Author: Michelle

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Tealish’s Chocolate Mint

Chocolate Mint by Tealish
Rooibos / Flavoured
$9.50 for 50g

Tealish’s Chocolate Mint came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s December themed subscription box.

First Impressions

I did not know that Chocolate Mint was a rooibos blend at first, the packaging for this sample packet was lacking information regarding the ingredients as well as steeping instructions. Chocolate Mint does come in a sealed, and resealable, white foil pouch. It’s described as an herbal tea/tisane, and I found it under “Rooibos Tea” on the Tealish website when I went hunting for information. Of course, as soon as I opened the bag I could see that it was a rooibos blend.

Chocolate Mint is an excellent name for this blend, it does smell like chocolate and mint. I reminds me a lot of my dad, actually, since he loves all things chocolate mint and he always gets a lot of chocolate mint goodies around the holidays. Surprisingly, I cannot really smell the rooibos base – which is a pleasant surprise since I don’t really like rooibos… at all. Chocolate Mint consists of: rooibos, apple pieces, peppermint leaves, cacao nibs, natural flavouring, and orange peel.

Preparation

Tealish recommends steeping Chocolate Mint in boiling (100°C/212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Chocolate Mint for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Chocolate Mint steeps to a very bright orange colour. It has a fairly strong chocolate mint aroma to the tisane, although I can make out the rooibos base in the background although it is very mild compared to the chocolate mint goodness. Taste wise, I found that the chocolate mint flavour wasn’t strong enough to hide or overcome the rooibos base. I’m not a fan of the medicinal flavour of rooibos, and that is unfortunately present in Chocolate Mint. I can taste chocolate notes and minty notes, but it’s just not strong enough to cover up the rooibos for me. If you’re a fan of rooibos though, you might like it!

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Chocolate Mint once. I found that the flavour of the rooibos was the only thing I found in my cup, I couldn’t taste the chocolate mint notes at all.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Tealish’s Chocolate Mint was just okay. I think if I was a fan of rooibos, I would scored this tisane a lot higher. I found that the aroma of mint and chocolate in the dry leaf was excellent and very close to the ‘real deal’. I was pretty underwhelmed by the initial steep because I was really hoping for the chocolate mint flavours to be a lot stronger to overcome the rooibos base in Chocolate Mint. That said, the rooibos base does stand out and if you’re a fan of rooibos you’ll probably really enjoy this tisane. Because of my lack of love for rooibos (and most rooibos blends aren’t really well-loved by me…), I’m just not a fan. If you love the flavours of chocolate and mint together and you’re a rooibos drinker, I think you’ll really like Chocolate Mint!

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

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JusTea’s Glowing Green

Glowing Green by JusTea
Green Tea / Straight
$17.00 for 60g

First Impressions

I picked up this tin of Glowing Green at a local retail shop shortly before the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival and I was kicking myself because I could have gotten in there instead (along with so many pretties that JusTea had available). I’ve talked about JusTea before on One More Steep – they’re a tea company that partners with a tea farm in Kenya to create a fair trade tea product. Tea that comes in tin like the one shown below come with a hand carved, beaded wooden spoon.

Glowing Green is a straight green tea, with tea grown from Kenya. The tins have pretty tight fitting lids, that feature a clear plastic window on top so you can see the tea inside. Each tin is hand-wrapped with Kenyan fabric, which I think is a really nice feature about this product. The tea leaves themselves are gorgeous and they look like they’d be pretty large once steeped. There’s an earthy aroma to it that reminds me of what it smells like after it rains, with vegetal notes that remind me of dark green, leafy vegetables.

Preparation

There weren’t any steeping instructions on the tin, but on the JusTea website they recommend steeping Glowing Green in 175°F (80°C) water for 3 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions.

First Taste

Glowing Green steeps to a pale yellow. There’s a lovely aroma to it, it reminds me a lot of grass/hay with a hint of cabbage. The flavour is the same as the aroma of the steeped tea. It’s really quite inviting, I find that there’s almost a floral sweetness to it this green tea which makes it pleasant to sip. I found it to be nicely balanced between the different flavours that I was able to find in my cup.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Glowing Green five times (six steeps total). I found that the tea was a darker yellow for the first two resteeps before getting lighter after that. The flavour profile remained very similar to the initial steep, I found that the vegetal notes got stronger with the first two resteeps and then weren’t as prominent after that.

My Overall Impression

I loved JusTea’s Glowing Green. I really enjoyed the subtle flavours within this tea, I found that it was a really nice green tea with some great flavours that popped up throughout each sip – the grassy notes, the hay flavours, the bursts of vegetal notes were all nicely present and well-balanced. I liked the fact that this tea resteeped really well, which really shows me the quality in the tea leaves. And I really like knowing that the tea is fair trade, and that JusTea also works with artisans who hand carve spoons to help create economy on a local scale in Kenya. It’s always important to me, as a consumer, to know that people are being paid fairly for their work and efforts, and I love that JusTea shares on their website how they do that.

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

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DIY: Tea Baths

We all know that tea is great for drinking, but have you ever thought about bathing in it? I was at a cute little boutique not that long ago and they had huge premade sachets labelled as “tea baths”, which prompted me to go online to see if this was actually a thing (spoiler: it is!). Most tea baths out there don’t actually contain tea leaves, but calling it “tisane bath” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Tea baths are good for relaxation, soothing sore muscles, and just help to add a bit of glow to your skin.

Creating a tea bath is as easy as taking a look through your tea stash to see what you have available. I utilized epsom salts and herbal ingredients as well tea in creating my Tea Bath. Tea Baths are definitely a bit of a luxury and aren’t an every day event, but it’s nice to treat yourself from time to time! You can even opt to have a Tea Bath on a smaller scale and do a foot soak in it one as well. Tea Baths are easy to make ahead and might make excellent presents – and Valentine’s Day is coming up! You can create a mix in a jar and wrap a cute ribbon around the lid…. Just sayin’.

For one Tea Bath, you will need:

2 cups epsom salts
1 cup steeped green tea¹
1 tablespoon of each type of flower²
1 tea bag

¹ I oversteeped some green tea on purpose for my Tea Bath, I’m not worried about the tea tasting astringent since I am not drinking it. I would recommend using straight/plain green tea.

² I used 1 tablespoon each of lavender buds and rose buds (you could also use rose petals). Some other floral ingredients that you may want to consider using include chamomile or jasmine petals. I would avoid heavily coloured flowers, like hibisicus, because they may dye your skin (or towels… or bath tub…).

As you prepare to draw the Tea Bath, put the floral ingredients into the tea bag and cinch it close. I added the epsom salts to my tub as the water was filling, to help the epsom salts dissolve. After I turned off the water, I added the steeped green tea and then the tea bag with the floral ingredients. You can opt to put the flowers directly into the water if you want them floating around you, but the tea bag does make cleaning up after your Tea Bath a lot easier.

If you are opting to do a foot soak instead of a full Tea Bath, use ½-1 cup of epsom salts in your foot bath.

Epsom salt helps to relieve inflammation your muscles, and soothe sore muscles. It also helps to soften your skin and promote relaxation.

Green tea is an antioxidant, it helps refresh your skin for healthier glow.

Lavender and chamomile are both flowers that promote relaxation, relieve stress, and help refresh the skin.

Jasmine helps promote relaxation, helps soothe sore muscles, and refreshes your skin.

Rose buds/petals contain antioxidants, can reduce redness in your skin, and softens and helps to refresh the skin.