Rose Petals, both the name of this tea and, of course, a key ingredient. Rose petals, ceylon teas, and natural flavors. Basically this tea took a floral base and added a floral flavoring.With no recommended steeping I followed my heart and steeped this for 3 minutes in 190F water.
The end result is…surprise…floral. A little bit sweet from the rose but also a little perfumey and dry from the ceylon base. Think potpurri sprinkled with sugar. Granted I am probably not this teas intended audience since I don’t like floral or ceylons to begin with but sometimes teas with these ingredients have won me over. Alas, that is not the case here.
This tea claims to taste of sweet romance but this is not the relationship I am looking.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Can Company
Description
Description: The taste of sweet romance. Delicate, fragrant and soft as a flower, this rose tea is smooth perfection. Enjoy love in a cup, and the glow of good health delivered by abundant antioxidants. Relaxing rose tea can also relieve cramps.
Ingredients: An Aromatic Blend of Ceylon Teas, Rose Petals and Natural Flavoring, Contains Caffeine
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose Water Shortbread from A Quarter To Tea. . .
When I saw the name of this tea, I was immediately intrigued. I’ve never seen rosewater shortbread before and, in fact, I didn’t even know that it was a “thing”. To be honest I find it very creative and now I need to find a recipe for this shortbread! Especially after trying the tea because this flavor combo is heavenly!
First off when smelling the dry leaf of this white tea blend, I could instantly smell cookies. Once steeped, that cookie smell stays. There is a hint of that floral rose, but it isn’t overpowering and I think that the vanilla cookie flavor is more dominant. There is also a hint of cinnamon sugar. When it comes to the taste, the white tea is very sweet and fluffy and it compliments the cookie, vanilla, rose, and cinnamon notes. I feel like this is a really well done and realistic tea and it would be a great dessert replacement tea. If you are craving cookies but can’t have any because you’re on a diet, this will totally satiate your craving! It is a delicious blend that is best enjoyed hot on a cool summer evening! A must try from A Quarter to Tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Sweetly floral white tea with vanilla, butter and a touch of cinnamon.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Emily Dickinson’s Jasmine Tea Blend – Simpson and Vail. . . .
Now I have to start this off by saying that I am a sucker for author inspired tea blends. So it goes without saying that you are sure to find me reviewing more in the near future. Which shouldn’t be surprising since what is better than a cup of tea and a good book?
Now I think that this tea was simply delightful. It is not too strong and not too subtle, it has a perfect balance in my opinion. As a matter of fact when I was drinking this tea it was like it started to clear my head. Now I don’t mean completely like a lavender tea would do, but to the point where I could think about things. Now since I go to college I began to think about things I could do for my final that is coming up but not only that I can imagine this tea being a perfect companion when I am writing for a more creative venture.
I was also surprised that this tea had little to no dry notes in it whatsoever. And in my experience with jasmine, there would always be slight, somewhat powerful dryness to it. But I believe that this a soft and balanced tea because of the ingredients. The jasmine tea is a beautiful binder for the rose petals, jasmine blossoms, marigold petals and blue cornflower petals. It goes without saying if you have read any of my previous reviews, that I have always loved the pairing of jasmine and rose. In my book, jasmine and rose will always be the power couple.
Now when I was in the process of brewing my cup I had a look at the tea leaves and apart from the enjoyment of finding little jasmine blossoms I was happy to see plenty of blue cornflower petals. Now, for those who don’t know, my favorite tea of all time is Lady Grey and that contains, you guessed it, blue cornflower. And I believe that the blue cornflower is a perfect addition to this tea for it adds a nice subtle, sugary sweetness to the blend.
On top of the delightfully delicate tasting tea the price is not at all bad either. It is $9.75 for a 4 oz tin but if you don’t want the tin you can save about $3 and pay $6.90 for a bag of the same size. Along with a great price this tea also has deep connection with the talented poet we know as Emily Dickinson. As the description reads on the bottom of this review, this tea was based off of Ms. Dickenson’s garden, which was a place that she got most of her inspiration from for her poetry.
All in all, I believe that this a beautiful tribute to Emily Dickinson and I will be purchasing this for my ever growing collection of teas in the future. (My collection is very expansive. If you don’t believe me, head over to my Instagram and I usually post updates on how big it has gotten.)
See you for the next cuppa!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:
Emily Dickinson was born on December 10th, 1830 and lived in a home that was central to Amherst political society thanks to her father and brothers. Growing up around powerful men prepared Dickinson for a life of the same, but society dictated that, as a woman, she was relegated to seemingly less meaningful ventures. Her anger at this slight comes across in her poetry and letters where she explored complex ideas of meaning and self while examining the smallest details of the world around her. She withdrew herself from society and lived in relative solitude until her death. Only a few of her poems were made public during her lifetime, but four years after her demise, a collection of poems was published and met with popular and critical acclaim. Her poems reveal a complicated mind that examined itself with as much attention to detail as it examined the world. Dickinson’s defiance of categorization and simplification make her a popular poet to study even today.
