Category: Review

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Metropolitan Tea Company’s Organic Earl Grey

Organic Earl Grey by Metropolitan Tea Company
Black Tea / Flavoured
$15.00 for 100g

Mint and Honey has provided me with Metropolitan Tea Company’s Organic Earl Grey the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I was tickled to see Organic Earl Grey in the package that I received from Mint and Honey, if only because I’m a huge fan of this classic black tea. It came to me in a sample packet, a resealable kraft bag with a little window to see the tea. When I opened it, I could smell the bergamot oil. I’m always a fan of bergamot because I find it to be rather inviting. Since I’ve been drinking Earl Grey for so long, I find it to be like a familiar hug in the form of a tea.

Metropolitan Tea Company’s Earl Grey does not disappoint in that department. With the familiar aroma of bergamot that just overpowers everything, it’s pretty much what I look for in any Earl Grey. Organic Earl Grey consists of high-grown Ceylon tea (at 4000-8000m above sea level) with bergamot oil.

Preparation

I wasn’t able to find any recommended preparation instructions. I steeped Organic Earl Grey in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 minutes for the initial steep.

First Taste

Organic Earl Grey steeps to a lovely orange colour. The aroma that comes from my cup is primarily that of the bergamot (so inviting!), with the hint of something that I had difficult identifying just from smell. On first sip, I mostly taste the bergamot flavouring, and then the black tea base makes itself known. There’s a bit of a smoked wood quality to it, a touch of earthiness that mingles well with the citrus brightness of the bergamot. I was a bit surprised by the strength behind the black tea base, especially considering I couldn’t really smell it from the dry leaf or when I was just smelling the steeped tea. At a 4 minute steep, there was no astringency noted.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Earl Grey three times (four steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the bergamot oil was noticeably present for the first resteep, and began to weaken after that. In contrast, the black tea base became more and more bolder, perhaps because the bergamot wasn’t as strong.

My Overall Impression

I loved Metropolitan Tea Company’s Organic Earl Grey. It had everything I wanted (and look for) in an Earl Grey – strong bergamot presence and a bold black tea base. I really enjoyed how well this classic black tea steeped up, and the smokey woodsy earthiness was a pleasant quality from the Ceylon tea. I think this tea would do great plain, which is how I drank it, or with the addition of a sweetener and cream.

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DavidsTea’s Moringa Mermaid

Moringa Mermaid by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

My first exposure to Moringa Mermaid was in-store as it was one of the teas that was being sampled that day. This fruit-based tisanes smells amazing – it has a great melon aroma to it, and you can very clearly the apple (!), and melon, and carrots. If you’ve never heard of moringa before, don’t fret because I had to look it up as well. Moringa is a tree that’s native to India, it goes by so many names, and the leaves and seed pods are the edible parts that are frequently used.

Moringa is surprisingly nutrient-rich s it has a lot of vitamin B, C, A, K, and protein (among other things). I found a lot of varying information online about medicinal purposes of moringa, but nothing concrete from a reputable, peer-reviewed source. I did find some sites talking about use of moringa in high doses (although none of the pages really specified what was considered a ‘high dose’) to induce a miscarriage or used as birth control – and then there were other websites stating that moringa was often used to increase nutrient intake during pregnancy for healthier babies and mothers. Long story short, the internet is full of confusing and conflicting information – so if you’re pregnant or looking to get pregnant, I would avoid moringa (better safe than sorry!) before talking to your health care provider about it (e.g. physician, nurse practitioner, pharmacist).

Moringa Mermaid consists of melon pieces, apple, carrots, pineapple, moringa, blackberry leaves, rose petals, and natural flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Moringa Mermaid in “near-boiling water” for 4 to 7 minutes. DavidsTea has updated their website to remove the temperature ranges (something that I do not like!), so I steeped Moringa Mermaid at 93°C (200°F) and I opted to do an initial steep at 5 minutes.

First Taste

Moringa Mermaid steep to a bright yellow and has a very fragrant melon aroma. I mostly smell honeydew from this blend, and perhaps some of the pineapple. The rest of the ingredients kind of linger in the background. The taste of this fruit infusion are mainly that of the honeydew, with some apple and pineapple in the background. Moringa Mermaid isn’t as sweet as I thought it was going to be, especially considering the fact that there’s so many fruit ingredients in it.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Moringa Mermaid and found that the flavour was very watered down compared to the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Moringa Mermaid was just okay. I actually quite enjoyed the initial steep of Moringa Mermaid, but found it kind of annoying that I couldn’t taste most of the ingredients in the blend. I think it’d make for a great summer iced tea, and I think if you like honeydew, you might want to try this one. I do, however, wish that there was better information out there about moringa or that DavidsTea had a section on their website about the risks and benefits to ingesting some of the herbal ingredients that they include in their blends. I also wish they would put the temperature information back on their website (it doesn’t matter as much for an herbal or fruit infusion, but it does for green and white teas).

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Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel

Minty Marvel by Wize Monkey
Herbal Tisane / Flavoured
$10.49 for 35g (15 sachets)

Wize Monkey has provided me with Minty Marvel for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Spring has me feeling the bright colours lately, and check out the bright aqua that Wize Monkey has chosen for their Minty Marvel! I’m a picky herbal lover, and I really have to be ‘in the mood’ for certain flavours – mint being one of them. I was happy to open up the packaging on these sachets to give them a try. Minty Marvel comes in pyramid sachets, much like the other Wize Monkey blends that I’ve tried so far. The mint aroma is strong, I can’t quite pinpoint with my nose which mint that I smell though.

Minty Marvel consists of arabica leaves and natural mint flavour.

Preparation

Wize Monkey recommends steeping Minty Marvel at 95C (203F) for as long as you’d like. The fun thing about coffee leaf is that, unlike tea leaves, it doesn’t get bitter if it gets steeped for a long time. My initial steep of Minty Marvel was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Minty Marvel steeps to a beautiful golden orange that is really pleasant to look at. The aroma from Minty Marvel is undoubtedly mint. I get the strong minty aroma right off the bat and it’s got a refreshing aroma that makes me think of summer. The flavour of this minty tisane is primarily that of the coffee leaf base, with a coolness that kind of just coats the inside of my mouth as I drink it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s conflicting as I’m drinking a cup of hot coffee leaf tea while having this cooling sensation in my mouth. The coffee leaf base has a nice roasted nuts quality about it, and the mint flavour is just kind of hanging out at the end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Minty Marvel once, and found it to be mostly the coffee leaf base on resteep. I would say that Minty Marvel is good for one steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel was just okay. I enjoyed the coolness from the mint flavouring, and the coffee leaf base was pleasant to taste. I wish the mint flavouring had been more pronounced, since it was aromatically present in the dry leaf and in the aroma of the steeped tea. I think it could be improved with the addition of mint leaves in the blend, or a heavier hand with the mint flavouring. That said, if you’re a fan of the coffee leaf tea base, I think you’d be quite happy with this one since it retains the flavour of the coffee leaf quite well throughout.

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