Tea - Loose Leaf Tea - Ramblings

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This is called a calming tea with sweet and sour flavors made up of chamomile, blood orange, cranberry, apple, and cherry and hibiscus flowers. I’m a little wary of the cherry flavors since my only experience with cherries are of the artificial cough medicine horrors from childhood and a chemistry teacher who absolutely insisted maraschino cherries were 100% synthetic. My fears increase when I can pick out the cherry scent from among the other, fortunately friendlier fruit scents. The scent of the tea is light, and I’m happy to report that the flavor is more of the cherries in cheesecake (ok, there were more cherry experiences) than in cough medicine. The initial tartness slides into sweetness pretty quickly. I still don’t taste other flavors that clearly, though it’s easy to attribute the complexity of this tea to them; this isn’t a single note tea. This is very drinkable and a great accompaniment to dessert and recommended for any cherry lover.

After running around all day, I wanted nothing more than to come home and curl up with a cup of good tea. My ten year old son adores green tea and collects dragons so this tea seemed like the perfect combination. Stephen sent me a generous sample - enough for two big pots. However, I accidentally poured the whole sample in to the pot. As the pot was quite damp from rinsing it out, the leaves got wet and I was stuck. Toss the extra leaves or throw caution to the wind and brew the whole shebang? Being the wild woman I am, I kept all of the leaves in the pot, secretly fearing toxic soup. The leaves unfurled in to a glossy green forest that, when I cleaned them out, had the scent of the woods after a rain.

After a short brewing time of maybe only three minutes, we were ready to
go. Casimir requested his tea over ice and declared it a mighty success
with about a teaspoon of sugar. The color was quite beautiful, similar
to the color of tree buds in the spring after a long, cold winter. I
poured my tea at about five minutes and the color had deepened to a rich
amber. I took my tea hot and naked. It was earthy and slightly tart,
giving the impression of, well, a really good quality green tree. I
found my second cup, which had developed a few minutes longer, took on a
wheat grass flavor. I’m fighting tonsilitis and I have to say that this
tea soothed my scratchy throat, too, which was an added bonus!

I liked this tea and would drink it again, although I would definitely
use fewer leaves in the future.

Yogic Chai is an organization that makes nothing but chai blends. They have all kinds of variations on their chai (including a coconut chai that I happen to love—but don’t buy it thinking that coconut is a distinguishable flavor, it mostly just adds some sweetness to the blend). They use organic ingredients and Fair Traded Tea. They also make their black tea blends with assam tea, which happens to be the best way to enjoy chai, in my opinion. They even have a blend for healthy immune support with echinacea and astragalus–tis the the season for colds and flu.

As stated above the ingredients are all organic and include Fair Traded Assam, cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, and ginger. This is fun to look at with lots of little pieces of spice. This packs a pretty healthy spice load. The assam might not be the highest quality out there, but this isn’t meant to drank purist style. This is meant to have sugar and milk. I happen to love this because it packs a healthy spice load and love that there is enough ginger so that I can taste its bite.

This is the best chai I have come across. I look forward to meeting the chai that does it better, but fear I might have to visit India or at least an Indian home. If you are looking for a great spicy chai with an assam base, this is for you. Be sure to check out Teaview’s Forum in the Special Offers & Coupons section for any Yogic Chai current offers. They have had a few as of late that make it worth your while to stock up on their chai.

This is made up of lemongrass, orange peels, rosebuds, and mint. Sniffing the scent of the dried lemongrass leaves and other tea bits, I can pick out a slightly citrusy scent and some mint (I think I can detect both spearmint and peppermint, but I’m not sure). The aroma from the tea is very light, almost nonexistent except that the lemongrass lingers on the surface, providing a more calming effect rather than an uplifting one. The first sip is surprisingly more brisk than I expected; the lemony brightness is a wakeup call after the quiet aroma. This is for people who demand some citrus in their citrus teas. There is no biting aftertaste, as expected from an herbal tea, the body is very light; all the power is concentrated in the flavor. This is a great choice for an herbal wake-me-up. The citrus flavor is more lemon tempered by other flavors than the other way around, and afterward there is a lingering minty taste that is quite nice in the mornings or after meals.

