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Fruit Tea Reviews Tea Reviews Teaphernalia

Review of Bora Bora & Double Walled Glass Cup from The Tea Makers

25th June 2015

Last week I was sent some tea by The Tea Makers. I received Bora Bora, White Peony and Tangerine & Coconut Green Tea and also an amazing double walled glass cup. I’ll be reviewing these over the next few weeks, starting with my first review today. I decided I’d start with a fruity review of Bora Bora.

Bora Bora is described by The Tea Makers as a “Sensational Flavoured Exotic Fruit Tea Blend”, read on to see if I agree! 😉

Bora Bora Packaging

Bora Bora Loose

The Look
I’ll start with the packaging which is phenomenal, the overall quality and presentation is exquisite with striking red text set against a matte black background. It’s really nice to see a change from the usual brown and relatively plain packaging loose tea is traditionally sold in. The back of the package has a really cool zip opening the first time you open it, a nice touch that furthers the feeling of luxury.

Looking at the tea for the first time I can certainly see why the tea is described as exotic, there’s all kinds of fruit in this blend, from raspberries and blackcurrants to strawberry pieces and papaya cubes. The smell is beyond words, the first inhalation transports you to white sands and bright blue sea, if paradise has a smell, this is it! The fragrance just bursts out of the packet, with a fun and bouncy vibe.

 

Bora Bora in Double Walled Cup

How It Tastes

As the kettle boiled I felt sheer excitement and literally couldn’t wait for the tasting to begin. Pouring the water creates a whole new smell, the initial fragrance becomes softer and sweeter, sweeter is GOOD.

I take my first sip, probably before the tea is even cool enough, the taste is fresh and succulent, with a rich quality to it. I often find tropical type fruit teas a bit sickly, usually pineapple is the ‘go to’ fruit, but there’s no pineapple to be found in this super tropical blend! Bora Bora has a deeply satisfying fruity flavour, with slight floral undertones that create an aftertaste that dances on the roof of my mouth.

 

Final Thoughts on Bora Bora

Overall I’ve gotta say this is one of my favourite fruit teas of all time. Fruit tea was my first love but in all honesty I was getting bored, bored of every fruit tea tasting the same! Bora Bora has reignited my love for fruit tea, I now cannot wait to try more fruit tea from The Tea Makers 😃 Bora Bora excels because it avoids the tart sharpness often found with fruit tea and steers bravely away from adding pineapple.

 

Double Walled Cup Empty

The Double Walled Glass Cup

I was also lucky enough to receive a beautiful doubled walled glass cup with the tea, which is pictured above 🙂 The cup is beautiful with perfect curved sides on the outside wall and matching contours on the inner wall. It’s a really nice size, as it fits in my hand just right, you can just slide your fingers round it and curl up with it. A few of these would be a gorgeous choice for a dinner party, pair your favourite blend with these cups and you’ll have a perfect finish for your guests.

The double walled finish is not only easy on the eye but is very functional and keeps the outside cool for your hands and your tea warm for a lot longer than a mug. The smooth rim of the glass is blissful to sip from and the cup has a steady base when placed on my coffee table. The glass looks like it would be really fragile but after a week of using it and washing it, I haven’t felt that it would break easily which is a massive plus. Overall I really love this cup, from the look to the functionality and the ease of use, it’s all good.

 

I’ll be reviewing the other 2 teas sent with the Bora Bora in the next couple of weeks so please do check back soon or join my newsletter to read it first!

I’m always looking for new and exciting fruit teas and I’d love to hear any suggestions you guys have in the comments below 😊

The Tea Makers London have a large range of teaware and beautiful glassware, with great prices which are really worth taking a look at.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my review of Bora Bora from The Tea Makers London. You can check out their online store here.


Rooibos Tea Reviews

Flower Blossom No.15 For Leaves Tea Co. Review!

17th June 2015

It’s time for the 2nd of 4 reviews that I’ll be writing about the wonderful tea from For Leaves Tea Co.

This review will be of their No.15 Flower Blossom Tea. The first review in this series was the No.27 Blackberry Mallow (which I LOVE).

