenty of room to expand as it needed to in my Breville given the flower to tea leaf ratio of this blend.
As an added bonus, because this tea needs time after steeping to develop its flavor, I was able to set the Breville to steep – 4 bamboo scoops of leaf to 500ml of freshly filtered water (remember, there’s a lot of flowers in this, so I used extra leaf to compensate); 170°F; 3 1/2 minutes – and go take my shower. When I returned, the tea was brewed and it had been sitting for about 13 minutes. That seemed to me to be adequate “development” time.
LOVELY! I had my doubts about this after seeing all the flowers in this. It was hard to find tea leaves among all the flowers. But they’re there – because I can taste the tea.
I can also taste the flowers. This is a beautifully floral tea, but I’m glad to say that it doesn’t taste perfume-y. It has a wonderfully flowery aroma, it’s beautiful to smell as well as sip.
I can taste the notes of anise. I like the way the licorice-y flavor of anise melds with the flowers. They seem to play very nicely together. The anise adds just a hint of spice to the sweetness of the flowers. It’s quite pleasant.
And most importantly, I can taste the maple! OK, OK, I guess you could argue that it’s most important to taste the tea. And yeah, I’m with you on that. But, when I drink a maple tea, I want maple baby! And this blend has got the maple going on.
The sip starts off immediately with notes of flower. I taste the lavender and chrysanthemum. I like that while these floral notes are strong, they aren’t overdone. Even though it looks like they might be overdone when you take a look at the blend – there is a really well-crafted balance between tea, flower and maple notes here.
Maple and lavender are not necessarily two flavors that I ever thought of combining. But they work. Somehow … they work very well together. The maple seems to soften the sharpness of the floral notes just enough so that this doesn’t come off tasting like soap. The anise adds just the right amount of warmth to the cup while adding a touch of sweet licorice that tastes right at home with the sweet maple notes. The flowers add dimension to the sweetness while keeping everything balanced “just so” – to keep this from becoming too cloying or dessert-like.
And then there is the tea. The tea is a softer flavor here, not just because white tea tends to be a delicate tasting tea anyway, but also because there IS a lot going on in this blend. But I can still taste the subtle notes of sweet, hay-like flavor from the white tea.
A very enjoyable blend. Quite a wonderful start to this month’s Postal Teas box!
Oh Canada! Rooibos Blend from David’s Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Honeybush
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Tisane Description:
Looking for a taste of Canada? Try this red rooibos tea. It’s sweetened with (what else?) maple syrup and sprinkled with delicious maple leaf candies. Plus it’s 100% diplomatic (well, caffeine-free) and tastes great in both our official languages. With green rooibos, honeybush, caramel and toffee bits to shake things up. A truly authentic Canadian experience.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The brewed tisane smells scrumptious! It smells like a pancake breakfast and it’s making my mouth water!
To steep: I used my Kati Tumbler and added 1 1/2 bamboo scoops to the basket of the tumbler. Then I added 195°F water to the tumbler and allowed the tisane to steep for 10 minutes.
And it tastes a little bit like a pancake breakfast too. The nutty notes from the rooibos and honeybush add a “pancakey” like flavor to the rich maple-y notes of the flavoring. The toffee and caramel notes enhance the sweetness (this is a very sweet pancake breakfast, mmm-kay?)
But really, even though I’m getting notes of rooibos, honeybush, toffee and caramel, this tisane is really about the maple! Sweet, delicious maple. Not like the weird corn syrup with maple flavoring. This has a real maple-y flavor to it. It’s sweet and luscious!
If you’re a fan of maple, this is a tisane you should try. It has a very dessert-y quality (obviously) so it would make a tasty low-cal/non-fat substitute for dessert or a great treat for the sweet tooth late night craving! And it’s naturally caffeine free!
Smoked Maple Oolong Tea from Shanti Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tea Description:
A lightly smoky blend of dark oolong and maple, a best-selling breakfast Oolong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oolong is not a tea that I would ordinarily think of as a “breakfast tea” but this tea changes things up a bit for me and is making me think a little outside of the box. While it isn’t quite as hefty as, say, an Assam or a Yunnan tea, the Oolong base of this blend is a robust, full-bodied tea that would make a really nice alternative to the typical breakfast tea.
And did I mention the delightful maple-y note to this? Mm-mm!
