Category Archives: black teas

Review: Tenota Creamy Earl Grey

Posted on May 23, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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Please note that while we were sent free samples of this tea to review we are just as critical of free tea. If we receive something we don’t like we give an honest review or skip it all together!

Overall Rating:

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

Abby says:

Temperature: @ 210 degrees
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing Added

For all of you who have read our reviews before, you know that we are big earl grey fans! Real big fans. So, of course, I was excited to try the creamy earl grey tea from Tenota. I thought it was great! I could taste the bergamot , the strong black tea and a sweet nutty flavor. Yes! The added vanilla and cream make the body of this tea soft and silky, making it seem more decadent, like a dessert. I found it fun to drink and it reminded me a lot of Stash Vanilla Nut Crème decaf. What makes this tea stand out though, is instead of vanilla, it has bergamot. Love . And it has caffeine and honselty, sometimes you just need caffeine. Most times actually. If you are planning to send a little tea note this tea is a great choice because it has a little bit of a guilty pleasure feel to it, without the guilty.

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

Tenota Creamy Earl Grey

Katie says:

Temperature: @ 210 degrees
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: With milk & honey

As Abby said, yes, earl grey tea is one of our favorites. So, while I found this tea to be tasty I didn’t give it a higher rating because I didn’t find it to be very strong. The tea had nice creamy & bergamot flavors but to me was overall a bit mild. I prefer a stronger black tea flavor so it really stands up to adding milk & sugar or honey. If your expectations are for it to be a milder tea, like the vanilla nut creme that Abby mentioned, then I think you will very much enjoy this tea! And, if you send a tenota the recipient will of course also enjoy the oversize tea tag with your note!

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

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Review: Good Earth Organic Apricot Ginger Black Tea

Posted on April 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

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

Abby says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: Left tea bag in the cup
Served: Nothing added

I’m no stranger to Apricot flavored beverages. In fact, my favorite beer is Ithaca Apricot Wheat. So when I saw that Good Earth had an Apricot Ginger black tea AND it was organic, I was all over it! Unlike some of Good Earth’s other teas, I found this one to be more mild in flavor. While it steeped the smell of zesty ginger and sweet apricot was nice, but not strong. I found the taste to be similar. I liked how well the spicy ginger, the sweet apricot and the nutty black tea blended together. It all combined to make an easy to drink and interesting tea.

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

Katie says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: Left tea bag in the cup
Served: A bit of sugar

First, let me say, this tea is NOT good with milk. It’s a good thing Abby gave me 2 samples because at first I added milk and, yuck! I’m not sure why I thought milk was a good idea but it wasn’t. My second cup, with just a hint of sugar was much better. I, like Abby, found that the ginger and apricot were a nice combination. It could have been a bit stronger but was still overall a nice tea.

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

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Review: Tea Forte Breakfast

Posted on February 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!:

Abby says:

Temperature: @212 (@ boiling)
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Nice and strong with good flavor and body, this Assam tea is incredibly satisfying as a first-thing-in-the-morning cuppa! The caffeine level is what you would expect (and what most of us need) from a morning tea. It pairs well with hearty breakfast food, but has enough of its own flavor to satisfy long after the food is all gone. Most of all, I like the nuttiness found in Forte Breakfast. It also holds just a hint of sweetness that doesn’t turn bitter if steeped for a while, which is great for busy mornings when tea-making is not as precise as maybe it should be.

Forte Breakfast is USDA certified organic! Just another reason to give it a try. We sampled this tea in Tea Forte’s biodegradable filterbags, but it also comes in single serving loose tea packs. Love those too!

Taste: 4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Katie says: Abby gave me a sample of this tea but I can’t find it. Oops! I’ve had it before and enjoyed it but haven’t had any recently enough to remember for an accurate review. Guess you’ll all have to just trust her word on this one!

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Review: Bhakti Chai (Unsweetened)

Posted on February 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

 

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4 of 5 – quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: Hot from the stove, but not boiling
Steeped: N/A
Served: With 1:1 ratio of milk, then with honey

For me this is hands down, the best chai from a bottle ever. I love the idea of chai mix due to convenience but most are just a syrupy mess. This tastes like real TEA! Also, without sweetener or milk added you can make it to your taste. One word of caution, I think real chai needs real milk. I’m talking 2% or greater…in India it’s practically cream!

I have to say, I was surprised to see Abby’s rating on this one because we tend to agree more often than not. It may just be that while she likes chai, she’s not a fan of milk in tea. And this mix NEEDS milk.  I love that I can count on the ratio and make the same cuppa more than once. If you like traditional chai with a kick of ginger than this is a MUST try. But pass the cream. :)

I also like that this tea comes refrigerated and has a shelf life. That certainly makes it seem more real. And, when you real the label there is in fact good (ie real) stuff in there. It’s also a pretty cool company out of Fort Collins, CO. Check out their website for their story & more of their flavors.

