aisling of tea

Cranberry. Cranberry is another one of those flavors that brings out very distinct memories for me. Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s house, not for the cranberry sauce (which I loathe), but for the cranberry juice she always had on hand. I loved it! And she’d mix it with a bit of ginger ale for me and oh, I felt so grown up…my first cocktail! Virgin, of course. We lost her the year I started college, so every time I taste anything with cranberry, I think of her. Then growing up, my mom taught me how to make this delicious cranberry-orange bread with fresh cranberries, and that bread is why I always have cranberries in my freezer. I made it for my in-laws the first Christmas after the wedding and now they look forward to it every year. Maybe after I’ve tried this straight I’ll need to try it with some orange juice. But cranberry is a flavor very near and dear to my heart, so I am very much looking forward to trying this one. The health benefits of cranberries aren’t such a bad thing either, and since I don’t drink juice anymore, this might be a good way for me to get them (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cranberry-matcha.html).

This blew my socks off. The scent when the package is opened is a sweet cranberry, not the tart berry I was looking for, but I can’t bring myself to complain. I put about a quarter of a teaspoon in a small mug, added about 75-80 C water, some sugar, and frothed it up. Then I added robots (by which I mean ice in the shape of robots) and a touch of cold water to make a beautiful iced tea. I am so far from disappointed it hurts. This is lovely. I didn’t expect to like this one nearly as much as I do, but I am in love. I’m definitely seeing the berry in cranberry, but there’s also a hint of tartness in the middle of the sip. I am so surprised, I honestly didn’t expect to be wowed by this. But I am and I am going to restock on it ASAP. I can’t wait to try it blended with some vanilla matcha or some orange juice…yum. I don’t have a lot of experience with cranberry outside of the little fruits baked into muffins, but I think I need to branch out and try some new things!

Okay, so, fair warning. I’m not overly familiar with the acai berry or how it should taste. I’ve had acai berry/blueberry juice before, and loved it, so I’m hoping I’ll love the berry on its own. Of course now, all I can think of when it comes to this tea is RuPaul’s Drag Race with all the different queens trying to say “acai” for a TV commercial. It’s like the Pink Dragonfruit from Tealish. I’ve never had dragonfruit, but it smelled amazing and so I tried it and I loved it. Now I’m on the hunt for an actual dragonfruit to try. So while I can tell if I like the tea and if it tastes good or not, I have no real way to tell if it tastes like the actual fruit at all. But that’s okay! Everyone should be open to new experiences, and I am looking forward to this one (found here:http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/acai-matcha.html).

Okay, yum! It’s kind of like blueberry on steroids? I don’t know, it’s got this amazing berry flavor with a round tartness….yes, round. It was the word that came to mind as I sipped it. It’s just…lovely and unexpected. The flavor is very bold and very…unique. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but I liked it. I definitely want to try more acai flavored things if this is what I have to look forward to! I’m not sure if I need to restock on this ASAP, but it’s definitely in the running for my must-have list.

After seeing some of the glowing reviews for this matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html), I had to try it. Trying Mango Diablo from DavidsTea recently has brought back to mind my love of mangos and real mango flavor. I had forgotten it in the face of so much fake-tasting mango flavored tea and candy out there. But I used to beg my mom to let me buy a mango. There are few things better than slicing into a perfectly ripe mango. Makes a royal mess to eat it (at least, the way I did it), but it was so, so worth it. Still, I hate messy food, so if I can find that mango flavor without the mess, I am all for it! It was a bit worried about this tea after the strange bitterness of the Peach and Lemon flavors, but what’s life without a few risks? Mango makes me think of summer and tropical smoothies and everything delicious in life.

So when I opened it, it had that same smell the Peach and Lemon flavors had, a faint hint of bitterness, and I got worried. Still, never let it be said that I’m afraid to try new things. I made a cup of this to take to work with me, and thank goodness I did, it was a hellish day and I desperately needed the energy from it. But…it wasn’t that great. It tasted like decent mango flavor with a back hint of chemicals. I don’t know what it is, but I think I just need to stay away from the citrus group of flavored matchas. The Peach redeemed itself when iced, so maybe the mango will do the same. I’m hoping it does. My feelings may also be skewed a bit, I’ve been spoiled by the delicious goodness of the Mango Diablo from Davids, so my opinions on the mango flavor might have been different if I hadn’t been drinking tons of the Mango Diablo lately. That’s my new standard for mango flavor and this just doesn’t match up to it.

