Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Green tea, natural ginseng flavor and ginger root.
I. Am. Root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I will admit. . from the beginning, I thought this tea sounded unpleasant. I was fully expecting not to like it just from past experiences with ginseng and ginger root in tea. Those just are not my favorite components so I just had it in my head this wasn’t a tea for me. It sat in my tea stash for a while and the other day, I finally decided it was time to check it out.
Shame on me for judging a tea by its ingredients!
This tea blew me away! It was light, refreshing, soothing, and tasted fantastic! There was a hint of a herbal note to it but really what this tea tasted like was a semi-sweet green tea with a very subtle warming kick of spice. A wonderful way to either start your day, end your day, or an afternoon treat. I was literally sad when I realized the bag was empty. Good thing I have an email in to Geeky Teas about a few teas I’m interested in. Because this one needs to be on the reorder list!
Brewed like a green tea, this tea was just a wonderfully subtle way to enjoy a spiced tea without having an overwhelming amount of spice. I love how the spices were added in carefully without overdoing it yet you still get that nice kick and warmth. A gorgeous take on a slightly grassy yet buttery green tea with a kick. Another wonderful Geeky Teas offering! And who wouldn’t love a tea created for Groot!
Creamy Toasted Coconut from Simpson & Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
A perfect tea for afternoon enjoyment! This delightfully light tea brews to an ecru color and has the taste of baked goodies with an undertone of an earthy oolong. The rich, exotic aroma is accompanied by the smooth, delicious taste of coconut macaroon with vanilla accents. Great hot or cold.
Ingredients: Oolong tea, cacao nibs organic, vanilla beans, organic coconut pieces, flavorings and blue cornflower petals.
Brew tea at 195º – steep for 4 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The other day I came home to an incredibly considerate package from Simpson & Vail. I just love this company and recommend them all the time. They have an amazing story, customer service, and a line of tea that just makes you drool.
This oolong has been one that I instantly grabbed out of the box and have been drinking ever since. I had just finished up my a delicious flavored oolong from Handmade Teas and was wanting another one. This one is completely satisfied that craving!
I scooped a few spoonfuls into my tea pot and prepared my water to 195. The lovely tea blend had a rich bright coconut aroma. I couldn’t wait to try it. I allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes and poured myself a huge cuppa. Sat down and took my first sip.
You ever have a day where you need a cuppa tea just to soothe your soul after a rough day? This tea is the answer! A lovely dose of roasted toasted coconut and oolong with a sweet creamy vanilla undertone and a very very slight chocolate note. Wow, this tea is one of those teas that reminds me why I drink tea. I can’t get enough of it. I’m typically not a fan of tea blends that feature coconut as the spotlight but this one has the perfect amount of coconut that mixes so well with the oolong. The flavors just go together perfectly. I’m literally on my fourth cuppa of the same infusion and I can’t get enough.
If you haven’t tried Simpson & Vail, I highly recommend taking a second and checking out their offerings. You’ll be glad you did! I’m off to brew up another cup!
Mountain Organic Indonesian Oolong Tea from Tea At Sea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: Tea At Sea
Tea Description:
Organic grown in the Halimun Mountains of Indonesia at 800m above Sea-Level. Treated with natural spring water and fresh mountain air. These 35% oxidized tea leaves have a honey milk aroma, light creamy taste with a hint of marine. Wake up the tea leaves and steep around 100°C and watch how the leaves slowly unfold to extract their natural flavour. Enjoy!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mountain Organic Indonesian Oolong Tea from Tea At Sea has consistently high ratings over at Steepster. I tend to agree with those high ratings but here is my take on this specific tea.
Upon opening the package it looks and smells like your average oolong but the taste is what I will be focusing in this review! First impressions on this first sip were great! First and foremost I had a strong honeysuckle flavor smack my taste buds from the very beginning. Then there were other floral and semi-sweet grassy notes to follow. In follow-up sips and at shorter steeping times I noticed more buttery, creamy, and milky type flavors come into play. An interesting find with a lingering aftertaste was the hint of peach I could pick up on as well.
