Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green Tea

Where to Buy:  Le Palais des Thés

Tea Description:

A wonderful combination of green tea and vanilla. Enlivened by small vanilla pods, this delicately flavored Sencha is beautifully mild and smooth.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Mmmmm!  I know I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again, I love vanilla flavored teas.  There is something so luxuriously smooth and wonderful about vanilla teas … the soft, creamy taste of vanilla melds so beautifully with the leaves of camellia sinensis!  And this Thé Vert á la Vanille from Le Palais des Thés does indeed taste creamy, smooth and luxurious!

The overall presentation of the cup is mellow.  The soft, lush taste of the green tea – vegetative and fresh tasting – unified with the sweet, creamy taste of vanilla.  It is delicate and delicious, with a buttery undertone and sweet high notes.

The green tea notes have almost a “lima bean” kind of flavor to them, and there is a hint of buttery taste in the layers of flavor, and a wisp of flower in there too.  The vanilla brings it all together – and while it seems like it shouldn’t work (I mean, lima beans and vanilla?  Really?) somehow, it does.  It works out wonderfully!

A really nice cuppa.  I think this makes a great afternoon tea … a beautiful way to spend a leisurely afternoon … not rushed, not hurried … the kind of day when you have time to just sit back and enjoy a delicious cup of tea!

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Continuing with our theme of wildly popular viral videos that are constructed of an unlikely mix of tea and rap, here's Elemental's Cup Of Brown Joy.

Adagio Teas - Best Tea Online

Divine Temple from Georgia Tea Company

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: White

Where to Buy: Georgia Tea Company

Tea Description:

This name of this tea is perfect, for it is divine to drink. Before you take your first sip, inhale the aroma which comes from your cup. You sense a combination of fruits, many fruits. Now take your first sip; there is a sweetness to the palate. But you also sense a substantive base which complements the sweetness. This comes from the multi-blend of white and green teas. No wonder this is our bestselling tea. It is perfect for an afternoon break. And you get all the health benefits which come from the high amount of antioxidants in the green and white teas. What more could you ask!

Steeping time: 175°F / 2-3 min / 2.5 teaspoons per 10oz

Ingredients: white tea China Pai Mu Tan, green tea Darjeeling, green tea China -Fog Tea, -Sencha, -Lung Ching, -Gunpowder, -Jasmine, -Jasmine Jade Pearls, candied mango bits (mango, sugar), candied pineapple bits (pineapple, sugar), candied papaya bits (papaya, sugar), flavoring, orange peels, strawberry bits, red currants, sour cherry bits, apricot bits

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Divine Temple from Georgia Tea Company tastes like a fine wine. This tea is scrumptious and truly divine. I love the mixture of white tea and sencha which I can detect from all the other various teas within this really cool blend. Oh and yes as the description states, you want to drink this in before taking your first sip. The aroma is just to die for. This is the kind of blend that I could see myself being buried with, surrounding me, tucking me into my hand built casket. Sorry the review was turning a little dark there, but in all seriousness, whoever created this blend really hit the nail on the head here. They must surely be very proud of themselves, then again, this is a really hard tea to top.

So what is this tea anyway? Well as you can see, the ingredients list a whole array of yummy goodness, white teas, green teas, fruits of all types from berries to citrus. I can really taste the tropical fruits but the berry notes also jump up and dance for me now and then, especially the cherry. One may think that this tea is just too confused, the flavors won’t stand out, it will be a muddled mess. Nope, its damn tasty, that is what it is and there is some sort of backdrop here, that just screams white wine. This is surely a tea to be chilled and guzzled in the summer and this tea blend will absolutely be gracing my shelf in the kitchen that hosts my summer stash, but right now I am quite enjoying this tea warm, and when warm, the liquor of this tea, which does have a liquor note in it, is almost reminiscent of a warmed brandy.

 You know, Georgia Tea Company is quickly becoming one of my favorite tea vendors, they ship quickly, they have good email follow up to let you know when your order is received, and shipped, and they offer some really intensely good tea blends. Their prices are more than fair, and their shipping is not bad at all at just 4.50 per order or free shipping for orders over 50.00 USD. I have a healthy stash of their teas already to begin with but I can’t wait to try them all. I have yet to be let down from even one of their blends.

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Series Note: I’ve decided to write a series that covers all our blends and what inspired them. And this is [...]

The post Making a Mint (Devotea Origins Part II) appeared first on The Devotea's Tea Spouts.