Still, it will be no great hardship to finish this off, especially in smoothies over the coming summer months. It’s not horrible, it’s just not for me. But maybe a lower temperature will help or finding another way to drink it. Or maybe one of my friends will try it and like it and then it will have a good home!

Amazing. Utterly amazing. Took a mug of this iced to see The Avengers yesterday and I was distracted from the movie several times by the tastiness of it. So good, so creamy, so perfect. I look forward to trying this at home with my own steeping parameters, I still don’t like the “make double strong and then ice” method, but I understand that’s how they have to do it to be able to make iced tea on demand.

Cold brewed this and let’s just say it was not a delight

I really like this one. Really, really like this one. Nom. The juicy sweetness of the mango with a kick of chili? Yes, please! I haven’t tried it iced yet, but I am very eager to. I think this might be worth a tin to me.

So good. Creamy and fruity and sweet and everything lovely in life. So. Good. If you have these two, do yourself a favor and try mixing them. You’ll thank me later ;)

So sad. I am a huge fan of Peewee’s Big Adventure, and I so desperately wanted to love this tea, but for me it was nothing but a Big…disappointment. I cold brewed this, I had it hot, I did everything I could to it, but it didn’t wow me. Cold brewed, this just tastes weak and bland…and since I used about twice the leaf I usually use for cold brewing, that just sucks. It’s alright enough, but it’s not one I feel the need to have more of. Oh well.

I asked my wife to make me cup of this last night before bed and oh man, this tea. I could smell it throughout the whole house, it smelled so good! And so sweet! This is definitely the tea to reach for when I’m craving something sweet. Mmmm. It was a bit too sweet for me last night, I may need to try it without my usual addition of sugar.

Took some to work with me yesterday (iced), we were so busy I didn’t actually get to it until an hour before close. But what a lovely hour that was. This is such a beautifully tasty tea!

This was delicious! I think I might have to keep cinnamon in the house if only to stock up on this blend! It’s so, so good! It tastes like home and fall and yumminess. Next time I might throw a bit of french vanilla, round out the corners a bit, but this was wonderful.

Mixed these two together today…it tasted kinda like blue raspberry cotton candy! I greatly enjoyed it while at work, but I don’t think Raspberry is one I’ll be stocking up on.

Following Tina S’s advice, I cold steeped this last night and fell in love with it at work this morning. It was beautiful and not bitter at all and fruity and maple-y. It is utterly lovely. I don’t feel a need to run out and stock up this instant, but I will definitely grab some next time I’m in the area.

I wish I knew what was in this, but it was good? I saw peppercorns and tasted cardamom…it was kind of like a vanilla chai? Whatever, it was tasty and it will be no hardship to finish the sample.

Rebreaking in my Camelbak waterbottle with this tea and a new resolve to rinse it as soon as it’s empty. Also, I wanted to drink up the last of it so there will be room for new cold brewed tea in the fridge! Still good, still juicy, still not going to restock.

Oh, the Skinny. We’ve been through a lot. This was the first 100 g tin of tea I ever bought because the wife and I were trying to watch our weight and hey, it couldn’t hurt, right? I drank it every night for about a week. De didn’t like it, so we were at a bit of an impasse. I eventually burned myself out on it and set it on a shelf. But it’s made a comeback! Around Christmastime, I was trying to introduce a coworker into the joys of looseleaf tea, and this is the tea that did it. Side note: I’ve gotten three coworkers into DT and they each had a gateway tea that convinced them. One was The Skinny, one was Santa’s Secret, and one was Chocolate Rocket. The tastes in that office crack me up.

Anyway, now when I eat too much or my stomach is feeling funky or I binge on breakfast food, I reach for this one and it makes everything okay again. I don’t think this is a tea I’d ever drink just for the hell of it, but when I want it, nothing else will do.

De made a cup of this to go with our mega brunch/self reward for fasting last night and dealing with bloodwork and an xray this morning. Unfortunately she likes hers darker than mine and it came out too bitter for me. I think Tea Haus blacks aren’t for me, simply because I’m too lazy to deal with a black I can’t make on autopilot, and I know I’ll mess up half of my stash by forgetting to steep it at lower than boiling. Tina recommends cold steeping, so I think that’s where the remainder of the ones I have are going to go.

I have become a firm believer in lapacho, between this tea and Davids’ Amaretto, I am in love. I need to try this via the stovetop method mentioned on the package, I’ve been steeping it in nearly boiling water for 3-4 minutes. But I love it, and I love the way it mixes with the orange. I need to stock up on this and get some straight lapacho to try! This kept me warm while we visited with the Gorillas and waited for the hail to stop.

