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True Tea Club Tea Subscription Box Review

11th March 2017

I’ve been getting in to tea subscription boxes recently, I love the convenience of not having to look for new and exciting tea and just having it arrive once a month. It’s perfect as a tea blogger to have the tea found for me and to find out about a handful of new tea companies each month, it’s difficult to explore new tea companies if you just want to sample their tea without a big order so this really works for me.

True Tea Club emailed me to see if I’d like to review one of their tea subscription boxes. I jumped at the chance and waited eagerly for the box to arrive 😀

Each month True Tea Club send 4 carefully selected teas, the box fits straight through your letterbox so you don’t need to be in when it arrives. It’s particularly convenient that you can also buy more of any of your favourites from each box, directly from True Tea Club. Another nice touch is the option of three tiers of subscription, with either 40, 60 or 80 cups in each months box.

 

On to the Review!


Rainbow Chaser

First up is a beautifully colourful, aptly named fruity tea. The tea looks stunning loose, with bright and exciting colours and smells delightfully fruity but fresh with a hint of mint.

I’m usually not a fan of mint tea and really haven’t found many I’ve liked but this was different. The flavour was dominated by a sweet Apple and strawberry flavour, with a nice floral hint and just the right amount of mint to add freshness, without being overpowering.

Overall Rainbow Chaser is a unique and enjoyable tea and I look forward to every cup 🙂

 


Mighty Mango

I adore mango and always find it’s the perfect accompaniment to green tea so naturally I was excited to see this tea in my subscription box. As soon as I opened the packet a fresh and juicy mango fragrance erupted in to the room!

The mango is paired with a perfect amount of high quality green tea that creates a beautiful golden drink that I could sit and smell all day!

The flavour is a definite nice and crisp green tea with a pure taste, that’s blended superbly with sweet mango. I really LOVE this tea 😀

 


Vanilla Cupcake

Vanillas is always an exciting flavour that I find pairs well with almost all tea and what could be better than vanilla cupcake flavoured tea?:O

I’m a big rooibos fan so I was excited to taste this blend and it was as good as I hoped! The sweet nuttiness of the rooibos is the perfect partner to the cakey vanilla flavour. It’s the perfect caffeine free blend to curl up with at night and watch a film or in my case play Tomb Raider 😉

I always find rooibos is really economical so this blend goes a lot further than the others. All in all Vanilla Cupcake is an awesome tea that I’m sure every rooibos fan will love!

 


Earl Grey Rebel

Earl grey is a tea that’s a strong favourite among tea fans but I kinda feel it’s a bit played out but I was excited to see how this one compares to others I’ve tried. I find a lot of Earl Grey is overly flavoured and you lose the beautiful black tea flavour but Earl Grey Rebel is expertly blended and manages to successfully retain the malty black tea flavours I love.

It does have a definitely noticeable citrusy bergamot flavour but not to the point that it’s like drinking a scented candle, which many I’ve tried recently have been. The scent of this tea is also very appealing and matches the name of the tea well. This is certainly one of the better Earl Grey’s I’ve tried recently and I’m sure Earl Grey fans will adore it!

Final Thoughts

My time with this month’s True Tea Club subscription box has been thoroughly enjoyable. I love the convenience of the service and that I can easily order more of the blends that I love.

You get empty teabags with each box for those moments when loose leaf is too much hassle, making it great for anyone who’s new to the wonderful world of loose leaf tea. Each box comes with a brewing guide as well which has the brewing temperatures for each tea, they True Tea Club really did think of everything! 🙂

You can get 50% off your first subscription box with True Tea Club by entering LOVE at checkout, meaning you can try your first box for as little as £5.00! You can subscribe easily on the True Tea Club website.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my review, if you’ve enjoyed it please join my mailing list below or come and find me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Thanks also to True Tea Club for sending me this months box to review, I’ve really enjoyed it 🙂

Bye for now! xXx

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Black Tea Green Tea Herbal Tea Matcha Rooibos Tea Reviews

TeaTourist Subscription Box Review

3rd March 2017

I’m extremely excited to share another awesome TeaTourist subscription box with you!

If you’re new to tea subscriptions TeaTourist is a great one to start with. You get 6 teas instead of the 4 that you usually get from other tea subscriptions. The packaging is beautiful and a joy to receive through the post, it also slips straight through your letterbox which is super convenient.

All 6 teas come with a brewing card which gives you some information about the tea and the company it comes from, as well as water temperature and brewing times. If you’re getting more immersed in the joys of tea I’d highly recommend a multi-temperature kettle to guarantee you enjoy your tea at its best.