Welcome to the fifth installation in this series of tea scenes from children's books. Last time, Sophie served tea to a hungry tiger in The Tiger Who Came to Tea, by Judith Kerr; the old wizard's cat Get Well, Good Knight, by Shelley Moore Thomas read with a cup of tea nearby; and Tea Rex attended a tea party in a book of the same name by Molly Idle.


Miss Mary Mack enjoys tea with an elephant in Miss Mary Mack, by Mary Ann Hoberman with illustrations by Nadine Bernard Westcott.


Princess Hyacinth enjoys tea with the boy with the kite in Princess Hyacinth: the Surprising Tale of a Girl who Floated, by Florence Parry Heide with illustrations by Lane Smith.


Can you spot the teapot in This is My House, by Richard Scarry?

Let me know if your favorite children's book has a tea scene. You can also tweet the title with the #teainbooks tag.  Catch up on the series here.

Tisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Steenbergs Organics

Tisane Description:

Steenbergs Organic Redbush Chai Tea combines with a delicious blend of Steenbergs organic spices with organic redbush tea to create our own wonderful organic redbush chai tea. You brew Steenbergs Organic Redbush Chai Tea in the same way as normal chai tea and can add sugar, honey or milk to taste.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

I have tried a couple of different teas from Steenbergs Organic now, and I must say that I’m continually impressed with their quality products!  This Organic Redbush Chai is no exception.  This is a wonderful spiced tisane!

I know I’ve mentioned this on more than one occasion, but there is a big difference in flavor between conventionally grown rooibos and organically grown rooibos.  The organic rooibos is SO much better.  The conventionally grown rooibos tends to have a very woody taste, veering on the side of “sour wood” that is somewhat off-putting.  However, I don’t really notice the sour wood taste in the organic rooibos … yes, it still tastes “woody” but, not like sour wood.  Not an off-putting woody tone.

And in this particular blend, the difference is important because unlike some other rooibos blends where the rooibos is indistinguishable, here, the rooibos is tasted.  The natural woody and nutty flavors of the rooibos, as well as the sweetness of the rooibos, meld beautifully with the spices.

I taste the peppery notes of the ginger and the pepper accentuates the ginger nicely, offering a pleasantly warm taste without coming across as overtly spicy.  The cardamom and cloves give the cup a solid background of spice – exotic, warm and inviting.  The lemongrass perks up the cup just a little bit without being too obvious a flavor.

But what I’m liking best about this particular blend is that the cinnamon is nicely done.  It isn’t overdone – and this is so often the case with chai blends.  Here the cinnamon is sweet, yet spicy, but not overly sweet or spicy.  It doesn’t taste like cinnamon candy.  It tastes the way cinnamon should taste!

Bravo to Steenbergs Organic for yet another well-crafted chai!  Very nice, indeed.

The post Organic Redbush Chai from Steenbergs Organic appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

I've worked in the crazy world of retail for most of my adult life. A little less than two years ago, I left the insanity behind for my first desk job. I was giddy with the thought of being able to make a cup of tea whenever the need called. I even had hopes of sharing my passion for tea with my coworkers. Unfortunately, I soon found that I was surrounded by coffee lovers. I brought in an old Nicole Martinhttps://plus.google.com/103097147251455801975noreply@blogger.com0

To say that anything is typically American, even teapot styles, is to discount about 99% of the country. (I should clarify that I am using “American” here in the widespread meaning of referring to us “Yanks,” that is, citizens of the United States. Sorry, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America!) We come from such a broad spectrum of…

Read the rest of the article on The English Tea Store Blog.

© 2013 A.C. Cargill photos and text

Today hasn’t been the sunniest day in Los Angeles.  I’d like to say that I woke up at six in the morning, cheerfully placed some sun tea on my front porch, and rode my bike to the beach to take a dip in the ocean.  While I did take a little bike ride, I did not swim in the ocean or make sun tea.  Instead, I spent what felt like hours sipping a hot blend of yerba mate and contemplating how it can be possible that my cat – who is three years old – is still such a sweet, kneading kitten (it’s really difficult to get a head start when I don’t hear the birds chirping outside).

Be that as it may, the last few weekends have been extremely sunny and I have hope for the weeks to come.  I love putting a few bags in a skinny glass container and letting the water soak up the loving rays and the even more tender Camellia sinensis.  I became inspired last year to start making sun tea when I stumbled upon Yumi Sakugawa’s illustrated guide to making sun tea on Wonderhowto.com, How to Make Sun Tea: Secret Tips from the Yumiverse.

