Author: Michelle

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Tetley’s Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng

Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng by Tetley
Green Tea / Flavoured
$4.74 for 48g (24 sachets)

First Impressions

What’s this? Another Tetley review?! Yes, yes it is. I just couldn’t resist giving this one a try when I saw it at my local grocery store. Honey and lemon is such a go-to flavour combination for me when I’m feeling under the weather, and the addition of ginseng was just very intriguing that I had to give it a go. As usual, Tetley’s round tea bags come in a cardboard carton with a snug-fitting plastic lid with that foil seal that pulls off.

The aroma from the dry leaf of Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng is primarily that of the lemon and honey, I don’t really smell the ginseng (if I do, it’s not very noticeable). The dry leaf has a lot of small piece in it. Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng consists of: green tea, natural flavours, ginseng root, and honey.

Preparation

Tetley recommends steeping Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng in 80°C (175°F) water for 1 to 2 minutes and recommends having it clear (straight; no sugar or milk/cream). My initial steep of Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng was for 90 seconds.

First Taste

Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng steeps to a slightly cloudy orange colour. There’s a light honey lemon aroma that I can smell, although still no ginseng notes. On first taste, the thing that stood out to me was the fact that it’s not as sweet as I expected it to be. There’s a nice balance of honey and lemon flavours, with a light amount of vegetal flavour from the green tea base. I still don’t really taste any ginseng.

I’ve said it before in a previous review that also had honey and lemon notes, but the flavour combination always makes me feel like I should be sick in order to drink it.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng and I found the flavour to be just not quite right. There wasn’t enough honey or lemon in it. I mostly tasted the green tea base – with the light vegetal flavours – and a small amount of ginseng (perhaps the lemon and one flavours were overpowering it?).

My Overall Impression

I thought that Tetley’s Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginseng was just okay. I think it would have scored this tea little bit higher if the ginseng was more pronounced in the initial steep – which is also the steep where I could taste the honey and lemon. I really enjoy the honey lemon flavour combination, but it’s always one that makes me feel like I should be ill in order to be drinking it. That said, I think it’d be a great ‘sick time’ tea to have in a tea stash because you never know when a sore throat is going to hit you and you need a little something to help you out.

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Chai Castle’s Black Currant

Black Currant by Chai Castle
Black Tea / Flavoured
$12.50 for 100g

Chai Castle has provided me with Black Currant for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Black Currant came to me in a cute resealable black sample-size pouch. The label very clearly tells me everything that I need to know about the tea – including the varying sources of the black tea used in this blend (very handy to know!). Chai Castle also sent me samples of their retail packaging – some lovely matte black resealable bags with coloured labels.

Black Currant has a beautiful aroma to it. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten black currant fruit before, but I have had black currant candy (so good!), and this pretty much smells like candy to me. There’s a nice sweet aroma to it, and I can pick out the individual ingredients in the blend. Black Currant consists of: black tea (Ceylon, South India, China), natural flavour, black currants, and black currants leaves.

Bonus fun fact, Chai Castle is a local company! Chai Castle is based out of Maple Ridge, which is part of the Metro Vancouver area.

Preparation

Chai Castle recommends steeping Black Currant in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep of Black Currant was for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Black Currant steeps to an almost burnt orange colour. There’s a nice fruity sweetness that wafts up from the steeped tea that is really quite inviting. On first taste, I found that there was a good amount of fruity notes while I could still make out a slight robustness from the black tea base. I found no astringency or bitterness when I steeped Black Currant for 4 minutes. The balance between the black tea and the black currant is quite pleasant. I found the fruit provided enough sweetness that I don’t really think that it needs any additional sweetener. I had this tea hot, but after cooling it down I had popped in a couple of ice cubes and found it to be quite delicious as well.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Black Currant twice. I found with the first resteep, the flavour was lovely and very similar to the initial steep. I found for the second resteep, the flavour wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. As per my usual, I add an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I would say that Black Currant is good for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Chai Castle’s Black Currant. I really enjoyed the fruity flavour and thought that the flavour of the black currant really comes out well with this black tea blend. It’s both delicious hot and iced, so it makes for a versatile tea regardless of the weather. I would definitely recommend resteeping it once to get all the flavour out of it since it’s so tasty!

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Adagio Teas’s Peach Serenity

Peach Serenity by Adagio Teas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.00USD for 3oz

First Impressions

Adagio Teas’ Peach Serenity came to me in a resealable pouch. When I ripped it out, there was an overwhelming aroma of peaches. It smelled very fruity and really summery. Which is perfect considering it’s still summer. I just wanted to point out how much I appreciate Adagio’s labeling – it’s so concise and has pretty much all the information that I’m looking for, which is so great!

Peach Serenity consists of: apple pieces, rose hips, peach flavour, pineapple pieces, lemon verbena, chamomile flowers, and apricots. Looking at the dry leaf, I’m really surprised there isn’t dried peaches in there because that’s the majority of what I smell.

Preparation

Adagio Teas recommends steeping Peach Serenity in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 10 minutes. My initial steep was for 10 minutes. At the 5 minute mark, the tea seemed pretty weak in colour so I just continued to steep it.

First Taste

Peach Serenity steeps to a lovely golden orange colour that reminds me a bit of cider. Texture-wise, I found Peach Serenity to have a bit of a thickness to the tea itself, with a coating mouthfeel to it. That said, there’s a nice balance between the apple and peach flavours. Peach Serenity does have a good amount of sweetness to it, that isn’t overwhelming or cloying.

I allowed some of the tea to cool in a separate glass with some ice cubes and it was amazing iced!

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Peach Serenity, but found that the resteep tea was lacking in peach aroma or flavour. The apple was still fairly present, but the tea lacked the thickened texture that the initial steep had.

My Overall Impression

I loved Adagio Teas’s Peach Serenity. I found the flavour to be excellent for the initial steep – and that it was both pleasant hot and iced (although I would really recommend it iced). I found the texture to be interesting, and I’m guessing part of it came from all the fruits in the blend. I liked the sweetness to it, I think it’d be a nice kid-friendly iced tea since it’s caffeine-free. I do wish it did better being resteeped, but at the same time I’m not too surprised given that it’s a fruit infusion.

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