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Jun 30

Relaxation Blend from Chai, Baby!

Chai Baby,Herbal Tisanes,Tea Review 11:00 pm | 1 Comment

Relaxation Blend from Chai BabyThis tea is specifically geared towards relaxation, and is another high-quality herbal tea blend from Chai, Baby.  All of the ingredients are whole and of obvious quality when you look at them through the see-though mesh teabag.

The tea itself tastes strongly of licorice, because they have both licorice and fennel as an ingredient, and that makes this a naturally sweet tea.  The ingredients are not only relaxing, but very soothing to the tummy, making this an excellent digestive aid or after-dinner tea.  Not to mention being a great caffeine-free bedtime tea!

Chai, Baby! describes this tea as:

Relax, baby! Our all-natural Relaxation Blend, an herbal tea based in the principles of Ayurveda, combines premium spices and roots, such as cardamom, licorice, ginger and fennel. This blend contains NO CAFFEINE.

16 clear pyramid sachets in our vibrant signature tin. (Note: each tea sachet can be used 2-3 times in the same sitting.)

We grew up with Ayurvedic herbal remedies. (For those who are unfamiliar, Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of holistic health maintenance, focused on keeping an individual in balance and alignment with nature.)  Sore throat?  We chewed on pungent cloves.  Bad cough?  We downed concoctions of turmeric, black pepper and milk.  Headache?  We rubbed our foreheads with cinnamon oil.   The best thing was that they worked beautifully!

We wanted to add a unique, delicious Chai, Baby! blend, based in the principles of Ayurveda, that would promote relaxation.   In fact, our Relaxation Blend is “tridoshic,” meaning that it benefits and balances all three Ayurvedic body types. All of the ingredients have a calming and harmonizing effect, particularly with regard to digestion. Though it will benefit the drinker at any time of day, it is intended to be particularly soothing after meals.  So take a load off and relax, baby!  (Note that the above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The information and our products are not intended for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease.)

I love the Chai, Baby! line of teas, and this is another fabulous creation of theirs.  It’s also a beautiful addition to your kitchen in its bright high quality green and yellow tin.  This tea is a wonderful relaxation blend, and a lovely herbal tisane.  Its flavor is hard to describe, mostly natural licorice, if you know what that tastes like, and only a very light warm spice flavor from the combination of spices.  The spices – ginger, cardamom and coriander – are not so much “spicy” as warming and lightly flavorful.  A lovely blend for any time of day!  The rose petals lend it an aesthetic touch as well as a hint of floral notes to the tea.



The Tea Guru
The Tea Guru
http://www.teareviewblog.com


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Jun 30

Cherry Almond Black Tea from Enjoying Tea

Black Tea,Enjoying Tea,Tea Review 4:00 pm | 1 Comment

Cherry Almond Black Tea from Enjoying TeaIn this tea, the flavoring is pretty mild, so that the nice quality Ceylon (Sri Lanka) tea itself is the more prominent flavor. When one first opens the package, one can tell that there is an aroma, but it’s not strong enough to tell what it is specifically. Even when brewed, it’s difficult to place the aroma.

The tea brews up a nice medium brown, not too dark, and it’s a very pleasant tea, a good tea flavor without being too strong or bitter – medium robustness, not too brisk. Once you add a bit of sugar, the flavorings become more evident, although still mild, and the almond flavor is stronger than the cherry, which is barely there.

Enjoying Tea describes this tea as:

The base of this tea is high grown Ceylon combined with the flavor of fresh picked cherries adds a pleasant sweetness to the nutty character of almond and the astringency of the tea. Only the tea from the top three tea growing regions of Sri Lanka was used for this tea. These high-grown districts produce teas that have classic Ceylon tea character with floral notes, touches of astringency, and a bright coppery color. A dash of sugar and milk helps to bring out the natural sweetness of this tea. Serve over ice for a real summer treat!

I would have to disagree with them about milk – as I said, the flavorings are mild in this, and milk would swamp them out completely; what you’d be left with is just black tea with milk. Which is OK if you like black tea with milk, but why do it when the tea doesn’t need it at all? I agree that this makes a good iced tea; I added more sugar to it when making it iced. You definitely wouldn’t want to add lemon to this, as it would completely obliterate the almond flavor. Dropping in a fresh cherry as a decoration to your sparkling glass of iced tea would look great and taste good!