I decided to follow her directions because I love DIY tips, tea, and her meditative aesthetic.  I’m not going to go into the details of how to make the tea because you can follow the link above, but I’ve been using this recipe off and on for almost a year now.  Although I don’t have as much time to hang around on my front porch and cultivate a garden in my little yard, I’ve been trying to take care of plants in a little outside area at work.  Maybe if I start brewing sun tea at my job next to the sunny spot where the flowers are growing, I’ll become a more attentive gardener AND tea brewer.

MAIN | IMAGE 1

The post A sun tea inspiration appeared first on T Ching.

Yet another rap song about the many joys of tea.

Adagio Teas - Best Tea Online

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Upton Tea Imports

Tea Description:

This tippy broken selection is suitable as a staple in any tea lover’s cupboard. The liquor carries a nice malty aroma with fruity notes. The smooth cup is strong enough to support the addition of a spot of milk.

Learn more about this Assam here.

Taster’s Review:

What a lovely Assam!  This is just the type of flavor I expect when I sample an Assam tea – rich, malty, sweet notes of caramel and fruit … robust and sturdy!  This Moditea Estate Assam TGFBOP from Upton Tea Imports is an Assam lover’s Assam!

The dry leaf is a broken leaf, dark chocolate in color with some golden tips (although not quite as many as the photo might lead one to believe!) After steeping 2 1/2 minutes in boiling water, the brew is quite dark, looking almost like black coffee rather than a cup of tea!  But the aroma is TEA!  It smells rich and lightly sweet.

The flavor – ahh!  Malt!  I love the malty tones of Assam.  It is the malty note that keep me coming back to Assam.  Otherwise, Assam tends to be a somewhat temperamental tea (you don’t want to over-steep an Assam or the chances are that you’ll be left with a bitter and very astringent cuppa!), and I probably would be less enthusiastic to try an Assam if it weren’t for those delicious, sweet, malty notes!

There is an undercurrent of caramel-like flavor that melds nicely with the malty flavors.  More sweetness comes from the fruit notes in the background.  There is a freshly baked taste (and texture!) to this tea as well – reminiscent of a freshly baked loaf of bread.  That chewy crust that I love so much in a fresh loaf of bread – I get that essence here with this tea.  It’s a little earthy, rich and flavorful, and bold!  Just the kind of tea you want to drink first thing in the morning to get that blood pumping!

A really nice cuppa from Upton Tea Imports!

The post Moditea Estate Assam TGFBOP from Upton Tea Imports appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Della Terra Teas

Tea Information: 

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas

Tea Description:

Pineapple, check.  Brown sugar, check.  Creamy butter, check.  Delicious cake, check.  What do we get…  Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  This tea starts off with a delicious tea base, and finishes off with a rich pineapple, brown sugar and creamy cake taste.  Absolutely one of our owners personal favorites!

Ingredients: Black tea, pineapple bits and flavor, cream flavor, cherry bits*

Allergens: contains dairy.

Suggested brewing tips

Serving Size: 1 level tsp./6oz serving

Water Temp:  210°F

Steep Time: 2-3 minutes

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I really can’t believe I have not reviewed Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Della Terra Teas yet! I absolutely love this tea. It is one of my top five favorites from Della Terra and let me tell you it is darn difficult to come up with a top five because they are all so very good! This tea is also one of my stash perma teas too. I always have to have some on hand.

It is so yummy, so sweetly perfect. When I first tried this tea, back when it was first released by Della Terra Teas, I remember being worried it would be too pineapple flavored. Not that I mind a pineapple tea but I really was not looking for a tropical flavor in Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I was not disappointed! I wanted a cakey tasting tea and oh boy this is it! This tastes more like cake flavored tea than any tea I have tasted that was supposed to taste like cake. The pineapple is juicy and sweet but not so overpowering that it takes on too much of a tropical flavor. There is a honeyed note or a syrup like note to it that reminds me of the drippings from sugared pineapple. The aroma is mouthwatering!

This is a very sweet tea so don’t fault it for that but it also is not cloying and does not have a lingering sickly sweetness in the mouth.  Another thing to love about this tea is the number of steeps you can get out of it. I was able to get six steeps from this leaf before it began to lose any flavor!

I am always impressed with Della Terra Teas and I am even more impressed by their customer service and amazing deals they offer on their Facebook page.

