Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Scents’

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.

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.

Morroccan Mint tea seems to be a staple for most tea drinkers that I know. A very traditional tea that is easy to find and is enjoyable steeped in the traditional way or iced. Today I’m reviewing one from Golden Moon Tea and it’s unique in that it has mint oil added to it, I’ve never seen that as an ingredient before.

The dry leaves are clean with shiney and tightly rolled Gunpowder pellets and a generous amount of mint. Steeped it according to the instructions on the packaging, watching the Gunpowder pellets unfurl after a few minutes. It brews up to a nice dark color, with the scents balancing out after a few minutes making the smell of mint less over-powering. The taste is smooth and rich, with a nice minty lingering aftertaste. The second steep brought out more of the gunpowder flavor and was a bit drier than the first steep but still really enjoyable. From the taste, I think that the mint oil made the mint leaves taste a lot fresher than blends I’ve had without the oil. This is one of the better Moroccan Mints that I’ve had, can’t wait to try it iced.

You can purchase the Moroccan Mint directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

My first reaction to this tea was that it smells very sweet and a lot like potpouri! The scent of roses blends nicely with the fruity smell of mango and the sharp scent of jasmine.

After four minutes of steeping, the previously strong aroma really mellows out to a pleasing blend of primarily jasmine and mango scents. My first sip seemed to be entirely roses, followed by hints of tropical fruit and some jasmine. Quite pleasant, if not a bit much in the way of flowers. Taking a bigger swallow, a myriad of flowers and the mango taste flooded my mouth, though everything seemed to be tinged with the flavour of roses. There really is not much taste of rooibos in this tea, as it is overwhelmed by all the other tastes…and it really is okay. I see no problem with that (excepting that one of those tastes is sadly not rooibos).

To be quite honest, I cannot say this is something that would have caught my eye and held my attention if I had seen it in a tea shop. Perhaps it would have required a second glance at the ingredients and at the tea itself, as it is very attractive, and unique looking, both in the dry leaf and in the list of ingredients. It is tasty, the flavour is quite pleasant, and I believe it is a tea that some will very much enjoy. As for myself, I give it a 75/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Xaouen directly from the 52teas website.

Have you ever smelled a Tea or Tisane while it’s infusing or steeping and you just want to swim in it!?  This is one of those teas/tisanes for me!  Seriously… if Heaven had a room filled with Rooibos, Belgian Chocolate, and Mint… it would smell like this.  Some of you may think I am exaggerating at the moment but I’m not.  The marvelous scent of this Rooibos is beyond powerful… it’s extremely intense and it’s WONDERFUL!  One of my favorite Soy Milks sells something called Chocolate Peppermint Stick around the holidays and this is very much like its scent double!

After this is done infusing the color is one of the darkest ‘brewed’ Rooibos’s I have ever seen!

In tradition with the rest of its characteristics the taste also follows suit – continuing on with the intensity of the other “scents” both sight and smell.  Yes, it’s chocolate but not a milky chocolate consistency per say but you still know it’s there.  Most of you know I drink all of my tea/tisanes PLAIN but Georgia Tea Company suggests trying it with cream.  I just might have to break my rule to see what they mean by that but for right now… I’m drinking this “plain jane”.

Soy Delicious’s Mint Chocolate Chip is my favorite (soy) Ice Cream and this taste and aftertaste reminds me a lot of that tempting treat.

This is Chocolate and Mint paired with Rooibos at it’s prime!  An Awesome Rooibos Experience in my book!  Cheers Georgia Tea Company, CHEERS!  I raise my tea cup to you!

You can purchase the Rooibos Belgian Chocolate directly from the Georgia Tea Company website.