Everything about Tea Break blend from Plum Deluxe feels like a spring or summertime brew. The white tea base has a gentle caffeine level and flavor strength, well-suited for a for a light afternoon break, and holds up when brewed both hot or cold. I always associate white teas with classy tea cups or brightly colored iced tea travel mugs. There is just something both classical and whimsical about white tea blends.
This Tea Break blend is very fragrant in the dry leaf, with lush tangerine and sweet melon in equal parts. The leaves smell like a fresh bowl of fruit salad, or a fruity sorbet. Brewed, the tea carries much of the same flavors. There are notes of bright citrus, but the predominant flavor is honeydew melon. The buttery, earthy white tea matches well with the creamy and juicy melon. The melon provides a smooth mouthfeel, and keeps the tangerine from being too sour or biting. The tangerine adds some much-needed liveliness to the laid-back melon, the two flavors working in harmony.
If brewing hot, keep your water temperatures a little lower to be gentle on the white tea leaves. Also try this as a cold brew, where the melon flavors make the blend extra refreshing on a warm day. Versatile and naturally sweet, Tea Break blend makes it easy to take a moment to yourself and relax with a cup of tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description:
Sometimes you just need a break. And whether it’s 5 minutes or 5 hours, our Tea Break white tea is the perfect companion. A fresh, flavorful Fujian white tea base is paired with tangerine and honeydew melon flavors that create not just a heavenly aroma, but a truly relaxing, calming, nourishing, thoughtful cup of tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tangerine Jasmine Pearls Green Tea from Liquid Proust Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Liquid Proust Teas
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Jasmine pearls, tangerine (very small amounts), flavoring
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Again, thanks to Andrew at Liquid Proust Teas for the sample.
I’m a big fan of tangerines (currently there are about seven in my fridge), so I’m definitely excited to try this blend especially given how much juicy tangerine I’m smelling just from the dry leaf. I decided to cold brew my sample because for jasmine teas with a green base I prefer drinking them cold over hot.
I definitely think this comes off as a pretty traditional green jasmine pearl tea; a good balance of both floral and vegetal flavours. It’s definitely one of the better green jasmine blends I’ve had as well given how natural and unobtrusive the floral notes are. However the tangerine, which is the twist here, is pretty light handed. The sweet citrusy tangerine note really only pops up at the end of the sip when the jasmine is dying out, leaving for a tasty finish but slight feeling that this tea is uncompleted. I know that Andrew was aiming to be subtle with the tangerine but it is more gentle than I’d anticipated it being.
However, overall I really appreciate the unconventional take on a traditional tea. I also have to point out that as someone who isn’t a fan of green/jasmine pairings I’m obviously not the target audience and I was probably looking for that additional tangerine flavor more than someone who likes green jasmine teas on their own would have.
Juicy Orange Pu’erh from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’erh & Black Tea
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
Something magical happens when you combine rich, earthy pu’erh with sweet, juicy orange. Somehow the result is so much more than the sum of its parts – deliciously fresh and fruity, yet undeniably good for you. Whether you sip it hot or over ice, it’s super-soothing and addictively refreshing. With a tea this happy in your arsenal, who knows what else might go your way? Things are looking cup…
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a relatively new offering from DAVIDsTEA and it appears to be a part of their regular line up of teas, and not a limited edition seasonal blend or from one of their constant limited edition collections. It’s nice to see the company expanding their Pu’Erh offerings, though I was skeptical about this one even before seeing other people review it; it seems relatively similar to their Garcinia Goodness blend.
Reviews on this one seem to be fairly polar, and I was actually relatively sure I’d land on the side of people who dislike this blend. This smells very juicy, and tangerine-like dry though. Enough so that I didn’t let my prejudice get the better of me and I picked up a small sample in store to try.
Steeped up this actually isn’t anything like I thought it’d taste. Which I suppose is good because, like I’ve already expressed, I was doubtful this would be that good. There’s a sparkling effervescence to this blend. Right off the bat it comes through clear as crystal in the smell and is capture very well in the taste as well. I can see it making a phenomenal tea soda!
I’m really, really tasting the tangerine in the blend which is so lovely and different from a lot of citrus heavy blends. The regular orange flavour is quite strong too and has a wonderful, fresh taste but it’s not nearly as interesting as the tangerine. Overall the flavour reminds me loosely of orange tic tacs? Sweet, candy orange with a little bit of tang to it. Surprisingly I don’t really taste anything that particularly reminds me of hibiscus? That’s certainly a relief. Maybe there’s not a lot of it in the blend, or it just blends into the tangerine really well.
As for the base; it’s hard for me to believe this is pu’erh or black tea (the blend uses both). It’s just really light overall and the flavourings are really the focus here. I suppose I do taste the pu’erh just a little though; there’s a rawness to the fruit that tastes a little earthy in the finish. The mouthfeel of this one is nice too; kind of thick with that sparkling quality.
