Green Dragon from Canton Tea Co.

green_dragonTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Canton Tea Co.

Tea Description:

Blended for us by Rare Tea Hunter, Phil Mumby, this is a base of China Green Sencha given a full makeover with the citrus kick of lemon zest, lemongrass, lemon oil – and ginger. The combination of the fresh, green grass sencha notes, the lemony flavour and the warming ginger is completed by the subtlest hint of liquorice root to give a lingering sweetness.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Yum!  When Canton Tea Co.asked me to try their new Green Dragon – I was excited!  I’ve been really impressed with the quality of teas that I’ve tried from Canton and I love the combination of lemon and ginger – so I was sure that I’d enjoy this new blend of theirs.

And I do!  The lemony notes are tart with just enough sweetness to them to keep me from puckering when I take a sip.  The warmth from the ginger is mild.  And the licorice root is barely noticeable – even those who don’t typically like licorice root would probably enjoy this because the licorice root doesn’t really stand out as an obvious flavor.  It’s more like a hint of sweetness toward the tail.

The Chinese Sencha is a sweet, fresh taste with a hint of grassy flavor.  It has a pleasant creaminess to it, light and buttery.  I like the way this buttery quality melds with the lemon-y notes, creating an almost lemon custard type of experience with each sip.  It’s very smooth.

As I continue to sip, the warmth from the ginger builds slightly in the back of the throat.  It never gets really warm though.  It’s a very mild, gentle peppery note that offers contrast to the creaminess of the tea and the tangy lemon notes.

A really lovely tea – it’s a delightful summertime tea that tastes great as a hot tea or a refreshing iced tea!

Vanilla Mint Chai from Rishi Tea

VanillaMintChaiTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Pu-erh

Where to Buy: Rishi Tea

Tea Description:

Creamy, rich textured and inviting, this pu-erh based chai is unlike any other. Its delicate balance of silky and luscious vanilla bean, bright and soothing peppermint and sweet cinnamon transform this chai into something magical.

Tasting Notes: Decadent vanilla bean and sweet Saigon Cinnamon complement smooth, rich Pu-erh tea

Ingredients: Organic and Fair Trade Certified™ pu-erh tea, organic peppermint, organic cinnamon, organic vanilla bean, organic licorice root.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have never had Rishi teas (at least not that I could remember) before nor have I had a lot of Pu-erh.  So when I saw this the other day while I was online, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Steeped this one up per the instructions on the box.  2 tbsp with 1 cup  of boiling water on my stove top.  Brought the mixture to a boil and then added a cup of almond milk and brought the mixture up to a simmer.  Once I was at that point I removed the pot from the heat and let the tea do its thing and steeped for 3 minutes.  After I steeped it for 3 minutes, I added some honey to my mug and strained the tea into the mug.  Seems like a  lot of steps for a  simple cup of tea but this is anything but a simple cup of tea.

This chai mixture has pu-erh instead of black tea or green.  I can’t say I’ve ever had a pu-erh chai blend before.  I am a newbie when it comes to pu-erh so please bare with me.

First sip and I was immediately greeted with this beautiful blend of earth tones and sweet cinnamon spices. Sweet and savory at the same time.  The vanilla just added to the sweetness/creaminess factor and the almond milk brought out more of the earthiness and gave the tea a well rounded balance.    The mint gave the tea a refreshing after taste.  It was very light and faint.  I could barely pick it up.

I think I finished the cup in about 2 minutes flat.  I really enjoyed this.  My first voyage into pu-erh chai was a success.  I think I may have to check out some pu-erh blends now.

Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas

Lemon-Ginger-GinsengTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Rington’s Premium English Teas

Tea Description:

Naturally caffeine free, the Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tea is a refreshing and invigorating infusion that balances the lemon and ginger flavours.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Do you ever go through that moment when – as you’re brewing a cup of tea – you think to yourself:  what was I thinking, choosing this tea?  I actually go through that sort of moment more than I care to admit to.

And I experienced that moment as I was brewing this Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas.  I mean, I like lemon and I like ginger and I actually enjoy the two together quite a bit.  But ginseng?  I think I’ve mentioned more than once here on this blog that I’m not a fan of it.  So, what possessed me to grab this tea to try it?

I don’t know.  But, now that it’s brewed, I might as well try it, right?

I brewed one bag in 6 ounces of hot water (195°F) for 5 minutes.

The aroma offers a strong lemony note with hints of ginger.  I also detect an earthy ginseng aroma.  Ugh.

Fortunately, the ginseng smells stronger than it tastes!  Happy day!

The lemon is the strongest flavor of the cup and it’s bright and invigorating.  It’s not overly tart, it’s more of a sweet lemon note with hints of tangy.  But I’m not puckering here.

The ginger is somewhat subdued, it’s not an overly peppered flavor from the spice of the ginger.  It’s warm enough to offer some contrast to the zesty flavor of the lemon but not so spicy that it distracts from the lemon.  This cup is really all about the lemon!

I can also taste the slightest hint of a cinnamon-y flavor to this.  It’s very slight and it complements the ginger in a very enjoyable way.

