Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Dry Blend’

I did a double-take as I was typing up the ingredient list for this review: it isn’t a typo or an omission on the part of my new bifocals; I’m not seeing “pear” anything, are you? It doesn’t matter: whatever mix of blending mojo, culinary science, and olfactory alchemy Distinctly Tea has used to create this works and works well!

If you play a “Where’s Waldo?” game with the packet, you can visually account for everything: medium sized tea leaves, wisps of calendula, stripy whole fennel, and the apple and orange bits. Together, they give the dry blend a sweet and creamy scent.

As far as steeping goes, flavored green or white tea can be a little finicky—the time/temp combination one normally uses to coax the fruit flavor out of hiding often makes the tea go bitter. Not so with this tea—keeping exactly to the package instructions results in a gorgeous gold ambrosia that tastes and smells a bit like baby-food fruit or a skillfully diluted syrup from a can of fruit cocktail.

Should you need a light and fruity tea to celebrate first day you can sit in the back yard with bare feet—or a wicked winter day when you need a reminder that spring will come…eventually…Pear Cream Supreme makes an excellent and fruitful choice.

You can purchase the Pear Cream Supreme directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

I am waiting for the world to invent a tension taming tea that has the flavor of a stiff, stout Irish Breakfast and the sedative clout of two Tylenol P.M.’s. That hasn’t happened yet.  So until then, I’m stuck experimenting with the lighter flavor of traditional herbal concoctions.

Most herbal stress busters lean on a lemony base, and TeaFrog’s Stress Reliever fits the stereotype. It’s pleasantly lemongrass-heavy when you examine the dry blend and when you drink a steeped cup. (I couldn’t pick up on any other distinct flavors; however, I’m not sure I want to know what bean hip or stinging nettle tastes like straight up.) Do follow the proportions and steeping time carefully—this one definitely needs the “longer to be stronger” technique.

As for the medicinal value: while Stress Reliever didn’t knock me out into 8 hours of dreamless soul-restoring sleep, it did seem to take the edge off after a nonstop semi-homicidal screamer day . Well worth the pantry space for a relaxing nightcap.

You can purchase the Stress Reliever directly from the TeaFrog website.

I like this one a lot better than I thought I would. Even tho it has 4 floral type ingredients it’s not overly flower-like.  It’s not that bitter/floral type taste that I sometimes get and am worried about.  The Black tea and the green tea along with the flavors all make sense and make it very enjoyable!  I think I would have this more than once in a blue moon.  The aroma of the dry blend was pleasant and floral but also fruity.  I didn’t really taste the fruity tones, but that may be why it wasn’t overly floral tasting.  Perhaps those fruity tones helps cancel the potential floral bitterness.  I’m not sure how TeaFrog made this happen but I am sure glad they did.  This one made it to my 85 percentile of good-solid teas!

You can purchase the 1001 Nights directly from the TeaFrog website.

The name of this blend is really inviting, who doesn’t love lemon, ginger and snap? Really. The only concern I have with this one is whether or not the herbs will balance with the Chinese green tea. The dry blend is really pretty with the bright lemon grass contrasting with the dark green tea. The dominant scent is definitely the lemon myrtle, having trouble isolating the scent from the tea and the other herbs.

Ready to steep this tea but I’m a bit torn about how to steep it because it appears to be mostly herbal but it’s categorized as a green tea… Going with green tea method, guessing that steeping it any longer or with hotter water will ruin the green tea in it. So it’s brewing up at 175 degrees for two minutes.

The scent of the lemon myrtle didn’t mellow but that’s okay because I love lemon myrtle. It’s an almost clear brew, just slightly golden. Tastes wonderfully tangy with the spicy hint of ginger. The green tea is crisp and fresh with no bitterness.

You can purchase the Lemon Ginger Snap directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.