Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Tin’

I’ve been working on this review for a month.

Or more specifically, I’ve been trying to start writing this review for over a month, but never get as far as getting anything written down. I’ll open the tin, smell the tea, get my brewing tools ready, and be excited to drink. This excitement will last until I actually start sipping the tea. Then I keep delaying in writing, because I keep thinking that this boring brew can’t be right. So I tinker with the parameters, and try again, or get bored and wander off. Either way, the review isn’t getting written.

The leaf has an awesome scent; peaches blending perfectly with the black and green tea. Brewed, its got a good color, and a nice aroma. But I keep sipping, and when I do, part of my brain is still waiting for yum to come. I tried longer and shorter steeps, a variety of water temperatures and sweetening the liquor. Even still, I wanted more fruit, more flavor and more oomph from this tea. Those with more delicate palates may apprecaite this tea more than I. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for a more robust drink.

You can purchase the Geisha Beauty directly from the Sanctuary T website.

Congrats to @AmazonV – she has won our great prize pack from @sleepytimebear and Celestial Seasonings! Stay tuned for more draws and contests in the future!

Back in January we ran a very successful Celestial Seasonings Contest for a case of Decaf Lemon Jasmine Green Tea, well, Sleepytime Bear is back, and this time with a prize pack that will blow you away!

You could win:

• Decaf Sleepytime Lemon Jasmine Green Tea
• Celestial Seasonings Tin Tea Caddy
• Celestial Seasonings Magnet
• Celestial Seasonings Lip Balm
• Honey Sticks

What do you have to do? It is pretty simple.

1. Follow @Sleepytimebear on twitter, or “Like” SleepyTime Bear on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SleepytimeBearTea
2. Comment in this post with your twitter name, or the name you are following Sleepytime Bear with on Facebook so we can confirm your entry.
3. For an extra entry, re-tweet: I just entered to win an amazing prize from @allabouttheleaf and @sleepytimebear – you can 2! Enter here: http://is.gd/h6GFcp #iaatlcontest

One random winner will be chosen from the commenters on this post that have met the above requirements.

This contest runs from Monday March 7th, to Monday March 14th – so you have a full week to figure out this Facebook and Twitter thing!

So get on this now – and win this amazing prize pack from Celestial Seasonings!

The rules of the contest are as follows:

1. You must be following @allabouttheleaf, otherwise we cannot contact you via DM if you win!
2. You can re-tweet as many times as you like, but there is only one extra entry per person.
3. Duplicate accounts created by the same person for the purpose of entering will be disqualified.
4. You must re-tweet the message above EXACTLY to gain the extra entry, otherwise we cannot track your tweet.
5. This contest not open to employees of Celestial Seasonings.
6. Contest ends Monday March 14th – one random winner will be contacted via DM on Twitter for their shipping details.

Just in case you needed more convincing, take a look at some of the Tea Reviews for Celestial Seasonings Tea that our reviewers have posted over the past year or so.

Dear Tea Companies,

Your packages’ brewing instructions matter.

No Love,
Me

Let me explain. I have run into many a situation where I’ll get some amazing sounding tea. I’ll read the instruction on the label, and do what it says. I have to trust that the company who gives me a tea, knows how to make it the best. It will look lovely, the leaf will smell lovely, and the brew will be the most beautiful color ever.

And then that first sip will make me cry. Wonky preparation details will take my little cup of heaven and make it undrinkable.

Such was the case with my first experience with Royal Garland by Samovar. Many of my on-line tea friends experience heighten states of being when they have Samovar teas. So I was really looking forward to the experience of this tea. And then I got it, and read the package where it called for 2 tablespoons of leaf being steeped in 5 ounces of water for 3 minutes. MEH?? I know some teas, especially the fluffier ones, break that 1 cup = 1 tsp golden rule, but this sounded really funky. And everything I’d read says that more leaf = shorter steep. This just couldn’t be right.

But, I decided to trust the tea company. The leaf was gorgeous and smelled amazing. But when I tried that brew… Oh, when I tried that poor abused cup of tea, I almost sprayed the room. It was horrid. Bitter, astringent, and just plain awful. And it was a goodly portion of my tin, since it had called for so much leaf. It honestly took me a good few months to think about trying the tea again.

But, luckily, this tea story has a happy ending. I, after asking around for suggestions of brewing parameters, played with brewing some additional cups. And I’ve gotten the brew to where it’s pretty darned good. It’s a light yellow color, with a clean and slightly astringent flavor with overtones of cashews. I can get multiple yummy steeps out of the same, much smaller, amount of leaves. This is a really nice oolong. Just don’t use the preparation techniques on the container!!

You can purchase the Royal Garland directly from the Samovar Tea Lounge website.

As my husband handed me the box from Mike, I could smell this tea! And I have to admit my comment was “something really smells in there!” The fear in the back of my mind was Rooibos. Had I requested another Rooibos? The fear was subsided when I opened the box to reveal this silver tin of Honeybush tea. I have only had honeybush tea once before and on that particular occasion the honeybush strongly resembled a woody rooibos.

Honeybush is a mild, caffeine free herbal tea. I was hopeful that I would like this tea. As I put my teaspoon into the tea leaves, I noticed something…what is that? Chocolate? Yes, tiny chocolate pieces of goodness throughout this blend. Since I could not locate any brewing directions I just went with standard recommendations 4-5 minutes steep time with 1.5 tsp per cup.

Chocolate. Did I mention the chocolate??? This is very good chocolate tea! Smooth and rich. One cup will do ya kind of tea. And the best part is that it is caffeine free, so this may well become my nighttime tea. Halleluiah. It is really hard to find a good nighttime tea. I would never have pegged a honeybush to fill that need in my tea cupboard, but this jewel of a tea did just that for me. Go ahead and pick up a tin of this tea, it just may be your tea too!

You can purchase the Chocolate Honeybush directly from the Sanctuary T website.

Company Description: A delicious melding of black tea, nut and chocolate flavors.

This is my first tea from Harney & Sons and I must say that I have heard a lot of amazing things about Florence. I truly hope to not be disappointed.

When you first open the tin of Florence, the aroma of dark chocolate and hazelnut will fill the room. If you like Nutella, you will simply want to eat the dry leaves. They smell that good. While waiting for the tea to steep the full 5 minutes as suggested on the tin, I was tempted to cut the time short. I resisted and was certainly rewarded for my efforts.

I tried the first few sips plain, expecting the tea to be a tad bitter due to the long steep time. While there was a slight bitterness, it wasn’t the bitterness you would expect when oversteeping a tea. It was a very identifiable hazelnut bitterness followed by the taste of dark chocolate and black tea. I added a bit of milk to my mug and the tea morphed into a creamy, liquid Nutella-type beverage though not as sweet.

For my second cup, I added milk and sweetener which transformed the tea into the ultimate dessert in a cup. It is simply amazing. This may very well be the best tea I’ve had so far in my tea experience. If you like Nutella or are looking for a great chocolate tea that doesn’t taste artificial, this may be the one for you.

You can purchase the Florence directly from the Harney & Sons website.