The Need To Know

The No.15 Flower Blossom tea is a rooibos base, with rosehip shells, dried redcurrants, blueberries and blackcurrants among others. Being caffeine free it’s great for a late night drink, my addiction to black, green and white tea leaves me a tad sad when all I’ve got to drink at night is fruit tea, so this is a welcome addition to my tea cupboard (it’s a BIG cupboard! ;).

 

Tea Loose

The Smell

When the pack is first opened it breathes out a sweet nutty fragrance, with a slightly citrusy element but surprisingly it doesn’t contain any citrusy ingredients so I’m assuming it’s the smell of the slightly tart fruit. The aroma is fantastic, there’s nice sized, high quality dried fruit and the rooibos is of equal quality.

 

Cups & Teapot

The Taste

I moved straight on to the infusing, I used my beautiful clear glass teacups and saucers for the photos and they really show up the beautiful rich colour of the tea. For Leaves suggest adding milk for a delicious chai, I don’t drink milk and soya always tastes a bit odd in tea but I can imagine a chai with this tea would be delicious!

The tea has a rich, smooth flavour that’s delicately sweet, I sometimes find rooibos a bit sickly but the blending with the fruit has been done with expert precision and the rooibos sweetness compliments it perfectly. Every mouthful begins with a sweet roobios hit but then the nutty flavours soak through and the taste ends with a wonderful fruity aftertaste. It’s so comforting to just sit back with this tea, slow down a little and feel the relaxation that a great tea brings, which is the ethos behind the For Leaves Tea Co!

Cup Close Up

Overall

Overall I think this tea is fantastic, I’m not usually the biggest fan of rooibos but For Leaves Tea Co. have done a fine job blending this. It’s definitely one of my number one night time drinks and eases my craving for something more than fruit tea before I go to sleep.

Thanks for reading, as always I’ve loved writing this review. If you’d like reviews, competitions and special offers for tea retailers you’ll definitely be wanting to join my newsletter 🙂

A huge thanks goes to Forleaves Tea Co. for sending me these teas! Be sure to check them out. I hope you’ll be back for the remaining 2 Forleaves Tea Co. reviews I’ve got coming up! xXx

 

Black Tea Fruit Tea Green Tea Tea Reviews

Gently Stirred Tea Tasting! Russtea’s Review

19th May 2015

A few days ago I was sent some samples from Gently Stirred.

I opened my package and I was blown away by the care that had gone in to packing this for me. It was beautifully wrapped in green tissue paper and had a string tied in a bow. It looked like a present you’d receive from a good friend and I really fell in love with the presentation and attention to detail of the package. There was also a printed catalogue and small information sheets for each tea, you just don’t get such a personal service anywhere else!

The Flavours

I received Cucumber & Orange Marmalade, which is a black loose tea with character! I was also given a tea bag of Uki Uki which is a black tea with a tropical fruit flavour, amazing or what?! The third tea I sampled was Saint Clement’s Green Tea, this was also in teabag form.

The Taste

Cucumber & Orange Marmalade Bag

Cucumber & Orange Marmalade

I decided to get stuck in straight away with the cucumber and marmalade, I was a little hesitant about the cucumber but also really excited to try something different. The smell of the tea is very strong, it overpowered the smell of the others. The pieces of cucumber and orange are HUGE, I’ve never seen such big bits of fruit in tea before!

I began steeping the tea and watched as the water turned a beautiful amber colour, the cucumber and orange erupted out of the mug. I steeped the tea for 2-3 minutes using one teaspoon of tea and it was just the right strength.

Saint Clement's Teabag

Saint Clement’s Green Tea

This is a gently fragrant tea made using Gently Stirred’s popular Pai Mu Tan as a base. Added to the Pai Mu Tan are oranges, lemons and bergamot oil. Green tea is renowned for it’s health benefits which is an added bonus with Saint Clement’s. It has a slightly floral taste, which usually I’m not a fan of but this was different, it was there just enough to sweeten the blend, without feeling like you’re actually eating flowers.

The tea turned a slightly pink colour and smells fantastic every time you take a sip. I used my teabag 3 times and all three mugs were different, the first was sweetest and then the other 2 were more savoury but just as delicious. The other thing I could detect was a herbal taste which was really lush!

