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Whittard of Chelsea Tea Club Tea Subscription Box Review

25th November 2017
Whittard of Chelsea Tea Club Tea Subscription Box Review

I’ve really been loving tea subscription boxes recently, I love the convenience of awesome tea being delivered without me having to make any effort!

When I started my blog I never imagined that I’d get the opportunity to review Whittard of Chelsea tea, so I was crazily excited when they contacted me to see if I’d like to review their new Tea Club subscription boxes!

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed is how phenomenally their subscription boxes are presented! It’s really nice to see how much effort has gone into the look and feel of the subscription boxes. You receive a Whittard branded ‘tea chest’ with really cute brightly coloured envelopes, one with loose leaf tea bags if you prefer teabags and another with your tasting cards which include pictures of the tea, with information and how to brew it.

The tea sachets themselves are packaged in resealable bags with a printed tea card on the front and wrapped in patterned tissue paper.

Another really nice touch is a Whittard of Chelsea branded stainless steel tea measuring scoop, which is included with your first box so you always know you’re getting the perfect strength tea.

Overall this is one of the best presented tea deliveries I’ve ever received.

The Tea

Strawberry Mint

The first tea I tried was strawberry mint, a herbal infusion that is fantastic hot or cold. The smell of this tea is absolutely magical with a sweet succulent fresh strawberry aroma, and a refreshing mint vibe. The tea is made up mainly of Spearmint but with big chunks of freeze-dried strawberries.

When you add water the fragrance only become stronger and I was pleased to find that the flavour didn’t disappoint. The strawberries smell is so enticing but with a mint twist that isn’t overpowering and adds a really refreshing feel to the tea. Possibly my favourite strawberry tea ever!

Robert Fortune Blend

This is a black tea blend with a nice subtle fruitiness, alongside a traditional black tea flavour. I really enjoy the rich earthy tones of this tea and the fruitiness is great alongside this. I often find more traditional tasting tea a bit boring but this tea is far from boring! It’s a great tea when you want more of it traditional flavour but you want a little bit of excitement too!

Summer Pudding

Summer Pudding is another black tea based blend with a helping of fruitiness. The rich fruity smell bursts from the pack and really does have a pudding-like smell, I couldn’t wait to brew this tea and find out if the taste lived up to the fragrance. I was ecstatic to find out that this tea really tastes as good as it smells, I love to watch the whole berries flow around in the water as the tea steeps. The flavour is like a traditional black tea but with a vibrant Ribena twist, a really fantastic black tea!

Final Thoughts

I was really pleased to find that the Whittard Tea subscription box was amazing through and through! I loved the packaging, the presentation and the amazing teas.

If you’d like to try a Whittard of Chelsea tea subscription box you can find them on their website or you can also buy Summer Pudding, Robert Fortune Blend or Strawberry Mint individually.

A huge thank you to Whittard of Chelsea for sending me their first ’Tea Chest’, it’s been a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to see which teas come next!

If you’d like more from Russtea’s you can find me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!

Bye for now! xXx

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Black Tea Fruit Tea Green Tea Herbal Tea Tea Reviews

Bluebird Tea Co. Tea Tipples Cocktail Review

24th September 2017

Recently I received an exciting delivery from Bluebird Tea Co., it included some of their cocktail teas. These are teas that there perfect from making alcoholic cocktails with but are equally as exciting without the alcohol.

There’s three all together: Bramble Ramble, Rasberry Russian and G & Tea.

Review time!

Bramble Ramble

First up is Bramble Ramble, a blackberry flavoured tea that is perfect to make a berry gin cocktail. It’s always nice to see good quality fruit pieces in Bluebird’s blends. I like that this blend has a slight zing to it and isn’t overly sweet, there’s also a really nice green tea flavour too which isn’t overpowered by the fruit flavours.

Rasberry Russian

Rasberry Russian is a caffeine free rooibos blend, with a huge helping of fruit including raspberries & apple pieces. This blend also includes a couple of not so common ingredients for extra excitement, vanilla pieces and hibiscus. Raspberry Russian has a really nice raspberry fragrance, with good sized fruit pieces. I often find that rooibos overpowers the other ingredients in rooibos based blends but it’s nice to see that this blend features more fruit than rooibos, which is reflected in the flavour. An overall amazing blend from Bluebird!

G & Tea

This is a sencha green tea based blend with a helping of berries, licorice, spearmint and almond pieces. The first thing I noticed about this blend is a strong marigold-like fragrance, which at first I wasn’t that excited about but I was pleasantly surprised by the amazing and unique flavour! It has quite a herby flavour that’s actually really refreshing, alongside a nice subtle mint flavour followed up with a sweet liquorice aftertaste.

Final Thoughts

This was an exciting surprise delivery as always from Bluebird. If you want to make some Bluebird alcoholic tea cocktails this is a great place to start but they are equally as exciting without the alcohol! You can find all of Bluebird’s fantastic range of teas on their website.

Huge thanks to Bluebird Tea Co. for sending me these blends, I’ve had a lot of fun reviewing them and will definitely be drinking them for weeks to come!

