My Cuppa Tea Peachy Liz White Tea

It can be both a good and bad thing to live three minutes away from a tea store.  On one hand, it's nice being able to quickly stop in if you need to pick something up.  But then you find out that they're discontinuing a bunch of teas and they're marked down 50% off and end up spending 30 dollars on tea that you just don't need.  Peachy Liz was something that I don't think I could part with partially because of the unique ingredients and partially because I love me some flavored white tea with peach being a classic flavor.  

Outsides:  Peachy Liz is a fruit and floral white tea with the ingredieents of Bai Mu Dan white tea, marigolds, golden chrysanthemum, peach pieces, vanilla bits, and peach vanilla flavor.  I love the big fluffy white tea leaves but am a bit conflicted on the scent.  On one hand, it's very sweet smelling and is reminiscent of peaches and cream.  On the other hand, it reminds me of cough syrup.  I brewed it for 2 minutes in 170 degree Celsius water.  It's a light yellow color with a peaches and cream smell to it.

I want to get a picture showing the color better but here's Rusty for now.  I've had this at home before and no, Rusty does not make a good infuser for this tea.

Insides:  This tea is pure sweetness.  Whatever floral is in here just adds to the syrupy sensation that this tea invokes.  The peach and vanilla flavor is very strong with a slight tea hint to it and the chrysanthemum and marigold add more of a rounded sweetness (and I'm guessing a yellow color) while giving it a bit extra body.  Even without the ridiculously strong smell, this tea is just naturally sweet.  Not sugar sweet, but there really is no reason to sweeten it.  That all being said, this desert white tea only has that strange syrupy taste which I think most people would be able to ignore, no bitter aftertaste or strange chemical tastes.  For a desert substitution, it works well.

Tilt:  Since I bought this tea on clearance, it's not fair for me to tell you to price I paid for it because of course it's worth it but you won't be able to get it at that price.  I found this site though and I have to say that as much as I love this tea, I would never pay that price for it.  Because of how light and fruity this tea is, it's very good for people who aren't the biggest fans of tea yet and also those watching their sugar intake since it's naturally sweet.  It's also pretty flavorful so it should make a wonderful iced tea.

Overall?  I already bought 8 oz of this (and considering how fluffy this stuff is, that is a LOT of tea).  I like it, my tea-newbie boyfriend loves it and if it's cheap where you live, you probably would at least find a use for it.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Margaret's is located in the Squirrel Hill district of Pittsburgh.

Teavana's Lavender Dreams (Flavored White Tea)

I was really excited for this tea.  Lavender has become something I'm obsessed with and this seemed like a nice fruity-floral blend that would really be delicious.  Plus, it was my most expensive tea at $3.45 for 2 oz (don't forget, I got these all at their 75% off clearance sale)

Outsides:  The ingredients are going to be summerized because there are just too many, but white tea, candied Jasmine (ok, these ingredients listed for these kinda make me feel...uneasy.  Like, thickening agent?  I guess they're trying to be thorough but most people just use dried flowers), color (o...k?), various fruits including apples, raisins and peaches, and various other flowers.  I made 4 oz of hot water and 4 oz of room temp water (which makes the temp a bit too cold but it works out) and put two teaspoons of tea in for 4 minutes.  Um...this tea is blue.  Like, yellow-tinted purple-y blue.  It smells sweet and florally.

Insides:  I had made 2 cups before this one and all three had turned out different.  The first one was not blue and was a bit weak with any flavor.  The second one was blue but still was weak in flavor.  The third one is blue and actually is pretty strong and complex with its flavors, so I don't know if I added less tea and more flavoring stuff or what happened, but it's kind of bad that I don't know what I'm going to get from cup to cup.  Overall, it's a very floral tea with a light tea taste underneath   The difference between the previous cups and this one is that I think I got some fruit or the candied violet in there because there's a sweet, almost candy-like note in there now.  It's strange because it has this blue raspberry taste to it, sweet and a little tart with a sticky sense to it.  This is definitely interesting.

Overall:  I like it but because it's so inconsistant, I can't really recommend it.

My Rating:  Try it!

Teavana is a chain tea retailer that is in malls across the US and Canada.