In the years she spent away from society, Emily Dickinson cultivated an extensive garden. In it, she grew jasmine flowers, cornflowers, roses, and many other flowers, plants and herbs. These flowers appear repeatedly in her poetry so our blend had to be floral. We created a delightful combination of jasmine tea and rose petals that brews to a light ecru cup with long green leaves and rose petal accents. This delicate tea hits you with a strong jasmine taste that’s sweetened and mellowed with the subtle flavors of the rose petals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Cuppa That is Akin to Wilde’s Garden – NovelTea’s Wilde’s Rosy Tea Blend
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ~Oscar Wilde
And that is exactly how I felt about this tea. I wanted to enjoy over and over and I couldn’t get enough! And as the title suggests, I feel that when I drink this tea I am enjoying this beverage in a garden full of freshly bloomed roses while the door that leads into the garden has some jasmine incense wafting out of it.
But before I get into my full review here are the specifics. This tea is made up of a lovely blend of organic jasmine green tea and a rose-blended bergamot. The site doesn’t dictate how long to steep it so I just went with my gut and steeped it for a good 3 minutes and that method seemed to work perfectly. Lastly, the price for this tea is not too bad for you only pay $14.99 for a 3 oz bag which is about $3 dollars more than the 2 oz Rose Petal China tea that I have. Now if you want the beautiful “Picture of Earl Gray” novel tea tin that will set you back $29, which includes the 3 oz bag of tea as well. As a side note, I am honestly obsessed with the tin and I will get it in the near future.
Now to the taste of the tea, which is just beautiful, simply beautiful. It does mimic a black tea with that bitter fruity taste that is the jasmine flower. But don’t fret if you are not a fan of the slight bitterness that the jasmine offers for it is mellowed out by the soft green tea that is paired with. Now to the rose flavor which pairs perfectly with the jasmine. I will just say that I absolutely love roses in my tea. So the roses in this tea were absolutely delightful. And if you are wondering what roses taste like remember the aroma of a fresh rose and that is how they taste; a weird perfumey, watery sweet. It is definitely something I urge tasting but then again I am a rose lover so I am a bit biased.
Now as I drank this delicious tea I was instantly reminded of the beginning of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Mr. Oscar Wilde himself:
“The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.”
All in all regardless of if you are a fan of Wilde or not this tea is delicious and refreshingly different compared to the other rose teas that I have tried. I am now officially a lover of this blend and I look forward to seeing what else the brand comes out with! My hopes are that there will be a Jane Eyre or a Lovecraft inspired blend.
See you for the next cuppa!
Kara
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: NovelTeas
Description:
The delicate flavorings and novel-inspired decorations of The Picture of Earl Grey™ may deceive you at first. This tin and tea provide for an exquisitely deceptive and Wildely elegant experience for any new collector. Organic jasmine green tea and a rose-blended bergamot radiate hedonism and reflect your eternal beauty as you sip.
Inspired by Irish author Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ it makes a great gift for the book lover in your life.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hand Blended Almond Flavored Green Tea Treat from Storehouse Tea. . . .
I have tried a lot of teas that are named some variation of sweet almond. It is always a green tea, but they all do not taste the same. Some are very much like marzipan, others are more so the taste of green tea. This one, by Storehouse Teas, is more the latter than the former. Which is good, sometimes you don’t want that overly sweet marzipan taste!
The smell of this sweet almond tea is most definitely sweet almond with slight marzipan. I added just a tad of agave though because on taste, it was not as sweet as it smells. It actually was a really decent green tea, with a prominent green tea taste. Much less marzipan that I would have expected. So, if you’re not usually a fan of marzipan but you want a sweet almond tea, you would enjoy this one.
This definitely has nutty undertones, and they blend really well with the cool and crisp vegetal flavor of the green tea. Its very light, very smooth, and does really well with an addition of addition of agave. The rose petals also add a floral tone that blends well with the other components. I think this is one of my favorite sweet almond green teas that I’ve tried! I really like how its light. I don’t always like when the flavor is light, though, but with this it really works. I would recommend trying if you like green tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Storehouse Tea
Description
This blend of mellow sencha and energizing green yerba mate is a restorative aromatic blend of sweet almonds and coconut. It captivates not only with its striking look, but also with its fragrant aroma and pallet pleasing taste. Sencha and mate are known for their bountiful antioxidants, mood enhancers, energy and aid in weight loss.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!