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

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 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

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!

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You can check out Gently Stirred’s website here.

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