Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Zen Tea Life
Tea Description:
The nutty toasty flavor from the toffee. It smells lovely toffee and looks pretty with lots of yellowish green soft buds mixed with blue corn flower. Recommend for someone that loves a light, sweet, and nutty tea. Must try teas for white tea lovers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Zen Tea Life is an excellent company. Funny enough, I have yet to try any tea from them. I usually go with their teaware, which are really cute and cheap! Their slabs of Korean cedar are a fixture on my tea tray.
This tea hails from a friend on Steepster who did a mystery box sale a while back. The box took a detour to another user’s place before making it back to me. Luckily, there was no problem fixing the problem and in no time I had a perfectly packed cube filled with tea treasures at my door. The only thing is, I had forgotten that I had asked for a box in the first place. It took me a hot minute to noodle out where the box of insane samples came from. Thank goodness I love surprises!
White Toffee Dream was the first sample I tried out of the box. I was very intrigued, I have never had a toffee tea with a white base before. I picked it out because of it’s visual appeal; the cornflower and the big chunks of caramel substance looked awesome against the backdrop of the Bai Mu Dan.
Brewing the tea made the toffee pieces melt in slow motion. The aroma really filled the room. Who needs scented candles or air fresheners when you can just brew a cup of tea? Using 4g in a 16oz mug with 90c water produced a unique cup. The toffee was not doubt there, and an interesting floral and hay rounding out the notes. I do get a candy sequence I get strong notes of graham cracker that follows the toffee. Like a toffee cheesecake almost?
While I agree that black tea may have mad a better choice for this flavor, it’s just so… pedestrian. Zen tea life made a good choice going with a white tea base. It’s different, and worth a try, even if I wouldn’t think about stocking it any time soon.
Midwest Tea Fest 2015: Part 2 – The Haul!
Now on to Part 2 of my ‘review’ of the Midwest Tea Fest! Oh, what goodness lies ahead!
What kind of tea person would I be if I did not take home a massive haul of tea back with me? I packed very light for the trip, but brought a giant suitcase to hold it all in. When it was all packed tightly away, I just made the cut off size for a checked bag. 49.5lbs of nothing but tea, teaware, and toothpaste!
I know how it looks, there is a lot more teaware than there is tea. I waited too long to snag anything, and a lot of the teas being sold were essentially all gone. But! I fell in love with more teaware than I think is healthy for just one person. It was pretty crowded around all of the booths the majority of the time, it was a madhouse! Just watching the folks at the Queen’s Pantry feverishly weigh and pack all the teas that were flying off the ‘shelves’ was almost nauseating. I overheard the people at Shang Tea how they only prepared for 300 people, and there was easily twice as much in attendance.
The few teas you see are mostly samples, the Rishi and Harney were in my goodie bag, and I got samples of Pomegranate white and gunpowder mint from Single Origin. I did purchase Single Origin Tea’s Jun Chiyabari, the last one on their table. There is a small round tin of Bingley’s 10yrs Oven Roasted Aged oolong, and I did pick up some of Shang’s Aged White. (Not at the actual festival though, I took the short walk to Crowne Plaza to their brick and mortar store to pick some up, they were not selling them at the fest.)
I ended up doing something I never do, and that is indulge in any whim I had along the way. I bought three pieces from Pi Ceramics, a sweet goblet cup, a cha hai (sharing pitcher) for gongfu, and a short and stout kuysu! They are great looking pieces and have a good home here with me. I bought another sharing pitcher from Bingley’s, as well as a small glass teapot. The two small white cups are from Shang Tea, as well as the white infused mug, and the Tea Seed Oil. (Fun Fact: Tea Seed Oil has a smoke point of 455F. You could healthily fry with it!)
The two books you see are the darlings of my collection from the fest. The first is Nichole’s own book, Tea Log: Chronicle your journey of Tea which a very useful tool I know I will be filling up very quickly. And the hardcover 30th edition of Tea Lover’s Treasury by James Norwood Pratt was signed by the legend himself. I was overjoyed by the welcoming attitude he and his wife Valerie had towards everyone they talked to.
Sweet Nothings White Tea by Adagio
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Adagio
Tea Description:
Sweet apricots, peach, lavender and white tea entangle themselves for a delicate fruit and floral tryst. Quietly pleasing, like softly whispered confessions of admiration that keep you wanting more.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a white tea from Adagio’s Love Petals collection. It’s a fruit-floral blend, containing sunflower petals and lavender buds on the floral side, and apricot and peach on the fruit side. The base tea is a white peony, composed mostly of brown-black stalks and leaves, but with a few downy silver buds in evidence. It’s not the best looking white peony I’ve ever seen, but appearances can be deceptive.
I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The resulting liquor is a medium golden-yellow, and the scent is mildly fruity. To taste, the fruit is the primary flavour, and the floral ingredients are mostly absent. I was hoping this would be the case, as (with a few rare exceptions) fruit/floral combinations usually strike me as rather odd. The main flavour I can detect is peach, and it’s a reasonably natural tasting approximation – mildly sweet, with that pulpiness that ripe peaches have. The apricot is present a little, but it’s definitely second fiddle here. As peach and apricot are reasonably similar flavours, however, it hardly seems to matter.