Thanks for reading and as always you can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Bye for now xXx

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Black Tea Fruit Tea Green Tea Rooibos Tea Reviews White Tea

TeaTourist Subscription Box Round Up Review

20th September 2017

Hey guys!

Recently I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my health, as a result my blog has been a bit neglected and I’ve got a few tea tourists subscription boxes to cover, so I thought  I would do a roundup of my favourites from the last few boxes.

Keep reading to find an exclusive code to get 30% off your first tea tourist subscription box!

Review time!

Apple and Grapefruit – Tea Shirt

First up is Apple and grapefruit, fresh and exciting fruit blended with apple, strawberry, orange, hibiscus and more! With how many fruits there is in this tea I knew it was going to be bursting with flavour! I really love the crisp grapefruit smell mixed with the sweet apple tones. The tea has an unusually long steeping time of 10 to 12 minutes but it’s definitely worth the wait, as you watch the water turn a deep reddish pink colour. The refreshing sharpness of the grapefruit pairs beautifully with the sweet apple flavour. This is honestly one of the most exciting fruit teas I’ve had for a while!

Rooibos Rhubarb Fudge – Piacha

Next up is a beautiful Rooibos blend which I always enjoy! This smells so sweet, it’s literally like a sweet shop with a beautiful vanilla fragrance. Rooibos goes really well with the sweet fudge flavour and it goes a really long way, making it very economical. You’ll definitely get a lot of cups of tea in TeaTourist’s  generously filled sachets. I wasn’t sure if I would like this tea as rhubarb isn’t something I’ve eaten a lot of but I was pleasantly surprised!

White Bellini – The Tea Experience

I absolutely adore the delicate flavours of white tea, especially when they’re paired with sweet fruit. White Bellini is a good-quality white tea, with large leaves. The delicate white tea flavours are partnered with just the right amount of peach, there’s also raspberries and sweet succulent peach. This is definitely one of my favourite white teas, so I’ll definitely be checking out the tea experience website!

Mint Chocolate – Cheshire Tea

This is another rooibos blend that smells just like mint chocolate chip ice cream but without the calories! I always like it when I find tea with desert like flavours, you get the treat without the consequences (calories!). I often find that the mint flavour in mint teas is overpowering and can be quite off-putting but I was really pleased to find that the chocolate and rooibos flavours are sweet enough to avoid this happening with this tea. You can also definitely taste the rooibos flavour which is often lost when it’s blended with stronger flavours. An all-round excellent find!

Assam Tea With Vanilla – Pure Leaf

I adore all tea with vanilla flavouring, it’s one of my most favourite flavours to find in tea. The cake like fragrance of this tea is mind blowing, as soon as I smelt it I knew it was going to be good! Often with vanilla tea you lose the black tea flavour but this doesn’t happen at all with this blend due to the good quality black tea that’s used. I received this tea in pyramid teabags, which is a nice change as most of the tea in TeaTourist’s subscription boxes are loose leaf, so I sometimes appreciate the convenience of high quality teabags.

Rhubarb and Vanilla – Hoogly Tea

This is a green tea based blend with a welcome dose of hibiscus and rhubarb pieces. When the water is added to this tea initially turns a nice blue colour which is enjoyable to watch. It has a really nice sweet vanilla fragrance with a good fruity tang from the rhubarb. This is an excellent tea to use in glass teaware to show off the purple and blue liquid. Rhubarb and the vanilla is a tea I wasn’t expecting to like that much but I loved it!

Go Nuts – Tea Total

This is a rooibos based blend which I’ve been enjoying when I haven’t been able to sleep recently, I love its caffeine free goodness. This tea has a stunning pecan flavour with a sweet caramel flavour, due to the caramel pieces used in this blend. Once the water is added to the tea it’s scent fills the kitchen like a delicious desert! This is the best tea if you’re craving something naughty!

Summer Fruits – Teagime

Summer Fruits is an exciting flavoured black tea that is perfect for your less adventurous guests. The primary flavour is the black tea base but with a healthy helping of red currants, peach, blackberries and an unusual ingredient, blackcurrant powder! I like that this tea isn’t overly fruity and still primarily tastes like black tea but is a bit more exciting with the addition of a fruit twist. Another exciting and unique blend from TeaTourist.

Masala Chai – Spice Kitchen

Masala Chai uses a base of Kenyan black tea mixed with 11 carefully selected spices, creating a gently spiced, well blended chai. The first thing I noticed about this tea is it really smells amazing, it’s not too spicy which sometimes happens with chai tea. I’ve been using it to make a chai latte with rice milk as a base and a base and it really is phenomenal. What I really enjoyed about this tea is it doesn’t require much sugar to sweeten it, due to the expertly blended spices. Overall one of my favourite chai teas!

Final thoughts

This has been an exciting  few months from tea tourist with an amazing mix of new and exciting tea. I love the variation of the TeaTourist boxes, there really is something for everyone. They are a great company to work with and always do an excellent job sourcing new and exciting teas!

