Author: Michelle

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Oteas’s Orange and Ginger

Orange and Ginger by Oteas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Orange and Ginger for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

If you caught my Instagram Stories, you will have seen my unboxing video of the awesome package that I received from Oteas! They very kindly sent me 6 different blends to try and review, and this is the first one – Orange and Ginger. Each tea blend comes in a slender card stock box with the steeping instructions, notes on the tea, and ingredients printed on the sides of the box. The sachets themselves are inside of a sealed plastic bag that’s inside of the box. The sachets are made with a biodegradable material, which is really nice to read for those who want a greener earth.

The tisane itself has some big pieces of dried fruit and whole pieces of pink peppercorn inside. The aroma is primarily orange and ginger with a hint of pepper. It reminds me of a nice ‘sick time’ tea to have, mostly because of the fragrance of the ginger. Orange and Ginger consists of: apple, carrot flakes, orange pieces, orange peel, white hibiscus, , candied ginger cubes, flavouring, pieces of ginger, pink pepper, and mullein blossom.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Orange and Ginger in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 10 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 10 minutes.

First Taste

Orange and Ginger steeps to a beautiful golden yellow in colour. The aroma is primarily orange and ginger, which isn’t that big of a surprise given the aroma from the dry leaf. There’s a slight tangy flavour that I notice at the beginning of each sip, which gives way to the orange flavour. I found a nice sweetness to Orange and Ginger that’s just light and fruity, which I attribute to the dried apple pieces, as well as the nice warming qualities from the ginger. I did note a bit of spiciness from the ginger and peppercorns, but those flavours were primarily at the tail end of each sip. The combination of the flavours led to a nice, soothing drink – I happened to drink this one on a day that I had a mild sore throat and found that it helped!

Because of sweetness from the fruit ingredients, I didn’t find that Orange and Ginger needed any extra sweetener added.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Orange and Ginger found it to be lackluster compared to the initial steep – however, this wasn’t a surprise to me as most tisanes don’t do well on more than one steep as the majority of the flavour is used up in the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Orange and Ginger. I found the flavours to be very pleasant, and the name of the tisane was accurately chosen given that I could smell and taste the orange and ginger throughout the experience. It’s definitely a pleasant blend, and I definitely would recommend it if you had a sore throat – I found the ginger to be quite soothing for my throat, and a little extra vitamin C never hurt anyone when they were sick!

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NutMeg Mylk’s The London Fog

The London Fog by NutMeg Mylk
Black Tea (Product) / Flavoured
$13.00 for 1L

First Impressions

I’ve been intrigued by NutMeg Mylk since the very first time I tried one of their almond-based nut milks at a Vancity Business Babes event. NutMeg Mylk is a Vancouver-based company that produces nuts milk blends that are raw and organic, without the use of preservatives. I knew once I saw on their Instagram account that the feature blend was called The London Fog that I just had to give it a try.

The London Fog comes in glass bottle, there is a $1 deposit for the bottle when purchasing it. Returned bottles are sanitized to be used again, which I think is fantastic for the environment. The almond milk blend comes with a tag that identifies the blend and the best by date was on the bottom of the bottle. Because it is a raw almond milk without preservatives, it doesn’t have the longest shelf life in comparison to more mass-produced products that have added preservatives. The London Fog consists of: hazelnut, almond, Earl Grey, lavender, vanilla, maple, maqui powder, himalayan pink salt, and sunflower lecithin. This almond milk has a very pale lilac colour, thanks to the maqui berry.

Preparation

All I did with The London Fog was give the bottle a shake before pouring out a cup. Because there are no added preservatives, there are also no added ingredients that stop it from separating out. Shaking it up helped to redistribute the ingredients.

First Taste

The London Fog has a beautiful aroma to it, which is more pronounced when heated up. I can smell the almond, hazelnut, Earl Grey, and vanilla. It has a nice sweet smell to it, which I think may be partially attributed to the maple in it. In comparison to other types of almond milks that I’ve tried in the past, I find that The London Fog is a lot creamier and has a much thicker texture to it. There’s a lot more going on in this than a plain almond milk from the grocery store. I found that I could taste the Earl Grey, vanilla, and hints of floral sweetness from the lavender. The Earl Grey flavour is not as strong as it would be if you were to make a London Fog for yourself, but it is present and it’s quite pleasant.

I did steep a cup of Earl Grey and add some of The London Fog to it. It added a lot of creaminess to the tea, and I didn’t feel the need to add an extra sweetener since The London Fog added some sweetness to it, as well as the flavours of vanilla and lavender.

My Overall Impression

I loved NutMeg Mylk’s The London Fog. I really enjoyed this almond milk blend, I found that the flavours were on point and really reminded me of the flavour of an Earl Grey tea latte. I enjoyed The London Fog a lot on its own, but think that it really shined when added to a cup of Earl Grey – just added a nice element to a cup of tea. For the price, I don’t think that The London Fog will be something that I keep in the fridge for all my milk needs, but it’s definitely something that I really enjoyed the taste of and will keep for those well deserved treat yo’self moments.

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Murchie’s Paris Afternoon

Paris Afternoon by Murchie’s
Black Tea & Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.95 for 2oz (56g)

Murchie’s has provided me with Paris Afternoon for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Paris Afternoon is the first of three tea reviews that I’ll be writing about for teas that I received from Murchie’s. I wrote about my first Murchie’s visit back in 2015 when I reviewed Canadian Breakfast. This green and black tea blend came in a sealed (and resealable!) plastic bag. There’s a clear window in the front where you can see the tea leaves. I can definitely see more black tea than green tea present in the blend. The black tea leaves appear to be smaller while the green tea is more bunched together – especially the Gunpowder.

Paris Afternoon consists of black tea (Ceylon, Keemun, Assam, and Yunnan black teas), green tea (Himalyan and Gunpowder green teas), natural and artificial flavouring. The aroma of the dry leaf is primarily caramel, with hints of vanilla that make me think that I’ve stepped into a bakery somewhere. It’s a very inviting aroma that’s present in Paris Afternoon.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping Paris Afternoon in 180-212F (82-100C) water for 3 to 4 minutes. My initial steep of Paris Afternoon was in 185F (85C) water for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Paris Afternoon steeps to a beautiful golden orange. The aroma of the steeped tea reminds me a lot of caramel. I found on first taste, that I got a nice sweetness, with strong caramel notes. There is a creamy texture to the tea, with the flavour of vanilla, that I found in this, which made for a pleasant cup of tea. I found with the sweetness that I didn’t feel like I needed to add sweetener to it, but at the same time I think that Paris Afternoon would be a great afternoon tea option because it would be great with cream and sugar.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Paris Afternoon twice, adding an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found the first resteep was very similar to my initial steep, it had lighter caramel flavours and a mild vanilla flavour to it. For the second resteep, I found that it was really lacking the vanilla flavours, but the sweetness was still there. I would recommend Paris Afternoon for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Murchie’s Paris Afternoon. I think that this black and green tea blend does a beautiful job of being a dessert tea. There’s a nice flavour and sweetness to this tea that reminds me of some kind of caramel pastry – the creamy vanilla notes just make it so tasty. I think it’d be a great alternative tea to Earl Grey for afternoon tea. It does nicely for a resteep, which is a great quality in a tea that contains flavouring – which normally doesn’t do well for a resteep. It makes for a great mid-afternoon or post-dinner tea as the sweetness definitely evokes the feeling like you’re drinking something laden with sugar.

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