This tea also comes as part of Enjoying Tea’s Fruit Flavored Black Tea Sampler, which includes 8 teas, 1 ounce each. The sampler also includes such flavors as Banana, Passion Fruit , Pineapple, and Plum.



BunRab
BunRab
http://bunrab.livejournal.com

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Jun 30

Lavender Dreams from Teavana

Tea Review,Teavana,White Tea 8:00 am | 2 Comments

  • Type Of leaves: White Tea
  • Name Of Tea: Lavender Dreams
  • Available From: Teavana

Lavender Dreams from TeavanaI cannot emphasize enough just how important the brewing is in making this a fabulous cup of tea.  Because of the highly delicate nature of both white tea and lavender, you can easily make a quite awful cup of bitter tea by steeping too many tea leaves, or with too hot water, for too long of a time.  So let me begin this review with a guide to brewing this elegant and floral tea.

For the record, Teavana recommends the following for brewing this tea:

Use 1.5 teaspoons tea per 8oz of water. Heat water to 175-180 degrees and steep tea for 1-1.5 minutes. 2oz of tea equals 25-30 teaspoons.

After about 2-3 tries on getting the water temperature right, and always ending up with bitter, overbrewed tea, I finally came up with a brewing technique that works very well for this tea if you are not blessed with any thermometer to use for your tea water.  Add cool water to the leaves (and any sweetener) first to about 1/4 of your cup, then fill the rest of the cup with really hot/boiling water.

Teavana describes this tea as:

A rare delicate white tea with the tranquility evoking scent of lavender blossoms and violet flowers.

Ingredients: White tea, lavender flowers and candied violet flowers.

Once you’ve brewed it correctly, what you have is one delicious cup of lavender tea.  The high quality white tea is the perfect background for this tea, and the lavender flavor and aroma is very strong and authentic.  The candied violet flowers are the most romantic and adorable addition to the blend which add both an aesthetic value as well as just a hint of sweetness to the blend.  I truly love drinking this blend, especially in the Spring and Summer time.  You can also add rose or jasmine petals to this blend for a different floral touch.  Perfect when served hot with shortbread cookies or tea cakes.



The Tea Guru
The Tea Guru
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Jun 29

Junshan YinZhen from Harney & Sons

Harney & Sons,Tea Review,Yellow Tea 11:00 pm | 1 Comment

Junshan YinZhen from Harney & SonsYellow tea is very similar to green tea -  in fact, when I purchased this tin of Junshan YinZhen from the Harney & Sons website, I found it located in under the “Chinese Green Tea” category.  Yellow tea is also very similar to white tea.  And yet, even though it is similar to both green and white tea, it is very different.

The beautifully elegant, elongated tea buds are green with yellowed tips; their fragrance is very lovely, with intriguing woodsy-floral notes.  Brewing the buds brings out more of the floral scent to your cup, making this gorgeous yellow liquid very enticing, indeed!

Harney & Sons describes their Junshan YinZhen as:

This is one of China’s most famous teas. Only tiny amounts are made on Junshan Island in northern Hunan Province. It is just the buds, they have been yellowed (a secret process), so that liquor is more mellow than white teas. Yet they are still slightly sweet and a delight to drink. Please brew them in a tall glass by pouring the hot water first, then add the tea and admire how the buds slowly sink to the bottom.

The brewed tea is very mellow, just as described, so I added an extra minute onto the recommended brew time of 3 minutes.  This created a slightly darker yellow hue, with a sublime, lightly sweet yet earthy quality to it.  The aftertaste is soft and earthy, with a whisper of floral undertones.

I enjoy this tea straight, with no sweetener.  However, a small amount of sweetener will bring out some of the more subtle qualities of this tea, but be careful not to overdo it with the sweetener, as you may find that it overpowers the essence of this tea.  By the same token, I don’t recommend the addition of lemon to this tea, as it will dominate and mask the mellow notes.  This is a minimalistic tea!