Zen Tea Tie Guan Yin, ofren called Monkey-Picked Oolong

Here I am with yet another Zen Tea purchase.  Tie Guan Yin is a common type of Oolong and what makes this one interesting is that you are supposed to do multiple infusions using this.  There are lots of different types of tea that can be used for multiple infusions but they work best with Oolongs and not the terrible ones. 

Outside:  The tea looks like little rolled leaves.  I brewed the tea at a 80 degrees Celsius (which might be a bit too low for this) and varied the steeping time depending on which infusion I used (you're supposed to add some time each infusion).  The first infusion is light but it gets a little darker each infusion.  The first one smells the most vegital while the second smells more floral and the third is a weaker floral.

Insides:  I'm going to divide this into the infusions.

First infusion:  The tea is very vegetative in taste with a floral note intertwining.  Overall, this is a light tea with a medium body and a slightly sweet taste.  It reminds me a bit of sencha except a bit heavier and with more of a floral scent. 

Second infusion:  This one is a LOT more floral and my favorite infusion.  Less vegetative than the first infusion but this one has a nice floral scent (my first thought was jasmine, but the bag says jasmine and orchid).  It has the same body as the first infusion but the tea is a little bit sweeter.  This is really a nice introduction to multiple infusions.  Also physically, the leaves are opening up so if you put a tiny bit of tea in the infuser, the tea has doubled or tripled in size.

Third infusion:  This is the first noticeable drop in flavor, but still drinkable and actually good.  The tea is light-bodied and there's still the floral scent, but no vegetative taste and yet the same amount of sweetness.  I won't brew any more infusions of this because it lost about a third of the flavor.

Overall:  I really like this.  It's a light floral with a medium body and you definitely get your bang for your buck.  Check it out.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea is a Canadian Tea retailer that sells mid to high quality tea.  

Zen Tea Cape Town Flavored Rooibos

So, I ordered from Zen Tea all of TWO DAYS ago and just got their order.  WOW!  Anyway, I bought a crap-ton of sample-sized teas as well as a few bigger ones, so you guys are going to get a lot of reviews for their stuff.  This is the only Rooibos I bought though because quite frankly, Rooibos is a pain in the ass to clean up and although I like it, it's not something I reach for often.  This one seemed interesting in that it had floral blossoms and is quite colorful with blue and red and pink flowers inside the rusty orange base of the rooibos.

Outsides:  Cape Town Rooibos contains rooibos (duh), hibiscus, rose and blue mallow blossoms and marigold.  Despite this, there are not many other colors in the leaves other than rust, but it's still rather pretty and the occasional blue flower really adds to that.  I brewed about a teaspoon and a half of this in about 8 oz of boiled water for at least 5 minutes, but I didn't really keep time.  The tea is a clear rust orange color and smells like normal rooibos with a hint of sweet floral.

Insides:  So, rooibos is not really my thing but even with that being said, this is definitely a higher-quality rooibos.  Sometimes, a cheap rooibos will taste a bit like seaweed or dirt, but this one has a medium body, vanilla undertone and sweet floral notes.  That being said, this is not really that exciting for me.  The floral touch is nice but not really making it worth it for me.  I can't deny that this is decent quality and if you need some rooibos, this is not a bad base for adding juice to.

Overall:  Meh.  I'd say try it because it's cheap and not bad quality but you don't need to bend over backwards for it.

My Rating:  Pass/Try it (I need to think of a word for this).

Zen Tea is a tea retailer that specializes in mid to high quality teas.  They're having a 50% off sale until December 24th, so now is the time to try.

Zen Tea Tender White Tea 3-tin Gift Set

Not many people know about Zen Tea, but they are a Canadian Tea retail company that seems to specilise in tea drunk in the international style.  The variety they have is small, but mostly consists of mid to high quality teas with high quality flavor.  They also are having a 50% off sale until December 24th on tea and tea gift sets (including this set) so I figured that now was a good time to try.  Plus I needed tea tins, which apparently have to cost $10 if you don't want them plain (I'm thinking about just making them myself).  So in conclusion, this white tea gift set ended up costing me $15 and included 3 tins of tea.  Does the tea suck?  We'll find out.