As long as you don’t over infuse this one you should have ‘smooth sailin’ with this one. Pardon the pun but seriously…Mountain Organic Indonesian Oolong Tea from Tea At Sea is a nice, solid yet smooth, greener tasting oolong that I enjoyed very much!
The Neverending StorTea from Geeky Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu erh
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Pu erh, strawberries, cocoa nibs, natural strawberry, hazelnut, vanilla and creme flavors.
Never give up and good tea will find you.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Pu erh is a tea that scares and intimidates me. I never know how to correctly prepare it or if I’m even drinking it right. I’ve tried to learn but this is one tea I want to actually sit down and learn from more of an expert. But regardless, I thought I would try my hand at a flavored Pu erh from Geeky Teas.
I’ve tried flavored Pu erhs in the past and they didn’t turn out right. So I thought I would give it another go. This Pu erh blend combines strawberries, cocoa nibs, hazelnut, vanilla, and creme flavor. A combination I would typically shy away from anyway since I’m not a fan of hazelnut. But this is a Geeky Tea blend and I’m determined to try all of their amazingly fun blends.
Right off the bat, this tea smelled almost sinful. A decadent blend for sure. The dry leaf mix had a lovely chocolate covered strawberry note with hints of hazelnuts. I prepared this up like I would a black tea-212F and steeped for about 4 minutes. 4 minutes later, I poured the tea into my cuppa and allowed it to cool for just a moment.
I have to say, this tea was fantastic and delicious. I was incredibly hesitant to try this tea because I thought it would be an instant pour out but it was the complete opposite! The tea had a lovely dark rich and like the dry leaf mix-sinful feel to it. Bright strawberry flavor with a rich chocolate and hints of hazelnuts, vanilla and creme surrounded each and every sip. I am not a chocolate fan nor a hazelnut fan and I can’t get enough of this tea. I have had several sessions with this tea and each sip is as good as the last. This is one of those teas you enjoy when you’ve got a sweet tooth that needs satisfying and you don’t want the calories. Plus this tea is dedicated to The Never Ending Story. . I mean it doesn’t get much better!!
Habanero Black from Pelican Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Pelican Tea
Tea Description:
Pelican Tea’s premier Orange Pekoe black teainfused generously with habanero capsaicin. The pleasant burn and spicy kick make this eye-opener a morning favorite. Though very spicy, the heat doesn’t linger and follows the sip down your throat. Try it in place of coffee– you may be surprised!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yes, you read that description correctly. This is a habanero infused tea. HABANERO infused tea! I couldn’t resist! I just had to try this really unique and interesting tea.
The description says drink it in place of coffee, I’m not sure about that, but I will say this is one of the most unique teas I’ve ever tried.
First off, do not take a big whiff of the dry leaves. Silly me did and I was coughing for about 10 minutes afterwards. There are definite notes of the habanero pepper. The packaging said to allow the tea to steep for about 5 minutes with boiled water. Usually I wouldn’t steep my black tea for that long, but I thought I would go with the instructions since this is such a unique tea.
Five minutes later I poured my hubby and I a hot cuppa of this blend and sat down to enjoy. We both allowed the tea to cool for a few moments and then took our first sip. I will say this, I don’t know how they did it, but you can not taste tea in this blend at all. The first part of the sip you can feel the tea in your mouth but it isn’t until you start to swallow the tea do you start to notice any taste. It is a really unique experience.
Once you start to tatse the tea, there is no going back. You are tasting nothing but the habanero flavor and it is hot. This tea literally tasted like you bit right into a habanero pepper. Very very spicy!
We both tried a few more sips of this tea, still having the same experience. Never tasting tea just the pepper flavor. As far as a tea goes, I can’t say that I would drink more of this blend. It sounds fun, but I wish the habanero wasn’t so overwhelming so that the tea notes could pop in more. I have find myself wondering if I hadn’t steeped the tea for the five minutes, what the flavor would be but I drank up my whole sample. I also am pondering what this tea would be like cold brewed.
Looking at their site they have a few more interesting teas I want to check out. This tea company is one that has peaked my interest for sure!