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Posts Tagged ‘Art Of Tea’

My general aversion to bananas goes back to one greasy teenage summer schlepping banana splits at the Dairy Queen; I’d come home with fiber under my nails and reeking of overripe peels. (To this day, I won’t eat one raw—playing the “it’s a texture thing” card.) Thus, you’ll understand why I approached this tea with a bit of caution.

The first thing that struck me was how pretty this tea is. Heavy on the chamomile flowers, it would be pretty in a potpourri jar. (If you’re a fan of Adagio’s Foxtrot, it’s similar in character, minus the peppermint.) A test sniff didn’t turn me off; didn’t seem too heavy on the banana, so I gave it a go–about a teaspoon per cup, an approximate boil, an approximate five minutes, and …

…wow! The chamomile, banana, and coconut work really nicely together–you can’t really taste where one ends and the other begins. It’s difficult to pick out the other goodies individually, but they blend to make a really pretty red cup of herbal sweetness.

I downed half of my first test batch to prime myself for mowing the lawn; then iced down the rest to reward myself for doing so. Of course, the tea lost a little bit of strength on ice, but that can be remedied next time by upping the steeping strength. I can see Banana Dulce as a base for some add-ins–maybe orange juice or pineapple juice–for some nice, cool summer sipping.

You can purchase the Banana Dulce directly from the Art of Tea website.

Click here to enter the Steepster Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest

We are taking a brief break from reviews to help Steepster in getting the word out about this amazing contest! Why? Because in our opinion the tea community has never been hit with a contest of this magnitude before.

Steepster announced on Monday the Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest – and I have to say, I have NEVER seen such a prize package for tea lovers as this!

Headlined with the much lauded Sorapot by Joey Roth, this prize package contains over $825 worth of tea and tea accessories from companies such as: Adagio, TeaFrog, Maeda-en, Golden Moon Tea, Art of Tea, Pearl Fine Teas, 52 Teas, Teas Etc, Earth Bound Tea, Tavalon, and Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea.

It is simple to enter, just visit the Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest page, and follow the simple directions. No long winded essays to write, no video testimonials, just a simple tweet or discussion reply, and you are in.

Steepster is a site that “helps you keep an online log of the teas you drink”. You can keep track of your teas, rate them, make tasting notes, and share them with your friends and followers. It is a great place to discover new teas, and share your passion of tea.

I personally had a chance to speak with Jason Roos, one of the founders of Steepster, and they are excited to be offering not only this amazing contest, but specials and features of tea companies of all size and shape through their Steepster Select program – a daily showcase of deals and favorites, a new one posted every day.

So head on over and enter the Steepster Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest.