With much fanfare, Rishi Tea has reintroduced its Chai concentrate – it is now available with new packaging, a high profile association with Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots program, and a change in the recipe. The ingredients listed are filtered water, black tea, cinnamon, cardamon, black pepper, cloves, ginger, dried cane syrup, blackstrap molasses, vanilla extract and lemon juice – all organic, and the tea is also organic as well as fair trade certified. The concentrate is described by Rishi as “a microbrewed blend of energizing spices and rich vanilla infused with a full-bodied single origin forest grown black tea. Unlike other companies that use soluble tea and flavor extracts, we use traditional Indian spices that are slow brewed for more than 20 hours and ethically sourced, wild-grown black tea leaves from an ancient tea tree forest.”

Straight out of the box the concentrate was dark and slightly murky, but redeemed itself with the rich aroma of traditional Indian masala spices which according to Rishi are slowly brewed in small batches before the addition of the tea leaves – a process which takes almost a full day.

Mixed with an equal amount of milk and heated to the point of steaming, the result was a mild, pleasantly flavored latte although I did find that the molasses smell and taste was quite noticeable and took away from the “chai-ness” of it. I appreciated that the concentrate wasn’t overly sweet and the taste of the black tea wasn’t lost in the mix.

Formerly only available in recyclable glass quart bottles, Rishi Masala Chai Tea Concentrate is now packaged in a carton and can be conveniently purchased online and shipped to you. Rishi as a company has a commendable reputation for its green initiatives and it’s nice to know that proceeds from each sale support a good environmental and humanitarian cause through the Jane Goodall Institute.

You can purchase the Masala Chai Tea Concentrate directly from the Rishi Tea website.

Green Tango is a mildly flavored green tea from Tea Forte; their website gives this description of Green Tango: ” Deliciously fragrant mangoes and peach scent every cup of our lightly steamed green tea with honeybush. A hint of the tropics with every satisfying sip.” The listed ingredients are organic green tea, organic honeybush, natural mango flavor, and natural peach flavor.

I used one of Tea Forte’s beautiful pyramid tea bags to brew this cup and steeped it for 5 minutes (more than the recommended 2-4 minutes). Always curious, I did slit the bag before brewing to take a look at the blend and was a bit disappointed to find that at least this particular bag must have missed out on the marigold petals and was just a mix of green tea leaves and honeybush. I don’t imagine that the flavor was compromised but it did look “prettier” on the website with the gold accents against the green.

Before and after brewing the tea had a pleasant scent of mango – nothing too strong and overpowering, but just enough to be identifiable as mango rather than simply fruity. The mango flavor presents itself as mildly in taste as it does in the aroma and unlike a lot of flavored blends it doesn’t hide the taste of the tea which is very smooth, no bitterness at all – a very nice cup of green tea with a refreshing fruit finish.

Green Tango is available in Tea Forte’s pyramid infusers and come in a box of 48 at $1 per, or more affordably, as loose tea in a 35 serving canister for $15.

You can purchase Tea Forte Green Tango directly from their website.

Orange Blossom is a deliciously fragrant tea blend from Rishi Tea. Rishi describes it as “a refreshing and floral blend of green teas with sweetly-scented blossoms, lemongrass and tropical citrus fruits”. The listed ingredients are organic and fair trade certified green tea, organic lemongrass, organic osthmanthus flowers, organic lemon myrtle, natural essential oils of orange, lime and tangerine.

Out of the bag the tea seems to be more lemongrass than green tea leaf – a very pretty combination of light and dark green with a scattering of golden osthmanthus flowers. Not surprisingly, the scent is strongly citrus – the orange, lime and tangerine combination almost mimics bergamot; with a nice fruity undertone provided by the osthmanthus.

After brewing, the blend maintained it’s refreshing aroma and produced a nice amber cup of tea. I really couldn’t taste the green tea in this blend, but it had a very pleasant taste; the citrus flavors were mild and not too sharp, and the floral notes added a sweetness rather than a perfumed taste. The lemongrass did a nice job of softening and tying all of the flavors together; although I think that between the lemongrass and the lemon myrtle, someone who didn’t like the taste of lemon may not like this tea. The lemony scent and flavor was not overwhelming for my tastes, but I was expecting stronger notes of orange based on the name of the tea.

Organic Orange Blossom Tea is available for purchase as part of the Xuan En Yulu Organic Fair Trade Sample Set from Rishi Tea.

You can purchase Rishi Tea Orange Blossom directly from their website.

African Summer is a very pleasant herbal tisane from Red Leaf Tea it is a blend of Honeybush, Lemongrass, Lemon Myrtle, Rose Hips, Eucalyptus, Hibiscus, Safflower, and Marigolds. I was intrigued by the description on Red Leaf’s website: “The beguilingly hot climate of the African Serengeti serves as the inspiration for African Summer tea, with its unique combination of herbs that are known for their healing and nourishing properties. Its main ingredient is honey bush-which is related to rooibos-and additional vitamins and minerals are provided by eucalyptus, hibiscus, safflower, and marigolds. African Summer also contains citrus and rosehips that help boost your immune system.”

