With the new semester starting and my mind trying to keep up with all the things around it, I was more than down for a nice cup of soothing tea. I was glad to find just want I was searching for with this relaxing blend.
Meditative Mind is a very soft tea where your taste buds will be lightly touched by the flavors of the jasmine flower and the rose petals. And as I said before in my previous reviews, this power couple of these two flowers always is a good base for any tea in my book. Not to mention the white tea does a fabulous job of joining these two together.
Additionally, I am glad that the flavors of this tea are very subdued for that is the point of this tea. In my opinion, this should be a tea that you drink when you are trying to wind down either by listening to the rain or some light music. Giving you a chance to really experience each flavor without distraction.
Also, a great thing about this tea is that is moderately inexpensive. For a 1.5-ounce tin is $12.95 but if you buy a 2-ounce tin you save some change by paying only $12.25. But if you are still unsure The Tea Spot also offers $3 samples which according to their site is good for five 8 ounce cups, which I think is a perfect trial for any tea. Another thing to feel good about if you do purchase this tea is that 10% of all The Tea Spots’ sales go to cancer and community wellness programs. So, while you enjoy the warmth of one of their numerous teas you can be confident that your purchase is helping those who are less fortunate.
Now, will I purchase this tea in the future? Most definitely! Because not only is it a good blend for stress relief and relaxation but my money is also helping to maintain “the on–going wellness of cancer survivors and facilitating healthy habits to decrease cancer risks”.
See you for the next cuppa! Kara
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Description
Our beloved blend of pure Chinese white tea, rosebuds and jasmine pearls creates an experience of aromatherapy that sharpens the mind and arouses the senses. The exotic floral scent of night–blooming Jasmine is uplifting and soothing, and is used as an anti-depressant in herbal medicine. Rosebuds are used to ease nervous tension and stress, and have a calming effect on the mind. This combination works together to enhance the light, subtle flavor of the white tea leaves. This tea brews into a golden liquor with a very soothing fragrance, and is perfect before, during, or after a stressful day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
White Sage and Wild Mint from Juniper Ridge
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Juniper Ridge
Tea Description:
White Sage has a rich, earthy, minty flavor that made it a favorite tea for many of the Native American tribes and early settlers of the Southwest. I like to sip this tea during the wet winters here in Northern California and let my mind drift off to the hot desert country where White Sage grows. So many backpacking trips over the years in that beautiful, sunbaked country—maybe I’ll just sit here in the shade of this Palo Verde tree and let some of the afternoon heat pass while I nod off to sleep with the smell of Wild Sage in the air . . . Now you can enjoy this classic Southwestern tea and dream your own daydreams of the big rock, White Sage desert country.
WILDCRAFTED FROM THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS OF THE WEST · 10% OF PROFITS DONATED TO DEFENDING WESTERN WILDERNESS
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I grow sage in my garden – tons of it, so I could easily say it is one of my favorite herbs. This tea has such a perfect aroma and I know they are using quality sage in this blend.
Normally I would not be that excited to try a bagged tea, but anything that says SAGE on it is something that peeks my interest! I had never heard of this tea company before but thanks to Anne, my SoroiTEA Sister, I was lucky to try this tea! Thank you Anne!
When I visted the Juniper Ridge website I was delighted to see they sell other items as well. I love essential oils, hand crafted soaps, colognes, and such, so I spent some time really pouring over their site. I love their devotion to wilderness see more info here.
For a bagged tea, this bag packs quite a punch! It has a lovely, delightful, sage flavor, and a minty, but not overpoweringly mint taste. Now keep in mind I do love mint, almost as much as sage, so its not like my taste buds are delicate to a mint flavor, this may be far more minty to you than it is to me, but what really speaks to me is that the mint, being somewhat of a strong flavor element, does not take away from the excellent sage in this tea.
There is also a nice spiciness to this tea as well but not like a chai, more like a black pepper note, and it also tastes like the sage may have been roasted a little.