The post Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Della Terra Teas appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Tea Mania

Tea Description:

This Oolong originates from Doi Mae Salong and is also known as GABA Tea. This because of its high GABA. Oolong Black Pearls is a hand-picked and rolled Oolong # 12 which was oxidized 100%. Therefore, it’s a black tea too. But, the flavor isn’t bitter like some black tea. It’s more floral and honey-like. Quite comparable with a Darjeeling. The preparation is classic Oolong style: Rinse, first a short infusion, second infusion a bit longer, third infusion even longer, etc. Can also be infused cold as ice tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’m always excited to try teas from new-to-me companies, like this Oolong Black Pearls tea from Tea Mania.  And what a delightful tea this is!

The tightly wound leaves look like a green Oolong (and like the picture above) but, they are much darker in color.  I think that perhaps the website has the wrong photo linked for the tea … these leaves are much darker, reminiscent of a rich chocolate color.  They are quite fragrant with lovely floral tones.

It is very flavorful … and I agree with the above description.  The flavor is quite similar to a Darjeeling, but the body and texture is a bit thicker, more like an Oolong.  There is no bitterness whatsoever, it is sweet … sweet like honey!

There are lovely floral notes to the flavor, but they are not as prolific as in a greener Oolong.  This has more of a fruity note to it, reminiscent of a ripe, juicy apricot.  For those who tend to shy away from the greener Oolong teas because of their strong floral essence, I think that you’ll find this Oolong to be more to your liking … it’s much more like fruit than it is like flower.  There are still floral notes there, and I find them to be more pronounced if you slurp the cup to aerate the tea over the palate.  I find these floral tones complement the fruit tones and they enhance the sweet honey notes as well.

There are subtle hints of earth to the flavor as well as slight woody notes.  It’s really quite complex, with so many delicious layers of flavor to discover.  A really wonderful Oolong – I’m so glad I got to try it – and it’s one I’m happy to recommend to all the Oolong enthusiasts out there!

The post Oolong Black Pearls from Tea Mania appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

My mother recently attended a card party and won me a very cool vintage find. She was aiming for a tea themed gift basket but accidentally placed her tickets in the cup for a basket containing four teacups instead. They weren't quite my usual style but I still thought that they were cute. Then I glanced at the stamp on the bottom and my heart skipped a beat. Along with a picture of what Nicole Martinhttps://plus.google.com/103097147251455801975noreply@blogger.com0

Hubby has been known to conduct on occasion some … uh, well, for lack of a better term I’ll call them “experiments” with tea. Tea experiment #29 was a doozy, so I had to share it here.

Read the rest of the article on The English Tea Store Blog.

© 2013 A.C. Cargill photos and text

Recently, I was approached by a talented, young German artist, Gordon Alder, to try his unusual tea bag holder – the Tea.Tanic.  It represents the titanic, which, when cleverly hitched to the side of your favorite cup or mug, appears to be sinking.  Here’s what he had to say about his Tea.Tanic:

“How does one go about celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of a tragic accident in which 1,514 people died? You make a tea bag holder, of course! The Tea.Tanic (€11; roughly $14) is designed to resemble the ill-fated RMS Titanic, crafted from stainless steel with a mug-filling body that allows you to press on its sides to squeeze out all available goodness. Play ‘My Heart Will Go On’ while drinking to complete the experience.”

Gordon Alder, whose pursuits range from photographer to designer for the auto industry, has sold over 2,000 of his tea bag holders.  His product, which can be purchased from his Tea.Tanic site, is his first foray into the tea industry.

The post Whimsical tea bag holder appeared first on T Ching.

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Tea Description:

You want to hear about pudding. Did you know that pudding was created using techniques for making Haggis and blood sausage? Eww. That’s not very appetizing…

Changing gears… Bananas are very yummy, what’s more, they are yellow and shaped funny.

Our Banana pudding flavored tea also has coconut, which some people dislike in pudding because pudding is supposed to be smooth and creamy and who wants shavings of coconut in there? But hey, it’s better in the tea. And I’m feeling a little loopy tonight and rushing to get this posted since it’s already late, but I think you’re all really going to enjoy this blend–mentions of Haggis and coconut aside.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I like bananas alright.  I’m not a huge fan of bananas … but I don’t hate them.  I usually have some bananas on hand, because I like to add them to my smoothies when I make them (at least a couple times a week), and my husband likes them.  But I seldom just sit down and eat a banana.

But I do like banana flavored teas … especially if the banana flavored tea comes from 52Teas … because Frank (chief Zoomdweebie at 52Teas) seems to do banana flavored teas well.  So, when he announced this Banana Pudding flavored black tea for the week of April 22, I was excited to try it.  So excited that I’m actually going a bit out of order here (I do like to taste his teas in the order in which they are released!) There are like three other teas that I’m supposed to try before I try this Banana Pudding tea … but like I said, I was excited!

