Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Jasmine’

Interesting name for this tea. I don’t know the reasons behind such a name, but I’ll take a stab at it. First of all, it is a white silver needle tea flavoured with Jasmine, so possibly this is where the “white” came from.

When we hear of tiger, we think of something that is fierce, strong, powerful; East Pacific’s White Tiger is none of these things, at least not at first; indeed the word “white” in front may bring ideas of calmness, clean, mellow, and softness. The jasmine flavour is natural tasting, not artificial. It is very fresh, things I would find synonymous with the word “white.”

Or perhaps the moniker “White Tiger” has more to do with the physical description of the tea – “white” or clear infusion, white pekoe on dark green buds creating a white tiger stripe-like image. It is a fitting name. Like a tiger waiting to pounce, the jasmine flavour does not come out straight away, but once it comes out, the taste lingers, and seems to get increasingly more intense. The jasmine flavour is not as “fierce” or “strong” as a lot of the jasmine teas available today that are just in-your-face overpowering but rather is a “white” :”fierce,” a tempered fierceness if that makes any sense. I like and prefer this to the former jasmines.

I steeped it according to the instructions on the website at a temperature of 175F for 1-2 minutes. I think they have these directions spot on as you get to taste the tea right at the moment where there is a pause if you will and then the jasmine flavour emerges out of the leaf and lingers sweetly in your mouth thereafter as it intensifies. For those of you looking for something different in the way of Jasmines, I would definitely recommend this. If steeped correctly it will taste unlike any other Jasmine you’ve ever tasted.

You can purchase the White Tiger directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

First let me say that I have an affinity to almonds. Love them especially hot almond milk tea. Roasted almond just sounds that much better. Not too sure about the red rooibos as I’ve only had rooibos a handful of times.

Remember my review on Shanti Tea’s Cherry Sencha and how I said that Cherry scents always remind me of Cherry Children’s Tylenol? Well, this tea’s dry leaf smelled even more potent than that and I felt a little dizzy. It reminded me of my aversion to Cherry scents.

Anyway with regards to the taste, I think I must have some kind of allergy to rooibos or something because after every sip I got a headache. It was getting to the point that I just did not want to drink anymore. That combined with the heady, dizzying aroma did not make it a good experience. It felt like a mini hangover. It must just be me because my co-worker liked it and did not experience the dizziness or headache I did. I’m sorry I don’t think I can offer a fair review for this. Well, at least I now know that I must stay away from rooibos. Imagine that, me being allergic to a tea…well technically rooibos isn’t a tea, but you know what I mean. It just puts a damper on things.

I have read the reviews on this tea and they all seem favourable What I can say is rooibos and almond are both quite potent and the combination makes it very rich and bold. There is no subtlety here, packed full of flavour. As it cooled the taste started to develop a sort of minty taste. I tried to drink as much as I can for this review. It is right for some but I can’t take it. I have another East Pacific Tea I have to review (White Jasmine) and I am looking forward to that. Onwards and upwards as they say…

You can purchase the Roasted Almond directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

I love Earl Grey. I used to drink it quite often, but a couple of months ago I came across a couple of EG variations that were bad. They gave Earl Grey a really horrible, perfume filled name. It used to be my favorite variety of tea, so I was excited to try this version from Mighty Leaf in hopes of renewing my faith in Earl Grey.

This is a whole leaf bagged tea which I don’t recall having experienced before. There were a lot of long, dark leaves and very few typical bagged tea sized pieces. The bag smells strongly of bergamot, but not in the perfume sort of way. I am not able to identify the scent of jasmine, but that may be a good thing. I believe my most recent horrible EG experience was with a jasmine EG. As the tea is steeping, the bergamot allows the black tea to shine through in the scent.

I steeped the bag for 4 minutes as suggested by Mighty Leaf and was a bit surprised that the leaves had expanded to fill the entire bag. That is pretty impressive compared to the normal bagged teas I usually have. The taste is of smooth black tea with a nice dose of bergamot. I am once again unable to locate the jasmine, but I’m fine with that. This is possibly one of the best Earl Greys I have had. The flavor is bold, but not overbearing or perfume-like. This tea is great and easy to drink plain, but is equally as good with the addition of milk and sweetener. The tea holds up nicely to the additions and retains a strong black tea base.

You can purchase the Mighty Leaf Organic Earl Grey directly from the Mighty Leaf Tea website.

A white tea whose dry leaves remind me of a silver-leaf maple tree. Some of the leaves are silver and some are dark in color. The leaves are whole little seed pod looking things.

The brewing directions from RedLeafTea:

Hot (not boiling) water for 4-8 minutes

I had the leaves in hot water for 4 minutes. The taste of this tea is floral with a hint of jasmine maybe in the background. If you don’t like flowers in your cup, you will probably not like this tea. I can’t really put my finger on why I don’t like this, but the perfume in my mouth is screaming at me, so the floral notes are going to be the downfall of this delicate white tea.

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

Product Description: Orange Blossom is a blend of oolong teas from Taiwan, Sri Lanka and India. This loose leaf tea is combined with jasmine petals, fruit peel and natural flavors giving it a light, airy character with delicate orange flavor. This is an excellent beverage with morning toast and marmalade. The aroma will leave others wondering what’s in your cup, so make enough to share. Orange Blossom oolong tea also makes a refreshing and exotic iced tea.

Recently I was introduced to Imperial Tea Garden Teas. I LOVE trying teas from companies I have never tried from before. One of the teas I tried this week was their Orange Blossom Oolong. The dry leaves reminded me of a home that has recently been cleaned with Orange Glo and Lemon Pledge… I could smell the fresh, clean orange smell but also a little woodsy as well! Post infusion the aroma is more of an orange and a blossom. The scent is very ‘pretty’, pleasant, and uplifting!

As for taste this is a fairly full-bodied Oolong! It has some kick to it! There is more of a blossom than an orange taste but it seems to all even out at the end. I must say I am a fan of the Imperial Tea Garden teas I have tried so far and will be reviewing more of them very soon… so stay tuned!

You can purchase the Orange Blossom Oolong Tea directly from the Imperial Tea Garden website.