If you’d like to try to tourist box for yourself you can use the code RUSSTEAS30 at checkout to get 30% off your first box! I highly recommend you check them out and join them on a tea adventure!

If you’d like more from Russtea’s come and find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook! Thanks for reading! 😃

Bye for now xXx

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Matcha Tea Reviews

Bluebird Tea Co. Salted Caramel and Ice Cream Matcha Review

19th September 2017

It’s been a while since my last post, I’ve been having problems with my wrists and as a result not been able to type and have been off work for a while. Luckily I was able to set up Dragon Professional on my Mac so I’ve been able to speak my reviews but had difficulty with the photos, I hope to be back to my normal workload soon.

On to the review! 🙂

I’ve always particularly loved bluebird’s flavoured matcha so I was super excited when they sent me samples of their new salted caramel matcha and ice cream matcha. They were also awesome enough to include one of their new Tote bags and a matcha measuring spoon, which is the nicest I own!

Review Time!

Salted Caramel

The first thing I noticed about this amazing salted caramel matcha is the smell! It has a strong  hit of pure caramel goodness alongside the traditional matcha aroma. I like that the salted caramel flavour doesn’t overpower the matcha flavour like some flavoured matcha, Bluebird always manage to get the balance exactly right. As well as the sweet caramel flavour and the natural matcha flavour there is a subtle saltiness that is the perfect strength.

Ice Cream Matcha

Next up is ice cream matcha, a gorgeous, sweet, syrupy and vanilla flavoured matcha. As always the base is good quality vivid green matcha, which you’ll find across the whole Bluebird lineup. This matcha blends well with lots of froth and really tastes amazing!

The ice cream flavour is stronger than the salted caramel matcha but you can still definitely taste the matcha, which I always prefer with flavoured matcha. The flavour is primarily a syrupy flavour with a nice vanilla ice cream vibe. Another unique and exciting flavoured matcha from Bluebird.

Final Thoughts

I’m always excited when a Bluebird delivery arrives, and this is no exception! I adore their matcha so it’s always nice to try the new flavours and they never disappoint. If you’d like to try these flavours for yourself you can find them on the Bluebird website.

A massive thank you to Bluebird for sending me these new products to try and thanks to all my readers, I hope you’ve enjoyed this review!

As always you can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook so come say hi!

Bye for now! xXx

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Black Tea Green Tea Oolong Tea Reviews

Bruu The Gourmet Tea Club Subscription Box Review

21st June 2017

My obsession with tea subscription boxes has grown a lot over the last few months so I was excited when I found Bruu The Gourmet Tea Club.

I asked if they’d send me a box to review for you guys and they were happy to!

The Bruu subscription boxes are shipped for free and flat enough to slip straight through your letterbox which is super convenient. There’s three different teas included each month, expertly selected from over 1000 blends. Each month is £10 with discounts available if you sign up for multiple months at once and you’ll get up to 40 cups from each box. You can cancel or pause your membership at any time which makes it especially convenient.

I particularly like the transparent Bruu logos on each pack with the tea showing through, adds a nice dash of colour and a peek at the tea inside!

Review Time

Orangey Green

I love the name of this blend and I love green tea so I knew this would be the blend I’d try first! This blend has a classic green tea flavour with a “orangey” twist but I like that the orange isn’t overpowering. Often citrus blends are too citrusy and green tea based teas that are flavoured or blended sometimes lose the green tea flavour.I was pleased to find that Orangey Green doesn’t suffer from this at all, the flavour is predominantly green tea but the orange vibe is definitely there as well.

I’ve enjoyed drinking this in the warm summer evenings recently. It’s perfect to drink once the temperature cools in the evenings, the orange provides refreshment when you need it most! 😀

 

The Ministers Earl Grey

Earl Grey is one of my least favourite teas, which people are always surprised about because everyone else seems to love it! I’m still always intrigued by Earl Grey’s when I receive them because I always wonder if I’ll find one I love.

The first thing I noticed about The Ministers Earl Grey is how amazingly blue the cornflowers are, they really pop against the black Assam and Ceylon leaves. I couldn’t wait to take my photos and pair them with another vivid colour, I was pleased that the colour comes across well in the photos 🙂

As far as Earl Grey goes this is one of the better ones I’ve tried, I like that the bergamot flavour is a bit more subdued than others, so I could still enjoy the Assam and Ceylon in all their glory. Overall not my favourite kind of tea but it’s super pretty and if you love Earl Grey I’m sure you’ll love this!

 

Earthy Oolong

I’m a huge oolong fan, it’s one of my all time favourites so I was excited to see an oolong included in my subscription box from Bruu!😃 It’s always a treat to watch the oolong leaves unfurl in beautiful glass teaware, I especially love the golden liquor this tea produces.

The flavour is quite a dry earthy oolong but with an addictive subtly sweet aftertaste that I’ve enjoyed over and over. Oolong lends itself well to multiple infusions, meaning it’s a very economical cuppa. I love how cozy this oolong is, it’s perfect to fill your teapot with and enjoy during a Netflix session!

