Author: Michelle

Posted on

Oteas’s Raspberry Leaf Tea

Raspberry Leaf Tea by Oteas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 24g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Raspberry Leaf Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed about Raspberry Leaf Tea is the fragrance. It smells fruity – mostly raspberry, and really inviting and sweet. The tea sachets come 12 in a card stock box that came shrink wrapped in plastic – sealed for freshness and all that good stuff.

Each tea sachet consists of: raspberry leaves, hibiscus, apple pieces, rosehip shell, blackberry leaves, raspberries.

If you’re pregnant, you may have heard about drinking raspberry leaf infusions before for morning sickness – which is something that Oteas mentions on the side of the box – but this blend also contains hibiscus which is often recommended to be avoided during pregnancy. I highly recommend always checking with your health care professional about when to drink herbal teas as a lot of herbal teas also have medicinal effects to the body. This goes for all herbal teas when you take any over-the-counter or prescription medications as well.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Raspberry Leaf Tea in 70°C (158°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I used my kettle to heat up the water to the lowest temperature (79°C/175°F) and allowed it to cool for 5 minutes, and then my initial steep of Raspberry Leaf Tea was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Raspberry Leaf Tea steeps to a light berry pink colour. It has a pleasant raspberry aroma to it, and it smells sweet. The flavour of Raspberry Leaf Tea is a mix between sweet and tart, which I think can be attributed to the hibiscus in the blend. It’s not too tart that I feel the need to add some sugar to the cup though, which is good. If you’re not a big fan of hibiscus, I’d recommend a little bit of sweetener to even out the tartness to make it more palatable for you. Overall, it’s quite pleasant and I think it would be great iced.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Raspberry Leaf Tea once, and found that it didn’t taste as good as the initial steep and was quite watery in comparison. I would say that Raspberry Leaf Tea is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Raspberry Leaf Tea. I think it makes for a really nice fruity infusion – it’d be great for iced tea and spring/summer weather since it is a fruity mix.  The level of sweet is well balanced against the tart, and the raspberry flavours are well presented in the initial steep. Again, use caution if pregnant or may be pregnant and consult with a health care professional about having herbal blends.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

Murchie’s Cozy Caramel Rooibos

Cozy Caramel Rooibos by Murchie’s
Rooibos / Flavoured
$6.95 for 2oz (56g)

Murchie’s has provided me with Cozy Caramel Rooibos for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

For those who’ve been following One More Steep for a while, you’ll know that I often don’t really rooibos blends – but lately I have been (really) trying to have a more open mind about it because a lot of people really like rooibos. So when Murchie’s sent me Cozy Caramel Rooibos, my initial thought was “Oh no!” because of my past experiences with rooibos blends. This rooibos blend came in a sealed, resealable plastic pouch.

The blend itself smells like caramel. All I smell is caramel and it makes me think of caramel apples, caramel chocolate, caramel kettle corn… What can I say? I like my sweets! The name for this blend is definitely on point and very accurate for the aroma. And I can’t even smell the rooibos base, which is a tiny miracle in itself. Cozy Caramel Rooibos consists of: rooibos, dried apple, calendula petals, natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping Cozy Caramel Rooibos in 190-212°F (88-100°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I did an initial steep in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Cozy Caramel Rooibos steeps to a beautiful golden orange. There’s a lovely sweet, caramel aroma that wafts up from the tea. When I taste it, I’m confronted by a few different flavours. First is the sweetness that I believe comes from the apples, then there’s a nutty flavour, some caramel notes and, of course, the rooibos base that adds just a touch of medicinal quality to the flavour. However, most of the flavour that I get out of this blend is the caramel, sweetness, nutty flavours so I’m not overly bothered by the rooibos base itself.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Cozy Caramel Rooibos once, at 4½ minutes. I found that the rooibos base was very much present, while the rest of the flavours weren’t as prominent as I would have liked. If you enjoy the flavour of rooibos, I would recommend doing another steep. If you’re not a huge fan of rooibos, I would recommend just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Murchie’s Cozy Caramel Rooibos. I think that the team at Murchie’s did an amazing job of making me think of caramel when it comes to this blend – from the aroma of the dry leaf and steeped tea, to the flavour of the rooibos blend itself. It makes me think of carnivals and the food that goes along with it, which is a fantastic thing to think about! I’m still not sold on the flavour of rooibos itself, but I greatly enjoyed the initial steep of Cozy Caramel Rooibos and think it makes for a great dessert blend to have when you’re in the mood for something sweet.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

Field to Cup’s March Adventurer Box

March Adventurer Box by Field to Cup
$34.97USD for 1 Adventurer Box (per month)
$356.69USD for 12 Months ($29.72/mo)

Field to Cup has provided me with the March Adventurer Box for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Use coupon code Onemoresteep20 for 20% off your first order of teas or first month of subscription boxes from Field to Cup!

First Impressions

I wrote a bit about how the Field to Cup subscription boxes work (multi-month options, different tea options) in my review of their February Adventurer Box. I’m so pleased to be sharing my review of the March Adventurer Box with you all. Again, the Adventurer Box is geared towards fans of primarily traditional tea types, and have at least four teas per box. The March box contains five teas – four of which are labelled as premium teas and one is the ‘extra’ bonus tea for the month. Each tea comes in a sealed, resealable foil pouch with a black and white label on the front that includes steeping instructions, resteeping instructions, ingredients, and flavour notes.