What I don’t taste a lot of – thankfully – is ginseng.  Even when I attempt to focus on the ginseng flavor to determine how much of it I actually do taste, I don’t taste a lot.  A slight earthiness – that’s it!  And the earthy notes meld favorably with the earthy notes of the ginger and cinnamon.

It really is as I said earlier, this tea is really all about the lemon.  This would be something nice to keep on hand for those times when you’re feeling a bit under the weather and want something lively to sip.  It would go nicely with a dollop of honey and would be soothing on a sore throat.

It’d also be nice if you’re cold-brewing some basic black tea – add one of these tea bags in along with the black tea and you’ll have a pleasant lemony flavor to your iced tea.

Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by this tea!

Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qui Hao from 52Teas

Black-Silk-Chocolate-MilkTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Tea Description:

Mount Wuyi, in Fujian China is primarily known for oolongs, but this rare black tea is harvested only a short time each year. It is naturally low in tannins, giving it an exquisitely smooth finish which, combined with its natural chocolate notes, earned it the nickname “Black Silk”. We’ve upped the ante by adding some organic chocolate and marshmallow flavors, cacao nibs and marshmallow root.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

When I read my SororiTea Sister Nichole’s review of this Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qui Hao from 52Teas, I was eager to try the tea out for myself!  If you’re a frequent reader of our little blog here, you may have picked up on the fact that I’m a little bit of a chocolate freak!  So this tea is right up my alley!

Mmm!  The Qui Hao black tea is a delightful choice for the base of this tea.  It is a rich, satisfying, well-rounded tea and it compliments the flavor of the chocolate notes.  There is a creaminess from the marshmallow but it seems a little subtle.  But that’s alright, because for me, this tea is about the chocolate.

The combination of the rich, malty Qui Hao and the chocolate flavors creates a dark chocolate type of flavor and the hint of marshmallow enhances the overall sweetness of it.  I don’t usually add milk to my teas these days, but after sipping on this for a while, I decided I’d see how it tasted with a splash of milk.

I have to say that I think that this is even better with the addition of dairy.  It brings the marshmallow notes forward a little bit without obscuring the chocolate notes.  It adds just a hint of the milk chocolate flavors that I think that this particular tea needed because I wasn’t really getting “chocolate milk” until I added the dairy.  The milk just brought it all together very nicely.

Overall, a really pleasing chocolate tea.  If you’re a chocoholic tea lover – you should definitely give this one a try!

Lemon Meringue Mao Zhen Hair Needle Green Tea from 52Teas

Lemon-Meringue-Mao-ZhenTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Tea Description:

Wow, that’s a mouthful. And this tea is a mouthful of deliciousness. This organic Chinese green tea is sweet with just a hint of almost salmon-like butteriness. I’ve paired it with lemon verbena, marshmallow roots and lemon-, marshmallow- and pastry- organic flavors. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off with this one..

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I was excited when I saw the announcement for this Lemon Meringue Mao Zhen Hair Needle Green Tea as the tea of the week for March 23rd from 52Teas!  I love Lemon Meringue Pie!  And I got even more excited after I read our SororiTea Sister Nichole’s review of this tea.  I really couldn’t wait until I was able to find the time to sit back and enjoy this tea!

My first sip or two of this tea were not as impressive as the rest of the cup for me.  I took those first couple of sips when the tea was still very hot because to be honest, I couldn’t wait to try it.  I mean, hello?  Lemon Meringue?  I want!

But the tea hadn’t cooled enough yet for the flavors to really emerge the way they began to after a few more minutes of cool time.  After about six or seven minutes, the flavors really began to establish themselves in the cup.  Now I can taste the tangy lemon notes – imagine lemon curd but not the lemon curd you’d buy on the grocery store shelves!  Think to a homemade lemon curd or even to your (insert name of baking relative here)’s lemony filling for their lemon meringue pie.  That’s the lemon flavor I’m talking about!  It’s bright and sunny and vibrantly lemon-y, but not so tart that I’m puckering.  There’s enough sweetness to the ‘filling’ taste that I’m getting a strong, assertive lemon-y flavor but I’m not puckering as if I just bit into a lemon wedge.

After the lemon note, I taste the fluffy marshmallow notes that mimic the sweet, creamy meringue flavor and even a hint of buttery pie pastry.  Delicious!

And I’m happy to say that the green tea flavor isn’t lost in this tea.  I taste grassy, vegetal notes from the green tea.  Instead of “melding” or “marrying” with the lemon meringue pie flavors to create a unified flavor, this tea tastes very much to me like lemon meringue pie + green tea.  It tastes like a nice balance of the two and I like the way I’m getting a slightly savory flavor from the green tea that contrasts with the sweet, dessert-like flavor of the lemon meringue pie.

The second infusion was even nicer than the first, because the lemon tones down just a little (still a very lemon-y tea!) and the green tea has become a silkier, smoother taste with a hint of creaminess that works beautifully with the marshmallow notes.

A really delightful tea.  I think this particular tea is best served hot.  Not piping hot like my first couple of sips were, but after it’s cooled a few minutes so that the flavors can develop but before it becomes cold to the point that it’s like iced tea.  I find that the flavors become a little more muddied when the tea becomes cold.  So drink it while it’s hot and it’ll be like you’re eating a piece of your favorite lemon meringue pie but without the fat and calories!