Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Zing’

Sitting down to review a couple of teas from Kalahari Tea, one from their Energy Tea line and the other from their Chocolatte Red (Rooibos) line. Both teas are bagged but I’m open minded and I have had high quality teas that happened to be prebagged in the past (usually tear them open so I can watch the leaves dance freely -yes, I’m easily amused).

I’ve been wanting to try this tea for awhile and am thrilled to have some in my hands now. The description on the packaging sounds so uplifting- “Ruby Grapefruit White Tea – Fatigue Fighting Brew”.

Opened the packet and studied it a few minutes before deciding against opening the bag. From an outside look, all I could make out was a lot of monochromatic dust, not even any pretty bits of grapefruit. Weird. Checked the ingredients list again and I’d apparently missed the word ‘flavor’ that falls after ‘Natural Grapefruit’. Now I’m not sure what ‘flavor’ means exactly (natural chemical agent number 12321?) but whatever the flavor is, it sure has a nice citrus smell so I’m going to pretend that I think that means they squeezed some grapefruit pulp around the Bai Mu Dan. I love white tea but (obviously) couldn’t discern the quality from an ‘outside of the bag’ look, though I can say that I’ve never seen white tea dust before…

Anyway it really did smell nice so I steeped it for four minutes, anxious for the energy boost. The brew color was really dark compared to other white teas I’ve had (back to the ingredient list), must be the Eleuthro Root darkening things. It held the citrus smell but it wasn’t a ‘crisp’ smell like I’d hoped it would be and it didn’t make me feel energized hmmm. Inhaled the deepest smell I could, still hoping for the citrus zing, but it was flat. It tasted really watery, unsubstantial, zero complexity, but I fought the urge to toss it and let it sit for a few minutes – maybe it just needed to cool.

Right, letting it cool was a horrid idea. I went from zeroness to a chemical aftertaste that lasted through three glasses of milk before I could shake it. From meh to bleh…

Note: we could not find a link to purchase this on the website, but you can see the packaging for the tea here.

Starting my day with a taste of India, closing my eyes, allowing myself to be taken away to northern India with this charming, malty, CTC Assam from 52teas.

It’s called RadioactiviTEA and rightly so because it provides just enough of a jolt to get me going without the crash that I get from coffee. Steeped for five minutes with a fresh pot of boiling water (from cold) , and a couple of Stevia leaves to sweeten it. It’s a smooth and comforting tea with that zing that makes it just right for breakfast or to pick you up from a late afternoon lull.

The aroma is strong and inviting, the aftertaste is mellow and satisfying. This blend has never gone bitter (even when I’ve forgotten it was brewing, yes, my mind wanders some mornings), and it’s always had my coffee loving friends asking for more. You can add a touch of cream to it if you prefer but, to get the most health benefits from it, just a bit of Stevia will do. This isn’t a tea that I would suggest putting honey in, it’s malty enough on it’s own.

Sit back, clear the sleep from your eyes, and savour this amber brew.

You can purchase 52teas RadioactiviTEA directly from their website.