Final Thoughts

I’ve really enjoyed this subscription box from Bruu, the variation of the three teas was amazing and it’s definitely one of the cheaper tea subscription boxes out there so it’s good value as well. A massive thanks goes to Bruu for sending me this box to review!

If you’d like to try a Bruu subscription box for yourself you can find out more on their website.

Thanks for reading my review, if you’d like more from Russtea’s you can find me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!

Bye for now! xXx

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Black Tea Green Tea Oolong Tea Reviews

Curious Tea Subscription Box Review

20th June 2017

I’ve been getting in to tea subscription boxes in a big way over the last few months! I have a few regulars but recently started to wonder what others might be out there?

After doing a bit of research I found Curious Tea and reached out to them, they were happy to send me one of their boxes to review. I received their Discovery box which includes 4 different teas a month with 10g of each, the perfect choice for a tea blogger or if you enjoy variety!

You can also choose between their Classic box which includes 2 teas but with 50g of each so it really depends if you want the variation of 4 teas or more of 2 teas. There’s also the option to take out the subscription either monthly or quarterly with quarterly being slightly cheaper.

Tea Time!

Santikhiri Blue Pearls Oolong

First up is a beautiful milk oolong from Thailand with a stunning buttery aroma. The tea can be steeped multiple times with a satisfying flavour that evolved with each steeping, I found that the flavour became drier with later brews. This Oolong is lightly baked with an exciting floral aftertaste. It’s a nicely inviting colour that looks great in my glass teaware. Overall a fantastic Oolong! 😃

 

Nilgiri Parkside Estate Kala Moti

Next up is a black tea from the Blue Mountains of Southern India. I especially enjoy watching the hand rolled leaves resembling pearls, open up as they steep😍. Due to how much this tea expands as its steeped it really goes a long way, meaning it’s definitely a tea I’ll be drinking a lot of! I love the deep malty flavours, combined with subtle fruity notes.

 

Wu Yi Shan Rou Gui Oolong

This was probably my favourite from my subscription box. I especially enjoy oolong and have been addicted to its beautiful,  but subtle sweetness. It’s not overly sweet but the fruity notes are very prominent and blend amazingly with the delicate oolong goodness.

 

Wu Yi Shan Bi Luo Chun

I love the way this tea looks before steeping, with it’s deep green colouring and curly leaves. Once the tea begins to steep the leaves open up and turn a vivid emerald green colour, it’s particularly interesting to watch 😍

It produces a pale green liquor with a delicate green tea flavour. The flavour is primarily vegetal but with a sweet buttery aftertaste. This is definitely a tea I’ll be enjoying a lot in the upcoming weeks!

Final Thoughts

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my Curious Tea subscription box, it’s been a positive experience throughout and one that I’d highly recommend. A lot of the companies I work with send me predominantly flavoured tea, which I’m a huge fan of but it’s been nice to try these more traditional teas.

If you’d like to try a Curious Tea subscription box for yourself you can sign up on their website, I promise you won’t be disappointed 😃

A huge thanks to Curious Tea for sending me this subscription box to review, it’s massively appreciated😘

Thanks for taking the time to read my review❤️

Bye for now! xXx

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Green Tea Herbal Tea Iced Tea Rooibos Tea Reviews White Tea

Bluebird Tea Co. Exam & Summer Blends Reviewed

23rd May 2017

The last couple of weeks I’ve been finishing my final assignment for the year. This week my focus is shifting to revising for my last exam of the year, it’s been massively stressful!

Luckily, a surprise delivery arrived from Bluebird with limited edition exam blends and suddenly my revision looks a whole lot more exciting! 😊

Review Time!


One In A Melon

First up is a gorgeous green and melon blend! This tea smells incredibly fruity and sweet, I could smell it through the packaging and recently went to Bristol with it in my case and it left my clothes smelling super fruity 😃

Once the water hits the smell is magical, the whole kitchen smells of juicy watermelon. The green tea flavour is lush as you can always expect from Bluebird and the strength of the watermelon flavour is perfect. This is a tea that will clearly be AMAZING iced, I’ll definitely be drinking this iced over the summer once my exams are out of the way😃

Hocus Focus

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this tea and couldn’t imagine what it would taste like after smelling it but I was pleasantly surprised.

The tea produces a deep chocolate coloured brew with extremely satisfying toffee notes. There’s a slight chilli hit that adds a much appreciated element of excitement. An all round good blend but don’t be put off by the smell or you’ll miss a unique and exciting tea!

Summer of Love

This is a blend I was instantly excited about, I love the name and it’s one of the most colourful blends I’ve ever seen! The tea gives off an incredible fruity smell that smells super summery. Bluebird sent me this tea in a 50g pouch which is generously filled as always and is sure to fuel a lot of happy tea sessions 😊

The taste of the green tea element of this blend is fantastic and the fruity flavour is sweet but doesn’t overpower the drier vegetal flavour of the green tea. Another blend I’m sure will be awesome iced and super refreshing on the warmer days of the summer ahead.

Ginger Beer

Ginger beer isn’t a drink I’ve ever really drunk so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this blend but I was definitely intrigued!