Review Time!

Reggae Refresh – Born Wild Tea

This tea is a really interesting combo of different fruits, including banana chips! It has an exciting zingy mango aroma to it with a hint of banana, giving it a wonderful tropical feel.

The smell only gets more intense once you begin steeping it. It creates a beautiful yellow brew with a deeply satisfying lemongrass flavour, alongside a nice sweet fruitiness. I really enjoy the variation of tea that the TeaTourist subscription boxes offer and this tea is another fine example.

 

 


Pure Ceylon – Exclusivitea

I’m really addicted to flavoured tea, I find it most exciting and I’m always hunting for something new and unique. Every so often I’ll receive some unflavoured tea that blows me away and this is certainly an example of this.

I love the deep rich malty smell of this tea, it’s a tea you just want to cuddle up with a big mug of and enjoy the fragrance. It has a complex flavour, combining a deep maltyness with subtle earthy tones and a sweet aftertaste.

The tea leaf in Pure Ceylon is really fine so I found it slipped through some of my less fine holed infusers but that’s easily resolved 🙂

 

 


Recover Tea – Blendology

This was my least favourite tea in this months box, I’m really not a fan of herbal, floral or minty flavours and this combines them all. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a great tea, the ingredients are high quality and you get a generous amount, it’s just ‘not my cup of tea’😛

I did find that the second mug from each teabag is actually a lot more enjoyable and offers more refined floral flavours and also that this tea is better at lower temperatures. Overall it’s definitely an exciting and different tea which is all part of being a TeaTourist! 🙂

 

 


Rooibos Earl Grey – Tea Leaf London

This is the second rooibos earl grey infusion I’ve tried and it’s a flavour I always enjoy. I love rooibos and drink it a lot at night, I struggle to sleep a lot so rooibos is a perfect caffeine free fix.

The smell of this tea is incredible, it has a gorgeous citrusy fragrance that I could smell all day. I always find rooibos goes a long way and this is certainly the case with this tea. The amber colouring of steeped rooibos is always enjoyable to watch and looks fantastic in my glass teapot.

The citrusy flavour from the bergamot comes through nicely without being overpowering. I like that you can still definitely taste and enjoy the nutty rooibos alongside the citrus tones.

 

 


Gunpowder – Morgan’s Brew Tea Company

I LOVE green tea, it may even be my favourite kind of tea! I love the vegetal flavour, the slight zing and the crispness of gunpowder tea and this tea definitely embodies these qualities. The portion of this tea is particularly generous given how much flavour erupts from a small amount.

The leaf is really nice quality with a deep green colour, it’s a joy to watch the leaves unfurl as the water turns a stunning golden colour. The tea has an addictive crisp vegetal flavour and a nice zing after every mouthful. This is definitely one of my favourites from this box!

 

 


Matcha – Teaologists

I was absolutely thrilled to find matcha in this box. Matcha is one of my favourite things in the world, I drink it every morning with my breakfast and often have another bowl with lunch. The inclusion of matcha in a tea subscription box is definitely something I haven’t seen before and a really unique idea from TeaTourist.

The matcha is packaged in a little tin and knowing how expensive matcha often is I was pleasantly surprised by how generous the sample was.

I love to see the vivid bright green colour of good quality matcha like this matcha from Teaologists. It froths up nicely and blends well for a smooth and easy to prepare treat. This matcha has the enjoyable vegetal, slightly savoury tones as well as the sweeter umami flavours that are only found in higher ceremonial grade matcha. This is an excellent inclusion by TeaTourist 😀

 

Final Thoughts

I loved the this box, it’s probably my favourite so far! The inclusion of the matcha leaves me excited to see the other unique blends TeaTourist include in future boxes. I’ll have a review of the next TeaTourist box up on my blog soon, I’m a little behind as I’ve been crazily busy at work and with uni but it’ll be up ASAP 🙂

If you haven’t tried a tea subscription box yet I’d highly recommend choosing TeaTourist as your first tea subscription, take a look at their website for more info. TeaTourist have even been awesome enough to provide a discount code for my readers to get 30% off their first box, simply use RUSSTEAS30 at checkout!

A big thank you to TeaTourist for sending me this box to review, I’ve really enjoyed it 😀

Thanks for taking the time to read my review. If you’d like to talk tea or get regular updates from my blog you can find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and sign up to my mailing list below.