I would consider myself a fan of most chai teas. I do tend to have to be in the mood for them, meaning they aren’t something I would normally drink every day. Today being one of the days that a spicey chai sounded absolutely delightful, I checked my samples and found this version from Steenberg’s. When I first opened the sample, I was a bit disappointed in that it didn’t have the depth of spicey aroma that I was looking for. I have to admit that most of the chais I have tried in the past start with a black tea base, so I thought maybe the aroma of the green tea was muting the spices. The Steenbergs website says that they created this blend to bring the current interest in green teas together with the flavors of chai. Unfortunately, for my taste, the green tea doesn’t really mesh as readily with the spices as black tea does. I know the green tea is there as I can see the fairly small broken pieces in my sample, but it doesn’t really come through at all in the taste of the tea. I could probably overlook the lack of contribution from the green tea base if the blend of spices used were stronger. For some reason the only real flavor that comes through to me is coriander and I have evidently found that coriander is not my favorite spice. For some reason it has left me with a distinctly unpleasant aftertaste, which is the reason my rating has gone down three times since I started writing this review. I enjoy a chai that has a strong spiciness that leaves no doubt as to its existance, but doesn’t rely quite so heavily on one component. Steenberg’s is a UK based company, so I am assuming the differences in the combination and strength of spices used may be a cultural preference. If you happen to be a huge fan of coriander, I could recommend this one. Otherwise there are many better tasting chai options available.

I’m not a huge nut for fruit-infusion tisanes.  I enjoy them, they rarely disappoint me, but its not a driving interest.  When I want a hot beverage, I generally want a good, old fashioned black or oolong.  So when this latest package of teas from The Teacup (Seattle), arrived at Teaviews, I didn’t think much of the little package with “Turkish Lime (Fruit Tisane)” scribbled on the outside.

It was only a few days later, when one of our reviewers requested a sample of “Turkish Lime” that I finally opened the bag and took that first initial whiff.  And…. WOW.  Immediately childhood memories of orange creamsicles came flooding back, only instead of orange there was this delightful, lime-scented twist to it that just threw me back.  I portioned out a sample for my fellow tea reviewer but made darned sure there was just enough left in the original package for one proper brew for myself.  I just had to try this stuff.

From The Teacup’s website:

“Turkish Lime is a great departure from the more standard hibiscus based fruit teas, created from apples, pineapple, and lime essences for a refreshing, unique flavor that as always is caffeine free. Smooth enough to drink everyday, interesting enough to be served at weddings, this tea is fast becoming an addictive favorite for staff and customers alike.”

It’s no surprise this has become a staff favorite - this tisane is DELICIOUS!  Just like the original whiff, the flavor in the final brew is fruity and creamy - just like a lime creamsicle, if they ever actually made such a thing.  There’s just enough sugar included with the fruit pieces to make this nice and sweet on its own, with no additions necessary.

This was one of those one-in-a-hundred tea experiences that really left me wanting to go out and purchase a full pound of this stuff straight away.  If you enjoy fruit infusions at all, to any degree, I doubt you’ll find a more deliciously blended one than this.  Definitely a must try.

I am a huge fan of oolong tea, so the prospect of trying new varieties always makes me happy. This morning, I decided to break open my sample of Jumbolink International’s Gold Carbon Cultivate oolong. I have never heard of Jumbolink International before, and after some extensive Google searching, I learned that they are (or at least they claim to be) one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of tea from Taiwan. The Jumbolink International site says of their Gold oolong tea: “Jumbolink provide a special 6 years Oolong tea and a truly epicurean tea, this top grade oolong is comprised only of whole leaves which have been partially fermented to the exact point at which the rich floral notes and heady melon fragrance are developed. Once you have tried our special Oolong tea you will be amazed that it is not more widely available or more loudly praised.” The website says nothing about the Carbon Cultivate aspect of this tea’s name, and a little more googling turned out nothing to explain this, so I can’t really describe what exactly the “Carbon Cultivate” means, or how this differs from the standard gold oolong tea. I will have to let my taste buds and nose guide me through the rest of this review. Upon the initial whiff of my sample of the tea, I had two impressions: vegetal and smoky. This was just about as close to a green tea as an oolong can get. In fact, based on smell alone, I would have bet money that this was a green tea. The tea leaves appear as large nuggets and just a small amount of these leaves will definitely go a long way. I used a little over a teaspoon of leaves in my infuser, and after just a couple of minutes, the leaves had opened up to just about take over the entire teapot. Throughout the infusion process, I noted a strong earthy smell, which again, seemed more characteristic of a green tea than an oolong. I couldn’t really get much of the floral notes I expect of an oolong because the green/grassy smell was overwhelming. The aroma of the brewing leaves was a good precursor to the taste of the tea. I personally found little enjoyment in this tea, primarily because it just tasted too much like a green tea, and an astringent and bitter one at that. Normally, I am not opposed to green teas, but seeing as I was in the mood for an oolong and this was labeled as an oolong, I was expecting a tea with a little more, well, oolong flavor. Instead, I got a a vegetal and slightly bitter mouthful. And I can’t help but comment that there was a bit of an “earthiness” beyond what could be considered enjoyable; the earthiness crossed the line from vegetal to dirt-like and I found this quite off-putting. As in the dry leaves, there was also a faint hint of some smokiness. The smokiness is nowhere near as intense as what is found in a Lapsang Souchong, but when combined with the dirt-like flavor, was equally unappealing to me. I simply couldn’t bring myself to drink more than a few sips, and after a while, even the aroma of the the tea was a huge turnoff. I really hate giving completely negative reviews, and usually try to find something redeeming about every tea I drink. So I will say that perhaps if you are a big fan of really authentic (read here: vegetal/grassy/springy/earthy) green teas, then maybe this oolong will win you over. However, keep in mind that if you are expecting the light floral and/or nutty notes found in most oolongs, you better look elsewhere.