I received this in the mail about 4 days after I ordered it, which isn't too bad considering that it was from Canada (you have to get Canadian Priority or USPS Priority, which isn't cheap at $5 but isn't exorbitant either).  The tea set came in a sliver box with a cute little bow in it, so perfect for the lazy and extremely cute.  Each tin is metal with patterned paper on it and apparently holds about 3 oz of tea, although if you want to get rid of the label then you are going to have a bad time ripping the paper.  Now, I was a bit surprised when I saw just how much tea was in there because the website said something like 3.5 oz of tea, so I was expecting about 1 oz each.  This was an extremely pleasant surprise and an astonishing buy for $15.

the big Silver Needle leaves

The teas included in the Tender White Tea set are BaihaoYinzhen (White Hair Silver Needle), Tear of Peony and Toffee Dream.  I feel a little bit at a disadvantage because I've never had these kinds of tea before so I can't really comment that much on how it compares to others.  I will say that the tea leaves in these are huge and it's better to invest in a gaiwan because they don't really fit in a normal ball infuser.  All three teas are unique from each other and there seems to be something for everyone from the purists to the floral fans to the desert fans to the fruity fans.

Now onto the teas:

BaihaoYinzen:  Very pure and delicate.  It's not the most flavor heavy and is more of a sipping tea, but it's very nice for relaxing and reminds me of a forest on a spring day.

Teardrop of Peony:  I'm actually drinking this right now and think this is the most heavily flavored of the teas, but still has that light quality that white tea has.  I like that although this is pretty heavily floral scented, it actually tastes very sweet and fruity.  I also like how the white tea flavor here is less subtle.

Toffee Dream:  Probably my favorite nutty tea and one of the nicest desert teas to drink without sugar or milk.  It's definitely a lovely drink to have when you want a bit of caramel but not the calories.  It's also one of  the most colorful with these random blue flowers in it.

Overall;  This set is what I would want someone to get me because I love tea and all three of these are delicious.  For $15 or even $34, this is a great buy and a great way to treat the tea lover you love.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea's Tear of Peony

Hey guys!  Anyone else see the Hobbit?  Apparently Bilbo loves a fine chamomile tea.

The reason why the label is messed up was my fault, not the company's.

 

Today, I have the last of my tender white tea gift-set, the Tear of Peony.  Floral teas used to scare me because well, who wants to drink a flower?  They still cause me a bit of apprehension because some jasmine teas are just too strong.  But the pairing of peony and delicate white tea actually seems like a nice way to balance out the floralness and give the white tea a bit more oomph.  Plus, white tea and flowers just makes you feel fancy.

  

Outsides:  This is the last tea I got in a tin, but apparently you can upgrade you 100 gram orders by adding a tin for 2 bucks!  The only ingredients in here are white tea leaves and GIANT peony petals.  I basically brewed 1 teaspoon and a half on 70 degree Celsius water for about 3 minutes, which is longer than you're supposed to but my temp was a bit low.  The tea has a bit of a yellow tint to it and it smells sweet and floral.

Insides:  This is such a lovely tea.  The white tea provides a nice, delicate base while the peony gives a strong scent and a subtle sweet taste.  It's smooth, subtle and just fancy, although you need a really delicate sweet to go with it.  I'd imagine this being good in the summer with some sweet oranges soaking in it and a bit of sugar.  

Overall:  Very nice.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea is a Canadian tea retailer that specializes in mid to high quality tea.  They're having a 50% off sale until Dec 24th if you enter a code on their front page.  

Tazo Orange Blossom Tea

  

So, I got this tea from my secret Santa on my Jumpstart team who said that she liked tea and knows how much I love it.  I didn’t tell her that I hated Tazo teas and only got them by stealing them from random places, but thankfully, this comes in a pretty sweet metal tin that will hold some of the pound of Davidson’s Tea Spring Fruit and Flowers I got (I found that I’m addicted to blueberry herbal tea and I really should just get the pound).  Anyway, this particular tea appears to be a blend of jasmine green tea, TANGERINE PEEL (as opposed to, you know, orange) and goji berries with all kinds of spices such as orange essence, chamomile flowers, fennel, tarragon and more stuff that I don’t even care about.  

Outsides:  So, I got this tea in a cool metal tin.  Sadly, it is not loose-leaf but in cornsilk sachets that are not individually wrapped.  I actually kind of think that’s a giant waste of space because you have this big freaking container and you only get 15 bags of this stuff, but I digress.  Since this is green tea based, I used 6 oz of slightly below boiling water and about 2 oz of room temperature water and steeped it for 3 minutes (but the temp was so low that you can get away with longer).  The color is similar to a lot of chamomile teas and this one smells both citrusy and flowery. 