Taste: 5 of 5 – outstanding a must try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: Hot from the stove, but not boiling
Steeped: N/A
Served: With 1:1 ratio of milk, then with honey

Seriously spicy! You know how, sometimes you find chai teas to be dull without the spice that you love? Well, forget all that.  This tea is spicy and has a ton of flavor. Bhakti Chai comes pre-brewed in a refrigerated bottle containing: “organic fair trade black te, organic ginger juice, organic cardamom, black pepper and other spices.” It carries the fair trade certification, but it is not certified organic. The directions call for heating the tea with milk at a 1:1 ratio and heating on the stove top or in the microwave.  It also says you can serve it over ice, but I can’t even think about that right now (too much snow everywhere for that).  Typically I choose not to add milk to my tea, but for the sake of the review I decided to be a good girl and follow the directions.  I’m glad I did because I think skipping the milk would have been a mistake for sure.  In fact I ended up adding more hot milk and a bit of honey to mellow out the spice level. This tea was good, but I will only have it when I am craving the spice!

Taste: 3 of 5 leaves: A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Bhakti Chai

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Review: Harney & Sons Holiday (HT Tea Blends)

Posted on January 4, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Overall Rating:

Taste: 3.25 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort

Abby says:

Temperature: @200 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Better late than never. That’s what I say! Here is a holiday tea from Harney & Sons, called “holiday”. So appropriate for today – when the holidays are officially over! Enjoy…

When I first opened the tea tin I was overwhelmed by the spicy aroma of this tea. I smelled some clove and what seem to me to be licorice. Licorice is not my fav, I did not enjoy that but decided to steep it anyway. And I’m glad I did. Though the aroma was strong, but the tea was not. It was flavorful and spicy and thankfully did not taste like licorice at all! I liked that it was light with mild spice flavor because so much of what we eat and drink over the holidays is heavy and rich or over-the-top. While still festive, this tea provides a much need break from all that with something lighter without being dull. The flavor might be strong if steeped longer, so that could be something interesting to try next time.

Taste: 3.5 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

Katie says:

Temperature: @200 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: With cream & sugar

The spices in this tea smell and taste similar to chai with strong notes of clove and cinnamon. Chai is one of my favorite teas so when I opened the tin I was so excited to try this similar-smelling tea. I thought this tea was good, but what kept it from being great was the strength. I found the favors, while nice, to be very mild. I’d suggest steeping it longer or using two tea bags if you like a strong cuppa!

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

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Review: Capital Teas Talk of the Town

Posted on December 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Capital Teas was kind enough to send us samples of their teas to review.* Thank you!

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Overall Rating:
Taste: 4 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @200 (@ boiling point)
Steeped: 3.5 minutes
Served: Nothing added

As this tea steeps it starts to smell more and more lovely. Talk of the Town is a blend of Sri Lankan Black Tea, Rooibos, orange, spices, black pepper, vanilla, hawthorn leaves, white peppercorns. This intricate combination becomes more aromatic as the tea steeps. AND it tastes pretty darn good too! It has enough depth to keep it things interesting, yet is simple enough to drink all day. Though it’s named Talk of the Town, I don’t actually have much else to say about it, other than it’s a tasty cup of tea and you should try it. If you like flavorful, yet straight forward black tea, you will like this.

Also keep in mind that it re-steeps well too! For that I let it go for about 5.5 minutes. It wasn’t quite as spicy the second time around, but it still tasted great – another plus for drinking throughout the day.

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

Katie says:

Temperature: @200 (@ boiling point)
Steeped: 3.5 minutes
Served: Nothing added

This is a very nice black tea! As Abby said, some of the unusual ingredients give it lovely aroma as it steeps and just a hint of complex flavor blended with the black tea. I can taste hints of cinnamon and orange, yum! Oranges and cinnamon seem like holiday spices to me so I think this is a great tea for drinking in the week leading up to Christmas. The orange flavor would also come out nicely in an iced tea with lemon. A tea for all seasons!

Some fun facts from the capital tea website:

Black Tea has been shown to reduce cholesterol
Great Source of Antioxidants, which have been shown to lower the risk of heart disease
Has approximately 20% of the caffeine content of coffee

Taste: 4 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — 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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Review: Capital Teas Gone with the Peach

Posted on December 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

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Capital Teas was kind enough to send us samples of their teas to review.* Thank you!

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.5 of 5 tea leaves — Outstanding! A MUST try.
Steepability: 3 of 5 tea leaves — This tea is a bit delicate.

