Category: Review

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Fox Tea Club’s Forest Lake

Forest Lake by Fox Tea Club
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.95USD for 2oz

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Fox Tea Club has provided me with Forest Lake for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

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With a name like Forest Lake, I wasn’t sure what to expect this tea to smell like. Would it smell like trees? When I opened the packaging, I was immediately smelling the smokey aroma that is unmistakably lapsang souchong. There are some light fruity undertones to the smokey dry leaves. I can make out the aroma of berries and it almost reminds me of late summer. The unfortunate thing is that there were a lot of forest fires near where I live this past summer, so Forest Lakes reminds me a lot of this particular past summer due to the smokey aroma.

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Officially, the list of ingredients for Forest Lake is: black tea, cranberry, pine buds, rowan, and sea buckthorn. At the time of writing, the description for this black tea blend included mention of lapsang souchong, sorbus, and currant.

Preparation

Fox Tea Club recommends steeping Forest Lake in 205°F (96°C) for 3 to 5 minutes and suggests that the leaves can be used for 2 steeps. My initial steep of Forest Lake was at 200°F (93°C) for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Forest Lake steeps to a beautiful golden colour, there’s a bit of a musky undertone to this tea and when I smell it, I can’t make out the berries that were so obviously in the dry leaf. On first sip, I’m primarily confronted with the smokey nature of the black tea base. It’s malty, robust, and there’s a hint of sour at the end of each sip – not so much that it’s overwhelming, but just enough to know that it’s there. The smokiness is strong in this black tea blend, mostly because it’s covers the smell and the taste senses – but there’s also hints of sweetness and fruitiness from the berries, but that takes a bit more effort to come out since it’s overwhelmed by the smokey flavours.

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A Second Cup?

I did resteep Forest Lake, mostly because Fox Tea Club suggested that it was possible. It was – I found the smokiness to be more subdued compared to the initial steep, which allowed the other flavours in the tea blend to come out more. I attempted a second resteep of this tea and found that it was quite lacking in flavour compared to the first two steeps. I would say that Forest Lake is good for one more steep only.

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My Overall Impression

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I thought that Fox Tea Club’s Forest Lake was just okay. I’m not generally a fan of lapsang souchong or smokey blends, and I think that did play a part in my rating of this black tea blend. I did enjoy the subtleties of the berries in this tea, when I was ale to taste them. A touch of sweetener may help in drawing out the fruity flavours more. I am always glad that I don’t have allergies or food sensitivities, but do take care if you’re trying this tea if you have any fruit allergies – I would suggest contacting Fox Tea Club directly for the full ingredients list if you have any concerns since some of the ingredients mentioned in the description are missing from the ingredients list on the product page.

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Tisano’s Original Cacao Tea

Original Cacao Tea by Tisano
Herbal Infusion / Straight
$14.95USD for 4oz

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Tisano has provided me with Original Cacao Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Tisano sent me a sample of their Original Cacao Tea. The sample came to me in a resealable bag (thank goodness), and the aroma of the cacao shells is one of pure chocolate. It smells and reminds me of a rich hot chocolate. Original Cacao Tea is a tisane made up of only cacao shells. I’m not sure what a cacao shell is supposed to look like, but the tisane is made up of thin, light brown flakes and smell like a chocolate bar.

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Preparation

Tisano recommends steeping Original Cacao Tea at 210°F (99°C) water for 5 minutes. My initial steep was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Original Cacao Tea steeps to a beautiful golden brown colour. Surprisingly, there’s slight bit of oils across the top that I think it comes from the cacao shells themselves (since chocolate has oils). The aroma from the steeped tisane is nothing short of hot chocolate. Sipping Original Cacao Tea has the taste of chocolate, a slightly watery version of hot chocolate. There’s a slight bitterness to the tisane, it reminds me of dark chocolate.

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I added some cream to Original Cacao Tea and I found it helped to dull the bitterness and make it taste a touch more like hot chocolate, as it allowed the natural sweetness from the cacao to come through more.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped the Original Cacao Tea, but found that the flavour was a watery compared to the initial steep. I would recommend Original Cacao Tea for one steep only.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked Tisano’s Original Cacao Tea. I found that it was really good with the addition of cream, it made it taste like a hot chocolate. It’s a nice alternative to the sugary commercial hot chocolate mix available out there. I wasn’t too fond of the bitter notes with the straight tisane, so I recommend adding some cream or milk to make it into a rich hot chocolate drink.

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Teazorean’s Orange Pekoe

Orange Pekoe by Teazorean
Black Tea / Straight
$15.83 for 32g

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Teazorean has provided me with Orange Pekoe for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

When Teazorean got in contact with me about trying out their teas, I was intrigued. Teazorean describes themselves as a “socially conscious” tea company, where 5% of net proceeds of their products goes towards Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Also to set them apart is the fact that their tea originates from a tea farm in Europe (the only commercial tea farm in Europe!), and can be found in part of the Azores Islands in Portugal – which is a series of volcanic islands.

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Orange Pekoe came to me in a sampler-sized tin with 10g of the classic straight black tea. The tea leaves themselves vary in size, with beautiful golden orange tips at the end of some of the leaves. The aroma from the leaves is quite subtle, but there’s a sweet mixture of floral and a robustness that reminds me of Assam.

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Preparation

Teazorean recommends steeping Orange Pekoe at 205°F (96°C) for 5 minutes. I followed the recommended steeping instructions for my initial steep of Orange Pekoe.

First Taste

Orange Pekoe steeps to a beautiful golden orange, with a very subtle aroma that wafts up from the tea. I smell a touch of honeyed floral sweetness in this black tea. On first sip, I taste a slight sweetness, floral, with a touch of astringency. I found the flavour to be complex and inviting, while being fairly similar to the orange pekoe teas that I’ve enjoyed in the past. I found the Assam-like qualities to this tea to add a bit of oomph behind this tea, and reminds me of the strength of a classic breakfast tea.

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I added a touch of honey and cream to my cup of Orange Pekoe to make it reminiscent of the milk tea of my childhood. I found that the honey helped boost the floral flavours, while the cream helped to tone down the astringency of the tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped the Orange Pekoe leaves a few times and managed to resteep them an extra three times. I found that the flavour of the tea stayed true to itself for the first two resteeps, while becoming considerably weaker by the third. I would say that Orange Pekoe would be good for an additional two resteeps.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Teazorean’s Orange Pekoe. The natural sweet, floral aroma and flavour to this volcanic island black tea is such a delight to the senses. I’m not terribly fond of the mild astringency that I found, but when I added the sweetener and cream (like I often do with some black teas), the astringency disappears. The robustness of this tea reminds me of breakfast teas, so this could do for a good coffee replacement if you’re looking to switch from coffee to tea. It takes sweeteners and cream/milk very well, so it’d also do well as a latte as well if you’re into tea lattes.

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