The loose leaf is a pleasing earthy mix of color – fresh greens of lemongrass, myrtle and eucalyptus, mellow brown and yellow honeybush leaf, safflower and marigold and bright splashes of hibiscus and rose hip. The lemongrass seems to be predominant in the blend and the citrus scent comes through before and after brewing.

I was surprised at how dark the brewed tea was with nice red tones – certainly a family resemblance with rooibos. The flavor, not surprisingly, was mild and mostly lemony with the honeybush hinting sweetness and the floral notes contributing a bit of tang. Happily I didn’t notice a strong enough eucalyptus flavor to remind me of a cough drop. Overall African Summer is a pleasing cup of tea; very refreshing, and according to the Red Leaf people – good for you too!

Red Leaf is currently shipping orders of more than $40 for free and also have a promotion running – “Buy 4 Teas get 1 FREE / Buy 7 Teas get 2 FREE”.

You can purchase Red Leaf Tea Rooibos Africana directly from their website.

I had a number of teas that I was going to review but these were pre-empted in order to cover the JOEmo XL Tea Travel Mug. I have been on the lookout for a good travel mug for loose leaf tea for a long time now, and when I found this one I was so pleased I just couldn’t wait to get the word out.

There are a number of tea travel mugs out there, from the Teas Etc. mug, to the Mighty Leaf Travel Mug, but nothing has seemed just right. Most travel mugs just have a filter to keep the leaves from getting into your mouth. That is fine, as long as you are going to leave them in there to steep the whole time. Personally, I like to steep my leaves for a certain amount of time, and then remove them, especially when it comes to greens and blacks. Inside the JOEmo, the key to the whole thing is a removable stainless steel mesh basket. It locks in place to either:

A) Keep the tea in the water and out of your mouth – if you are leaving the leaves in.
B) Keep the leaves out of the water, once you remove the basket.

The mesh filter is super fine, and even with Rooibos teas, which are notoriously slippery when it comes to getting through mesh filters, it kept all the leaf right out of the water once the basket came out!

The JOEmo body is double walled stainless steel and very rugged (perfect for banging around during those canoe trips). Being double walled, no matter how hot or cold the liquid is inside, you do not feel it on the outside. No condensation from very cold, and no heat from very hot tea. This makes it pretty comfortable to hold!

The vacuume sealed lid keeps your liquid hot or cold, whatever it went in as. This leads me to one warning – it works almost too well! After steeping a black tea with boiling water, and removing the basket, I sealed it up, and promptly forgot about it as I went about my day. 3 hours later it occured to me that I had some tea to drink, and without thinking, sipped away and came close to scalding my mouth! 3 hours later, and the water was almost as hot as it went in as! So be careful….

The mug is very easy to drink from; you simply push a button on the lid and it opens for drinking, another push of the button closes the lid when you are done. You can sip from anywhere around the rim – no single spout to find while driving in the car! Even with the lid “popped” the heat does not escape the mug.

Hands down, I recommend this to every single loose leaf tea drinker out there. The ONLY downfall that this has is that removing the basket can be messy if you are on the go and have nowhere to put it. However, the length of time that the water keeps warm, and the ease of drinking out of the mug more than makes up for this minor inconvienience. I have already placed my order for 4 more for my family members, and as a bonus, they are on sale at TeaFrog right now!

In conclusion, I love it, I use it, and in my opinion, to date, this is the best travel mug for loose leaf tea that is out there today!

You can purchase the JOEmo XL Tea Travel Mug directly from the TeaFrog website.

After all the tea balls that I have broken and battled with over the years it is a relief to find something as perfectly functional and simple as the Finum Basket. Who hasn’t had the unpleasant experience of a tea ball opening up while you’re brewing tea? What a mess!!

The Finum Brewing Basket is a re-usable filter perfect for tea (or coffee) and constructed of a stainless steel mesh in a plastic frame. You simply place the basket in your mug or tea pot, add the loose leaf tea, and pour the water over the tea. When the tea is steeped to your liking just lift the basket out and place it on the lid which doubles as a drip tray. How easy is that? Another improvement over a tea ball is the volume that the tea leaves have to expand in – the tea is able to steep evenly and the flavor to fully develop. The mesh is fine enough that even Rooibos doesn’t escape through the filter. Over time and with regular use the stainless steel mesh does become a bit stained but it is dishwasher safe and I have found that vinegar cleans it up nicely.

This is a Must-Have accessory for anyone who drinks tea and I would recommend buying more than one – it’s perfect to use at the office or when you are traveling.

You can purchase TeaFrog Finum Tea Brewing Basket directly from their website.

This rooibos blend from Tea Frog Tea is well named – I LOVE this tea!! According to Tea Frog: “Our most popular Rooibos blend, the Love blend is an aromatic delight that you will not be able to resist! This tea is so good, we sample it at every show, and sell out at every show! The scent and flavor are simply to die for!”. The ingredients are listed as Rooibos, Safflower, Sunflower, Calendula Flower, Roses, Cornflower and Orange Peel.

The loose tea is a striking combination of colors; red rooibos leaf and rose petals, pieces of orange peel and sunny yellow calendula flowers, contrasting with vivid cornflower blue. Even before brewing the aroma is heavenly – the familiar sweetness of rooibos with strong orange notes, and although it isn’t listed as an ingredient there is a hint of vanilla.