The first three are: Bergamot Bliss (green tea), Plus Belle (pouchong tea), and Organic Nilgiri Silk (black tea). I found Bergamot Bliss to be very rich in bergamot aroma, it’s very bright and inviting and reminds me a lot of an Earl Grey. Because of the strength of the bergamot, I can’t really make out the aroma of the green tea base. This green tea blend consists of green tea and bergamot oil. For Plus Belle, a pouchong tea (which – an internet search told me – is fairly close to an oolong tea), this is a Taiwanese tea from Nantou County. The leaves are bright and green with a mild grassy aroma to it. Organic Nilgiri Silk has some light malty notes, coupled with the dark wiry leaves. The tea itself is an organic black tea from the Nilgiris District in India.

From left to right: Bergamot Bliss, Plus Belle, Organic Nilgiri Silk.

The next two teas in the box are: Organic Green Jewel (green tea) and Formosa Bai Hao (oolong tea). Organic Green Jewel consists of a fine green leaves – they were quite small and coated my teaspoon due to the static electricity. There’s a light salty aroma to it. The tasting notes mentioned a lime zest, but I don’t really get that from the dry leaf. Formosa Bai Hao has a mix of dark brown, reddish brown, and pale brown wiry leaves. The aroma of the dry leaf is mostly that of a honeyed floral aroma.

From left to right: Organic Green Jewel, Formosa Bai Hao.

Preparation

Bergamot Bliss is recommended to steep in 180°F (82°C) water for 3 minutes. My initial steep was in 175°F (79°C) water for 3 minutes.

Plus Belle is recommended to steep in 180°F (82°C) water for 3 minutes. My initial steep was in 175°F (79°C) water for 3 minutes.

Organic Nilgiri Silk is recommended to steep in 205°F (96°C) water for 4 minutes. My initial steep was in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 minutes.

Organic Green Jewel is recommended to steep in 170°F (77°C) water for 2 minutes. My initial steep was in 175°F (79°C) water for 2 minutes.

Formosa Bai Hao is recommended to steep in 205°F (96°C) water for 3 minutes. My initial steep was in 200°F (93°C) water for 3 minutes.

First Taste

From left to right: Bergamot Bliss, Plus Belle, Organic Nilgiri Silk.

Bergamot Bliss steeps to a light green-yellow with a surprisingly not overpowering aroma of bergamot from the steeped tea. There’s something inviting about the citrus notes that make me think that this may be nice as an ice tea. I found that the bergamot flavour is nice and citrusy and balances well with the light grassy notes from the green tea.

Plus Belle steeps to a pale yellow. There is mix of floral and grassy flavours in the aroma of this tea. I found the taste to be sweet, with hints of floral and grassy flavour, as well as a light buttery cream in the background. Overall, I found this tea to be very smooth and easy to drink.

Organic Nilgiri Silk has a golden reddish orange colour, with a sweet aroma to it. The flavour is primarily sweet honeyed notes, with a malty flavour that almost has a bit of a yeasty quality to it – if you’re a baker, you may know what I mean. There’s a nice robustness to the flavour.

From left to right: Organic Green Jewel, Formosa Bai Hao.

Organic Green Jewel has a bright yellow colour. I found that the aroma is salty and grassy, while the flavour of this green tea has hints of salt, grassy/vegetal flavours, as well as a bit of lime in the steeped tea. The lime surprised me a bit since I didn’t really get that from the dry tea or even from the steeped tea, until I tasted it! It adds a burst of freshness to the flavour profile.

Formosa Bai Hao steeps to an orange brown. The darkness in the colour reflects the deep honeyed notes well, along with the floral sweetness and some dried apricot flavours. It’s quite pleasant, and I feel like it would pair well with a savoury dish.

A Second Cup?

Bergamot Bliss resteeped well, I did it twice and found that the bergamot was still very much present with each steep. Plus Belle was resteeped three times and I found it to be still light and almost delicate tasting throughout. It remained nicely sweet and floral with each steep. Organic Nilgiri Silk was resteeped twice, I found that the first resteep was much closer to the initial steep than the second steep – the deep malty notes weren’t as strong for the second resteep.

From left to right: Bergamot Bliss, Plus Belle, Organic Nilgiri Silk.

Organic Green Jewel was resteeped twice and I found the flavour weakened a little bit with each steep, but that little burst of lime freshness was still in the tea throughout each steep. Formosa Bai Hao was the real resteeping winner in this box – I did four resteeps and found that the flavour stayed pretty consistent throughout and was tasty through each steep of the same leaves.

From left to right: Organic Green Jewel, Formosa Bai Hao.

My Overall Impression

I loved Field to Cup’s March Adventurer Box. I really enjoyed the variety of teas, and learned a little something about pouchong tea. My favourites in this month’s box would have to be the Bergamot Bliss, Plus Belle, and Formosa Bai Hao. I really enjoyed trying each tea and tasting the flavours mentioned in the tasting notes.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.