We went to the Zoo yesterday…in the snow. I needed a warm pick me up and this was it! Definitely tasty and sweet and so good. Gave me the energy needed to bounce around between the baby penguin and the baby polar bear! ^.

I’ve been really, really wary of this blend. Splash and I were not friends, and this smells a lot like that one. Still, one of my DT protégées liked it, so I decided to try it last night while we were hanging out. I had it iced with sugar. It was…alright. It wasn’t horrible, and I somewhat enjoyed it, but I won’t be ordering it again. It tasted like sea lettuce with a backhint of berries, but then a huge metallic twang at the end of the sip that really just put me off it.

So I finally did it. I mixed the caramel with the apple and blew my own mind. It was delicious. Beyond delicious. Now I have to decide between caramel apple and vanilla mint every morning, and that’s a hard decision to make! Trust me, everyone, this is a blend you have to try. You will certainly not regret it. And if you do, you can send the leftover matcha to me ;)

Cold steeped a pot of this overnight and took some into work with me today. Nom nom nom. It was very nice! Cold, fruity, juicy, everything I want in a fruit blend and the ratio of white tea to fruit was perfect! The berries blended beautifully with the orange.

That said, I don’t think it’s one I’ll be stocking up on any time soon. I’ve become a bit stingier with what teas I buy and this one…well, it’s very good, but I’d prefer to find an herbal with the same flavors.

This was wonderful. I made a cup (not bothering to time it since I was in the middle of a round of Mario Party and that shit is intense!) and didn’t add much sugar. At first sip, I was unimpressed, mostly because I hadn’t added as much sugar as I usually do. I was distracted! It was earthy, though, and tasted like a real orange, not that cloy fake orange flavoring. I set it to the side to add more sugar to when I got a chance, but I found myself reaching for it again and again until my cup came up empty! Booo.

We had our…well my first visit to the Tea Haus on Friday and it was lovely! I wasn’t feeling well and so I ending up sitting at a table most of the time so I wouldn’t pass out and take out a table of teaware, but the atmosphere was lovely and the people working there were wonderful. We ended up spending way more than we intended, but I now own the cutest elephant tea for two set in the world and I have tins that are perfect for 30g of matcha! So it was money well spent. We plan to return many, many times!

My mother is a huge believer in home remedies, in herbs and plants to help soothe away your aches and pains. Burn your hand? Break off a bit of the aloe plant. Stomach ache? A soothing tea made of sarsaparilla root (which is apparently kinda dangerous…oops). My minor in college was Folklore, and I love this kind of stuff, different plants that supposedly help with different aches…I’ve seen it firsthand in my wife. She gets crazy bad migraines, and a good cup of mint tea can help her keep things under control. But I love the Red Leaf Teas website, especially their matchas, that list everything the plant involved in the flavoring can do. Take this tea, Pomegranate (http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pomegranate-matcha.html), for instance:
Did you know that studies showed that pomegranate juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone? It may also prevent breast cancer cells from forming.
Pomegranates also offer the following benefits to list a few :
Lung Cancer Prevention
Slows Prostate Cancer
Keeps PSA Levels Stable
Protects the Neonatal Brain
Prevention of Osteoarthritis
Protects the Arteries
Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention
Lowers Cholesterol
Lowers Blood Pressure
Dental Protection
taken from the Red Leaf Teas website.

Now, part of me just brushes most of that off, but the part of me that is my mother’s hippie daughter drinks this matcha just in case. My aunt recently started chemo to deal with her breast cancer, and one of the things that helped speed up the end of my grandmother’s life was breast cancer, so I don’t mess around with it. If there’s even a slight possibility something might help prevent breast cancer in my body, I’m there. I’ve already had that scare once, so it’s not something I take lightly. And pomegranates are just a good idea all around. If I can get that great, juicy pomegranate flavor without having to deal with the hassle of getting in to an actual pomegranate, even better.

The smell is wonderful. Nice and strong and juicy, I can already taste the delicious smoothies that will come from this. But I’m moving away from the smoothies more and more, as I used to think the only way I would enjoy matcha would be in a smoothie and I have since learned that that is decidedly not true. I’m on my third cup today!

I don’t know how to describe the taste other than juicy, which I feel like I’ve been using too much lately. But it’s true! All of the fruit blends I’ve had from Red Leaf Tea have been juicy! This one especially…and I can just see a Matcha Pomtini in my future. Or mix this with a little orange juice? Yum. This tea is definitely one I want to spend a bit of quality time with.