Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Tea Blend’

I argued with myself for a few hours about this tea. I really, really wanted to like it. I grew up in Washington State, and had this tea growing up – as it’s blended in Seattle. And I’m a fan of the more “in your face” teas, which this tea has a reputation of being. But it just wasn’t sitting right with me. For starters, there’s been so much essential oil placed into the leaf that it looks greasy as you spoon it into your cup. Intellectually, I know that more essential oil = more flavoring, but the visual was a little… off-putting. On the other side of the scale, the aroma is lovely. A nice blend of spice and orange. I can’t smell any actual tea aroma, but it does smell mouthwatering.

Once brewed up, all those essential oils left a film on the top of the tea. Again, a visual deterrent. And the flavor just wasn’t up to the expected impact of the aroma and all that essential oil. I would take a sip, make a funny face, wander off, then come back and do it again. It both felt like there was too much in the cup, too many side flavors competing for your attention, as well as that there wasn’t enough TEA in the cup of tea.

So, I sipped, and wandered off, sipped and wandered off, for a few cups worth, trying to find the place where this tea was wonderful. I tried it sweetened and I tried it unsweetened. I made stronger brews and I made lighter brews. And I just couldn’t find it. So I left and did something silly, like pay bills or watch TV.

And then it happened.

I came back to a cold cup, but with a dry mouth. “Eh,” I thought “I’ll drink this while I brew a fresh cup of this other tea.” And wow! There it was. This is the ultimate iced tea. Slightly sweetened, and iced, I could drink this all summer long. The spiced orange isn’t stomping all over the tea flavor, but rather melding with it for a fragrant and flavorful cup of cold brown joy. It’s lovely.

You can purchase the Cinnamon-Orange directly from the Market Spice Tea website.

This review is being written in the middle of a heat wave.  Industrial air conditioners around town are failing in the force of the oppressive heat.  The skin on the back of your legs begins to cook the moment you step foot out of the house, causing many to turn and run back into air conditioned houses, making the heat worse on the next visit outside.

What better time for a tea that tastes of ice cream and mentions it would be great iced?

Like all the NecessiTeas blends I’ve tried, it smells amazing.  Orange peel, creamy notes and tea blend into an aroma to make the angels of frozen confectionaries cry.  Once brewed up it’s a lovely light yellow green.  Unsweetened, the tea and the orange peel are front and center.  The pleasantly bitter flavor of the orange combines well with the green tea base to make a pleasant drink.  There’s a hint of a creamy after note.  When I let the cup cool, the green tea took over more and the flavors hid.

But it’s an ice cream flavored tea, so that, to me means SWEET.  So I sweetened my next cup.  YUM.  It brought out the cream flavors, and mellowed the orange flavor while not loosing the tea itself.  When this cooled, it retained the dreamcicle flavor, and stayed an excellent sipping tea.  I tried steeping the leaf again – and was pleasantly surprised that the added flavors remained strong.

This is a yummy, yummy tea.  It’s a flavored green that manages to highlight the added flavors without losing it’s basic tea-ness.  I’d strongly reccomend a sweetened iced cup of this for a warm summers evening, sitting out watching the fireflies.

You can purchase the Orange Creamsicle directly from the The Necessiteas website.

I tend to like tropical tastes. Much to the chagrin of my family, when I order pizza, I usually choose pineapple and ham as toppings. This just grosses people out but I like it. So how about pineapple tastes in tea?…keep that thought in mind, okay now add to it guava. This combination makes me think that you’ll either love it or hate it. As separate food and drink items, I like it so I’m game to try the combo too. Not too sure about the flower petals in it though. We’ll see.

Opened up the package and found a mesh-stitched teabag filled with not small fannings or dust in the teabag but whole leaves that looked of good quality and only a tiny bit of blue flower petals. Steeped the teabag in boiling water for 3 minutes as per the instructions. Aroma is very fruity and floral. A very pleasant fragrance.

I agree with Mighty Leaf that the “green tea blends harmoniously with the sweet tropical fruits of pineapple and guava” and this may be part of the problem. It would have been more distinctive had the green tea had some of the characteristic grassy or vegetal notes of other green teas. Because of this, it tasted more like a tisane than a green tea blend. The taste of pineapple also seems to be lost in a stronger base note of the sweet guava. The blend does seem to come together quite naturally with the floral notes. It is an okay beverage but tastes too much like many fruity, floral teas I’ve tasted. It doesn’t stand out but it’ll do. I could take it or leave it.

You can purchase Mighty Leaf Green Tea Tropical directly from their website.

There are over 5 million ways to divide the world into two groups. Licorice is definitely one of them. People either adore black licorice or hate it. I personally fall into the “love it” camp – unless it’s salt licorice. Because it’s just.. odd. Blea.

There are a few ways to get licorice-like flavors. There is the traditional licorice root, but anise, star anise, and fennel all contain similar flavoring agents. All these plants contain the chemical compound anethole which provides that signature flavor. And while all are similar, there are subtle differences. Licorice root is sweeter, anise is more aromatic, fennel is milder, and star anise has a bit of a bite.

This tea uses star anise to get it’s licorice flavor. On first sniff, the leaf smells very much like standard licorice. But once it started to brew, the notes of star anise come out much more strongly. It develops into a very light yellow brew – likely due to the white tea. On first sip, the licorice is very mellow, soft. Almost more plant-y than standard licorice. The hay-like features of the white tea blend well with the plant-y features of the star anise to merge together into a nice mellow cup.

Of all the various plant anethole-delivery systems, star anise is my least favorite. I don’t like the small, strange bite it delivers. I like all the others (I even have this amazing bread dip recipe that uses fennel*) much more, but even with this mark against it, this tea does not disappoint. It’s mellow, smooth, and yummy. Because it’s not so strongly licorice-y, even those who fall into the camp of licorice hater may like this tea. Good blend.

*G’s amazing bread dip
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
4-5 turns of fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp chopped garlic
Olive Oil

Take the first four ingredients, grind in a spice grinder until they’re a fine powder. Blend with the chopped garlic in a mortar and pestle until you get a nice paste. Blop the paste into the center of a shallow bowl or deep plate. Pour olive oil over the paste, stir slightly. Serve with fresh bread. And drink with strong tea – because any other type will be overpowered by the dip.

You can purchase the White Licorice directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

This blend is identical in smell to BTC’s Berry Medley. Berry Medley is a black tea blend while the Berry Twist is a red rooibos blend.

This tea is caffeine free, which is always a good thing to have in your tea cupboard for those late night cups of tea. For me, the aftertaste of the rooibos is too strong and left me wanting a cup of Berry Medley. If you like red rooibos with fruity notes, this is the tea for you! Enjoy.

You can purchase the Berry Twist directly from the Boston Tea Company website.