Following Tea Frog’s guidelines of 1 teaspoon per cup and steeping for 5 minutes resulted in a rich rooibos red (how’s that for alliteration?) cup of tea losing none of its delicious aroma in the process. The taste didn’t disappoint and the combination of flavors is just right – sweet but not sugary sweet with a refreshing taste of citrus. I was able to get a second brewing with a milder but still pleasant flavor.

I haven’t tried yet, but I’m sure that this blend would lend itself to an excellent iced tea – mixed 50/50 with either lemonade or orange juice and float some fresh flower petals on the surface for presentation – yummy!! With the weather getting cooler I’m more inclined to drink my tea hot but as soon as winter is over and the summer returns I will definitely give it a try.

You can purchase TeaFrog Love Flavoured Rooibos directly from their website.

From Adagio Teas Bengal Green Chai is an eastern fusion blend of green tea from China and a traditional mix of chai spices from India. It is described by Adagio as ” Our smooth China green tea with a chakra warming spice combination. Its natural sweetness and fiery kick will bring you back to center, no matter how polarized you’ve become. OOMMMMM OOMMMMM”

The loose tea presents very well, long leaves of green pekoe tea, lots of cloves, big chunks of cardamom pods, cinnamon bark, ginger root and orange peel; once brewed it makes a cup of tea that is a nice amber color. The aroma of the tea is rich and spicy and stays with the tea even after it is brewed.

I found the flavor of the cloves to be the most pronounced, almost a little too strong, but the ginger, cinnamon and cardamom worked nicely together as an underlying flavor. Overall, I liked the tea but I think that the mildness of the green pekoe was overpowered by the spices. I often add milk and sugar to a traditional black chai blend but I found that this tea isn’t robust enough to hold up to the addition of milk and sugar without losing too much of it’s color and taste.

I followed Adagio’s suggested brewing instructions of two heaping teaspoons per 6 oz cup – 3 min at about 180 degrees. This actually seemed like a lot of tea required to make a cup but I guess it has to do with the loose mix of big leaves and spice pieces – the more tea you use the more likely it is to get a consistent proportion of cloves, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom.

You can purchase Adagio Bengal Green Chai directly from their website.

This is a herbal blend from Tea forte who describe it as “a rich, chocolate reward, nearly as gratifying as a velvety truffle”. Well, I don’t know if it’s all that but it is very good.

Being a chocoholic I prefer the real thing – dark and melting on your fingers. I’ve been disappointed many times by teas that promise a real chocolate taste and deliver only a hint. I was pleasantly surprised by Coco Truffle; not only by the sweet aroma which with eyes shut could make me believe that it was a mug of hot cocoa rather than tea, but the rich almost milky taste had tons of real chocolate flavor.

The ingredients are listed as cacao, cinnamon, fennel, licorice root, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper. The flavor from the cacao beans was the most pronounced. I suspect that the cardamom gave the tea it’s creamy characteristic but the other spices, fennel and licorice root only came through as an aftertaste. I think that either fennel or licorice root and not both would have been sufficient but overall the combination was a success.

I followed Tea forte’s guidelines and brewed it for 5 minutes in water that was just short of boiling. A second cup made with the same tea bag had very little of the coco flavor left but the other ingredients came through and it was almost like a weak chai. Tea forte’s signature pyramidal tea bags are very elegant looking and the design seems to give the tea plenty of room to steep but they are very expensive at $1 per bag so it’s unlikely I would be buying these regularly but perhaps as a special treat or as a gift.

You can purchase Tea Forte Coco Truffle Tea directly from their website, and in various high-end establishments around the world.

Africana is one of the Rooibos blends from Red Leaf Tea. It combines a rich red Rooibos leaf with bright blue malva flowers and purple cornflowers creating a very attractive loose tea that smells mildly of vanilla. The only ingredients listed for this blend are the Rooibos and the flowers that I mentioned but the description refers to “subtle touches of vanilla and orange” which I assume are added as flavoring.

I brewed a single cup of the Rooibos for 5 minutes; the tea was a nice mahogany color and had the typical sweet scent of Rooibos. The flavor as described was very subtle. A little too subtle in fact, if I hadn’t read the bag I would have thought this was a straight Rooibos. It wasn’t unpleasant; it had the nice sweet, nutty flavor that Rooibos is known for, but I couldn’t distinguish any of the vanilla or orange flavors that I was expecting.

I do enjoy plain Rooibos. There are so many flavor combinations available that it is sometimes hard to find a good Rooibos with nothing added to hide the natural taste. I started drinking Rooibos because it is naturally caffeine free and it made a nice cup of tea to relax with in the evening. For these reasons I did enjoy my cup of Rooibos Africana but I have to say that I was expecting a bit more from it.

Africana is priced a little high for a Rooibos, as are most of the loose leaf teas at Red Leaf Tea, but they have a Points and Rewards program and are currently offering free shipping which sweetens the deal considerably.

You can purchase Red Leaf Tea Rooibos Africana directly from their website.