And I’m not disappointed!  This is yummy!  The banana flavor is strong, and I can taste the creaminess – with just a hint of vanilla-like flavor to it too!  I can also taste the subtle note of butter to this … and this note seems to emerge as the tea cools slightly, so it’s worth the time to allow it to cool about three or four minutes before you take that first sip.

I can also taste the coconut … this is a very subtle taste, but when I offered my daughter a sip of the tea (she loves banana!) she noticed the coconut over the banana flavor.  So some palates might pick up on the coconut notes more than the banana notes.  My palate did not … for my palate, I get a good, strong banana note, a sweet creaminess that is pudding-like, at least in flavor … not in texture … which would be a little weird, don’t you think?  I mean, think about it.  A pudding textured tea.  Weird.  Maybe even a little gross. Fortunately, this is NOT gross or weird.  OK, maybe it is a little weird to have a banana pudding flavored tea.  But it tastes wonderful!

OK, so, less rambling and more tea talk.

The black tea is not overwhelmed amid all these strong flavors.  I can taste it … although I can’t say that it is the strongest note of the cup, which is typically something I want from a flavored tea but this tastes so good that I can’t complain.  I am really enjoying the way the flavor plays out here.  I love the strong banana notes, the hint of coconut (and even how the creaminess of the coconut seems to enhance the soft, silky vanilla notes), and even the touch of buttery taste.

This is delicious hot (remember, let it cool for about four minutes and you’ll be rewarded with some buttery notes), and also tasty iced.  I think I prefer it hot, served with a couple of Nilla Wafers … which helps bring out the cookie part of the pudding just a little bit.

Yum!  Another tasty dessert tea from 52Teas.

The post Banana Pudding Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

Series Note: I’ve decided to write a series that covers all our blends and what inspired them. And this is [...]

The post A Tale of Two Siblings (Devotea Origins Part I) appeared first on The Devotea's Tea Spouts.

He's certainly no Jay Z. In fact he might not even rank up there with MC Hammer, but here's a puppet rapping about the alleged joys of Teajay Teas.

The Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Oolong

Where to Buy: Teavivre 

Tea Description:

This Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin has a little of coffee’s flavor, which is suitable for who loves teas with coffee taste. You will sense a familiar fragrance of coffee for first sip, and after swallowing the liquid, a sweet aftertaste will quickly upwelling to your throat. As it is 85% fermented, this Tie Guan Yin will not become bitter even for a long time infusion. Dry tea leaves are brown and curly, has a smell of charcoal fire. The liquid is in golden yellow color, which truly feasts to the eyes.

Organic Roasted Oolong with Coffee Aroma

Organically produced near Zhangzhou(漳州) in Fujian, China.

Harvest Time: September, 2012

Hand made into small, rolled up leaves

Roasted, 85% fermented

Golden Yellow color, bright and clean liquid

Sweet and soft taste with coffee fragrance for first sip, long-last flavor, sweet aftertaste around throat

Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The aroma of Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea is milky and creamy, which is surprising since I was really anticipating a deeper roasted aroma. Regardless, I love a milky tea so if it tasted milky I would be fine with that. I decided to go ahead and let it steep for a couple more minutes since Iron Goddess does not get bitter with longer steeps. This seems to be the way to go because after two more minutes after an initial 2 minutes it became stronger, bolder, with a coffee like aroma and that roasted aroma I was expecting. I will later hate to try it with a shorter steep though as I am sure that milky aroma had something to it!

Finally, the first sip was delicious! I did initially get a little creaminess but the smokiness and roasted flavor took over. The tea is a bit sweeter than I had expected having it compared in the description to a coffee like flavor but I rather like it. It is robust, not as robust as some black teas but robust for an oolong.

While I really can see how this would be a great tea to serve to a coffee drinker I don’t want the tea drinkers out there who do not care for coffee to be afraid to give it a try. The quality of this tea is astounding, as are all of Teavivre’s teas and realistically nothing taste like coffee but coffee itself. This is clearly an excellent Iron Goddess, deep, roasty, and toasty, and the creamy texture of this tea on the mouth is really special.

Also this is a tea that keeps on giving. Even with my long five minute steep the first time around I can continue to keep on steepin! Following steeps have some interesting notes highlighted that bring about the thoughts of a green tea, such as green bean for example, but more like veggies that are fire roasted! So good! I love having this Iron Goddess with some milk chocolate, it really taste like s’mores between the creamy note in the tea and the smokiness with the toasty note, and of course the chocolate!

This tea has some serious NOM factor!

The post Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.