Although I can see lavender buds in the dry mix, they actually make no impact on the overall flavour, or at least not that I can discern. I imagine the sunflower petals are being used to carry the fruit flavours, so perhaps that explains their role in this blend. The white base is also strangely absent from the flavour of this blend. I usually find it possible to detect white teas in flavoured blends, particularly white peony as it can be quite thick tasting, with a floral/dusty flavour all its own. Not so here, which is another point in this blend’s flavour. The peach and apricot are allowed to shine, and shine they do!
This makes for a pleasant blend on a warm spring day, and I can imagine it would also work well iced. Adagio did well with this one.
White Lemon Lime Iced Tea by Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s our sweet, hay-like organic shou mei white tea fannings paired with the delicious tartness of organic lemon and lime flavors. It might not be as complicated as some of our other tea blends, but it will definitely put a smile on your face.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about SBT’s monthly subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been on such an SBT kick. I started cold brewing tea and am completely obsessed with it. And what is the easiest way to cold brew teas- Southern Boy Teas!
So during the last sale, I stocked up. And I went through these awesome iced tea pouches quick! This is one of the ones that I instantly said “Yep” and threw it in my cart.
Last night threw this one in my pitcher, added water, and into the fridge it went. This morning I poured myself a huge glass of it, threw some ice in it, and underwent my morning routine of taking my kids to school.
I was hoping this would be one that I would fall completely 100% in love with . . .but alas no. This tastes like a solid white tea. That part I love. It has that delicate touch to it. The part I am not 100% on is the lime. I really didn’t pick up any of the lemon at all. Just lime. And it is more of a tart lime. A bold lime. A hit you in the face sort of lime. Which is fine, but I really wanted that lemon lime taste. I stopped drinking soda about 6 months ago and Diet Sprite or Diet Sierra Mist I still crave. I was hoping this would take the place of those cravings and help me with my sweet tooth when I have those cravings. Maybe if I tried again or if I brewed it up hot, maybe the lemon would come out more. I’m sure if I played around with it, they would. Or if I added in some sugar. That might help too.
This is delicious if you are looking for a lime tea with a delicate white tea base or finish. Don’t get me wrong, this is very tasty. Just not what my little ol heart was wanting at the time.
Honey, I Dew White from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
In Vietnam, melons are a sign of good luck. In Chinese medicine, they’re said to help cool the body down. Around here, we think they’re just about the tastiest fruit around – especially when you pair them with fresh, delicate white tea. With fruity hints of pineapple and mango, this melon-packed blend is refreshing, juicy and naturally sweet. The best part? This tea was named by our customers! Is there anything they can’t dew?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s very refreshing to see another permanent white tea blend on the DAVIDsTEA walls; I’ve been complaining for months about the dwindling amount of permanent white teas – I’ve even suffered some losses that were more emotional than I’d care to admit (Coconut Grove, Sweet Strawberry, and Big Apple…). At least a lot of seasonal blends for Spring featured a white base, and one of the Mother’s Day blends as well.
And not going to lie, the fact this was named by DT’s customers (and has such a cute name) is really appealing as well; I find I’m definitely more drawn in to wanting to try a tea when it has a unique name, even if the ingredients/flavor pairings aren’t that unusual. Let us put an end to the “Earl Grey Creams” and “Jasmine Greens” that every company seems to have a version of; give yours a neat name, and make it stand out!
I’m doing this one iced; yes, iced and not cold brewed. I don’t often have the means to do iced tea because I don’t actually have ice at my place. We don’t own an ice tray, and I don’t have the freezer space in my little apartment for larger bags of ice. I know it could be easily remedied by buying an ice cube tray but I always forget; so iced tea is a special treat for me provided by being in the right place (err, chef’s kitchen) at the right time.
My initial thought when I tried this was of Trident’s Watermelon Twist gum – the sugary, candy sweet watermelon top notes were pretty identical. I was expecting something both more mellow and, based on the name, more in the line of Honeydew so I was a little taken aback but once I got accustomed to the taste I found it really enjoyable. Contrasting that, the tail of the sip was a lot more natural tasting once the sweetness has subsided, and definitely a lot more honey dew than watermelon. I like the layers of melon that this one has. Almost like Trident Layers? That’s a bad pun, sorry.
The body of the sip is interesting too; somewhere in between where the watermelon eases up and the honeydew takes over there are a lot of very strong apple notes and some very vague mango and pineapple notes. I’d say they mostly create a tropical fruit vibe rather than make an impact as unique, stand-alone flavors though.
This was really enjoyable, and I think quite different from any other white blend that DT is currently offering, let alone any of their current blends. I really, really like the way they do Honeydew flavors; I’m thinking in particular of Honeydew Mate and Cool Cucumber (two seasonal blends). I loved both quite a bit (I still have some Cool Cucumber), and they definitely honed in on that awesome honeydew flavor. While DT’s watermelon can get too sweet or artificial, honeydew is a flavor they have successfully nailed. If you’re a fan of either of those two blends I absolutely 100% recommend giving this one a shot.