For those who feel a little intimidated by the price of this tea (regularly priced at $15.00 for 2 ounces, on sale at the time of this article’s submission at $12.00 for 2 ounces), take comfort in the fact that the buds can be brewed up to 3 times with no significant loss in flavor, making this a good investment in a very high quality tea.  Your taste buds will thank you!



liber-teas
liber-teas
http://hungryinportland.com


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Jun 29

Boulder Blues from The Tea Spot

Green Tea,Tea Review,The Tea Spot 4:00 pm | No Comments

Boulder Blues from The Tea SpotThis strawberry rhubarb green tea really hits the spot (the tea spot!) with this summertime treat.  The strawberry and rhubarb flavoring is strong and smooth, with extremely high quality green tea leaves comprised of both Sencha green tea, which has a grassier bright note, and Dragon Well tea which is a mellow, smooth green tea.

The Tea Spot describes this tea as:

Our best selling green tea! This blend of fine Japanese Sencha and high grade Chinese Dragonwell combine to create a rich yet refreshing base, while wild strawberries and rhubarb flavors add a subtle twist. This tea yields a bright liquor with a luxurious aroma and brisk, vivid flavor. The ideal accompaniment to dark chocolate.

This makes a most excellent iced tea as well.  And another reason I like this tea is because it is blended by The Tea Spot, a high quality tea company whose teas I really appreciate.  It’s worth buying these teas in the signature Tea Spot tea tins, because of their charm and beauty and their endless reusability.  This is one delicious tea!

The Tea Spot also offers up a few awesome recipes for Boulder Blues:

Honeydew Blues Frappe
The intoxicating perfume of a sweet honeydew melon pairs perfectly with the crisp taste and fragrance of BOULDER BLUES. This frothy drink is a delicate celadon color, and will cool and satisfy you through the warmest days of summer.

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups water, boiling
3 tablespoons BOULDER BLUES leaves
2 ounces crystallized ginger, roughly chopped
4 cups cubed ripe honeydew melon
2 cups ice cubes
Superfine sugar to taste

PREPARATION:
Chill 4 tall glasses. Brew the tea leaves in 1 quart water, according to instructions on the tin (170F water, 3 minutes). Add the crystallized ginger to the steeped tea and let cool until it becomes infused with the ginger flavor, about 15 minutes, or longer if time allows. Chill in refrigerator until cold. Pass liquid through sieve to remove ginger pieces. (For a more spicy flavor, fresh ginger root can be substituted.) Puree the melon and ice in the jar of an electric blender. Add tea ginger infusion and process just to blend. Pour into tall chilled glasses and sweeten to taste with superfine sugar. Garnish with a thin slice of honeydew wrapped with a slice of crystallized ginger. Serves: 4 – 6

Boulder Blues Rub
Finely chop the following ingredients in your blender:
1 TBS BOULDER BLUES
1/2 TBS Chipotle Chile Pepper
1/2 tsp Marjoram
1/2 tsp Black Peppercorn
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Cilantro
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Oregano



The Tea Guru
The Tea Guru
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Jun 29

Jasmine Yin Hao from Narien Teas

Green Tea,Narien Tea,Tea Review 8:00 am | No Comments

Jasmine Yin Hao from Narien TeasThis makes a really good iced tea! If you’ve ever had iced tea at a Thai restaurant or a Vietnamese restaurant, chances are it was a jasmine green tea, and if you liked that, then you’ll enjoy this!

My favorite jasmine teas are Oolongs rather than green, but this green tea came awfully close to some of my favorites! The jasmine scent is good in the dry leaves, and wonderful in the brewed tea; the green tea is distinct but not too grassy or sharp. I had no trouble drinking a quart of this while doing my shift at a charitable flea market on a hot and humid Baltimore day – it stayed tasty to the last drop. Needed no sweetener at all (though if you want to add a pinch of sugar, it won’t hurt; don’t add too much, though) and I didn’t add lemon to it. Lime would be good with the jasmine, I think, better than lemon.

Narien describes this tea as:

Jasmine Yin Hao is an aromatic organic green tea scented with jasmine blossoms. Thin downy leaves infuse into a light green cup with a delicate, sweet flavor.

Tea scented with the aroma of jasmine flowers has been a specialty in China since the Sung Dynasty ruled over 800 years ago. The jasmine plant was brought to China from Persia before the third century. These fragrant flowers first made their appearance in tea around the fifth century.

