Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
This delicate pink cup is truly scrumptious! Our Pai Mu Tan white tea is the perfect base for the delicious guava and strawberry flavors, with their complex, fruity aroma and full flavor. Delicious hot or cold!
Ingredients: White tea, organic hibiscus, cornflower petals, marigold flowers and Guava and Natural Strawberry flavors.
Brew: 2 tsp tea in 8 oz. water (at 175°), steep for 4 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Strawberry Guava White Tea from Simpson and Vail is a lovely strawberry tropical treat for the hot days of summer. White flavored teas can be very hit or miss. Sometimes the flavor is spot on, other times, not so much. White tea has such a delicate flavor that sometimes adding different flavors just muddies the flavor.
The look of the dry leaf is something to behold. Gorgeous blue and yellow pops of color amongst a green background. I scooped a few heap fulls into my infuser and steeped the tea. They recommend steeping this tea at 175 for about 4 minutes. I’ve found those recommendations to be pretty spot on.
First sip and this tea is a pretty marvelous example of a flavored white tea. Delicate yet full of flavor. Light floral notes mixed with strawberry tones and a subtle tartness that actually adds a lovely contrast and definition to the tea. This is one of those teas that needs to be shared with others with gorgeous matching cups and saucers. This tea is dainty yet full of flavors. Really great example of a flavored white tea.
Simpson & Vail has a really unique concept on their site. They encourage their customers to create new and different foods using their teas. From this particular tea, a customer created a jello. A great idea and one that I can’t wait to try!
Bangkok Green Tea -Nectar Fine Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Nectar Fine Teas
Tea Description:
Green Tea-Japan(Coconut/Lemongrass) 2-3 minutes@170/180f
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m not sure where I found Bangkok Green Tea from Nectar Fine Teas but it doesn’t look like they have an online presence except for a FB page. I’m sad to find this because this coconut flavored green tea and I have become the best of friends as of late!
This flavored green tea is a lovely mix of green tea, coconut pieces, and lemongrass. Simple yet full of fresh proper flavor. I am a huge fan of cold brewing tea at work. I pour a few scoops into my silicone infuser, some ice, and water and let the cup sit. I use a stainless steel tumbler which holds all the coldness in quiet nicely. In just about a half an hour or so, I have the start of a wonderful iced cuppa tea.
As an iced flavored green tea, this tea really delivers on flavor! Cool crisp green tea with a lovely lush coconut flavor that just stands out with perfection. The lemongrass flavor I don’t really get in this cuppa, but maybe as a hot tea that flavor might stand up better.
We did try cold brewing the tea overnight in a pitcher and the flavors were just about the same as when we cold brewed it in a tumbler. The only difference is that the coconut flavor is way more prominent when cold brewing overnight. So if you are a fan of green teas and coconut flavors, I suggest cold brewing this one. You’ll be in coconut-green tea- heaven! Maybe before my stash runs out, I’ll try Bangkok as a hot tea but for now, I’m loving this tea just as it is!
As American As Apple Pie from Cat Spring Yaupon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yaupon Tea
Where to Buy: Cat Spring Yaupon Tea
Tea Description:
As American As Apple Pie is our comforting black yaupon tea loose leaf blend as delicious as a slice of apple pie. Take a trip to grandma’s kitchen with every cup.
Contains: yaupon tea, bits of dried apple, sliced almonds, cinnamon, beetroot and flavoring.
(Allergen: Contains Almonds)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever looked at a tea and went- yeah right-this tea isn’t going to taste like that? Well I did. I did with As American As Apple Pie from Cat Spring’s Yaupon Tea. I have had a lot of other apple pie flavored teas and for the most part, they just taste like a apple cinnamon flavored tea. They don’t deliver on the baked good flavor.
As American as Apple Pie reminds me of an yerba mate blend when I first looked at it. It didn’t have any other attributes like yerba mate, just the look. The smell was more reminiscent of black tea. This particular tea smelled amazing. Rich apple notes mixed with a baked good aroma that really captivates you. I couldn’t wait to steep up this tea.
Steeped up the tea per the instructions on the back of the package and took my first sip. I have to say I was taken back by how fresh and bright this tea tasted. It really does come across as apple pie!! Apple Pie with touches of caramel drizzled on tea. The notes of flaky baked fresh crust with apples that are spiced with just the right amount of sugar and cinnamon. There is a slight roasted toasted flavor in the background that really elevates every sip.
I highly recommend checking this one out. Yaupon Tea was something I had only tried a few times in the past but never had an experience like this. Take a moment and check out yaupon tea and then check this tea out. It truly is like taking a trip to grandma’s kitchen!
