TasTEA Time! Dilmah Apple Ceylon Tea

What:  Apple-flavored Ceylon Tea

Where:  Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  Although apple is a fruit that suits more of the October November December side of the cold season, it's still serves as a nice winter fruit.  That and it's one of my favorite fruits.  I know, I know, I say that about every fruit but Apple is definately on the top 5.

Packaging:  If you've read my Blackcurrant review, I pretty much have the same problems

Non-Taste Senses:  That same light-brown color that I associate with Dilmah Ceylon tea.   It smells apple-y

Taste:  Surprisingly, I don't feel like the apple packs as much of a punch as the other kinds.  Oh, it's good and I think if you want an apple tea without the spices, I'd check it out.  The scent and flavor isn't quite as strong as the blackcurrant, but it's still substantial, would still make a good iced tea and can still be drunk with or without sugar.

Overall:  I like it.  I'd buy it.  You should at least check it out.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site.

TasTEA Time! Dilman Moroccan Mint Green Tea

What:  Ceylon Green tea with a hint of mint!

Where:  Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  I like Dilmah.  Maybe it's because they use pure Ceylon at a slightly higher quality than I'm used to or maybe it's because they say that everything is packaged at the source, but the tea Dilmah produces seems to have a fresher taste with less bitterness than your average tea.  A couple of months ago, I got a varietly pack of their green tea (Natural green tea, Lemongrass, Cinnamon, Ginger and Mint) and I ended up buying a couple more because I liked to tea from it so much.  I'll try to review each of them but for now, I'll review the one that I had the most of, the Moroccan Mint.  

Packaging:  IFWS.  

Non-Taste Senses:  Light, clear and a golden-yellow hue.  It has a light minty scent.

Taste:  It's nice.  Not great, but nice.  The mint flavor isn't too overpowering and is pretty refreshing.  That being said, it's mint tea.  It's not much different than your average brand and what you see is what you get.  It goes well with sugar and would probably be a nice summer drink (especially if you add lime), but it's not something I crave often.

Overall:  This is my least favorite from my Green Tea Variety Pack, which doesn't mean it's bad or even that I don't think it's good.  I think in compairison to the other flavors, it lacks uniqueness.  If you like mint, it's good and is probably a good option for making a refreshing drink for a group of people, but it isn't something I'd go out and buy individually.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site.  

TasTEA Time! Hedley's Royal Pomegranate Green Tea

What:  Cheap Pomegranate Green Tea

Where:  Apparently, Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  Well, I love pomegranate.  And this tea boasts that it is "the Finest Tea on Earth" and I just can't stand that.  

Packaging:  What's nice about this is that it's a metal tin with a foil bag containing the tea sachets.  Of course, this isn't so great for the tea sachets but if you buy loose leaf tea, it's nice to use this if you need a spare container.  

Non-Taste Senses:  It's slightly more golden than your average green tea (ceylon is like that) and it smells like pomegranate.

Taste:  Well, it's not the finest tea on Earth but it is a heck of a lot better than the Arizona Pomegranate tea I reviewed.  The tea itself is very light tasting and has very little bitterness.  This allows the light pomegranate flavor to come through nicely.  There's a little bit of tartness but I think that comes from the pomegranate as opposed to the tea and it's not enough to make me squint.  It goes well with sugar but I think it might be better warm than cold due to its lighter flavor.

Overall:  It's pretty cheap and is probably worth the money, but you can probably get better green tea for the same price.  If you like pomegranate, this'll be worth it for you.  

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site.  I got this before the product redesign so be warned.  

tasTEA Time! Dilmah Mango

What:  Ceylon Tea with Mango

Where:  Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  It's mango-flavored!  Oh sure, I'd prefer a green tea with mango, but it should be delicious, right?  Actually, mango tea suffers the same problem as strawberry tea in that it should be good but people rarely add enough of the fruit so it ends up tasting more like a mango afterthought (which is why I'd prefer green tea since that's generally a bit lighter of a flavor).  Dilmah successfully pulled off Strawberry though, so lets see about Mango.

Packaging:  IFWS

Non-Taste Senses:  It's the typical golden Ceylon color.  Yes, it smells fantastic, like real mango only more pungent.

Taste:  What's really interesting about this tea is that the tea flavor and the mango flavor are both very strong, but they also balance well with each other.  For those of you unfamiliar with Ceylon tea, it generally has a strong, clear taste and a slightly bitter undertone (least it does in this case).  Another thing of note:  Since the mango flavor is so strong, this would be a great tea to drink without sugar and would also be fantastic cold.  It also makes me really want to eat curry.

Overall:  I really like this tea.  If you're looking for a mango tea that honestly delivers on the mango, you should check this out.  It's great for summer, winter, hot, cold, with food or by itself.

My Rating:  Buy it!  Unfortunately, Dilmah doesn't make plain mango anymore.  There's a variety with mango and strawberry but that's it as far as that goes.  I can't imagine that kind being bad though since I gave both the Mango and Strawberry good reviews.

TasTEA Time! Dilmah Premium Ceylon Tea

What:  Ceylon Tea (a type of tea grown in Sri Lanka)

Where:  Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  In my Macro and Microeconomics class, we watched a movie about coffee beans and basically how the industry was run.  Companies buy coffee from dozens of companies, mix it all together and sell it for 2000% profit (I'm kinda making that number up, but the truth isn't much different).  I'm guessing tea works pretty much the same way.  Now, when people talk about Ceylon tea or Darjeeling tea, they're talking about regions.  Ceylon refers to Sri Lanka and Dilmah attempts to differentiate itself by talking about how its tea is grown on one big family-owned plantation and the profits are used to better the areas surrounding.  I'm sure it isn't quite as awesome and ethical as it sounds, but it's nice to think that I'm helping more than just the big wigs by buying this.  Plus the owner apparently named the company after his own sons.

Packaging:  Dilmah, like Twinnings, is normally very good about foil-wrapping their tea so that it retains freshness.  However, this was apparently not one of those packages.  The sachets aren't those stupid little bags that attach into pairs but it's pretty much just the cardboard box just protecting them from the elements.

Non-taste Senses:  It's more golden than your average black tea.  There's also a really strong "tea" smell to it that makes me believe in that it'll taste fresher than most black/ceylon tea.

Taste:   This tea seems to have a much "clearer" taste than most black tea.  It's definitely lighter and a bit more on the refreshing side than the comforting side.  Unfortunately, it's also more bitter than those other teas.  Maybe I steeped it too long, but there's a wave of bitterness that hits you after about two seconds into drinking it.  Sugar brings out both the good and the bad although I'm sure this would be delicious iced.

Overall:  If you like Ceylon Tea, you'd probably like this.  It does taste stronger and fresher than your average black tea and I have to give them props for being a widely available, well-known tea that helps the community   Be warned that it's bitter and that sugar will only accentuate that note but if you like your tea unsweetened then go for it.  Also, this one's a bit more expensive if you order online and that ultimately makes me say meh for most people.

My Rating:  Pass (unless you really like ceylon).  I will add that this is my least favorite tea of theirs and the flavors I've tried have been really good and will be reviewed in good time.  Here's the site so you can browse a bit.