 

 

Uki uki

Uki Uki

The third tea was a black tea with tropical fruit called Uki Uki, this was an absolute dream. Instantly it smells like a tropical paradise, or at least how I’d expect a tropical paradise to smell :p . It tastes so sweet and is so addictive, unbelievably fruity, even to the point where the fruit is stronger than the black tea, which is really rare. There’s also no bitterness, even if it’s steeped to quite a dark strength, I assume this must be due to the sheer amount of the succulent fruit flavour that’s packed in.

My boyfriend said that he felt that the tea had a slight spicyness to it which I didn’t really detect, it became less sweet when we made additional mugs with the same teabag but that’s to be expected, and all of them were immensely pleasant.

 

Conclusion

Overall I was thrilled with these teas, I love it when I find something a little different and these flavours really are unique. There’s just a handcrafted pleasantly warm feeling to all of three of the teas Gently Stirred sent me. I’d like to thank Gently Stirred for giving me the chance to try these three teas and I urge you to go and check them out!

If you’ve loved this review then you’ll have a lot of fun with my newsletter!

You can check out Gently Stirred’s website here.

What teas have you found that are a bit different? 🙂 xXx

Iced Tea Recipes Tea Reviews

10 Iced Tea Recipes To Celebrate The Sun!

5th May 2015

 

1. Mango Iced Tea

Mango Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE mangos and this mango iced tea looks fantastic. Courtesy of Veg Recipes of India

 

2. Lemon, mint and passion fruit


I found this one on taste.com

 

3. Strawberry Basil

This looks awesome and I’m sure the basil will make it immensely refreshing. You’ll find this on MarthaStewart.com

 

4. Matcha Mint

Matcha Mint Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mint in this will really cool you down, throw in some Matcha and you’ll get a health boost too! You can find the recipe here.

 

6. Bubbly Mint Lime Iced Tea

Bubbly Mint Lime Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing will feel better on a sunny day than mint and lime, super refreshing. You can find the recipe here.

 

7. Blueberry Iced Green Tea

Blueberry Iced Green Tea 500 6487

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This looks lush, I love blueberries and often drink ceylon blueberry tea from Tea People. This recipe gives you all the health benefits of green tea but with a super sweet blueberry flavour! The full recipe is on Closet Cooking.

 

8. Vanilla Matcha Iced Latte

Matcha-latte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The matcha craze is spreading fast so I couldn’t resist including a matcha iced latte. The recipe is from Bluebird Tea Co. and they sell top quality matcha!

 

9. Strawberry Chocolate Iced Tea (OMG!).

Chocolate Strawberry Iced tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This courtesy of Melissa Hartfiel, full recipe on her blog.

 

10. Sparkling Raspberry Iced Tea, the lazy way 😉

Sparkling Raspberry Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t have time for the above recipes you can cheat here! :p

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and have some great weather so you can try out these recipes.

As always you can join my blog below for a regular flow of tea related goodies!

 

 

Tea Reviews White Tea

White Chocolate & White Tea? Yes Please!!

29th April 2015

Yesterday I had a wander round Whittard of Chelsea looking for something new and exciting. I’ve been loving the originality of the flavours from Bluebird Tea Co. but mainly just bought fruit tea in Whittard’s, which is awesome but I’ve got soooo much fruit tea!

So I saw white chocolate, obviously a winning ingredient, paired with white tea. I wondered how the sickly sweetness of white chocolate would pair with tea but it’s perfectly blended with the delicate flavour of white tea. The smell is incredible, as soon as the shop assistant poured the tea on to the scales it smelt like we were in a chocolate shop! 😀

I always find that Whittard’s tea lasts a long time and this is really true with this tea. To avoid too much of a tang from the white tea, you want to have this tea quite weak and also use 80 degrees water instead of boiling (otherwise the white tea gets burnt and bitter!).

This tea is great when you’re craving something a little naughty, I had my first mug alongside some chocolate fudge from The Fudge Kitchen so mine was a lot naughty (Shhhh!).