Abby says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 2 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Gone with the Peach from Capital Teas Artisanal Collection – what a fun name for tea! Its a blend of green tea pearls, black tea, peach, ginger and spices. After a quick two minute steep the tea is light amber in the cup. The aroma of peach is strong, but the taste fruity and fresh without being sweet. The peach flavor is crisp and well balanced by the cinnamon, ginger and cloves giving it depth. It is very easy to drink – light enough so it pairs well with food, yet has enough body to drink alone.

Being that its a chilly December day I drank this tea hot, but I am sure it would make a refreshing and bright iced tea too. If you are looking for a delightful, not-too-sweet peach tea, give this one a try! You can find steeping directions for both hot and iced at Capital Teas. Because of the delicate green tea pearls you want to avoid using water that is too hot and steeping it for too long.

Taste: 4.5 of 5 tea leaves — Outstanding! A MUST try.
Steepability: 3 of 5 tea leaves — This tea is a bit delicate.

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Katie says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 2.5 minutes
Served: Nothing at first then a touch of honey

Yet another beautiful tea, my favorite kind! I just love seeing large bits of nice-looking ingredients in my tea. “Gone with the Peach” is from the Capital Teas artisanal collection. It is made with pearls of gunpowder green tea. Typically I find gunpowder green to be on the strong side (at least for green tea) but this tea has just 5-10% of the caffeine content of coffee. This lower caffeine content, in my opinion, makes it a perfect afternoon tea. The green is flavorful without being bitter and the peach is mild and fresh tasting instead of taking on the fake peachy taste some foods/drinks have. I really enjoyed this tea as a sweet treat with a touch of honey.

Fun fact: Capital Teas is a fifth generation, family-owned specialty tea merchant. They offer more than 175 varieties of the highest quality loose-leaf teas and herbal infusions. They also offer artisanal honey, jams, and tea-infused chocolate. Wait, did someone say tea-infused chocolate? YUM! I’ll need to get my hands on some of that ASAP!

Taste: 4.5 of 5 tea leaves — Outstanding! A MUST try.
Steepability: 3 of 5 tea leaves — This tea is a bit delicate.

*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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Review: Tazo Awake

Posted on November 13, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.75 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: 3-4 minutes, then left in mug for the second steep
Served: Nothing added

Tazo Awake is a wonderfully strong black tea with full flavor and no bitterness. As you can guess by the name, Awake is what it promises and and awake you will be after just one cup. Not only does the caffeine work its magic to get you going, the complexity of flavor keeps it interesting. Mixed with the intense black tea taste is a bit of malty cocoa flavor that adds richness. Though I’m not much of a coffee drinker, the robust nature of this tea give me that sense.

Katie has been telling me about this tea for awhile now and I am happy to have finally tried it. Awake will clearly be a go-to for me from here on out! If you are looking for a strong, tasty tea – give this one a try.

Taste: 4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

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Katie says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: 3 (med) – 5 (strong) minutes
Served: Milk & honey

This is one of my favorite morning teas. Awake is a strong and flavorful black tea. Steep 3 minutes if you like a medium strength tea and 5 if you like it strong. Some days require stronger tea! The best thing about this tea is this that it can be made quite strong without getting bitter. I like a good strong tea so that it can stand up to a good amount of cream & sugar. See the photo above for how much half & half I like in this tea. I know, have a little tea with my cream, right? It’s like my Grammie says, a tea is good when it’s “strong enough to float a horseshoe.”

This rich and flavorful tea certainly passes the horseshoe test! Because it is strong it also makes a great tea to brew in the summer and then pour over ice with lemon. This is an Indian Assam style tea. I find Assam to have particularly nice flavor and this one has a rich and malty taste. I don’t drink morning coffee but this is my tea of choice for a morning pick-me-up.

Taste: 5 of 5 leaves: Outstanding, a must try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

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Review: Harney & Sons SOHO

Posted on October 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.9 of 5 leaves – Outstanding! A MUST try.
Steepability: 5 of 5 leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @ 212 (boiling)
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

We have already posted about Katie’s sampling tea from our trip to Harney & Sons in Manhattan this past spring and now we are going to talk about mine! When I saw that they had created a special blend to celebrate the opening of the store we were standing it at the time, how could I have chosen anything else? The wonderful aroma of black tea, chocolate, vanilla, coconut and amaranth flower petals didn’t hurt either. The bright pink petals give striking contrast to the rich black tea. The blend creates an interesting and complex scent and as the tea steeps it changes slightly so that the different elements shine.