Bye for now! xXx

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Green Tea Tea Reviews

Yunomi Nanadan Organic Asamushi Okumidori Sencha Review

6th February 2017

The last couple of weeks I’ve been drinking a ton of Nanadan Organic Asamushi Okumidori Sencha from Yunomi, after they were awesome enough to send me some to review 🙂

The first thing I noticed with this tea is the vivid green colour and fine leaf. The smell is equally as green, a really crisp fresh scent that I knew would equal a good cup of tea!

The tea steeps at a lower temperature of 50° which is important to note in order to avoid a bitter taste and enjoy this tea at its best.

As the water hits the tea the fine leaf quickly opens up, becoming even more inviting. The liquid turns a milky pale yellow as the smell floats in to the room.

The flavour is incredibly delicate with a buttery quality and quite subtle but addictive, once I start with this tea I can drink it happily all day! It also lends itself to being reinfused which is great to make the tea last a little longer, I prefer to reinfuse my tea in a tea bottle of some kind, currently loving this Bamboo tea bottle I got for Christmas!

I hope you enjoyed this mini review, I’d definitely recommend checking out this sencha and all of Yunomi’s teas. They have some of the finest teas I’ve ever tasted, I also highly recommend their matcha!

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now xXx

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Black Tea Chai Fruit Tea Green Tea Oolong Rooibos Tea Reviews White Tea

Teatourist Tea Subscription Boxes Reviewed

3rd January 2017

I’ve been interested in signing up for a tea subscription box for a while and have tried one or two in the past. I’m always on the look out for new tea so it really makes sense for me to have a selection delivered each month, plus it’s incredibly exciting!

Teatourist were lovely enough to send me a couple of their boxes for November & December so I thought I’d do a review of my experience and a run down of the 6 teas in each box. Read on to find out how I got on! I also have a discount code to get 30% off your first box which you can find further down the review 🙂 

 Review Time!

When the box arrived I was so excited, it fit straight through my door and was waiting for me when I woke up! The packaging is really classy with a box inside a slipcover and the inside of the lid has a stunning hot air balloon photo, it’s a lovely image to see when I dive in for my next tea to try!

I was pleasantly surprised to find 6 teas inside, in the past I’ve only found 3 or 4 teas in subscription boxes so 6 is definitely appreciated. Each tea comes sealed with a card attached with a little bit about the company the blend is from and instructions for steeping, the instructions are really clear so this would be a great introduction to the world of tea for any newcomer.

The selection each month is extremely varied, with herbal blends, black tea, oolong, white tea and rooibos all making an appearance.

 

November Box

Orange Blossom Oolong – Easy Teasy

The first tea I knew I had to try from the November box was Orange Blossom Oolong. I’m a huge Oolong fan, it’s always refreshing and pairs well with a lot of flavours, there’s not much Oolong I don’t like and there’s also not much Oolong I like as much as Orange Blossom Oolong!

The orangey smell was inviting the second I opened the packet, I knew this was gonna be good! The orange flavour is a sweet orange rather than a citrusy orange which lends itself perfectly to an Oolong blend. It almost has a chocolatey hint to it as well, I couldn’t help thinking of Terry’s Chocolate Orange when I was drinking it, there’s also an enjoyable earl grey vibe to it.

 

Malawi Peony – Baraka Teas

This was another blend I was really excited about, I adore white peony and was particularly intrigued by the large leaves! Other white peony I’ve tried has had smaller leaves so it was nice to see it in a more natural form, you could imagine this tea being freshly picked for this blend.

Malawi Peony has a nice fresh aroma to it, while steeping it I was entranced by the large leaves swirling around. I enjoyed the crisp delicate flavour of this tea immensely, it was one of the first from the November box to run out!

 

Tummy Rub – Tea Box

This tea is a herbal blend containing fennel, chamomile, liquorice and mint. These are ingredients known to calm you down and ease an upset stomach.

I found that the flavour of this tea wasn’t amazing for me personally, I have a bit of a dislike of liquorice flavoured tea but I really enjoyed the chamomile element. Despite not being a huge fan of the flavour I did find it calming and especially good before bedtime and I had fun trying something different so overall a positive experience 🙂

 

Yoga Tea – T-Tox

The stand out flavours of this tea are the white tea and a candy sweet rose flavouring. The delicate flavour of the white tea has been blended with the rose petals perfectly, I was glad the rose didn’t overpower the white tea at all.

There’s also a hint of ginger and lemongrass that add a subtle but enjoyable flavour and nettle, known for it’s antiseptic properties. I found this tea was really economical and as it’s quite fine there really was a lot of cups of tea in the sachet.

 

Peppermint – Cheshire Tea

This tea blend comes all the way from the USA! I’m not the biggest fan of mint tea usually, I always feel that they’re overly minty and a bit harsh tasting. This mint tea is different! The sweeter peppermint flavours really come through, creating an enjoyably fresh experience.

Mint tea is known to be beneficial for digestion, it’s great for easing tummy cramps, giving this tea a medicinal purpose too. I really appreciate that this tea is so pure, it’s literally one ingredient: peppermint!

 

Japanese Kukicha – Shibui Tea

This tea comes from Shibui, a tea company I’ve previously reviewed not too long ago. I loved their tea the first time round, their caramel oolong and maple walnut are two of the most memorable teas I’ve ever had! You can find my shibui tea haul review here.

I must admit that I’m quite new to kukicha, having only had it one other time from Adagio. A huge difference I noticed straight away with this kukicha is its black, despite being a green tea. Kukicha is made up of the left over stems and twiggy parts of the tea plant that aren’t used, the last kukicha I had was a hay like pale green. This kukicha from Shibui has a slightly roasted flavour which is enjoyably unique and warming, making it perfect for cold winter nights!

 

December Box

Gingerbread Chai – Tugboat Brew

First up in this box is Gingerbread Chai! I’ve had another Rooibos based Gingerbread Chai from one of my favourite ever tea companies, my regular readers will know who! 😉

This tea is fairly similar but has a sweeter, less spicy flavour which makes it more of a naughty dessert-like tea. As soon as you steep this tea the smell erupts in to the room, filling it with a cakey gingerbread flavour. It’s a really economical tea, with a little tea turning your water to a beautiful amber.

 


Winter Spice – Chash The Fine Tea Company

This blend was one I wasn’t crazy about, it had quite a medicinal smell to it with strong aniseed and fennel aromas. Upon steeping I found that it was a very unique blend with a sweet aftertaste from the liquorice, I was also happy to find that the mint wasn’t overpowering.

I’m not really a fan of herbal teas but I’d recommend this tea if you like more herbal flavours or are looking for something new to broaden your horizons!

 


Shiraore Green – Momo Cha Fine Teas

I loved this blend! It smells so fresh and natural while instantly turning the water a vibrant green colour. The flavour is so pure and really refreshing, it has a really delicate vibe to it with an exciting zing.

Shiaore Green is one of those blends that I’d really describe as being creamy, before being obsessed with tea I would never of understood someone referring to tea with no milk as creamy but it really is! I’d highly recommend this tea and am excited to explore the range of tea this brand has to offer!

 


Marzipan Rooibos – Hoogly Tea

I just don’t know where to begin with this beautiful blend! As soon as I opened the December box and saw marzipan I couldn’t wait to try it. I’m a big drinker of rooibos, I love drinking it at night instead of fruit tea all the time. I’ve found some really exciting flavours out there, this is definitely a contender for the best rooibos I’ve tried!

It smells just like battenburg cake, with a sweet cakey almond aroma, as the water hits the tea you can smell this tea throughout the house! I love the marzipan taste with the nutty rooibos, this is an epic find by Tea Tourist 😃

 


Citrus Ginger

I’m not a big fan of ginger tea when it’s more herbal, spicy ginger and not a sweet dessert blend. I was quite sceptical about this tea as I have a soft spot for sweet tea blends so this isn’t a tea I would usually go for.

I decided to go for it and see if this tea would surprise me! It’s definitely a blend that will wake you up in the morning, with a real zing from the citrus and instant alertness from the ginger. It was one of my least favourite teas but it was made up of good quality ingredients and definitely something different to add some extra excitement to the December box! 😊

 

Scotch Acorns – Nothing But Tea

The smell of this tea is heavenly, with sweet chocolate notes and high quality black tea combined beautifully. The flavour is another awesome combo, the black tea flavour is perfect with a small chocolate hint, making this tea fantastic as a guilt free treat.

It’s also a tea that is very economical when used in a tea bottle, it doesn’t over infuse too much if you leave it in and doesn’t take much tea at all to make a bottle full. I’ve recently been enjoying a new tea bottle, it’s really good quality and the neoprene handle is convenient for hot drinks 🙂

 

Final Thoughts

I’ve loved my experience with the TeaTourist subscription! It’s super convenient, straight through your door and with a large selection of very different teas.

You also get 6 teas each month which is really good value at this price and the amount of tea in each sachet is very generous. To make these TeaTourist teas go even further you could consider a tea bottle of some kind, I’ve written a Top 10 Tea Bottles post that’s a great place to start if you’re looking for a tea bottle.

