Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Five Minutes’

Ah, this tea smells tasty. The aroma of the dried leaf is very fruity, if also a bit floral. There are some spicy tones as well. It would appear the mixture is composed of rooibos, rose petals, and perhaps some dried citrus, among other things.

For my first infusions, I steeped a teaspoon and a half of this for five minutes in a cup of just-boiled water. The Shanti Tea website does not give many details regarding this tea, but judging by the fact that it has rooibos, I decided on the tea measurement and steep times. The steeped cup smells of sweet fruit, with big hints of apricot and citrus of some sort. The impression of the first sip is…subdued. Quite a bit of lemon and orange flavours, but not a lot else that stands out. More sips bring out the rooibos and mixed fruit flavours. They blend quite well, and the tea makes for a pleasant evening cuppa.

On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this tea a 68/100.

You can purchase the African Carnival directly from the Shanti Tea website.

Mmm, rooibos, orange peels, almonds, cardamom, and coriander…this sounds like a delicious tea in the making! When I first opened the package, it was definitely the almond scents that struck my nose first. Then came sweet, slightly juicy undertones. In preparing this tea, I utilised a two-cup teapot, 1 tablespoon of TeaFrog Gingerbread Orange Rooibos (two times the recommended 1.5 teaspoon per cup), and freshly boiled water.

Pouring the water over the mixture, the dominant smell wafting up in the steam was actually orange. I felt this was a good sign, since the name of the tea is Gingerbread _Orange_. The recommended five minutes past, I removed the infuser, taking a moment to eyeball the tea. I could easily pick out the cardamom, coriander, and orange bits in amongst the rooibos. I was not too sure about where the almond was, but I knew I had smelled it earlier…oh, there are a couple of pieces. Whew. My nose has not deceived me.

I take my first sip. Hmmm, I can definitely taste the cardamom. It is coming through quite dominantly. I take another sip, and another, and finish off the first cup. My thoughts so far run somewhere along the line of it tastes spicy, as gingerbread does, but yet…this tea has not so far reminded me of gingerbread. The spiciness of the flavour is quickly followed by tasty orange, and then some almond-esque undertones. Not having fully felt that I understand this tea and all that it has to offer, I pour myself a second cup.

The deep orange-red, nearly rust, colour of this tea is quite pretty. As I sip this second cup, it seems that it follows much like the first. However, I am now beginning to follow the connection of the flavour of this tea to the flavour of gingerbread. This connection is especially prominent in the aftertaste, which is quite pleasant. I finish off the pot with a new outlook on this tea.

I think this tea would be a great treat any time of the day. I drank it in the morning and really enjoyed the experience, but I can see it being a lovely evening tea as well. If you are interested in this tea, I would definitely recommend trying some. I would rate it an 85/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Gingerbread Orange directly from the TeaFrog website.

I was really excited to taste this tea. The ingredients of orange peel, cinnamon and cloves sounded wonderfully delicious. The directions recommend steeping 1.5 tsp per cup of water for 5-6 minutes. I was using a 2-cup teapot, so I doubled my amount of tea and steeped it, using boiling water, for five minutes. The smell of cloves and cinnamon wafts up from the pot to my nose enticingly. This tea is aptly named, as it reminds me of sitting next to a fire, perhaps during the Christmas season, where these smells are often common around my home.

Pouring myself a cup of this dark, red-orange tea, cloves take the greatest part of its aroma, with edgings of cinnamon in that scent. Sipping this tea, it goes down smooth, the biggest flavour being the cinnamon and the rooibos (which is pleasantly not overpowered as in many rooibos blends I have tried). The orange aftertaste is quite appealing.

My overall impressions were that this tea has very well-balanced flavours and really does make for a very soothing beverage. I certainly enjoyed it and would rate it a 90/100.

You can purchase the Fireside Rooibos directly from the TeaFrog website.

Irish breakfast tea should need no mollycoddlin’; it should be a tea that will allow you to stagger into the kitchen on a weekday morning with your eyes half closed and throw an indiscriminate amount of leaf into the cleanest cup you can find in the sink, dump in water at the first hint of a kettle whistle, and there! Bob’s yer uncle.

I’m not sure Golden Moon’s take on Irish Breakfast can handle that kind of mistreatment, but it’s definitely tasty. I made my first test cup on a leisurely weekend so I had time to fully open my eyes and give it a good look. The first thing I noticed was that, even at a full five minutes, the color was lighter than I expected. Taking a second look at the dry leaves, that’s not a surprise—there’s a generous amount of blonde golden tips in the mix.

While rolling around possible adjectives for this tea, stout and robust didn’t make the list at all. Golden Moon Irish Breakfast is more malty and fruity than one would expect, but still has enough character to stand up to the “breakfast” category. No milk needed, but a.m. additives don’t weaken its taste or personality.

According to Golden Moon’s website, the type of Irish Breakfast I described in the opening paragraph might be considered “too bitter for the faint of heart.” Thus, their blend, hand-picked from a market in Cork, England, has toned down the kick to make a cup that says “top o’the mornin’ to ya.”

You can purchase the Irish Breakfast directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

Hmm another amazingly retro package from Blue Q Tea. The back of the box poses an interesting question: “Are you thinking of running away from home?” If you’re a parent or if you were ever someone’s child, you will, at the very least, get a chuckle out of this one. I showed this to my son and he thought it was funny (he’s a teen, so I kind of sort of think he almost smiled). Now, he actively encourages me to take tea breaks. “Gawd Mom, why don’t you just go drink something…” It’s a beautiful thing.

So, in an effort to become an even more perfect parent, I cracked open this tea. It smells fantastic, light and fresh, with a hint of orange. It’s dusty but the smell helped me over look that. Steeped it with boiling water for five minutes and the scent became really calming. Brews up really clean and almost colorless but the citrus taste is strong enough to compliment the chamoumile without overpowering it. This is a nice tea and it really would make a nice gift for the parent or parent-substitute in your life.

You can purchase the Be A Better Parent Tea directly from the Blue Q website.