The name alone had me with this tea. . .I mean being a lover of all things polka dot and all. . .
Polka Dot Bikini Organic Puerh is a wonderful blend of puerh tea, cocoa nibs, orange peel, fennel seeds and a few other ingredients. A blend that I have had before but never with orange peels that large added in. I ordered a box of sachets of this tea and a green tea sampler. I needed to know what this tea was all about.
Since Fraser Tea is a new tea company to me, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I received, immediately impressed me. I have already placed and received a much larger order and have plans to place another order very soon.
Each box of sachets was lovely assembled and each sachet was individually wrapped. Making the tea easier to transport and keep for those times where you need a tea asap and don’t have time to steep loose leaf. This particular tea had a lovely earthy smell with a slight citrus aroma. Really wonderful.
Brewed up my water 212F and allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes. Allowed the tea to cool for another 2-3 minutes and took my firsts sip. I was instantly in love. This tea has this wonderful silky smooth texture with notes of sweetness, earthiness, and herbaceous all in one tea sachet.
The puerh tea is solid-smooth, luxurious, and makes a wonderful base for the rest of the ingredients to play on. I don’t drink a lot of puerh, but from what I’ve had of the flavored variety, this is one of the best ones out there. With the dark tea base, the cocoa nibs become even more decadent adding to that silky luxurious mouth feel. Add in the citrus twist and fennel finish (not a strong fennel flavor by any means) and you have a wonderfully well balanced sweet treat.
Rich, sweet, citrus, earthy with a hit of chocolate. . and a touch of an herbal finish. . .really couldn’t ask for a better way to get you going and ready to take the day on.
I actually loved this tea so much that I took down half a box in one day and ordered 4 oz in my last order. I did notice that I was only able to get two steepings out of each sachet so I’m hoping I will be able to squeeze hopefully one more infusion out of the loose leaf.
For my first experience with Fraser Tea, I’m quite loving it and am excited to prep my tea kettle up to enjoy more teas from order!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Fraser Tea
Description
Sweet chocolate and licorice flavor with earthy citrus aroma
Puerh Tea*, Cocoa Nibs*, Orange Peel*, Fennel Seeds*, Eleuthero Root*, Organic Flavor (*) = Organic Certified.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Earl Grey Black Tea from Waterfalls Tea Company. . . . .
Waterfall Tea Company (AKA Waterfall Teas) is one of the companies I haven’t been able to dive into much thus far and I’m not really sure why!? I guess I just haven’t seen it around much and haven’t ordered it online yet.
About a month or two ago I re-visited Tea Leafs in Williamsville, NY, and came across a few of their teas that were available for sale and individually wrapped. I decided to buy a single bag just to try it out. The one I grabbed first was the one I decided to buy and that was their Organic Earl Grey.
Organic Earl Grey from Waterfall Tea Company is loose leaf in a biodegradable sachet. It’s what you would expect from an Earl Grey. Medium strength black tea and bergamot oil. The bergamot isn’t over the top nor is it whispering. It’s a nice middle-of-the road flavor. A nice SAFE tea to share with the masses!
I also appreciate the crisp and clean packaging, design, and presentation of Waterfall Teas. Everything is clearly marked and stated. They have the recognizable USDA Organic label along with Orthodox Union and Oregon Tilth labels.
In case you are not as familiar with the latter two labels…The OU (Orthodox Union) Kosher is the world’s largest and most widely recognized kosher certification agency, certifying over 800,000 products produced in more than 8,500 plants located in 100 countries around the world.
Oregon Tilth is a leading nonprofit certifier, educator, and advocate for organic agriculture and products since 1974. Over the past 40 years, Oregon Tilth has helped lead the way on moving organic agriculture from a “fringe alternative” movement into a research-based approach to sustainable food production. They played an integral role in the formation of the USDA National Organic Program, helped found the Organic Materials Research Institute and pushed to expand organic sustainability beyond agriculture to textiles and other products.