The subscription service is perfect for tea bloggers as you’ll be served with 6 new teas to review each month and 6 new tea companies to check out 😀

Teatourist have given me an extremely generous discount code for my readers to get 30% off their first subscription box! simply use the code RUSSTEAS30 and you’ll receive the discount off your first box!

A huge thanks to TeaTourist for sending me these month’s subscriptions!

Bye for now! xXx

 

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Green Tea Matcha Tea Reviews

Review of PureChimp Ceremonial Grade Matcha

10th November 2016

Hey!

Today I’ll be reviewing PureChimp’s ceremonial grade matcha, which they were awesome enough to send me. I’m always on the look out for new matcha to try, so I was thrilled to receive this a couple of weeks ago! 🙂 Now I’ve spent some time with it and tried it extensively I think it’s time to get my thoughts written up for you guys!

The first thing I noticed about their matcha is that the price is really reasonable at only £6.95 for a 30g pouch at the time of writing, this is especially impressive given the quality of the matcha. There’s also a 50g pouch and a 100g pouch that are equally well priced.

It’s a nice bright green colour, a quality I always like to see from my matcha, with a clean crisp smell. I feel that it definitely deserves it’s ceremonial grade, which isn’t always the case with some other brands.

from-above

Another quality I’m always keen to judge is how frothy the matcha is once prepared and also how well the matcha blends. Purechimp’s ceremonial grade match is insanely frothy, I tested it with my chasen and a mini electric whisk and both were able to whip up a nice amount of foam! It also blends well so I didn’t have that overly powdery last mouthful that settles at the bottom with lesser quality matcha.

Before I tried their ceremonial grade matcha I purchased their lemon flavoured matcha and although I enjoyed the lemon flavour I was a bit disappointed that PureChimp chose to add stevia to sweeten it, so I was really glad that they didn’t go down that route with this as well. I found that their ceremonial grade matcha has a really nice natural sweetness to it with an enjoyable aftertaste, which made me I wonder if the stevia was added to the lemon flavoured matcha to counteract the sourness of the lemon.

Another thing I always judge a matcha on is how easy it is on the throat, I was pleased to find very little bitterness with PureChimp’s ceremonial grade matcha and a pleasant smoothness.

pile

Overall I’ve really enjoyed my time with PureChimp’s matcha as my ‘go to’ matcha the last couple of weeks. It comes highly recommended on Amazon and I have to agree that it’s a really good option for ceremonial matcha at a really reasonable price point.

If you’d like to try PureChimp matcha for yourself you can find it in 30g, 50g or 100g pack sizes, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed! There’s also a really nice PureChimp gift set which includes three 50g jars with mint, lemon and their original matcha which would make the perfect gift someone special or a starter set if you’re new to the wonderful world of matcha.

That pretty much covers my thoughts on this awesome ceremonial grade matcha. Thanks for reading my review, I hope you’ve enjoyed it and it’s helped your buying decision. Also a huge thanks to PureChimp for sending me their matcha to review!

Bye for now! xXx

 

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Black Tea Chai Green Tea Rooibos Tea Reviews

Bluebird Tea Co. Autumn Tea Haul Reviewed!

2nd October 2016

I LOVE Bluebird Tea! If you read my blog on a regular basis you’ll have seen that I review their tea more than any other brand. Why? Because it’s simply awesome!

Bluebird were lovely enough to send me their new Autumn products! With three new matchas and Autumn teas all dropping at once it’s an exciting time for any Bluebird fan! I’ll be reviewing the tea now and follow up shortly with the matcha review, just because it’s a big bundle worthy of two posts 🙂

The four blends Bluebird sent me are Rooibos Earl Grey, Choco Pops, Lapsang Chai and Spiced Pumpkin Pie.

Review Time!

rooibos-teabags

Rooibos Early Grey

I’m excited by this blend! Earl Grey is awesome and rooibos is my drink of choice at night when I can’t sleep (happens A LOT), so this is perfect!

I received this tea as teabags, as always you get high quality pyramid teabags from Bluebird, with a generous serving of tea. This means multiple mugs from one teabag, perfect if you have company or just need something to binge drink 😉

The flavour is really unique, I love the sweet floral flavour from the bergamot as it dances with the sweet and slightly nutty rooibos. It’s a really soothing blend that’s perfect for the colder months ahead 🙂

 

pumpkin-spice-2

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

I was a bit unsure about this initially, pumpkin isn’t really something I’m amazingly fond of but after one sip, my view of the Jack-O-Lantern vegetable had been changed, drastically!

