Monthly Archives: January 2012

Review: Stash Black Forest Cake Pu-erh Tea

Posted on January 31, 2012 by | 3 Comments

Stash Tea was kind enough to send us samples of their teas from their  pyramid tea bag collection to review.* Thank you!

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make.

Abby says:

Temperature: @200 (boiling point)
Steeped: 3-4 minutes
Served: Nothing added at first, then a little honey to round out the sweetness

Ok, does this tea hold up to the drool inducing name?  Well, it doesn’t taste EXACTLY like black forrest cake, but for a liquid, calorie and guilt free substitute it is pretty darn good!  The aroma is what I found most striking.  In opening the sealed bag it smelled as though there was a freshly baked chocolate cake sitting in front of me.  But, no there was simply a pyramid tea bag filled with pu-erh tea, natural milk chocolate flavor, natural dark chocolate flavor, cherry pieces, almond oil, vanilla extract, hibiscus, organic cocoa nibs.  Pu-erh is a fermented tea produced in the Yunnan Province of China with it’s own classification.

After the first couple of sips, I thought “Alright, I get where this is going – it is good, I can taste the tea and the chocolate, almond flavor”.  Then I added a spot of honey and then, wow, it was great!  It needed that little bit of extra sweetness in flavor to match the sweetness in the aroma.

Taste: 4 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make.

Katie says:

Temperature: @200 (boiling point)
Steeped: 5+ minutes, just leave the tea bag in there.
Served: Nothing added at first, then a little sugar and and 2nd cup with milk & sugar.

As Abby said, yes, Stash Tea was kind enough to send us samples of their new pyramid tea bags. First, I love this type of tea bag. The pouches are pretty but also allow plenty of room for the tea to expand and steep as well as for you to see what the tea looks like. I opened the bag, sniffed and them inhaled a big DEEP breath. This tea has such a powerful scent of black forest cake that I couldn’t wait to try it. I made a cup — immediately! It was quite good. Of course, tea isn’t going to taste exactly like cake, but this is as close as a beverage can be.  A little bit of milk and sugar enhanced the flavors even more to make me feel like I was having dessert. I could almost believe that I am eating some calorie-rich treat. Luckily this is much more new-year’s-resolution friendly. Is anyone still keeping those??

Anyway, this tea is much better than any other chocolate tea that I’ve tried. And, it smells positively heavenly. I’m tempted ot keep some as potpouri. ;) When I cut the bag open to photograph it I saw chunks of dried cherry. I even ate one, and it tasted great! I know, it was a idea that could have gone seriously wrong…I don’t advocate eating tea leaves but if you can pick out a hunk of cherry – yum!

Taste: 5 of 5 tea leaves – A must try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make.

*Please note that we are just as critical of free teas as the ones we purchase. If we get a sample we don’t like we won’t include it on our blog.

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Posted in Easy to make, Pu-erh

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Review: Tazo Zen

Posted on January 24, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Overall Rating:
Taste: 4 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good Cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Described as a harmonious blend with lemongrass and spearmint this tea is a treat! It is comforting and easy to drink. While drinking it, you taste both a strong green tea and a mild herbal tea provided by the lemongrass and spearmint. This has become one of my favorites for when I’m feeling a bit under the weather.  It has a soothing quaility, but still provides the real green tea taste so that I don’t feel like I am drinking something medicial.

Today I drank this tea hot, but it also makes a great iced tea for warmer weather.  Don’t you just love versatile teas!  Recommended for anyone,  Tazo Zen is a very popular blended green tea. Note: On second steeping of tea bag, it still tastes great and the mint comes through more so than the green tea flavor.  For all you Keurig lovers, this tea comes in K-cups!  Horray for you!

Taste: 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Outstanding!  A MUST try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Tazo Zen

Katie says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: nothing added

Yes Abby & I are reviewing another green tea with mint. Is it just me or has there been a lot of green lately? We must be on a roll. ;)  I do find green tea and mint to be a delicious combination. This one is mostly green in flavor with just a hint of mint. I like how it still primarily tastes like a green tea. Side note: If you are looking for stronger mint taste I recommend the Tea Pigs Marakesh Mint.

What is great about this tea is that it has all of the things that I like about green tea with a slight minty twist.  The mint is light enough that this would be a good tea for any time of  day and it will blend well with most food favors. I gave it a 3.5 instead of  a higher rating because while it is a very nice tea, I just find it a tad ordinary and like a bit more of a unique flavor twist in my teas. This is a great choice for  those seeking a dependable green tea.

Taste: 3.5 of 5 A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this tea is easy to make!

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The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook

Posted on January 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

And now for a different kind of review!  A book review! :)

When Katie and I started this blog I was inspired to learn even more about tea.  I ordered The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook  by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss from Amazon and got reading…

I really like how this book is organized not only by the classes of tea, but also purchasing, steeping and tea storage.  It provides a lot of information about the different types of tea, such as where the leaves are grown, how and when the leaves are harvested, characteristics of the taste once steeped, as well as how best to enjoy each type of tea.  For each tea class it then goes on to list many of the varieties found in that group.

The book is just full of maps, tables and pictures of the tea leaves and steeps cups.  Who doesn’t like pictures?!  This book provides lots of good and helpful information, yet isn’t bogged down with too many details.  No heavy reading here.  As a tea enthusiast I actually read this book, pretty much, from cover to cover.  Though I think for most it might make a better reference book.  Whether you read it from cover to cover or just use it now and then to beef up on your tea knowledge this book is a great resource.