The tea is a rooibos based blend which Bluebird are particularly good at making. There’s a really refreshing lime scent which creates a nice lime aftertaste, which is accompanied by a hint of caramel. The ginger flavour is the most noticeable alongside the nutty rooibos goodness, with the combination of lime and ginger creating an almost fizzy mouth feel.

An overall awesome blend from Bluebird which I know I’ll be enjoying regularly 😃

Pineapple Sorbet

As soon as I opened my Bluebird delivery and saw Pineapple Sorbet I couldn’t wait to try it. It literally smells like a sweet shop with a smell that reminds me of pear drops.

It’s another blend that instantly makes you think of summer and the tea itself looks really pretty 😍Pineapple sorbet’s sweetness is perfect to serve iced without needing to add any sugar or honey. I received this blend in pyramid teabags which are generously filled and easily make tea for two. This is one of my favourites from these new Bluebird blends!

All Nighter

All nighter is one of the teas I was most excited to try, due to it being a tea and coffee combo. I really don’t like coffee and wouldn’t ever choose it over tea but it’s a combination I’ve never tried before which is always exciting. It actually smells incredible with a nice roasted coffee scent with green tea and an enticing chocolate hint.

The flavour is real good, definitely better than I expected! The tea flavour takes centre stage and the slight coffee flavour really works, the addition of chocolate is sheer perfection! I also love the name of this blend and I’ve been drinking a ton of it while I’ve been revising 😃

Relax

One thing that I struggle to do when my workload is huge is relax so I was pleased to see a Bluebird blend to help me take a break. Chamomile tea is always welcome in my tea cupboard but I find it’s one of those blends that when it’s bad, it’s really bad! As expected Bluebird’s twist on chamomile tea is one of the best I’ve tried.

It smells mind blowing, with a candy apple sweetness alongside a delicate aroma of white tea. I sometimes receive chamomile tea to review that is really overly floral and not very sweet but the addition of apple and white tea brings the chamomile flavour down a notch. There’s also an addictive honey aftertaste that keeps me coming back for more!

Final Thoughts

All round this is a fantastic delivery from Bluebird with some of my all time favourite Bluebird blends. These teas have been much appreciated during my revision and I know I’ll be drinking the summer blends all through the summer months ahead.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review, if you’d like more from my blog be sure to come find me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (or all three! 😜).

If you’d like to try these new blends yourself you can find them on Bluebird’s website.

A huge thanks to Bluebird for sending me this awesome delivery 😘

Bye for now! xXx

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Fruit Tea Green Tea Herbal Tea Tea Reviews

TeaTourist Subscription Box Review

12th May 2017

One of my favourite parts of the month is always when I wake up to find my monthly TeaTourist subscription box on the doormat! I always rush to open it, excited to see what tea adventures I’ll be going on this month 😀

April’s box has a lot of caffeine free blends which suits me perfectly as a lot of my tea drinking occurs in the middle of the night (student life/insomnia!). Be sure to read on to find a voucher code for 30% off your first TeaTourist subscription box! 😀

Time for the review!

Hibiscus Flowers – Tugboat Brews

First up is a special hibiscus blend that I really adore. The tea is a deep purpley red colour with huge big hibiscus flowers, it looks really special in nice glass teaware with the flowers dancing in the deep red liquid.

The flavour is equally as fantastic! I love the deep floral flavour but it’s accompanied by addictive fruity notes. I always enjoy the zingy aftertaste of hibiscus tea but it can sometimes be too sharp, especially in cheaper tea but the zing is perfectly balanced with the sweeter flavour. All round this might be the best hibiscus blend I’ve ever tried! 😮

 


Pumpkins Go Bananas – Leaves of the World

This is one of those blends that I literally could not imagine tasting nice, especially as I hate bananas! Adding pumpkin to the mix could only be a bad thing, at least that’s what I thought before I tried it.

It’s always interesting to read the TeaTourist notes that accompany every tea in their subscription boxes, they have all the info about steeping time, temperature etc. This blend was described as being similar to banana milkshake, despite my bananaphobia I’ve always loved McDonald’s banana milkshakes.

Crazily the banana-pumpkin combo really works, the banana is a sweet banana flavour and doesn’t taste like fresh bananas, it really does taste of banana milkshake (with a fraction of the calories). The tea is really fragrant when it’s steeped and gives off a cake-like aroma, another awesome tea!

 


Shades of Grey – MDTEA

I think I might be the only tea lover that doesn’t love earl grey, I just can’t understand what the fuss is about! 😳 I like the malty tea flavour but the citrusy flavour really isn’t my favourite at all but obv I had to try it! 🙂

The floral notes of the rose petals are a really nice addition and definitely help to sweeten the flavour. I liked that the citrus flavours were a tad more refined in this blend and the black tea flavours were more evident. I’m not sure what a good or a bad Earl Grey is as I’m not a huge fan in general but this is one of the better ones I’ve tried and I’m sure you’ll love it if Earl Grey is your thing 🙂

 


Peppermint Tea – Maiservas

Although I don’t get particularly excited by mint tea it is always quite enjoyable and great for an upset stomach! This mint tea is made up of large nice quality leaves, with a fresh scent. It’s fantastic to wake you up in the morning, as soon as the water hits the leaves a minty aroma breathes a breath of fresh air in to the room.