This blend is so warm but without being spicy or burning your throat at all and it screams Autumn! With Halloween and Bonfire night coming, this tea is perfectly timed and sure to go down well with anyone you share it with. It has just a gentle warming feel but is overall a sweet blend, with a slightly spicy tickle after every mouthful.

It’s one of those flavours you really want to savour and swirl round your mouth, the only way I can describe it is a cuddle in a mug. You need this tea in your life!

I’ve seen a lot of talk about a famous Bluebird Pumpkin Spiced Latte that can be made with this tea so I just had to give it a try! OMG it was amazing, the most Autumnal drink ever! This tea is really great all round and the Pumpkin Spiced Latte adds to it’s greatness, get some of this tea while it’s still available! 🙂

 

lapsang-chai

Lapsang Chai

This is a combo between Lapsang Souchong, Assam and chai, the result is a beautifully unique and perfectly blended cuppa! I usually find that the smoked flavours of Lapsang Souchong are exciting but often overpowering, this blend keeps the smokey excitement but with a flavour that isn’t at all overpowering.

I like the addition of the chai flavours, it adds a slight warmth to the experience, while diluting the smoked taste. The tea is so pretty loose, with it’s warm fiery flecks of red against the dark black tea. Overall I found this blend highly enjoyable, I love that it’s not a flavour you’ll find anywhere else and the result is a complex and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

choco-pops

Choco Pops

I’ve been holding out on you a little bit and decided to save this one until last, basically because it’s incredible! The smell when I opened the packet blew me away, I’ve never smelt tea this good before. It’s so good it might actually be my favourite Bluebird blend, possibly ever! 😮

It smells like a packet of melted chocolate and isn’t like other teas that claim they’re chocolate and then the flavour disappoints, it really is chocolatey, thanks to cacao bean, chocolate chips, fat reduced cocoa powder AND chocolate sprinkles 😀 When the water is added the chocolate smell takes on a slightly herbal scent from the tea leaves but the flavour is so good! I like that this tea is made up from a blend of Sri Lankan black tea and sencha green tea, it gives the tea a lighter flavour than if it was all black.

I really love Coco Pops, especially the chocolate milk that’s left at the end and you really do get that same chocolatey taste from Bluebird’s latest blend. The toasted rice adds a genmaicha twist to the brew, which works amazingly to create a cereal-like vibe alongside the chocolate. I love this tea!

Closing Words

That’s my review of the latest blends from the Bluebird HQ, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

A big thank you to Bluebird for being so awesome and sending these fantastic new products to me!

If you’d like to check out the new Autumn blends from Bluebird you can find them here.

Make sure you join my mailing list below and follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get more from my blog, including my upcoming review of the new Bluebird flavoured Matchas!

Bye for now! xXx

 

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Green Tea Tea Reviews

Heard of Kukicha?! Check Out My Adagio Teas Review

25th July 2016

A while back I was sent some flavoured matcha by Adagio Teas for me to include in a flavoured matcha comparison that I’ve been writing, which I will eventually have finished! Adagio were also awesome enough to send me some of their tea to review.

I’ve been a fan of Adagio for a long while now, they were one of the first companies to reach out to me when my blog first got going so I’ve had a soft spot for their tea ever since.

I reviewed their Green Rooibos Bonita a few weeks back which was AMAZING and now I’ll be reviewing Kukicha, which is something new for me.

Kukicha is basically a blend of the stems, stalks and twigs of the tea plant that aren’t used, usually when sencha or matcha is produced, which results in a deep green loose tea. The first thing I noticed when I smelt the tea in it’s packet is it has a really green vegetal aroma with a lighter fragrance than traditional green tea.

Front Flower

When I prepared the tea I was pleased by how economical it is, a little goes a long way and it’s good for multiple infusions. When the water’s added it produces a very light golden tea that has a fragrance that I can only describe as smelling healthy, it does have a slightly sweet nutty aroma too.

I was eager to try this tea as it’s something new which is always exciting to find. The main thing I noticed is how light the flavour is, it doesn’t have any bitterness and is overall quite sweet and nutty. It’s really nice to drink on warm summer evenings, especially when it cools slightly as it’s really refreshing. I’ve been drinking this tea in big amounts, I fill my Adagio IngenuiTEA  at the beginning of the evening and I’m good to go!