Orange and Papaya from Tea Shirt
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Tea Description:
Orange and Papaya from Tea Shirt
Flavoured Green Tea
Ingredients: green tea (60%), lemon grass, apple pieces, freeze-dried apple pieces, orange slices, mango flakes, papaya flakes, flavouring.
Preparation: Use one teaspoon of loose leaf tea per person.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Orange and Papaya flavored green tea from Tea Shirt had my interest right away. I mean orange, papaya, and green tea? How could this blend be anything but amazing?
When I received the tea, I was surprised by how big the fruit chunks are in it.The picture is exactly what you get. Huge chunks of mango, papaya, and orange peel along with apple pieces. Really lovely to look at and amazing to smell. Very rich in citrus and tropical notes.
I scooped a few heap fulls into my infuser and cold brewed this tea. With how muggy the summer has been lately, I wanted this tea to be a nice iced cold brew.
I let the tea cold brew overnight and tried it in the morning. I was hoping that those gorgeous chunks of fruit and lovely green tea leaves would produce an amazing treat for my taste buds. And it did just that!
The green tea gives a lovely buttery base that the orange and papaya flavors compliment nicely. Each flavor takes its time in the spotlight and there isn’t one flavor that overwhelms. Simple yet lovely. Lush Orange notes mingling with the tropical hints from the mango and papaya. A really nice refreshing take on a citrus tropical iced tea for the summer or really for anytime!
Well done Tea Shirt!
It’s Not Easy Being Green from Cat Spring Yaupon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Yaupon Tea
Where to Buy: Cat Spring Yaupon Tea
Tea Description:
As a tribute to Kermit the Frog’s ballad about the color green, our floral and fresh green yaupon tea blend bears the name, “It’s Not Easy Being Green”.
This green yaupon tea blend from Cat Spring Tea is a fresh soft green tea with a hint of mint and overtones of wildflowers, it is similar to a green jasmine tea yet without sharpness.
Contains: yaupon tea, organic green rooibos, organic ginger, organic lemongrass, and organic compliant lime flavoring.
The gorgeous longhorn and Texas wildflower artwork is by Dolan Geiman.
Learn more about this tea here.
Amazon also sells this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yaupon Tea is a type I can honestly say I’ve never heard of. That’s one of the reasons of tea. The variety you get is amazing. So many different types and blends to try. There is always something new to check out!
From my research, I’ve found that Yaupon Tea is made from a plant native to North America. It actually has a really cool story. I won’t weigh the review of the tea down by all the facts but if you are interested like I was about the story behind this tea, check out this article.
So let’s chat about the tea itself. This tea had a very herbal look to it. Bright greens with pops of a yellow-white inclusion which I’m assuming is the ginger. The dry leaf has a pretty strong ginger aroma to it and me being one that doesn’t care too much for ginger, I was starting to wonder if I was going to like this.
I brewed this up like I would any other green tea and allowed the tea to steep for a bit (about 4 minutes). The brew still had a very strong ginger aroma and looked more like a black tea than a green tea when brewed up. I allowed the tea to cool for a few minutes and then took my first sip.
This is a unique tasting tea for sure and one that probably could use a bit more steeping. The tea reminds me more of a black tea than a green tea. I don’t pick up any of the green grassy notes or rich buttery-ness that I typically get out of green tea but more of an earthy malty flavor. I am noticing a slight sweetness that is nice but the ginger takes over towards the end of the sip and almost overwhelms the tea. The ginger is to me the only downside of this tea. I would love to see the green rooibos and lime flavorings that are in this blend really take over so I am going to try and steep this tea one more time to see if I shake up the package if I can get more of those inclusions to pop.
I started fresh and added in three scoops instead of the 2 I used last go around. I allowed the tea to steep for about 7 minutes and cool for three. Took my first sip and I have to say, my experience was pretty much the same with this infusion as the first. I didn’t pick up any of the lime flavorings or the green rooibos but I did get this lovely malty earthy ginger sweet flavor that really is tasty. Being the huge fan of green rooibos and lime, I was hoping that I would get. Regardless, the tea is still tasty the the experience is quite unique. So much so that I’m wanting to try the a few more from the line.
I did take one more quick experiment and made an iced tea out of the brew. Out of all the different ways to make the tea, this one is my favorite. The tea takes on a different level of deliciousness. Yes, the ginger is still the most notable flavor but the sweetness and floral notes are kicked up a bit more providing a much needed contrast. In just about every other sip, I swear I’m picking up those green rooibos honey notes.
All in all, a really lovely tea and one that I want to learn more about!