This blend has a really nice sweetness to it, it’s not the overpowering menthol type of mint tea and has no bitterness. An all round good mint tea 🙂

 

Thieves’ Brew – Bev’s Tea Company

Thieves is the perfect tea for people who enjoy a more traditional cuppa! I adore flavoured tea, I love exciting blends with cool names but sometimes it’s nice to have a good quality natural tasting tea.

Thieves’ Brew has a deep dry malty flavour with a comforting fragrance that produces a nice golden liquid. I always invite my mum to try the more traditional blends as she’s in to natural tea with milk and she definitely enjoys this one!

 


Chocolate Ginger – Shibui Tea

I was really excited to try this tea as I love Shibui Tea and it’s not flavours I’ve seen combined before. I love finding new and exciting tea, it’s all part of being a TeaTourist! 😎

I knew this tea would be special as soon as I began steeping it. The chocolatey aroma with the warmth of the ginger smelt fantastic. Upon tasting it I was glad to find that chocolate was the dominant flavour and the ginger was a nice sweet cake-like ginger, I hate ginger teas that have more of a medicinal flavour which this doesn’t at all. This is without a doubt one of my favourites this month!

 

Conclusions

This month’s TeaTourist box has been another fantastic selection of tea with something for everyone. Banana Pumpkin was the biggest surprise for me and Chocolate Ginger and hibiscus were AMAZING.

If you’d like to try a TeaTourist subscription box for yourself you can get 30% off your first box using the code RUSSTEAS30 on their website. You really won’t regret it!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and thanks to TeaTourist for making it possible! ❤️

Come find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for more tea related fun! 😀

Join my newsletter below to keep up to date with all my posts, competitions and news.

Bye for now! xXx

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Matcha Reviews Tea Reviews Top 10's

Ultimate Flavoured Matcha Comparison, Find Out Which Are The Best!

4th May 2017

I love matcha! it’s the best breakfast boost I’ve ever found, there’s nothing better to get you through that groggy morning feeling.
I’ve noticed flavoured matcha popping up more and more, my collection keeps on growingso I thought I’d do a flavoured matcha comparison post!

I won’t actually rank them or anything, don’t wanna be mean! 😛  I’ll just give you a general run down of my thoughts about each one and they’ll be in no particular order.

I made sure I used my matcha measuring spoon to ensure all the flavours were made with an equal amount of matcha. I really recommend it if you want to enjoy your matcha at it’s best, it’s really good quality and still looks great after a couple of years use!

 

T2 Tea Cinnamon Matcha

T2’s unflavoured matcha is really good, I find T2 products always deliver! I was excited to find that they’d made flavoured matcha and I reached out to them to see if they would like to be included in my comparison. First impressions were good, amazingly presented and smells awesome. The flavour was just as good as the smell, with a perfect blend of matcha and lusciously sweet cinnamon. Also incredibly frothy which is something I always enjoy in my matcha! Read my full review of T2’s Cinnamon Matcha. Can’t wait to try some of their other flavours and add them to this comparison! 😀

 

 

Bluebird Tea Co. Orange Matcha
The first thing I noticed upon opening the tin is the smell, it’s mind-blowing, like freshly squeezed orange juice. This must be because it actually has orange peal and orange oil in it, which gives it an intensely refreshing zesty flavour. It’s good because it’s not over flavoured, you still know it’s matcha but it just has the lush addition of the orange flavour.

It’s really really frothy, I mainly use an electric milk frother rather than a traditional whisk and the froth is wonderful. It’s very reasonably priced at £15 for 30g (at the time of writing), making it one of the cheaper options and you do get a lot of drinking for that £15.
It’s a good choice for anybody that wants the health benefits of matcha (you must of heard about them by now!), but aren’t fond of the natural taste of it.

 

 

Tea Shop Strawberry Matcha

I found this while travelling when I stumbled in to a tea shop we randomly found in Barcelona. It has a really nice strawberry flavour that is just right, it’s not so sweet that it overpowers the matcha flavour but it’s definitely strawberry flavoured. It has a bit of a pink hue to the froth, which I assume is from whatever they use to flavour it. This is possibly the one that still has the natural matcha flavour the most which could be a good or bad thing depending on your preference.

It’s got a slightly powdery feeling to it, I’m not really sure why, it possibly doesn’t blend as easily as others.  Tea Shop make pineapple, cherry and caramel as well as a couple others that are included below!

 

 

Adagio Teas Raspberry Matcha

Adagio were awesome enough to send me their raspberry matcha and their chocolate matcha (more on the chocolate further down! ;). This is the first Raspberry flavoured matcha I’ve found and I sure was glad to find it! It smells amazing and the tins Adagio use for their flavoured matchas are stunning.
The raspberry scent explodes from the tin before the lid is even removed and multiplies as you fully open it. What I liked most is that the raspberry flavour doesn’t taste artificial at all, it’s really impressive how genuine the succulent raspberry flavour has been captured in this matcha’s dry powder form. Full review here.