This tea is quite relaxing. I mean really very soothing, centering, grounding, a perfect tea for meditation or before bedtime. There is something about drinking a tisane from nature, that is pure and unadulterated.
I love how this tisane makes me feel, warm, cozy, light hearted, relaxed, and happy.
An experience everyone should have.
Sun Moon Lake Black Tea from Fong Mong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black Hand-plucked Sun Moon Lake Black Tea Loose leaves
Where to Buy: Fong Mong Tea on eBay
Tea Description:
Sun Moon Lake black tea can be declared “Red Treasure” in central Taiwan. Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County is surrounded with mountains and lakes with remarkable environment and typical climate. Heavy moist and stable yearly average temperature make the tea trees grow thick and rich tea leaves which produce carmine and perfectly clear liquor. Its unique sweet aroma and strong mint taste make it truly unforgettable. It is also the best ingredient to make “bubble tea” (the most famous Taiwanese tea drink on earth).
Taster’s Review:
I was thrilled that Fong Mong Tea was offering some samplers a while back.
They provided a sampler pack that would allow two steeping sessions gongfu style.
I love it when a company includes enough in a sample to have more than one session. It allows for a learning curve if needed and for trying different steeping methods if one prefers.
I had the first session soon after I received the sample and now I am enjoying the second session.
I had been saving the rest of my sample for a day I needed a really relaxing and unique tea. A morning when I didn’t have to rush around, and didn’t want to. Today is that day.
Upon the initial sip my first thought was “is this a black tea?” well of course I knew it was but the flavor profile was so green. Fresh, vegetal, brothy, like juicy fresh from the garden green beans. I was slightly taken aback, although the flavor was absolutely delicious it was not what I was expecting. This prompted me to check my tasting notes from my first sampling of this tea! Indeed I also had felt the same way three months earlier when first trying Sun Moon Lake by Fong Mong.
I continued to sip and picked up mushroom notes, tree bark, and a hint of spice that caused a tingling sparkly sensation on the tongue. Ahhh, now the dark notes are beginning to show themselves lending to the black tea profile.
More of the black tea notes began to ring out loud and clear with a slight malt flavor, a milk chocolate flavor, and an oak moss flavor, however those light lilting green vegetal flavors never totally faded!
Lovely!
This is a very meditative tea. As a black tea I am not sure I would want this as my first cup in the morning as I tend to need far more of a punch in the face tea to wake up, however this is my second tea for today and its helping me ease into my afternoon beautifully. Its relaxing, assisting me in focusing on tasks I need to complete, and helping my creative juices to begin to flow gently, calmly, and with ease.
Now I have an admission to make. I used a lower water temperature than suggested. The reason why is quite simply that I was impatient and did not want to heat my water up. My Zojirushi water heater was already at 175 from the night before, and I just went ahead and used that temp for this tea. Granted I was taking a risk with this precious sample, being that one more session was all that was remaining. I have no regrets. This is obviously a forgiving tea, and of course it was not going to get burnt by over heated water but I have also not lost any flavors either. This tastes exactly as I remember it and matches my previous tasting notes perfectly. If nothing else perhaps steeping at this lower temperature will prolong my session allowing for even more steeps than I would normally have got. I am on my third steep now and it is ever bit as good as the first and I plan to keep on steeping until it stops giving.
I am surprised, actually shocked that this is not already holding a place in my permanent stash, but I am so happy that I had some left over as a reminder to place an order with Fong Mong Tea today!
In my previous tasting notes I said that this tea was like a soup created in the kitchen of a culinary master, one that needed to be allowed to simmer for a long time to allow the true flavors to develop. A broth that needed to age like a fine wine. This tea speaks to you as if it is knowing of secrets held within old trees, running streams that have spread gossip from one watering hole to the next and the memories of vegetation along the way. Sun Moon Lake is one that needs to be allowed to take you on a journey to unknown territories, allowed to tell you its stories. This is a slow, easy sipper tea, again not my preference for morning when I really need to suck a tea down in light speed to get “my fix”. This tea is one to be savored and appreciated.