Category: Review

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Oteas’s Strawberry and Cream

Strawberry and Cream by Oteas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Strawberry and Cream for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed after removing the shrink wrap plastic from the box of Strawberry and Cream is the aroma. There is such a rich and strong strawberry aroma from the dry leaf – it’s very inviting and it reminds me of the smell of strawberry and cream ice cream. I can smell the strawberry and hibiscus, which is nice.

Strawberry and Cream comes portioned into tea sachets – which are biodegradable, as per Oteas. Strawberry and Cream consists of: hibiscus, apple pieces, rose hip peels, orange peels, strawberry pieces, and natural flavouring. I don’t really smell the orange or apple, but I think that’s because the strawberry and hibiscus are so strong in comparison (perhaps the natural flavouring is also strawberry?).

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Strawberry and Cream in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 10 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions and steeped for 7½ minutes.

First Taste

Strawberry and Cream steeps to a very bright pink colour, very quickly. The aroma from the steeped tisane is very much like the dry leaf – strawberry and cream ice cream, but the hibiscus is more fragrant so there’s a nice floral overtone to the fragrance of the overall cup. I found that Strawberry and Cream has a nice sweetness, a good amount of strawberry flavour, with some tartness that I’m attributing to the hibiscus.

I had this both hot and iced, and while it’s really good hot, I liked it better iced. The level of fruitiness lends itself well to be a summertime treat and I would even recommend mixing it with a bit of lemonade to make it even more summery.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Strawberry and Cream, but I think I sapped out all the flavour in the initial steep. I would recommend steeping Strawberry and Cream just the initial time – so make it a good one!

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Strawberry and Cream. I think it has a great strawberry flavour and really tastes like the name suggests. I would highly suggest having this tea iced (perhaps cold steeped?) and if you wanted to put it over the top, add some lemonade for a great summer drink! The flavour is great and I think it’d be great to pair with a picnic or barbecue party.

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Tea Experience: Ladurée

Ladurée
Vancouver, BC
Afternoon Tea $55 each

If you’re ever walking down Robson Street in Vancouver, the Ladurée seems almost too whimsical to exist. With the pale green exterior, and the magical storefront windows feature macaron displays, Ladurée is a little Parisian escape in the middle of the city.

I had the pleasure of going to for Ladurée’s Afternoon Tea with a friend who (thankfully!) didn’t mind that I take photos of literally everywhere. The front of their Tea Salon is their shop – featuring beautiful desserts, and the back is the dining area for those wishing to take part in lunch or afternoon tea. Continue reading “Tea Experience: Ladurée”

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Adagio Teas’s Chai Latte Concentrates

Chai Latte Concentrates by Adagio Teas
Black Tea, Green Tea, Rooibos / Flavoured
$9.00USD for 18oz (6 servings)

Adagio Teas has provided me with Chai Latte Concentrates.

First Impressions

I received the Chai Latte sampler from Adagio Teas when I was getting my samples from Masters Teas to review, and I figured I would review these as well! I got one pouch each of the Chai Latte, Green Latte, and Rooibos Latte concentrates. From what I can tell from the Adagio Teas website, you can buy each type individually as a 6 serving box, with the concentrates portioned out in the pouches.

The pouches that I received look like this, containing 3oz of concentrate for a single-serve cup of latte. Chai Latte is definitely the darkest of the three, with Green Latte being a reddish colour and the Rooibos Latte being a milk chocolate colour. From the product pages, I was able to find out that the Green and Rooibos offerings are meant to be called Green Chai Latte and Rooibos Chai Latte.

Chai Latte and Green Latte smell the same – both have a strong spice aroma to it. Rooibos Latte has a spice aroma, but also a very mild rooibos fragrance in the background.

Left to right: Rooibos Latte, Green Latte, and Chai Latte

Chai Latte consists of: water, cane sugar, black tea, and natural flavour.

Green Latte consists of: water, cane sugar, green tea, and natural flavour.

Rooibos Latte consists of: water, cane sugar, rooibos, and natural flavour.

As someone who loves Chai and doesn’t have food allergies, I’m not too put off by the fact that Adagio Teas doesn’t list the spices in the concentrates, but I know a lot of people who do have allergies, so I think it would be great if they updated the product pages with the full ingredients. I can definitely smell ginger and cinnamon in the concentrates.

Preparation

Adagio Teas recommends mixing 1 pouch of concentrate (3oz) with 1 cup of warmed milk, so that’s what I did with each of them – I used warmed unsweetened soy milk because that’s what I had on hand.

First Taste

I found all three to be sweet and spicy.

Left to right: Green Latte and Chai Latte

I found Chai Latte to have a good level of spice flavour, I can definitely tell that it has a black tea base and it reminds me of a sweeter version of a Chai Latte from Starbucks.

The Green Latte is a bit milder in flavour in comparison to the Chai Latte, which I think is because of the green tea base. I don’t really taste green tea in it though, as I find that the spices really overpower the green tea.

Rooibos Latte

Surprisingly, I found the Rooibos Latte to be tasty. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I’m not generally a fan of rooibos blends but the rooibos base in the Rooibos Latte is mostly covered up by the spice flavour-forward profile so I didn’t really taste the rooibos at all.

A Second Cup?

The Chai Concentrates are good for one-time-use only, so there were no second cups.

My Overall Impression

I loved Adagio Teas’s Chai Concentrates. I would say that my favourite would probably be the Chai Latte (black tea), mostly because I didn’t really taste the green tea or rooibos base in the other two (Green Latte and Rooibos Latte). I found that all three to be on the sweet side, which I think could be easily corrected by adding more than 1 cup of warmed milk to 1 pouch of concentrate. It’s very easy to prepare each of them, and I didn’t have any issues with the pouches. I think it would be great if the concentrates came in a more environmentally friendly packaging, since I’m not sure if the pouches are recyclable. A Tetra Pak-like carton, or glass bottle, would be a great option to sell in a multi-serving option for those who don’t want to buy single-serving pouches and would make it recycling friendly.

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