Kukicha is naturally low in caffeine so if that’s something you look for in a tea then this is one for you 🙂

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my review of Adagio’s Kukicha, if you’d like to try the unique flavour of Kukicha yourself you can find it here and they even do a wallet friendly sample size 😀

Thanks to Adagio for sending me this tea to review and thanks so much to everyone reading this!

As always you can find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook if you have any questions or love tea as much as me and would like to talk tea 🙂

Bye for now! xXx

 

 

 

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Green Tea Iced Tea Rooibos Tea Reviews

New Bluebird Tea Co. Summer Blends Reviewed!

1st June 2016

Not much beats waking up to a surprise delivery from Bluebird! They’ve launched their new summer blends this week and were nice enough to drop some in the post for me 😃

So the first thing I wanted to do, apart from drink them, was get a review written up for you guys!

 

strawberry split close up

Strawberry Split

First up is strawberry split, a wonderfully fruity, pretty pink blend. It’s green tea that’s absolutely packed with freeze dried strawberries with a fruity but slightly floral scent, it’s literally summer in a packet!

The tea is so pretty to look at before it’s even steeped, it’s full of floral summer colours that will wow your guests. Once the tea’s steeped it produces an equally pretty pink liquid that also smells fantastic, another plus for entertaining with this tea.

It’s incredible iced with a little bit of honey or agave to sweeten it. I find a lot of teas aren’t that great iced, they always seem not sweet enough and I feel like I want to put way too much sugar in. This is the place this tea really excels beyond it’s competition, it so damn good iced! 😃

 

Jelly and ice cream
Jelly & Ice Cream

This is a rooibos based blend which is great for night time drinking and just avoiding caffeine in general, if that’s your thing 😉 The smell is really sweet and took me right back to jelly when I was a kid, I actually always hated adding the ice cream so I’d just eat the jelly but with this tea I welcome both flavours 😊

One of the things I love about Bluebird Tea Co. is their ability to capture a non-tea flavour in their tea. You’d think jelly and ice cream tea would be a fad and you’d get it and find it tastes nothing like it pretends to, but this is different. It really does taste of jelly and ice cream, the sweet flavours combine with the rooibos base perfectly.

This is another blend that’s great iced and will probably be my drinking buddy on the rare days it’s too hot in the UK to drink tea.

Review Complete!

So that’s my review of these two new teas from Bluebird Tea Co. There are another two summer blends from Bluebird; Red Velvet and Sangria. Both look fantastic but Red Velvet is definitely on my list of teas I need in my life!

You can find these summer blends on the Bluebird Tea Co. website here, or roll in to one of their stores in Brighton, Tunbridge Wells or their new Bristol store!

I’d like to say a big thanks to Bluebird Tea Co. for sending me these teas, it was an awesome surprise to wake up to and very much appreciated😊

Bye for now xXx

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Black Tea Green Tea Oolong Tea Reviews Teaphernalia

Shibui Leaf Tea Haul Taste Tested & Reviewed!

23rd May 2016

A little while ago I was lucky enough to be sent a box of joy by Shibui Leaf Tea. Inside the box there was a selection of loose leaf teas, an awesome mug and some empty tea pyramids for making your own teabags (super cool!).

On to the review!

Full Cup

Loose Leaf

Caramel Oolong

This was one of the teas I requested because I love Oolong and caramel seemed like the perfect accompaniment. This tea smells beyond words, succulent & sweet, with a buttery quality. I could actually just leave bowls of this around my house, the smell is that good!

One thing I love about Oolong is you can get a lot of tea from not much leaf, as it really lends itself to being infused multiple times. During these infusions you can follow the tea on a delectable taste journey as each infusion tastes different to the last and from a practical point of view, this makes this tea very economic.

On to the taste! As you swirl this golden liquor in your mouth you can taste the beautiful delicate quality of the Oolong as well as a devilishly sweet caramel flavour, that’s just strong enough to be enjoyable but without overpowering the Oolong flavour. I think this would be great iced but also fantastic to cuddle up with on a cold night and lets face it, with the British summer coming up the latter is more likely! :p

 

Spout

Ti Kuan Yin

This is another excellent Oolong, with light floral notes. I received these in high quality pyramid teabags, there’s more than enough tea for multiple infusions in each teabag and the teabags allow the leaf to move around enough to infuse well.

This was a really flavoursome Oolong with quite a delicate savoury flavour, you can also taste a subtle underlying floral sweetness which gives it some extra character. It produces a brownish liquid with a really unique scent and it’s malty flavour is so refreshing to drink, definitely a good Oolong! 🙂

 

White Peony

White Peony (known in China as Pai Mu Tan) is always a tea I look forward to, the delicate sweetness of the white tea is fantastic and super refreshing. It’s produced from the handpicked bud and first two leaves of the tea plant, this creates a clean royal tea.