The flavor is nice too. It isn’t too sweet, which is my favorite part. Sometimes with blends like this the sweetness can overwhelm the tea. Not so, for this tea. There is a hint of sweetness but you are still clearly drinking tea! Instead of the tea flavor getting lost, it adds balance to the other sweet ingredients. Tea with hints of chocolate, coconut and vanilla from one of our favorite tea makers? Delicious! This very tasty tea is certainly worth a try if you are looking for something a little different.

Taste: 4.75 of 5 leaves – Outstanding! A MUST try.
Steepability: 5 of 5 leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Katie says:

Temperature: @ 212 (boiling)
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Sometimes I buy things because they are pretty. I can admit that! As a commercial photographer, I’ve decided that gives me a free pass to be influenced by beautiful products, photos & packaging. Abby and I sampled this tea, along with many others, at Harney & Sons in SOHO so I knew it was beautiful inside that gorgeous tin. With flower petals mixed in this is one of the prettiest teas that I’ve ever seen! How could you not love the little pink petals inside? Seriously. LOVE!

Oh, by the way, it tastes great too. This a black tea with hints of chocolate & coconut. I like that it is still a black tea and gives you a caffeine boost. The chocolate and coconut flavors are present but not overpowering. I like tea that tastes like traditional black tea. This doesn’t taste like an herbal tea; you get the richness of black tea accented with some wonderful flavors. And it’s pretty & pink. Bonus!

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

Since this is Harney & Son’s SOHO store namesake tea, we’re thinking about our friends in NYC today. We hope that you are all safe & sound and weathering the storm. From the photos that we’re seeing up here in ME & MA it must be a crazy few days in New York City! We’re hoping for the best and that life in the city will return to normal sooner rather than later. Be safe everyone!

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Review: Marks & Spencer Everyday Tea

Posted on October 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

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Overall Rating:

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

Abby says:

Temperature: @ 210 (around boiling)
Steeped: Left teabag in mug
Served: Nothing added

Before trying this for the first time, I had absolutely no expectations about it, which is rare. Usually the name alone will give you an idea of what to expect on your first sip. Or, the images and description on the packaging or even previously developed opinions about the tea maker will put thoughts in your mind, whether or not you think so. In this case however, I only had a few tea bags in a Ziploc to go on. I didn’t know what type of tea this was. I had no idea who made it and I certainly didn’t know how it should best be prepared. And that was fun! My first clue was how the tea smelled …from inside the Ziploc. It was sitting on my desk as I was getting the last of some paperwork done before heading off to boil water. I noticed after a few minutes of type, type, typing a lovely scent in the air. Light, but there. It smelled a bit nutty with a little sweetness … like black tea! (Maybe?) Then when I dropped the tea bag into the water I immediately saw the tea turn reddish brown (black tea!) The aroma was much stronger now and very nice, just like black tea. Question one was solved. I was trying some great smelling black tea. It didn’t smell overly strong right off so I just left the tea bag in my mug while I drank it. (This is what I would recommend, by the way.) The other details would come later; it was time to just enjoy the tea.

As a blog team Katie and I are always swapping tea to try for review. This was one she happened to have on hand at one of our last get-togethers so she bagged it up and handed it over. Though there wasn’t time to write down what it was and who made it. We would get into all that later.

I actually really enjoyed this tea. I’m not sure how much of the detective work that I put in played into my fun with it, but I liked drinking it. It was a nutty, malty, easy to drink tea with a slight sweetness. Even with leaving the tea bag in the cup there was no bitterness which is great for those days when you have no time to worry about tea, you just need to drink it!

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

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Katie says:

Temperature: @ 210 (around boiling)
Steeped: Left teabag in mug
Served: Milk and a bit of sugar

Oh, the Brits really do know how to make tea. For those of you who might not know, Marks & Spencer is a British department store. While this tea was a mystery to Abby, I purchased it at the British import store in Freeport, ME. This is the “Everyday” Tea. Click the link, luckily you CAN order it in the US. It is a medium strength tea. I have to say I just loved reading Abby’s review of this one. How fun to make her guess! I just might have to give her mystery tea more often.

I think this tea lives up to its name and is in fact perfect for everyday use. This is the quintessential black tea. Often I find black tea in bag form to be a bit week. This tea, however, lives up to my expectations. It is nice, rich, & flavorful without being too strong. I’m going to cross my fingers that my favorite British import store up in Maine continues to carry it! Or, I do have a friend who has been traveling to London on business…I might have to beg that he get me some more! ;) This tea is certainly worth the trouble of bribing a friend to bring back or paying the extra shipping. It is also quite nice as a iced tea. Try our refrigerator tea idea! Also, one if the nice things about this tea is its beautiful rich color. Look what a lovely color it remains even with milk. (Don’t mind the desk clutter in the background)

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

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