I also need to note that the tea in here seems to be at a much higher level than the normal bagged Tazo.  For one thing, it’s whole-leaf and the bigger the leaf, the better the tea.  It’s also very pretty to look at in the cup, almost like blooming tea.  And they used corn-silk instead of paper so I’m guessing this is some fancy stuff.

Insides:  The jasmine is a bit strong, but it’s still a nice citrusy herbal blend.  The base of green tea and chamomile gives this a bit of a sweet taste while the jasmine and orange are both relaxing.  The weird thing is, I don’t know if all of these flavors are overpowering the green tea or if they just didn’t use a very flavorful kind but I’m guessing it’s a bit of both.  If you add sugar, I feel that it does a good job toning down some of the citrusy and floral flavors while bringing out the green tea and I also imagine this being nice as an iced tea.  It’s a bit of a weird blend for me, but overall it is still enjoyable.

Overall:  I’m sure that for the pricepoint, it is not worth it but this is a nice tea overall and I’m glad I got it as a secret Santa present.

My Rating:  Try it!

Tazo can be found pretty much anywhere that sells Starbucks related stuff but I'll have to check with my team leader where she got it.  I do hope that it wasn't too expensive.

TasTEA Time! Prestogeorge Organic Japanese Tea Garden

From the website:  "Organic Japanese Sencha green tea, chamomile, cinnamon sticks, hibiscus and calendria flowers. Healthy, beautiful full-flavored green tea with a spicy berry flavor."

So, I had browsed the Prestogeorge website before going to the store and decided that this tea was something I'd get on my second visit.  Well, two things happened.  One was that I found out that I could get a minimum of two ounces instead of four and the other was that I got to smell this tea.  I know I was raving about some of the other teas, but this smells AMAZING!   I had work that day and would periodically pull out the little bag and smell it in all of its glory.  

Outsides:  Even with my crappy camera, you can see the rainbow of colors from the dark green tea, brown cinnamon, red hibiscus and yellow flowers.  It smells so warm and cinnamony and delicious, with hints of sweetness from both the cinnamon and the flowers.  There's a bit of a pinkish-tinge in this tea, making it a light orange color.  It smells spicy and sweet.

Insides:  This is definitely one of the more unique teas I have ever had.  Much like the tropical green tea, this is insanely smooth but the flowers and cinnamon add this lovely warmth to it.  This actually seems like a springtime tea with the added warmth.  It's actually quite naturally sweet between the chamomile and the cinnamon so you don't need to worry about it needing sugar.  

Overall:  Definitely one of my favorites.  Unique and a pure encapsulation of spring.  

My Rating:  Buy it!  Prestogeorge Organic Japanese Tea Garden.

TasTEA Time! Prestogeorge Tropical Green Tea

This is the most expensive tea I got on my trip to Prestogeorge at $3 for 2 oz.  (which is still cheaper than a lot of bagged tea and a lot of upper-scale tea).  From the website "Pan fired green tea, safflowers, marigolds, blue mallow flowers, and corn flowers with mango and passion fruit flavor. This makes the perfect iced tea. One of our most popular flavored green teas!".  Yum!

Outsides:  If you go to the store and have to walk anywhere, you'll have a hard time not keeping this tea at your nose the entire time.  This smells like tropical gum except more natural.  You can't really see them in my crappy picture but there are all kinds of colorful flowers in the green tea mix.  When brewed, the tea is a light yellow with a green tinge to it.  It still has a light tropical fruit scent.

Insides:  I love this tea.  The tropical flavor isn't in your face, but it's very refreshing and the smooth green tea base make this a fantastic drink.  It's also practically free from bitterness and has a very "fresh" scent to it.  This would make a FANTASTIC iced tea and honestly, it doesn't even need sugar.  The fruit and flowers give this a natural sweetness and the delicateness of the green tea make it so there's no harshness that requires masking.

Overall:  A very nice tea and something that I wouldn't mind spending a little more on.  Basically, an island escape in a cup!

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's Prestogeorge's Tea Page:  Tropical Green Tea.

TasTEA Time! Lipton Green Tea with Orange, Passionfruit and Jasmine

Alright, we have the final tea in the Lipton Green Tea sample box.  I saved this one for last because Orange, Passion Fruit and Jasmine sounds like it would be the best of the bunch (however, I'm probably going to be proven wrong) and I like tropical flavors like passionfruit. 

