Cucumber Mint

This was ok. Granted I had a headache to beat the band yesterday afternoon. So nothing was tasting right. I will say it did help my headache a little, but not enough for me to keep drinking it. I probably should have tried this one iced instead of hot. I might be willing to order this one to give it a better go.

My mother bought this, as I had convinced her to because she was very interested in how it would be, both in flavor and with all the advertised health benefits of antioxidants.

She doesn’t take to caffeine very well. Fortunately, this tea comes in a tin as whole leaves. So, I told her that you can simply wash the tea leaves before your actual brew, so there is less caffeine when you actually steep your cup of tea.

The thing is, I didn’t want her to waste a cup of tea, so I took the caffeine filled cup and steeped her a less caffeine brew.

The leaves are odd, and fun, with a very subtle fresh scent overpowered by the fruit and cucumber. The blueberries are very prominent.

Steeping gives a nice clean lime color, with a light fresh mint aroma, and subtle cucumbers and blueberries. So far, extremely satisfying.

The flavor is very fresh, very minty green with a hint of fruit. It is quite invigorating, as the mint and cucumber combined give it a very whole and healthy flavor in a light and cool breeze.

The cucumbers make this tea. Extremely fresh and extremely satisfying.

This smells and tastes so very refreshing and cool-cucumber and breeze-E mint! I’m a fan!!!!

I guess I haven’t had enough cucumber mints to compare so I don’t see why this tea has a low rating. I thought the mint was superb and the tea was amazingly refreshing.

Backlogging! I had this tea last night after I finally got up the nerve to try a tea with cucumber in it. Well, I’m glad that I gave it a chance because this tea was very refreshing. The cucumber seemed to provide a clean backdrop for the mint which worked very well together. Out of all the Tea Forte blends I’ve tried, this is the only one that I would consider purchasing. I think this tea would be remarkable iced so maybe I’ll put it on my list for next spring.

This tea is part of the sampler pack for the skin-smart antioxidant amplifier tea. It contains special reserve green tea with invigorating cool notes of cucumber fruit and fresh mint, with taste of sweet, succulent blueberries.

Steeping instructions:
Bring freshly drawn, cold water to a full boil
Place filter bag in cup
Slowly pour water over filter bag and allow steeping for 3-5 minutes

Color: is golden dew
Tasting notes or teas characteristic: fresh sprig of mint with fruity tones of cucumber and blueberries.

I am enjoying the mellowness found in the flavoring notes of cucumber and blueberries prevailing while the fresh mint adds a coolness to the cup and to one’s palette. It is not so much that I can taste the blueberries but rather I can smell them in the aroma; floating just above the cucumber…there is a sweetness/sugary smell with hints of the cucumber.

This is a tea I would someday buy.

Upon opening the package I could smell a lovely fruit aroma. I had not yet read the full description, so I was confused because I didn’t know there was blueberry included. As with all green teas, hell, most teas I drink, I oversteep. The blueberry and cucumber really take the forefront here, with the green tea and mint giving only subtle notes in the back. The fruitiness is not overwhelming, however, but it is very present. As a big fan of mint teas, I would have liked to see the mint take on a larger role, but this blend is by no means bad. This was a very enjoyable cup.

If you don’t like the taste, use it as a sachet… it smells gorgeous! I’ve always wanted to try a cucumber tea and this was my first and last stop. Perfect for icing, super fragrant, very well blended tea.

I’m not usually a fan of green or flavored tea but since this was a free sample, what do I have to lose? It’s not actually bad. The green tea part isn’t icky & overwhelming. The mint is a little strong and I don’t really get any cucumber. I’m actually going to finish this cup, which is saying a lot.

This is the 1st review in a series of six Skin Smart Beauty Tea Samples

Experience buying from Tea Forté: Good. Website is very colorful and easy to navigate. Sent free samples after responding to an invitation on Steepster. Package came in reasonable amount of time. Other than sending my address, no e-mail or phone contact.

Age of leaf: Unknown. Steeped within weeks of receiving.

Packaging: Colorful: each tea came attached to a colorful paper backing labeled as a Skin Smart” sampler. Each tea bag comes in standard tea bag packaging—with a picture of the flavors that the tea replicates prominently displayed on it. The tea bags themselves look like standard paper bags with a small Tea Forté label and string attached to the bag by a staple.

Dry leaf: teabag smells minty, and when I first took it out of the packaging I got a faint whiff of some kind of chemical smell, like glue.

Brewing guidelines: in a ceramic cup with a touch of Stevia.
……..1st: 170, 2’
……..2nd: 185, 5’

Aroma: same minty smell as with the dry teabag, still with a little off aroma.

Color of liquor: Light copper color.

Flavor: minty, but overall bland tasting.

Value: Free sample (thank you Cindy at Tea Forté!), but their price on their website is more than I would be willing to pay if I purchased it.

Overall: Although I occasionally use teabags, I much prefer loose leaf; I invite you to keep this in mind for each of these reviews. I was not at all impressed with this teabag. I have had many a teabag that was tasty (using similar parameters as I have above), but this was not one of them. Surprisingly, the second steeping had a little more flavor. It may be that these teabags need a higher temperature and a longer steep time than standard loose leaf green tea to get any appreciable flavor out of them.