 

 

Yunomi – Azuma Chocolate Flavoured Matcha Latte

This isn’t technically flavoured matcha, it’s a flavoured instant matcha latte mix. I love matcha lattes but I find them hard to get when I’m out and about and I’m a bit too lazy to make them at home much. This is where these matcha latte mixes from Yunomi come in, simply add water and you have a matcha latte!

I’ve been a fan of the unflavoured matcha latte mix that Yunomi have for a while now so I was super excited to try the flavoured ones. The chocolate one is definitely my favourite, it smells simply amazing and really does add a nice milk chocolate sweetness to the latte and the convenience of these mixes is amazing! Full review of chocolate, ginger and yuzu matcha latte mixes here.

 

 

Pure Chimp Lemon Matcha

This is one of the most reasonably priced flavoured matchas I found as you get 50g which is more than most others. The smell is crazy strong, I was expecting a zingy lemon scent but it’s actually a really nice sweet lemon fragrance.

The flavour is also very sweet lemon and the matcha flavour is lost quite a bit as a result, the reason for the sweetness is Pure Chimp’s lemon matcha contains stevia to sweeten it. I’m a bit undecided about the stevia that’s been added, it does make the lemon flavour sweet and very different to the other flavoured matchas.
Personally I’d prefer it to not contain any sweetener so I could add it if I wanted, plus I LOVE the flavour of matcha which is lost a bit. The addition of stevia makes this the perfect matcha for people who aren’t accustomed to the natural taste of matcha, a great way to get the health benefits in a sweeter form. This matcha is insanely frothy, one of the frothiest I’ve found and blends really quickly which is always good.

Pure Chimp donate 5% of all profit to charity which is absolutely fantastic and really admirable. So if you prefer your matcha sweetened, love it frothy and would like to donate to charity this is the one for you. You can buy a jar here or a smaller pouch to try.

 

 

Bloom Teas Tropical Matcha
The first thing I noticed about the tropical matcha from Bloom is how nicely presented it is. A glass pot and a little mini spatula attached to the side are a welcome addition. This matcha smells heavenly, it’s like fresh cut mango, I love it! It seems to have little tiny white balls in it which I assume is flavouring, they dissolve completely and I only noticed them because I sieve my matcha so no biggy. Overall this is definitely in my top three, it might even be my favourite, I’m on my third jar now so it must be good, you really won’t be disappointed with this one! 😀

 

 

Adagio Teas Peach Matcha

I’m not really that much of a fan of peach as a flavour but it does seem to be a flavour that blends well with tea and the other Adagio flavoured matchas are so good I decided to give it a try. The smell explodes from the tin before you even open it (largely because the tins leak a bit in the post :p), it’s a mouthwatering sweet peachy fragrance that I really enjoy waking up to. Adagio’s matcha is always a bright vivid green and this is true for all of the flavours of theirs that I’ve tried.

On to preparation! It froths up really well and the smell gets stronger when water is added, I found myself excited about a flavour I usually don’t enjoy all that much which has to be a good sign! I have to say it really does taste fantastic, it has a stronger flavour than a lot of the matcha I’ve featured here but it works really well with the green tea flavour. This is definitely one to try if you like peach and/or prefer your matcha to be more strongly flavoured 🙂

 

 

Bluebird Tea Co. Blueberry Super Matcha

Next up is Bluebird’s super matcha, I heard so many good things about this so I had to give it a try. It’s a little bit more expensive than the orange matcha from Bluebird but you do get the added health benefits of Blueberry and Acai, which add even more antioxidants to the mix!

It’s a beautiful bright green colour and is clearly very good quality. It’s just so fruity and tastes fantastic hot or cold so will definitely be enjoying this all summer!

 

 

Adagio Teas Chocolate Matcha

Chocolate is without a doubt my favourite food and matcha is easily one of my favourite drinks so I was overjoyed to find that the amazing people at Adagio Teas have combined the two! I must admit I did wonder at first how the two flavours would be blended together and which flavour would take centre stage, so I was thrilled when I found that the two flavours happily share the stage!

This blend isn’t too chocolatey and is still clearly matcha but the chocolate flavour floats alongside the vegetal matcha goodness! Full review here 🙂

 

 

Tea Shop Mango Matcha

This is another flavour I found in Barcelona along with the strawberry flavour above. I loved the strawberry matcha but its downfall was it didn’t blend very well and tasted slightly powdery. Luckily their mango matcha isn’t powdery at all and is really addictive!

The mango flavour isn’t as strong in this matcha as the Bloom tropical matcha so I have to say I prefer the Bloom matcha but if you like a more natural flavour in your matcha this is for you.