Outsides:  Your standard Lipton bag.  It looks like a slightly darker version of the normal green tea and smells like orange. 

Insides:  Eh, it's not bad.  Definitely has one of the better balances in the bunch, although I wish it had more passionfruit flavor.  The orange and jasmine actually go really well together, making this sweet and bright, floral and fruit combination.  However, you can still taste the green tea through all of this, making this a nice tea as opposed to lemon drink with some tea flavoring in it.  I guess this and the Honey green tea are my favorites, and this would be a crowd-pleasing iced tea.

Overall:  If you see a bunch of different Lipton Green Teas and feel the need to have one, this is a good choice to make.  It's slightly fruity, has a little dimension and a good amount of balance and is just a nice tea to drink.  It's not good enough (for me at least) to justify buying on its own, but if you feel like something bright with a hint of tropical flavor, then check this one out. 

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site:  Lipton Home

Summary of the box:  Overall, I think most of the teas were a good value for the money.  Oh sure, none of them were outright amazing, but if you want to try a few different flavors to see what they're like or want to get someone a cheap box of green tea to amuse themselves with for a few days, this isn't the worst one you could get.  I personally liked the Honey and OPJ the best while I found the berry to be terrible.  Personal opinion aside, I think you should get the mint if only for those people who get tummy aches.  I still don't care that much about Lipton's tea, but I'm a snob and I'll admit to it. 

Also, now i have to find other tea sampler sets.  Preferably cheap ones that are widely available. 

TasTEA Time! Zhena's Pink Cherryberry Green tea.

Note:  The actual name of this is something like Zhena's Gypsy Tea, Superberry Tea.  Pink Tea for Women's Health Cherryberry.

I feel like this is some of the most proactive tea I have.  It's fair-trade, it's organic and a bit of the proceeds went to help support breast cancer research.  Plus Zhena's is pretty high quality.  I've only tried a few of their products but they would have been worth the money they ask for on the site.  But I shouldn't be praising this tea before I've reviewed it!  This blend contains sencha green tea, cherries, elderberries and blossoms.  It's also discontinued so you probably won't be able to find this fresh.

Outsides:  The sachets are in a nice metal tin and are made out of corn silk.  The tea is a light pink color and smells fruity.

Insides:  This is similar and yet opposite of the Loyd Tea with Strawberry and Raspberry.  Both are berry-focused teas that start out a little tangy, but the Loyd did not ultimately feel like a tea.  Zhena's has a good balance between the tartness of the cherries, sweet and floral notes from the blossoms and sencha backdrop.  It's multidimensional, light and versatile, having a nice fruit flavor that would go well with or without sugar, hot or cold.

Overall:  It's a pity that this isn't around anymore because it's fantastic.  I still encourage you to check out Zhena's and try at least one of their teas (they're a bit expensive but totally worth it).

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's the site:  Zhena's main site

TasTEA Time! Revolution Lavender Earl Grey Tea

What:  Earl Grey Black Tea with Lavender

Where:  I've looked everywhere on the site and I honestly don't know.  If I'd have to guess, USA.

Why Should I Care:  I really want to try pure Lavender tea.  I know it sounds weird, but floral tea is more often than not really good, with sweet notes and really complementing the tea taste.  Earl Grey is something I rarely crave for, but i do like it and I suppose that it could possibly make a good combination with this.

Packaging:  They use the pyramid-shaped tea bags, which is great but they're not wrapped in anything.  There's foil but you'd think a company that boasts about their quality and "bringing real tea taste back" would make their product taste fresher longer.

Non-Taste Senses:  It's a really dark brown color with a slight reddish tint.  It has a light lavender scent mixed in with the earl grey.

Taste:  First off, this needs milk for me.  The Bergamont is really strong and mixed in with the lavender, it has a little bit of a soupy taste to it.  It's not horrible and the tea isn't bitter, but it is really strong and for me, it is practically undrinkable without milk and sugar.

Overall:  My mom said she liked it so I'm sure this may be appealing to some people, but I'm not really that person.  Yes, it's better with milk but honestly, it's not worth it for me.  There are better, cheaper brands out there.

My Rating:  Pass.  I really don't want to dismiss people from trying their other teas since they sound a lot better so here's the site.