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Review: Stash Chai Green Tea

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.25 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Steeped: below boiling for 4 minutes
Served with: teaspoon of sugar

You may have noticed that Abby & I review a lot of chai teas. What can I say? We LOVE chai! And, this one is no different. While green is an unusual variety for chai I really think that this combination works well. Green tea is usually milder in flavor so I think it lends itself well to blending with other flavors. This particular tea has a really tasty kick of spicy cinnamon. With sugar, the way I like it, the cinnamon sweetens and this is a great anytime tea. It is caffeinated but not extremely strong and I wouldn’t be afraid to drink it in the late afternoon.

Taste 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Stash chai green tea

Abby says:

Temperature: Below boiling
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Nothing says “Happy Birthday” quite like starting the day with a flavorful chai tea!  Katie is right, we LOVE chai tea – who wouldn’t with such great spicy flavor? Stash Chai Green Tea is great because the green tea mingles well with the chai spices, yielding a mild, lighter chai taste.  In the cup I brewed today, both the green tea and the chai spices were identifiable and balanced each other well. Since it is currently one degree outside this morning I drank this tea hot, but I think it would make a refreshing summer beverage.

This tea would be a nice addition for any green and/or chai tea fans! Green tea is known to have more health benefits that black tea, such as plentiful antioxidants, so here you have a healthier version of traditional chai. This tea contains caffeine, so keep that in mind when choosing when to try your cup.

Taste: 4 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Wenham Tea House

Posted on January 14, 2012 by | 2 Comments

UPDATE: We’re sad to learn that even though I was just there a few weeks ago, the Wenham Tea House is now closed. If I hear any more info about it I’ll be sure to let you readers know!

http://www.wthexchange.com

This is the Wenham tea house, in (where else?) Wenham, MA. Cute, isn’t it?

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Wenham is a classic New England town just about 35 minutes north of Boston. Nearby you can find some local farms, great farmer’s markets, antique stores, and my favorite place to score antique tea cups: Todd’s farm flea market.

Inside you’ll find a bakery, tea shop, and the tea rooms. To be safe make a reservation because they book up quickly, especially for lunch!

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I visited the weekend before Christmas with my friend, and fellow tea-lover, Lauren. In typical tea room fashion, we were seated at a cozy table and brought flowery tea cups for the pot of tea that we opted to share. There was plenty of honey, sugar, sweetener, lemon, milk & cream to choose from. You’ve got to love the cute little honey pot!

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We selected a black Assam loose team tea. It was delicious, but WOW was it strong! The style there is to let the tea steep loose in the pot and have a strainer for each tea cup. If you have this tea just beware of the last 2 cups! (we got about 6 out of the pot)

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For lunch we both had a biscuit, butternut squash soup, tea sandwiches, scone, and of course several mini desserts! It was actually a lot of food and I ended up taking the scone & some dessert home.

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I strongly recommend giving this place a try if you’re in the area. It was a fun afternoon!

NOTE: This post was composed entirely via iPhone. Please support this experiment and forgive me any formatting errors . Thanks! :)

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Posted in tea rooms

Review: Harney & Sons Green Tea with Thai Flavors (HT Tea Blends)

Posted on January 10, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 5 of 5 tea leaves – Outstanding!  A MUST try!
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

Abby says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Let’s start 2012 off with a bit of honesty!  I was initially drawn to this tea by the color of the tin (nice marketing Harney & Sons). Not the type of tea, not the tea quality, but the color of the tin!  It was the perfect “Katie pink” (she LOVES pink).   I saw it on the shelf and though “Ohhhh, look at that pink tin, it would be perfect for Katie”.  So, I wandered over and had myself a closer look.  Harney & sons, good tea.  Green tea with Thai flavors, interesting.  Lets try it!

Holy moly am I glad we did!  This tea is great!  The aroma of the dry tea is wonderful and it doesn’t even compare to how good the steeping tea smells.  You can really smell the sweet coconut mingling with the potent lemongrass with a soft green tea scent coming through as well.  The taste doesn’t disappoint either.  It is very light, but the flavors are strong and pleasant.  Easy to drink, yet different from anything I have had before.

This is truly a unique tea, so if you are look for something new and different in the new year, why not give it a try!  As always beware of oversteeping green tea and enjoy this great blend.  I am interested to see what Katie thinks of this tea, after all it was a gift for her AND it was her love of pink the brought me to it in the first place!

Taste: 5 of 5 tea leaves – Outstanding!  A MUST try!
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

Katie says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Just look at this BEAUTIFUL tea. Yep, I had to bust out a macro lens to show it to you in all of it’s glory.  To be fair, and really show you the scale of the leaves, here it is in the tea bag…still amazing.

This is a tea that needs to be seen not just tasted.  When steeping it turns a vibrant green like freshly cut herbs. You can also smell the Thai flavors as soon as you open the tin. Coconut, lemongrass, & vanilla — yum! All of these flavors blend to make a truly delectable green tea with unique Thai flavor notes. Don’t over steep and you’ll get a light wonderful tea that doesn’t need a thing added to it. (And I often add a touch of sweet)  This is sure to become a favorite of mine. Thank goodness the pink tin drew Abby in! Although, I’d buy this tea in a plain paper sack because it’s taste & smell are more than enough to lure you in!

Try it soon. You won’t be disappointed! & Merry Christmas to me! Thanks Abby :)

Taste: 5 of 5 tea leaves – Outstanding!  A MUST try!
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

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Posted in Easy to make, green teas