Category: Review

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Masters Teas’ Bai Hao Yin Zhen

Bai Hao Yin Zhen by Masters Teas
White Tea / Straight
$29.00USD for 1.5oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Bai Hao Yin Zhen for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Bai Hao Yin Zhen came in a sealed, resealable pouch. I’m tickled at the opportunity to try the April 2021 harvest of this tea, after having had the April 2020 harvest. The leaves come from Fujian, China, and were harvested in this year. As with most of the teas from Masters Teas, the teas are single origin and description of the farmers and location – which is a nice little touch that you don’t get with a tea that isn’t single origin.

Bai Hao Yin Zhen is also known as Silver Needle, and one of the trademark characteristics for a good Silver Needle is to be covered with those fuzzy feathery parts on the leaves. These leaves are green or fuzzy white. The leaves are soft and have a very faint, sweet and floral aroma and are just really pretty to look at. I do wish that the aroma was stronger, to give me a better idea of what’s to come, but I’m still eager to taste it.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Bai Hao Yin Zhen in 170°F (77°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Bai Hao Yin Zhen for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Bai Hao Yin Zhen steeps to a pale yellow. It has a sweet floral aroma. It’s a faint colour, but the flavour is interesting. I find it to be a blend of light floral sweetness, with a hint of hay or grass. It makes for a complex blend, as I find it difficult to determine where one flavour ends and the other begins – it’s so well blended with a nice hint of sweetness to round it all out.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Bai Hao Yin Zhen seven times (eight steeps total with the same leaves), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour deepened – more grassy and straw and less floral as I steeped. It lacked sweetness by the end of my steeping session of the leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’ Bai Hao Yin Zhen. This was definitely pleasant to drink and experience from the dry leaf to steeped tea. I admired the beauty in the dry leaf, and then getting to taste the tea as I went through the steeps was a real treat. I would definitely recommend resteeping these leaves, and enjoy having it hot or perhaps cold steeped or iced – it certainly has a pleasant flavour to it with the grassy notes throughout.

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Dessert by Deb’s Cocoa Lavender Latte

Cocoa Lavender Latte by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

First Impressions

Cocoa Lavender Latte came to me as part of my subscription box from Dessert by Deb and it is an exclusive blend for members of the Tea Society (what Deb calls subscribers). This is a black tea blend that came in a sealed, resealable pouch. The name intrigues me because I love the aroma of lavender, and enjoy a good tea latte from time to time (hello, London Fog).

The aroma of Cocoa Lavender Latte is a beautiful blend. It smells like chocolate and lavender and basically like a treat. Cocoa Lavender Latte consists of organic: black tea, vanilla, cacao nibs, dark chocolate, lavender, natural cream flavour, pink cornflower petals, and calendula petals. The colours in this blend (purple, pink, yellow) is gorgeous.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Cocoa Lavender Latte in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 6 minutes.

First Taste

Cocoa Lavender Latte steeps to a deep reddish brown and has an oily slick across the top – thank you from the cacao nibs and dark chocolate. It tastes of lavender, chocolate and hints of vanilla at the tail end of each sip. Dessert by Deb does recommend having Cocoa Lavender Latte as a tea latte, which I opted to do.

I added some frothed soy milk to the tea. It does add a level of creaminess to the tea itself, and Cocoa Lavender Latte does become a lovely tea latte and has a lovely sweetness to it.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Cocoa Lavender Latte, but there was a lack of chocolate flavour in the first resteep. I would recommend steeping Cocoa Lavender Latte for just the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Cocoa Lavender Latte. This black tea blend definitely comes together with all my favourite things – lavender and a black tea, all in a tea latte. I enjoyed the flavour, aroma and taste – the lavender really ties it all together. I’m not sure if Dessert by Deb created this blend just for me, but it really does feel like it because it contains all things that I enjoy and I had a fine time drinking this up.

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Adagio Teas’ Blue Mango Iced Tea

Blue Mango Iced Tea by Adagio Teas
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.00USD for 6 pouches (2.1oz)

Adagio Teas has provided me with Blue Mango Iced Tea for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

It’s still summer weather here (hello, tail end of another heat wave!), so having some iced tea in the fridge is always a good idea. When Adagio Teas asked me about trying out some of their iced teas, I wasn’t able to turn it down. I do enjoy something thirst quenching. Blue Mango Iced Tea comes in a sealed, resealable pouch.

Blue Mango Iced Tea comes pouches filled with the herbal tea blend. There are 6 pouches per bag, making it 2.1oz (~60g) of tea (it’s approximately 0.35oz, or ~10g, of tea per pouch). Blue Mango Iced Tea consists of: lemon grass, butterfly pea flower, rose hips, chamomile flowers, natural mango flavour, mango pieces, marigold flowers and lychee flavour. The aroma is very heavy of lemon grass and chamomile. The mango is more of a background aroma.

Preparation

Adagio Teas’ steeping instructions for Blue Mango Iced Tea are to place in refrigerator over night, with 1 pouch per quart (1 quart = ~1L). I opted to pop the pouch into an pitcher with room temperature water and then into the fridge overnight.

First Taste

Blue Mango Iced Tea cold steeps to a deep blue colour. The aroma is mostly lemongrass and chamomile. The mango is more of a background fragrance. The flavour is primarily lemon grass, chamomile, with hints of mango in the background. It does have a refreshing quality to it, beautiful blue colouring from the butterfly pea flower, and the mango is just lingering in the background.

A Second Cup?

As the pouch of tisane was steeped overnight, I opted not to attempt a resteep given the nature of it being an herbal infusion. But look at how the beautiful the butterfly pea flower is when it opens.

My Overall Impression

I liked Adagio Teas’ Blue Mango Iced Tea. It’s easy to use as it’s measured out already, steeps to a beautiful blue colour, and has a refreshing flavour to it.. I liked the flavour of the lemon grass and the chamomile, but I do wish that the mango was stronger. It’s quite a background note in comparison the lemon grass, which is a much stronger flavour than the mango. I did enjoy Blue Mango Iced Tea, and the colour is a lot of fun.

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