Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Boiling Water’

Much to my delight, I recently received a shipment of 3 teas from Davids Tea. I have been looking forward to sampling and reviewing tea from Davids ever since a store opened close to me here. They are truly a Canadian company (unlike the mistake I made with Mighty Leaf, Davids really was started, and is run, in Canada ), and I have been itching to feature them in a review.

Out of the 3 samples I was sent, the Mojito Mint was the one that caught my eye first. It could have been because after my wife going to Cuba, she has been on a Mojito kick, and we finally perfected our own Mojito recipe here, or it could be because of the sweet smell to the tea, or perhaps the odd mixing of Black tea and Rooibos. Whatever the reason, the Mojito Mint gets the nod for the first review.

This blend is part of Davids Tea’s Summer 2010 collection. I have, in all my years of tasting, never seen a blend of Black Tea and Rooibos together. In the bag, I get a sweet scent, with definite coconut and pineapple, and an undertone of the mint.

The instructions called for 80 deg. Celsius water – again, odd for a Black Tea and Rooibos both – usually you use boiling water for each one of these, but I am always for first trying it the suggested route, so that is what I did. They suggested a 3-4 min steep, so I went for a 4 min, as it seemed a good compromise between my 6 min usual Rooibos, and 3 min usual Black Tea.

The colour of the liquor is a reddish, muddy brown, mid-clear. It is not the dark Black, nor the red Rooibos, again speaking to the compromise that I am seeing in this tea already. Straight out of the steep the coconut scent dominated, but as it cooled, the sweet nutty Rooibos scent, and more mint started to peek through.

The flavour of this tea is amazing. Mojito it is not, I did not get any sense of that, but the name aside, I am really enjoying this tea. There is not a hint of tannin bitterness, in fact, the Black tea really seems to be only a supporting cast member. The dominant base is Rooibos, and each of the flavours seem to come through at different points – first sip I got coconut and a bit of rum’ish flavour, then the fruity pineapple flavouring peeks up – the final appearance from the mint leaves a refreshed taste in my mouth, and encourages another sip to start the cycle all over again.

I am still not sure why the Mojito name, since a Mojito is traditionally a rum/lime flavour, but frankly I don’t care what it is called! I have enjoyed cup after cup of this tea, and keep going back for more. Thumbs up recommendation for a Canadian company making it’s debut with us with a bang!

You can purchase the Mojito Mint Magic directly from the Davids Tea website.

Teafrog has brought a lot of really unique blends to the table so I shouldn’t be surprised by this one. But still, Mango and yogurt? Hmm…

It’s a curious mix, can definitely smell the yogurt – reminds me of the yogurt covered raisins that always leave me with a twinge of ‘guilty pleasure’ after I eat them. Can smell all of the different fruits in this blend but the mango is definitely the most bold. Curious too is the fact that I have all the ingredients in my cupboard (except the yogurt) and it never occurred to me to blend them. Thinking this would make a fantastic snack, straight out of the bag.

Steeped it for five minutes and it’s a beautiful shade of mango (is mango a color, can someone check their Crayolas?). It’s an orangey peach color, if that helps. Oh, and it’s delicious, really tangy and tart at the same time. Must be the yogurt giving me the tart side of it, apple in the blend is helping it too. This is really good and I will need to order some more. It’s a fun tisane that holds it’s own but I’d imagine it would also be fantastic to add to other teas as well. I’ve got some Silver Needle that could use a little zest….

Oh and just so you know, it does make for a satisfying nibble, straight out of the bag.

You can purchase the Mango And Yogurt directly from the TeaFrog website.

It’s rare for me to have bagged teas but this is Celestial Seasonings so I’m open to it. When I was small, this is the only tea that we had in the house so it makes me feel a bit nostalgic. It says it’s a blend of green tea, Bai Mu Dan and ginseng root, with honey and lemon. It smells like a Chinese green tea, can’t smell anything else. Opened a bag and I can see small white bits that I’m guessing are ginseng, the rest just looks like green tea but I trust that there must be white tea in there as well. The ingredients list says it also contains licorice, chicory, ginger and orange blossoms, but I seriously can only smell the green tea.

Steeped for two minutes in hot (not boiling) water and now I can smell the lemon verbana and the spices. Brews up a light green with a hint of orange, not a clean brew but it’s not bad. It’s actually quite tasty, though slightly bitter, need to reduce the water temperature I think. Next time I’m going to try the cooler water and see if it steeps up better. Then I’m going to chill it and see if that will pull the flavors out better.

It’s okay, I mean it is what it is and it’s not terrible for what it is.

You can purchase the Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea directly from the Celestial Seasonings website.

I’ll start off by saying I wasn’t exactly sure how to brew this tea. The sample packaging had no steeping parameters on it, so I tried the website and didn’t find any suggestions. I decided to brew this a little on the safe side and stick to 2 minutes at 195 F and used 16oz of water to 2 teaspoons of tea leaves.

Steeping with these parameters allowed for a vibrant red-orange liquor. I stopped at 2 minutes because of the darkness of the brew. I’m enjoying the aroma of this tea. It has a deep berry scent, possibly blackberries or currants, and I can still smell the black tea in it.

I taste sweet strawberries as I sip this tea. Similar to a strawberry cream scone we have at a nearby bakery; a sweet bakery strawberry rather than a ripe fresh strawberry. There is a hint of darker berry to the undertones of this tea. Something that makes it more complex than just strawberry black tea.

I would serve this tea over brunch with pastries and other sweet treats, or maybe as an afternoon tea. I enjoyed this sample, and am going back for a second mug.

You can purchase the Silver Star directly from the Red Leaf Tea website.

For Sinharaja we use rich, dark loose leaf tea leaves that are nourished by fertile rain forest streams in the hills of Ceylon. …from the Golden Moon website.

This dark loose leaf tea has become my favorite tea. I drink it morning, noon and night. What makes it different from all the other teas that I have had the privilege of tasting? Sinharaja tastes like tea. The way tea should taste, not with a bunch of other flavors crowding out the tea taste. It is not bitter nor is it mouth puckering. According to the Golden Moon, you cannot over brew this tea. I have not personally tested this because when I make a pot of this tea, it is gone in a matter of minutes.

Brewing directions from the Golden Moon:
Brew 1 tsp of leaves per cup in boiling water 3-5 minutes. I brew this tea for 3 minutes. This tea stands up well to milk and sugar.

If you are looking for a good basic black tea, Sinharaja may be the answer.

You can purchase the Sinharaja directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.