If anyone can suggest any other tea that’s a little different in the comments below I’ll be sure to take the plunge and review it <3

If you’d like regular tea goodness delivered straight to your inbox please join my mailing list xXx 🙂

 

Fruit Tea Tea Reviews

Find Out Why Tea People’s Tropical Burst Was My Biggest Surprise At VEGFEST

15th April 2015

Recently I attended VEGFEST in Brighton with my boyfriend, I’m vegetarian and he’s vegan so it’s quite a heavenly event with a ton of free samples. I expected to only find vegan food but I was joyfully surprised when I stumbled upon Tea People.

 

Tea Peoples inspiring ethics:

Tea People are a great company that donate 50% of all of their profits to educational and social projects in underprivileged tea growing areas. So even if the Tea was average it would be worth buying to help a good cause. Tea People’s tea is far from average!

I bought 5 flavours which I’ll be reviewing over the next few weeks as I get a chance to taste them all a few times. I decided to go with their Tropical Burst flavour first.

 

The Flavour:

Tea People’s Tropical Burst is an all fruit caffeine free blend which primarily tastes of Mango. Immediately upon opening, the mango smell really does “burst” from the packet. You know the tea is high quality by the size and quality of the enclosed fruit.

As I made my first mug of Tropical Burst I waited in anticipation for the kettle to boil, as soon as I poured the boiling water in to the mug I knew it was something special. The taste is sweet but not sickly sweet, the mango flavour feels almost smooth like mango juice. To balance the sweetness of the mango there’s a slight spicy taste that lingers in the background, offering a comforting warmth.

 

Bang for Your Buck:

A little goes a long way with this tea, half a teaspoon for 5-7 minutes and you’re good to go. If you’re using a teapot or flask that allows the fruit to continue to infuse, the yield per teaspoon will be even better.

 

What I LOVE:

What I love about Tea People is not only their ethics, but most of all the taste! I also like that small tester packs are available on their website so you can try the flavours without investing in a whole box, a sure sign of their confidence in their product.

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Teaphernalia

MIU COLOR Glass Tea Infuser Bottle Review

8th April 2015

My never ending search for the perfect all in one tea infuser has continued, with my recent purchase of this tea infusing bottle from MIU COLOR.

The bottle arrived really nicely packaged and complete with the black neoprene sleeve and two cleaning sponges. The cleaning sponges are fantastic and really speed up the cleaning, the bottle is also designed to enable easy cleaning as the top and bottom can be removed, allowing the water to run freely through the glass chamber.

I love the quality and overall feel of the MIU bottle, the glass is thick and the brushed steel effect on the bottom and lid has a luxurious feel. The infuser is also great and really fine so you never end up with any bits floating around in your blend. The zip on the neoprene sleeve making the bottle super simple to insert and the non-slip rubber bottom of the bottle both add to the premium feel.

To use the bottle you simply unscrew the bottom of the bottle and lift out the infuser, fill the infuser and then screw the bottom back on with the infuser inside. The bottle can also be used without the infuser for any beverage you like. You then unscrew the lid and add the water and the flavour is infused in to the water. You can flip the bottle upside down with the lid on and undo the bottom and remove the infuser once the tea is your desired strength or you can leave it in and use less tea! The top and bottom have rubber seals so the bottle is totally airtight and I couldn’t imagine it ever leaking.

Although this bottle isn’t double walled like some of my other tea bottles, the neoprene sleeve still keeps the contents warm a long time, without losing the extra capacity that you do with double walled bottles.

The only downsides of the bottle are it that there are quite a lot of parts which can make dismantling and refilling it a bit of a fiddle. Also the solid construction of the bottle does mean that it’s quite heavy, this could make it troublesome if you often carry your bottle out and about.

I bought my MIU COLOR Glass Water Bottle from Amazon 🙂

Conclusion:

Overall I would say the MIU COLOR Tea Infusing Bottle is one of the best I own. It’s style and quality is fantastic and it’s really enjoyable to use. If you like to carry your bottle around you might like to look for a lighter bottle and consider a double walled bottle to keep your tea warm for longer. If you mainly need a bottle for home or office use then this is probably about as good as it gets!

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