Category: Review

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The Key of Tea’s ImmuniTea

ImmuniTea by The Key of Tea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.00USD for 2oz

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The Key of Tea has provided me with ImmuniTea for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

ImmuniTea has an excellent punny name and the Key of Tea’s website states that this blend is of immune-boosting herbs. ImmunitTea consists of: elderberry, rosehips, peppermint, lavender, sage, hibiscus, ginger root, and echinacea. The ingredient that really stands out the most to me when smell the dry herbal blend is the ginger. Ginger in general can be a pretty strong ingredient, so I’m not surprised that it overpowers the other ingredients before it’s been steeped. It’s a very pretty blend though, I love how I can see the individual ingredients in the blend.

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A word of advice, some herbs can interact with prescription medications so it’s always a good idea to talk to your physicians/pharmacists and let them know that you’ll be taking any herbal supplements. Here is an image of the retail packaging, provided by The of Key of Tea:

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Preparation

The Key of Tea’s website didn’t have any preparation recommendations for ImmuniTea, I used boiling water (100°C/212°F) and steeped it for 5 minutes.

First Taste

ImmuniTea steeps to a very pretty reddish-orange. I love the smell of it as I poured it into my tea cup – the smell of ginger, lavender, and peppermint wafts up to me and it just puts me into a really good mood! There’s just something about it that smell delicious and inviting. On first sip, I note that ImmuniTea has a light sweetness. There’s a strong ginger flavour, with a freshness at the end of each sip. I found that the combination of ingredients makes for a nice warming sensation.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped ImmuniTea twice with an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found the first resteep was a bit milder than the first, and the second resteep wasn’t as good. I think that ImmuniTea is good for a total of two steeps.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved The Key of Tea’s ImmuniTea. The warming sensation was a delight, thanks to the ginger. I loved the freshness at the end of each sip, that I attribute to the peppermint. The sweetness of this herbal blend adds a little extra something to it, and makes it a tasty delight. It’s a good blend of herbal ingredients and I do enjoy a good herbal tea from time to time because the lack of caffeine means I can drink it at 9pm and not feel energized all night long. The ginger is the strongest ingredient in the dry leaf and steeped tea, and it’s just so good and works well as a pick-me-up.

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Grand Tea’s Premium Bi Luo Chun

Premium Bi Luo Chun by Grand Tea
Green Tea / Straight
$45.00HKD for 25g

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Grand Tea has provided me with Premium Bi Luo Chun for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

Bi Luo Chun is known as green spring snail, and it’s a green tea. I ripped open the sample packet and was surprised and how small the tea appeared. I learned from Grand Tea‘s website that the tea is hand picked in early spring, so when the leaves are small. The tea leaves are amazingly soft, completely covered with soft downy feathers on the leaves.

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Premium Bi Luo Chun has a very light, sweet floral fragrance. It’s a straight green tea from the Suzhou Province in China.

Preparation

Grand Tea recommends steeping Premium Bi Luo Chun in 75-80°C (167-176°F) water for 1-3 minutes. I steeped my teapot of Premium Bi Luo Chun in 175°F water for 90 seconds.

First Taste

Premium Bi Luo Chun steeps to a pale yellow. On first taste, the tea has a light floral sweetness throughout the whole sip. There is a hint of astringency at the end of each sip, and the floral flavours linger on as an aftertaste. I find the astringency isn’t overwhelming, so the tea is quite palatable.

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A Second Cup?

The tea leaves resteep well, I did a total of five resteeps with an additional 30 seconds per steep. The floral flavours are more pronounced in the first resteep. I find that the astringency mellows out and the floral notes grow stronger. It’s quite a pleasant flavour profile in the whelm of green teas, I like that it isn’t savoury or vegetal in taste.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked Grand Tea’s Premium Bi Luo Chun. I quite liked this green tea in the complexity of the floral and astringency, it’s delicious and it tastes well. I found the astringency isn’t very strong, and the floral flavour is good. I think the sweet floral notes make it a delight on the tongue. I drank this tea while having cookies and can certainly say with great authority that this straight green tea goes well with sweets and desserts. I think it would also pair well with savouries because the light sweetness would mingle well with a savoury dish as long as it isn’t too heavy because the tea is so light and refreshing.

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Oollo Tea’s Maliba High Mountain Oolong

Maliba High Mountain Oolong by Oollo Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$10.00 for 25g

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Oollo Tea has provided me with Maliba High Mountain Oolong for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

Oollo Tea’s Maliba High Mountain Oolong is a 2015 spring harvest, and from the Maliba area of Nantou, Taiwan. I quite like the fact that they provide information of various teas. I ripped open the package of Maliba High Mountain Oolong and it kind of slipped out onto the table – graceful, I was not. Maliba High Mountain Oolong has this very light floral fragrance, mixed with something that reminds me of the ocean – just the salt water smell that you can experience when you’re by the ocean.

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Maliba High Mountain Oolong is dark, tightly rolled, and I’m very curious about how it will unfurl when steeped. This is a straight oolong tea from Taiwan that was grown at an elevation of 2000m.

Preparation

Oollo Tea recommends steeping Maliba High Mountain Oolong at 90-95°C (194-203°F) for 1.5-5 minutes. I steeped 2.5g of Maliba High Mountain Oolong in 195°F water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Maliba High Mountain Oolong steeps incredibly pale in the first steep, a very pale yellow. There aroma of the tea has strong floral notes. When I sipped the oolong for the first time, Maliba High Mountain Oolong has a nice sweet floral note, with just a touch of saltiness. The salty notes of the tea adds a bit of umami quality to the tea, the savoury notes mingles well with the sweet floral notes. The complexity of the flavour profile in Maliba High Mountain Oolong is a delight on the tongue.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Maliba High Mountain Oolong a grand total of seven times, adding an additional 30 seconds per steep. The floral becomes a bit more subdued throughout the steepings, and the savoury notes become more prominent. I found that the flavour was most intense for the first resteep, and it remained fairly strong until the very end.

Maliba High Mountain Oolong unfurls and opens up an amazing amount. The unsteeped tea is 2.5g and the steeped side is also 2.5g – look at how much it opens up! I’m always amazed at how much the tea leaves will open up when it’s steeped.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Oollo Tea’s Maliba High Mountain Oolong. I love the sweet-savoury aspect of the initial steep of this oolong, and also how the tea gets more savoury with each additional steep. The oolong has a great flavour, and I love the fact that it can be resteeped so much. The umami flavour is great, and I love that it’s affordably priced, especially considering how well it resteeps.

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