 

 

Bluebird Tea Co. Cocoa Matcha

One of my more most exciting finds is Bluebird’s cocoa matcha, I loved Adagio’s chocolate matcha so I was excited to see how Bluebird’s compared. I have to say it’s really awesome! Although the chocolatey flavour in Bliebird’s cocoa matcha isn’t as sweet as in the Adagio chocolate matcha it does have more of a natural flavour to it, which is equally as enjoyable.Bluebird’s is flavoured with raw cocoa powder so it does have a brown tint to it, like anything chocolate should! 😀

I really love both approaches to chocolate matcha so it really depends whether you’re more in to a natural approach to flavouring or a sweeter flavour. Chocolate has to be my favourite food so I’ll definitely be devouring this Bluebird cocoa matcha!

 

Thanks for reading!

I’ll add to this post as I find more flavoured matcha, I have a few lined up and have had a few companies contact me so this post will surely grow! 😀

Comment below with any flavoured matcha I’ve missed or email me if you’d like your flavoured matcha included in the list, I’d love to add it!

Bye for now! xXx

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TeaTourist March Subscription Box Review

19th April 2017

I’ve been lucky enough to receive the March tea subscription box from the amazing people over at TeaTourist to try out and I obv had to share the experience with you guys! 😀

If you’d like to try exciting new tea each month then a tea subscription box is a good place to start and a TeaTourist tea subscription box is the BEST place to start! Each month you’ll receive a super exciting and varied selection of 6 teas with generous portions of each.

I especially love the TeaTourist service because I can find out about a new handful of tea companies each month without having to hunt them down myself, super convenient for tea bloggers!

Be sure to read on to find a voucher to get 30% off your first box!

Review Time!

Rose & Strawberry Red Bush – Spice Kitchen

First up is Rose Strawberry Red Bush, an exciting and unique rooibos based blend. The smell of this tea really blew me away, it literally smells like strawberry laces that I had as a kid, I knew straight away that this tea would be special.

It’s always nice to see flavours blended together that are a bit different, the rose and strawberry flavours in this tea are a fine example of this. The sweetness of the strawberry is immensely addictive and I really enjoyed the rose notes too. One of the best of this month’s box 😀

 

Mulled Apple – Nothing But Tea

I was immediately drawn to this tea by it’s candy apple fragrance and the warming spicy element. It’s always nice to see good quality, nicely sized apple pieces and the pretty yellow flowers are mighty inviting.

The apple flavours are most noticeable but the slight spicyness makes this tea perfect to cuddle up with on a cool Spring evening and dream of the warmer weather of the summer ahead. Another fantastic find!

 

Chocolate Orange – Nelson & Norfolk Tea Co.

I was ecstatic to see this blend in this months box, who doesn’t love a chocolate-orange combo!?

I’ve found in the past that chocolate teas can be a bit of a let down, the promise of chocolate heaven often doesn’t carry across well. Thanks to the overload of chocolate goodness added to this blend it doesn’t at all suffer from a lack of chocolate flavour.

The ingredients include cacao beans, cocoa nibs, cocoa shells AND chocolate chips, it couldn’t get any more chocolatey if it tried! The addition of the orange flavour alongside the chocolate is superb, an all round delight 🙂

 

Wilderness Honeybush – Leopard Friendly

I looked forward to trying this blend as it’s pretty unique, as can be expected from nearly all of TeaTourist’s picks. I hadn’t had honeybush tea before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was pretty awesome! It didn’t have the standout flavours of some of the other teas in this months box but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, it reminded me of rooibos but a little less nutty and more earthy.

A good choice if you’re looking for something you haven’t tried before and tend to not be a fan of crazily flavoured tea, preferring more wholesome and natural blends instead.

 

Tumeric Chai – Chai Kai Tea Co.

I’m a big chai fan, I adore chai lattes either from Starbucks or made at home with A LOT less sugar! 😉 I’ve been enjoying turmeric matcha the last few months which I love so I was excited to see what this tea had to offer.

I was a bit hesitant when first smelling this tea but the flavour was awesome! It has a really nice chai spiced flavour to it with a sweet turmeric and coconut combo that had me coming back for more time after time 😀

The turmeric twist ensures this is a tea that’s always at the front of your tea cupboard!

Turmeric is also being hailed as a cure-all at the moment (it’s like matcha a year ago :p) so the health benefits are an added bonus!

 

Honey Lemon – Teagime

Honey and lemon is a road well travelled in the tea world but that doesn’t mean it can’t be awesome! This tea smells almost medicinal before it’s steeped but it’s watered down (literally :p) when you brew it, causing a beautiful honey lemon fragrance to waft through the kitchen.

The flavour is smooth with a rich honey taste blended with just the right amount of lemon, without it being too citrusy. I feel like this tea would be perfect to cuddle up with and soothe a cold but that doesn’t mean you can’t cuddle up with it if you don’t have a cold! Overall a really good blend that I’ve definitely found myself drinking a lot of.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for taking the time to read my review of this months TeaTourist subscription box. A massive thanks to the guys and girls at TeaTourist for sending me this box to review.

If you’d like to read more posts from my blog you can join my mailing list below and be sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. I’ve got some amazing competitions coming up that you won’t want to miss! 😉

To get 30% off your first TeaTourist subscription box and go on a tea adventure yourself use code Russteas30 on the TeaTourist website.

Bye for now! xXx

 

 

 

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