So there is a little education with your daily tea. I enjoyed the cuppa and the research while preparing this post for today. Organic Earl Grey from The Waterfall Tea Company is a good one to have on hand if you are short on time or want a pleasing cup to share with a group of friends!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Waterfall Tea Company
Description
This tea doesn’t appear to be available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Vanilla Black from The Toni Glass Collection. . . . . .
Vanilla is one of those flavors that always make a tea sound better. It is a standard flavor note in a lot of dessert teas and can range in flavor from creamy to sweet to fresh to bright and so much more. Tea company after tea company have vanilla tea offerings and yet they can taste world’s apart.
This is The Toni Glass Collection’s take on a vanilla black tea. I steeped the tea sachet for 3 minutes in near-boiling water, despite a recommended steeping time of 5 minutes.
The tea has a great vanilla flavor, like fresh baked cookies. Unfortunately, the vanilla is overshadowed by an astringent black tea base. Every now and again I catch fleeting notes of a french vanilla but that gives way to a bitter and chemical black base.
It’s a shame the base takes over because the scent of the vanilla promised some deliciousness that this tea just did not deliver. I wonder if the steeping parameters played a role in the off-taste so if I were to have this in the future, I think I would brew it low and slow in hopes of taming the base and letting the vanilla flavoring shine.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Toni Glass Collection
Description
A nostalgic Black tea that is infused with all your vanilla memories. This great tea boasts a beautiful natural sweetness and mouth watering flavor
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
My New Morning Cuppa #Slim from Wild Leaf Active Teas. . . .
Weight loss teas or diet teas are something that I typically stay away from. Every once in a while, one will jump out at me and I’ll try it, but end up usually giving the tea away because of the way too herbaceous flavor or overly spiced ginger notes.
So when Slim from Wild Leaf arrived at my door, I was skeptical on whether or not I would like the tea. This tea has a different flavor profile compared to those other weight loss teas I’ve tried in the past. Slim consists of puerh, Siberian gingseng, cranberry, cocoa nibs, and fennel. A unique combination for sure. The dry leaf had a sweet and savory aroma that I couldn’t get enough of. I quickly set my tea pot up to prep water so I could check this tea out. A quick note about this tea, this is a bagged tea but this isn’t your typically bagged tea. You can see gorgeous whole pieced inclusions and tea leaves in each pyramid or sachet.
With water prepped, I sat down to enjoying this tea, allowing the tea to steep for 4 minutes and cool for another moment or two. Took my first sip and I instantly wanted a blanket and a good book to snuggle up with. This tea has a lovely slightly chocolate malty undertone with a sweet (slightly tart) berry jam and slight herbal finish. The flavor that really stands out is this berry jam like tone that creates this wonderfully rich and robust cuppa that makes you want to gulp and devour this tea with abandonment.
The deep jammy richness this tea provides makes this tea a wonderful way to wake up in the morning, which I now do. I signed up for a monthly subscription plan ($8.99 for 15 sachets plus shipping) and have enjoyed this tea every morning for the last week or so. I will say that I have noticed a quicker pep in my step in the mornings but I can’t say it is because of this tea. It could just be the fact I have completely cut coffee out of my diet (besides the occasional iced coffee) or the fact that I’ve started a healthier diet and exercise routine. I haven’t noticed any weight loss but that isn’t why I love this tea anyway.
Regardless, I can’t get enough of this tea. This tea loves and gives such an amazing flavor that I’ve shared this tea with a friend who in turned bought a few tins of this tea for herself. Fresh, delicious, and one that completely took me by surprise by how much I adore the combo of flavors this tea delivers. To be completely honest, this tea is a bit hard to describe taste wise, but one that I’ve quickly become addicted to. My morning cuppa for now on for sure!
Slim is part of a line of teas to enjoy for those with an active life style. That is me for sure.
Check out Wild Leaf Tea at this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC this June. I won’t be able to attend, but I’ll be jealous of those who can!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Wild Leaf Tea
Description
Goodbye yo-yo. Hello cocoa. Rev up your metabolism and curb cravings naturally with this full flavored blend of pu-erh and Siberian ginseng deliciously flavored with cocoa nibs, cranberry, and fennel. Dieting has never been our thing, but we love any reason to use the word svelte more.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!