TeaGschwendner is a worldwide company that started in Germany in 1978. They have two stores in the USA, in Ann Arbor MI and Chicago IL, and other brick and mortar stores in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Four of their teas won in their categories in the world tea championships and 23 others placed in the top five. Their website is very clear and easy to navigate with a great deal on free shipping for orders over $35.
Their China Fancy White Peony is an organic tea that is a mix of tea bits and long feathery light green strands of white tea. The scent is very lightly floral with something delicious thrown in.

The tea itself is very lightly scented; I can barely detect anything until I’m about to take a sip, and then it’s a faint, warming floral. The tea has a medium body and tastes fairly plain. This is good, smooth tea that seems like it would take milk and sugar well too. This would be good for people who are looking for plain and simple. This is not my first choice but might be just right for someone else.

When most “normies” think of tea, they envision a cream-and-sugar-laden, dark broth-like substance. The average tealitist pictures something with an unpronounceable name served from a cup resembling a futuristic shoehorn. Here’s a little something that appeases both extremes and earns a satisfactory nod from floral fence-sitters such as I.

I first ran across the term “pekoe” while browsing a teashop. Thoughts of some sort of Hawaiian nut entered my mind. “Orange pekoe” made me think of a citrusy nut, further enhancing my tropical taste fantasy. Fast-forward a couple of years, my tangerine dreams were dashed when I learned that pekoe was a term that denoted tea grades. The “Orange” signified royal warrant. Kinda dull, I thought.

What could I do now but actually try something that earned a reasonable “grade”? Plucker’s Pick had a Ceylon (read: Sri Lankan) black tea with a medium-high grade; a B-minus. Rarely a fan of black teas as a general rule, I was curious about the difference. What made one type of tar-ish tea better than another?

Consider me schooled.

This Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe from the Homadola tea estate is absolutely superb. I brought the water to a boil and infused the asphalt-black leaves for five minutes. The brew turned a deep auburn the moment the water hit leaf. I confess, I was a bit psyched by this.

The liquor went down smooth without any immediate belchy kick-back. I reckon not everyone experiences this with black tea, but I usually do. Not the case here. The aftertaste was faintly ash-like. By the second infusion, I put it through the ol’ cream-and-sugar test. I’d have to say it rivaled even the best Irish Breakfast I had…in Ireland!

While not a black tea convert, this ranks about as high as any good white or green I’ve ever tried. Chock-full of flavor, but not chalky; lingering aftertaste, but not languid. I would shell out actual money for this and be happy I did. If not that, debit card.

The vender website describes this tea as a “rich black tea blend
flavored with authentic maple syrup.” Surprisingly enough, this was an accurate description-definitely rich with an authentic maple flavor!

The scent of this tea had a fantastic captivating aroma. It’s strong
maple scent was homey and comforting just as it was exciting-it was
difficult not to instantly want to just brew a cup just to have a sip,
just to see if this was real! The aroma was so promising, it almost
confused me-maple sugar tea that actually smelled like the name? Well..

As I first took a sip without any additives-no milk or sugar-I thought
“well, this kind of tastes like maple.” It was not exactly the flavor I
was expecting. While sweet, the rich flavor I had expected was lacking,
almost watered down in a sense. I would comment on how the tea generally
tasted at this point, but it was a bit difficult to gauge if I liked the
basic flavoring of this tea or not at this point considering that it did
not meet my high expectations.

Then, I added the milk and sugar. This tea was made for milk! The milk
and sweetener complemented this tea perfectly. The only way this tea
would have been even more perfect was if I had some sweetened condensed
milk on hand.

As far as I am concerned, this is not a low-calorie beverage! Unless if
you use a zero-calorie sweetener and milk or creamer, this tea can get
pretty calorie laden if you add sweetened condensed milk-I could even
see this tea pairing well with vanilla ice cream!

The soothing rich flavor of maple is perfect for the evening as it may
compel you to curl up on a comfortable couch as to fully enjoy a moment
of solitude.

With the additives, the tea had a creamy maple flavor that, to my
pleasant surprise, was very rich and authentic. I was afraid that there
would be a fake element to the taste, but that was proven to not be the
case.