I’m pleasantly surprised by the blend. I didn’t buy a lot but I’ll be able to have a few more cups and if they’re like this one at all I could, in fact, see this as a blend I’d buy more of! It seems like it’d work as an iced tea as well, so it could be a wonderful spring or summer companion.
Tangerine Dream Oolong Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Chinese tangerine peel and California orange peel surround Phoenix Dan Cong (Mi Lan Xiang & Yu Lan Xiang) loose leaf oolong teas lightly coated with orange blossom flower extract and tangerine oil. This tea is part of M&K’s Original 20 Blends.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! This Tangerine Dream Oolong Tea from M&K’s Tea Company has a really lovely tangerine flavor to it. I like how the tangerine complements the Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong tea.
To brew this, I decided to go ahead and use my Kati Tumbler instead of my gaiwan, mostly because after examining the sampler package, it appeared to be just the right amount of leaf for my tumbler. So I poured the sampler pouch into the basket of my Kati and added 12 ounces of 180°F water. I let it steep for 3 minutes (following a 15 second rinse).
I really like this. The tangerine flavor is not overwhelming. I like that I taste the lovely Oolong tea above the tangerine, but the tangerine is an obvious flavor. It definitely tastes like tangerine. The background suggests flavors of sweet potato and honey. The texture is silky.
And of course, it IS an Oolong so you know I’ve got to resteep it, right? When I resteeped the leaves, I added 30 seconds brew time to it.
The second cup is flavorful, although some of the tangerine notes have waned. I’m still picking up on faint tangerine flavors but this cup is much more about the Oolong than the tangerine. Which is alright because this is a mighty fine Oolong tea!
The tangerine notes are most noticeable in the aftertaste now, where I’m picking up on a lightly sweet, citrus note. This cup is offering a stronger honey taste, although it’s a little less ‘silky’ in texture. The first cup was definitely smoother as I detected no astringency with the first cup, and now I’m getting just a wee bit. Still not a lot of astringency, but I’m noticing a little bit of dryness to this cup.
The flavors are a lot more mellow with this infusion. The sweet potato notes are not as apparent as they were in the previous cup. I’m tasting distant woodsy notes now. This is a different tea than the first cup, but it’s still really enjoyable and definitely worth the effort of the resteep.
Boomstick Black Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Boomstick combines tangerine, grapefruit, and bergamot flavors with our Kenyan Obsidian tea and orange peel pieces for a citrus lovers dream. Each citrus flavor can be detected on its own but is also cohesive. This tea is a bit of an adventure as each sip has a different dominant flavor. The citrus flavor is not overly aggressive, with just a mild tartness. We highly recommend Boomstick as a breakfast tea.
Read more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
This review is scheduled to be published just after Butiki announces their final sale. Yes, I’ve said it a couple of times on here, very soon, Butiki Teas will soon be no more. And while that does make me sad to say goodbye to a truly great tea company, I am happy that this company came to the decision not because they needed to close due to slow sales or anything like that, but because the owner, Stacy, wants to focus on other things now. In her announcement to Steepster, she said:
When I first started this company, my husband asked me to come up with a goal of how much in sales we could ever dream of making in a year. Well, thanks to you all, we have quadrupled that number! I would have never imagined we would have become this successful and I am so grateful to all of my customers for making us what we are today. Thank you so very much.
Reading that brought a smile to my face. In this age when it seems like so many companies are struggling to stay out of the red, it’s great to read that a small company did so well. And a tea company at that! It’s truly inspiring.
And it would seem that I am – at least partially – the inspiration for the creation of this tea! When she mentioned that she had bergamot, grapefruit and tangerine flavors, I suggested that she combine these three flavors with a black tea base. At the time, I was thinking she use her Sansia black tea base – having enjoyed it so much with the Chocolate Chili Truffle tea – I thought that the strong honey tones of the black tea would pair nicely with the citrus fruits.
Instead, Stacy chose her Kenyan Obsidian as a base which Stacy describes as “grapefruity, malty, and woody.” I also taste a sweetness to this and I don’t know if it’s the tea itself or the combination of the tea plus these particular flavors but I do get a light honey note that’s quite pleasant with the citrus fruit.
I thought about adding a dollop of honey to the cup to enhance those tones, but, I kind of like this straight up. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and the citrus gives it a tangy flavor – tart … but not pucker-y tart. Just enough tart that I can feel my taste buds sort of perk up (especially in the finish) from the tart.
This is a really lovely celebration of citrus flavor. Butiki suggests this as a breakfast tea. It would make a wonderful breakfast accompaniment (perhaps instead of fruit juice!) But I also found that this is LOVELY iced. It’s very refreshing.
This will be my final review of Butiki Teas here on SororiTea Sisters (I do still have a couple of teas of theirs that I’ll be drinking and talking about over on Steepster!) so I wish Stacy all the luck in the world with whatever adventure she takes on next. I raise my teacup to her and say, Bravo! And thank you for bringing us so many wonderful teas – you (and your teas!) will be missed.
And … as you head on over to Butiki Teas to see what’s on sale (and what’s left!) be sure to add some of this tea to your cart. You’ll be glad you did!