The leaves are a really good size which is always a nice thing to see and each pyramid teabag is filled with a lot of tea so you can easily make a couple of cups of tea with one teabag. It has a slightly floral quality to it which is subtly sweet but it lets the white tea flavours take centre stage.

 

Pouring

Maple Walnut

Another tea I requested a sample of is Maple Walnut and I’m so glad I did! This tea smells sooo good with a sweet maple fragrance and a hint of walnut. The pieces of walnut and the leaf are really nice sized and you can tell this tea is special when you first prepare it, the smell just fills the room with sweet nuttiness.

Once steeped it makes a vibrant green liquid which I could just sit and smell all day! The taste is amazing, it’s really sweet and has a slightly toasted quality to it, reminds me of toasted marshmallows. The walnut flavour is definitely noticeable but not overpowering, I wondered if it would be too nutty but it’s not at all. The tea leaf, walnut and maple are all there with precisely the right amount of each.

 

English Breakfast

English Breakfast

I was lucky enough to receive my English Breakfast in a beautiful polished chrome cannister, it’s really stunning and I’ll be sure to refill it once it’s empty and store it on my desk. These cannisters would make the perfect gift for any tea lover and it definitely adds a certain elegance to the experience, after all, presentation is everything!;)

I feel that English Breakfast is really drab unless it’s really good, without any extra flavours the quality of black tea can really be noticed. Luckily this is a really good English Breakfast, it has a deep malty brown colour to it and it’s epic with a couple of biscuits to dunk in it. It has a very slight sweetness to it which makes it more enjoyable than a lot of other English Breakfast tea I’ve tried. My mum loves English breakfast, even with all the exciting tea I make for her she still insists on English Breakfast with her breakfast and she definitely approves of this English Breakfast!

 

The Unexpected – Shibui Mug & Tea Filters

mug

An unexpected inclusion from Shibui Leaf Tea is a mug that has a tea themed word search on it, with words such as Roobios and Assam. It’s bone china and dishwasher proof, a really nice touch is one of the words is Shibui and it’s been outlined as the only word found so far, which I really like! Again this would be the perfect gift to give with some of the gorgeous teas above.

 

Filters

I also received some tea filters, which basically act like teabags that you can fill yourself and pull closed with a drawstring at the top. They’re unbleached, chlorine free and biodegradable so great all round! I use something similar when I go away so I don’t have to carry an infuser for loose leaf tea with me but these are more convenient with the drawstring closure. They’re also an absolute bargain at £3.95 for 100!

 

So that’s my haul reviewed! A huge thanks to Shibui Tea for sending me their products to review and for their generosity, it’s very much appreciated.

You can check out their amazing store here.

Thanks so much for reading this review, I hope you enjoyed it. Bye for now! xXx

 

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Fruit Tea Green Tea Reviews

A review of Sencha Spring Melody tea from the fabulous Gently Stirred

21st March 2016

I LOVE Gently Stirred and their passion for good tea. The first thing I always notice is the care that’s taken to produce a beautiful, personal moment with every purchase. They go above and beyond with hand wrapping in stylish brown and green packaging, that has a wholesome and friendly feel to it.

Onto the tea! Recently I was lucky enough to try the aptly named Sencha Spring Melody, a super sweet smelling strawberry green tea. Before I even opened the package I could smell the smell of fresh strawberries, when I was a kid me and my mum would always go strawberry picking and the smell of this tea takes me right back to those trips 🙂 As always this tea from Gently Stirred is made up of super quality loose leaf tea with succulent dried strawberry in abundance.

When the water hits the tea things step up a gear; the strawberry smell erupts out as the water turns an inviting golden colour. The taste is fantastic, really sweet but with a definite green tea flavour as well, with absolutely no bitterness. This is a great tea to drink after dinner if you’re trying to steer clear of the calories that pudding brings!

Close up

Sencha Spring Melody is also awesome iced, I’m really looking forward to drinking it in the Spring and Summer, although I’ve been drinking it iced in the winter too 😛

Anyway I’m guessing you’ve realised by now that I like this tea, A LOT and I’d definitely recommend taking a look at Gently Stirred’s website and trying it for yourself.

Comment with any teas you’d like me to review or that you recommend I try and come say hi on Twitter, Instagram etc.

Thanks for reading! 🙂 xXx

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