Jasmine Yin Hao is grown at high elevation the mountainous Fujian province, China. It is harvested in the spring and stored until early summer when fresh jasmine flowers are in bloom.

Jasmine flowers are picked early in the day when the small petals are tightly closed. The flowers are kept cool until nightfall.

In the early evening when the flowers begin to open, The green tea is blended with the jasmine flowers and stored overnight. The night blooming jasmine flower then opens and releases their fragrance into the tea.

I should add that this tea also tastes fine as a hot tea – but it was as an iced tea that it was really a hit. With summer upon us as I write this, there is no such thing as too much iced tea.

As a side note, Narien Tea has tea wallpaper for your computer that you can download.



BunRab
BunRab
http://bunrab.livejournal.com

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Jun 28

Creamy Nut Oolong from Teaopia

Oolong Tea,Tea Review,Teaopia 11:00 pm | No Comments

Creamy Nut OolongI haven’t purchased many teas from Teaopia, one of Canada’s larger tea companies. After this tea though, I think I will definitely be purchasing more of them to try! This tea is a caramel lover’s delight! Although Teaopia states this tea will be a nut lover’s delight, I found the caramel in this tea to be just as prominent, if not a little bit more, than the nuts in this tea. This tea, however, is still absolutely delicious!

This is a very cool looking tea; large tea leaves that are dark in colour, little bits of caramel, slivers of almonds, sunflower pieces & little pieces of dried apples. When brewed, the tea is a deep amber colour and is a bit darker than some other Oolong teas I’ve had.

The smell of this tea is mouth-watering; it is a mix of caramel & almonds! When brewed, caramel is the most prominent smell with almonds lingering in the background along with a hint of the Oolong tea. I was expecting a bit more of an apple scent as well, since there are pieces of apple in this tea, but I could not detect any. Still, this is a delicious smelling tea! It is very reminiscent of a dessert that has caramel and nuts!

This is a very smooth tasting tea! For those that do not like anything overly sweet (like me!), this is a great tea to try, since it is not sickly sweet. The caramel and almonds give this tea a delicious, dessert-like flavour (again, without being sickly sweet!) and blend so well together!  The Oolong tea makes this a very smooth and refreshing tea to sip.

Teaopia describes this tea as:

This high grade Chinese Oolong contains apple pieces, caramel bits, almond pieces, safflower, sunflower, mallow flower and natural aromas. This delicious Oolong is a nut lover’s delight. The natural inherent nuttiness of the Chinese Oolong combined with the addition of almonds and caramel make this tea a must try. Great for multiple infusions, infuse the first cup for under one minute, and the second and third infusions at 1.5 minutes.

I love this tea! I would definitely buy it again from Teaopia. There is nothing I really disliked about this tea. As I mentioned above, one the things that surprised was that apple was not a more prominent flavour in this tea. But that did not disappoint me simply because the caramel and almonds make this tea simply delicious and I find just having them as the prominent flavour is perfect.

This is the perfect tea to have mid-afternoon, especially if you are craving something sweet! It also gives a great pick-me-up as well.

A recommendation for steeping the tea. Teaopia recommends (in the description of this tea) steeping the first cup for under 1 minute. I find at least a minimum of three minutes is needed to steep this tea to allow the flavours to develop fully. Don’t steep much past the three minute mark for the first cup, though, because I think this would probably make the tea taste a little bitter. And this tea is perfect for multiple re-steepings, which is another thing I love about this tea! For the second tea, steep for about five minutes. And I definitely recommend doing at least two steepings with this since it is just as delicious the second time around!

I thought since this is the first review of a tea from Teaopia, I would end off this review with a bit of information about this great Canadian tea company:

Teaopia sells over 100 varieties of premium loose leaf tea. Our world famous tea and custom blends are perfect for the connoisseur or first time tea drinker. Along with our selection of rare and hard to find loose leaf teas, we have an impressive variety of White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Black Tea, Mate, Rooibos, Fruit Blends and Wellness Blends. Teaopia also carries an extensive collection of classic and contemporary teaware and accessories associated with the art of brewing loose leaf tea.



mary
mary
http://missbellatrixsworld.blogspot.com/

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