Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Flavors’

I have a confession.  I consider myself an herbal tea fan.  Yet, I hate chamomile.

And a lot of teas, especially ones designed to soothe and relax, like to focus on chamomile.   So I used to convince myself  (on those nights where I’ve had a horrible long day and want a nice, mellow cup of tea  to help me relax) that maybe the chamomile won’t be so bad this time.  So I brew, and I relax, and I sip.  And then I go and calmly dump the cup out and wonder why it’s still on my shelf of tea.  Blech. 

This cycle continued until I found Sleepytime Vanilla.  This is an herbal tea, designed to relax you.  And it has chamomile in it.  And I actually like it.  The blend of mint and vanilla with the chamomile mellows the flavor, and enhances the brew.  As you sip, you’re first hit by the mint and chamomile, pleasantly combined, then the vanilla shows up with a creamy aftertaste.    The flavors play off each other, and remove whatever it is that consistently makes me go BLEA.

These days, when I’ve had a horrible long day and want to relax, this tea is the one that finds its way into my cup.  I sip contentedly, and actually gain that relaxation I am so craving.

You can purchase Celestial Seasoning Sleepytime Vanilla directly from their website.

When I scanned the list of teas we had to choose from to review, this caught my eye – strawberry cheesecake, one of my favourite deserts. It tastes delicious as a food, how bad can it be as a tea?

The aroma coming off the dried leaves from the bag smelled sweet and very appetizing; I wanted to eat straight from the bag, it was so good! Leaf contains Ceylon black tea, strawberry and cheesecake flavouring, and dried strawberry slices. Usually when I get strawberry slices in something say, cereal, when I eat them, they taste sour; but because these strawberry slices are infused in the tea, if there are and sour tastes, it’ll probably mostly be lost in the sweetness of the cheesecake flavouring.

I steeped it according to instructions 1 tsp per 8 oz of boiling water and took my first sip. Very nice, sweet with a tad bit of sourness at the beginning but finishes off like you are tasting a strawberry cream wafer. It is not for everyone like purists or people who don’t believe in drinking a meal / desert, but one thing I do have to give it is the Ceylon tea used in this flavoured tea is good black tea and you can tell that right away from tasting it. It is flavourful, no briskness or astringency, no spikes or unevenness in taste so very balanced, and carries the taste of the strawberry cheesecake very well.

The aftertaste and feeling I get from the tongue rubbing on the roof of the mouth is like I’ve been eating some cream wafers, there is a little bit of buttery smoothness to it. Actually it reminds me a little of milk oolongs.

After drinking a cup of this strawberry cheesecake tea, it makes me want to reach for the real thing! I need to satisfy my sweet tooth now. ☺

You can purchase the Strawberry Cheesecake directly from the The NecessiTeas website.

A rose by any other name…  Oh, the lovely scent of roses.  As a child, many of the important older women in my life all seemed to use a particular brand of rose lotion, giving me a definite sense memory of strong older, rose scented women  who made me feel safe.  And this tea definitely tripped that trigger.  Highly scented, and very rose.  I was enveloped in comfort as I inhaled the steeping brew.

But I also had a slight worry.  I’ve had a few floral teas that taste like drinking perfume.  Would this one taste like rose perfume?  Smelling good is all fine and dandy, but the best memories can’t mitigate a cup of perfume. It would be downgraded to potpourri at that point.  Luckily – my fears were TOTALLY unfounded.  This tea tasted as lovely as it smelled.  Unsweetened, it carried with it flavors of honey and an underlying sweetness.  It also had a slight nuttiness to the brew.

I will definitely be purchasing some of this tea for myself.  It had good memories, good aromas and good flavors.  What could be better!

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

The first time I tried this, it was so smoky, bitter, and strong I couldn’t finish the glass. So I threw the sample into a drawer and tried to forget about it. Then, a few months later I found the sample again, and decided to brave trying it again.

This time, I decided to make sure I used an *extremely* short steeping time. And it helped, immensely. Now, the smoky flavors have done from trying to remove the skin from your nose to a more pleasant woodsy flavor. Like chewing on tree bark. The brew tastes very masculine and robust. Lots of tannin, lots of body.

I still don’t like it much. I feel like it’s a bit of a bully of a tea; pushy and strong and ready to hit you if you don’t treat it exactly right. Others may like it, especially if you’re a black coffee fan or like the stronger, darker flavors. Me, I’ll reach for something else.

You can purchase the Keemun Hao Ya B directly from the Vicony Tea website.

Da.u.de samples always come in lovely tins with beautiful labels. Opening this tin an AMAZING scent washes over you. Dark fruit, sweet berries, and lovely sweet tones and floral high tones. I would wear this scent daily this scent as a perfume if I could. However, teas with amazing aromas such as this one always make me nervous – will the flavor live up to the aroma? Or will your tongue call your nose a liar?

I am happy to report that for this tea, your tongue will congratulate your nose on its taste and discretion.

Brewed up, the aroma continues and the deep ruby red tea looks rich and inviting. The flavors are sweet, fruity, and juicy with a base level of tartness. This is likely due to the hibiscus. I tend to detest hibiscus in herbal teas, but here it adds just the right base note for the other lighter flavors to use as a springboard, launching the entire blend into balance and harmony. I realize I’m likely mixing metaphors here, but the tea is just darned good.

I did slightly sweeten the brew, as I tend to like my herbals sweet, but this could be enjoyed unsweetened – it is sweet without needing to add anything.

This is a great blend. This would be perfect for evening drinking, or iced on a hot sunny afternoon.