Even though this is a flavored Oolong, I decided to brew it the way I would typically brew an Oolong: in my gaiwan. I combined the first two infusions to create my first cup, and it’s a cupful of gently smoked, maple-y joy! The dark Oolong base is smooth and lightly smoked. It has a rich, buttery undertone with nutty mid-notes. There is some dry astringency to the cup that arrives toward the finish.
The rich, flavorful Oolong melds really nicely with the sweet, maple notes. It has a really delightful flavor that’s smoky and sweet and tastes just like breakfast in a teacup! It’s really good.
With my second cup (infusions 3 and 4), I started to notice less of the maple notes while other flavors began to emerge. I noticed the nutty flavors of the first cup were a little stronger this time, and I started to notice a hint of peach to the background. The smoky tones were still present but not quite as powerful this time.
The third cup (infusions 5 and 6) was a very smooth tasting cup. It tasted lighter though, reminiscent of a Oriental Beauty now, but with hints of smoke. The maple notes are quite distant now, and almost indistinct. The smoke notes are not nearly as strong as they were in the first and second cup, but there are still “wisps” of smoke to this. I still taste notes of fruit and nut, but, these are also quite a bit softer than they were in the previous cup.
Overall, a really flavorful cup. The first two infusions would make a really nice alternative to the standard breakfast tea, with the subsequent infusions tasting lighter and making a nice way to transition from the stronger cup of tea in the morning to the lighter taste in the afternoon.
Red Maple Spice Tisane from Shanti Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tisane Description:
A lingering spice softened by sweet maple, this is one of our favourite maple blends. The color, aroma, and flavor profile match incredibly well and create a full multi-sensory experience. A must try tea for maple & spice lovers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh wow! This Red Maple Spice Tisane from Shanti Tea is seriously YUM! I didn’t think it would be this good – I tend to be apprehensive when it comes to rooibos blends – but I’m happy to report that this is a very tasty rooibos blend!
That might have a little something to do with the fact that the spice and maple notes dominate and I don’t really taste a strong presence from the rooibos. But I’m just fine with that. I do taste very subtle hints of a nutty taste from the rooibos and the flavor unites seamlessly with the maple and spice.
The cardamom and fennel offer a flavor that is warm and comforting. I taste hints of licorice from the fennel and hints of citrus from the cardamom, a flavor profile that is further accentuated with the addition of orange peels to the mix. The citrus-y notes are delicate and most noticeable toward the end of the sip.
The maple is sweet and tastes amazing with these other flavors. Everything is very harmonious. It is a sweet yet spicy treat that I find very cozy to sip on when it’s cold outside. I think I prefer this as a hot drink, although it tastes good when it cools too.
A really thoughtfully crafted rooibos tisane. This is one I’d highly recommend.
Angels Dream Tea Blend from English Tea Store
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: English Tea Store
Tea Description:
The Angels Dream Tea blend from English Tea Store is a heavenly tea with maple sweetness, blackberry pungency, full flavored Assam and a mystery green tea. We have sought the heavens to try to find the flavor befitting all the virtues of this tea’s namesake. The natural flavours of Maple and Wild Blackberry enhance the excellent teas we have selected from the tea world’s finest regions – Sri Lanka, Formosa and Assam (India).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Angels Dream Tea Blend from English Tea Store is one that I wish I had read the website description before I brewed the tea. Had I realized that there was green tea in this as well as black tea, I would have utilized a lower brewing temperature.
However, even with the boiling water and a full three minute steep time, this turned out really good. I can taste the sweet maple notes, the juicy blackberry, and I can taste the rich, malty Assam tea in the background. The green tea notes are a little more difficult to discern, but I will say that one place where I do notice the presence of the green tea is that this tea is lighter than a typical Assam tea.
There is some bitterness to this which is probably due to the Assam’s presence in the tea just as much a it is owing to the green tea being brewed at too hot a temperature. And while the bitterness is noticeable, it isn’t bothersome or off-putting. It’s there, but, I’m able to overlook it in favor of the other tasty flavors that are going on in this cup.
The maple is a prominent taste. It tastes the way I’d expect maple to taste: sweet and rich. The blackberry is sweet but there is some berry tartness to it too. The black tea base is rich, full-flavored and astringent. The astringency leaves the palate feeling slightly dry and clean at the finish.
It’s a good tea that would probably be even better had I brewed it properly, but it is a very forgiving tea! This is one that I think those who like a good flavored tea would find enjoyable!