Angry Alpaca – One More Steep

Be Excellent To Each Other! by Angry Alpaca
Black Tea & White Tea / Flavoured

I received Be Excellent To Each Other! as a gift as part of a tea swap for the holidays in December 2020 from the lovely Jann of Tea With Jann (check her out on YouTube!). As it was a gift, I won’t be looking up the price, but I will include the link to the company’s Facebook page so you can check out their other available tea blends as well as Be Excellent To Each Other!

First Impressions

Be Excellent To Each Other! came in a nice papery-feeling pouch that’s resealable and as a plastic liner layer. The front features a colourful label with beautiful artwork, while the back has a clear window to see the tea, information about the tea (ingredients, steeping instructions), information about the artist (“Still Lake Sunrise” by Ontario artist Stefan Hartman), as well as a sticker indicating that proceeds of the sale of the tea have been donated to an organization called Youth Project, which provides support and services to youth around issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. So much to unpack and read on the bag, which I’m more than happy to share with all of you.

Be Excellent To Each Other! is described by Angry Alpaca as a blueberry flavoured black & white tea. The tea itself is gorgeous – I love the very obvious difference between the tea leaves present in the blend. I can see the white tea, I can see the black tea, I can see some beautiful petals and berries in the mix. This tea smells like blueberries and reminds me of a blueberry jam – which I would really like to get some freshly made preserves right now for a warm oven-fresh scone… Be Excellent To Each Other! consists of all organic: black tea, white tea, blueberries, elderberry, calendula petals, cornflower petals, and natural essences.

Preparation

Angry Alpaca recommends steeping Be Excellent To Each Other! in 85°C (185°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep ended up being for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Be Excellent To Each Other! steeps to a really pretty golden orange colour, and has a nice clarity to it. The aroma of the tea is both fruity-berry and floral. It’s definitely a “spring” or “summer” time tea to me because of those aroma notes. The flavour is just a little bit sweet – there’s a mix of floral, sweet, blueberries with something in it that makes me think of dried apricots. Be Excellent To Each Other! has a nice crispness to it that remind me of that first hit of bubbles from a sip of sparkling water.

A Second Cup?

I tried resteeping Be Excellent To Each Other!, but I found that the berry flavour was lacking in the first resteep which made me a bit disappointed. I would recommend steeping Be Excellent To Each Other! just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I loved Angry Alpaca’s Be Excellent To Each Other! I was smitten with the artwork, the fact that proceeds gets donated to a youth initiative, and the fact that the tea just smells and tastes good. I think this is definitely a ‘spring’ tea and I’m going to be having this iced very, very soon (perhaps even topped off with some sparkling water…). The blend of white and black tea with the berries really makes it tasty, and it’s not overly sweet so there’s opportunity to change it up a little bit to your liking.

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Bohemian Raspberry by Angry Alpaca
Green Tea & Oolong Tea / Flavoured

I received Bohemian Raspberry as a gift as part of a tea swap for the holidays in December 2020 from the lovely Jann of Tea With Jann (check her out on YouTube!). As it was a gift, I won’t be looking up the price, but I will include the link to the company’s Facebook page so you can check out their other available tea blends as well as Bohemian Raspberry.

First Impressions

Some things that really stood out to me was the feel of the packaging – it has a soft paper-feel to it with fibres that hang off a bit, and it’s resealable. The label is fun – bright colours with a crocodile?! I find the idea of a ‘naturally aggressive tea’ to be a bold statement, which makes me want to try the tea even more. The name of the blend itself is punny, which I do like. The back of the packaging has a clear window to see the tea, and a label that includes instructions, ingredients, the fact that this tea is made in River Hebert, Nova Scotia (hello, maritimes!), as well as including an artist credit to the cover art (a British Columbian artist by the handle @GOZNO. All in all, a very nice first impression with the packaging.

The tea itself has a really bright berry aroma to it. I can definitely see the leaves, petals, and berries mixed it. I can smell the green tea, not so much the oolong, but also the floral and berry aromas as well. It definitely reminds me of something that could be had iced and I’d probably be pretty happy about it. Bohemian Raspberry consists of: green tea, oolong tea, dried strawberries, dried raspberries, hibiscus, lime leaves, calendula, carthage and sunflower petals.

Preparation

Angry Alpaca recommends steeping Bohemian Raspberry in 90°C (194°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions and did an initial steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Bohemian Raspberry steeps to a very pretty golden yellow colour. It has a strong berry aroma to it, and I can smell the oolong! The flavour of the tea itself is nice – get some grassiness from the green tea, some strong floral notes, I can definitely taste the berries, and there’s a buttery quality that lingers in the background that I believe to be from the oolong base. It’s well balanced with not a whole lot of sweetness, but it doesn’t seem to really need it. Bohemian Raspberry is pleasant hot, but I imagine it would be stellar as an iced tea with those fruity flavours. I’m a bit surprised that it didn’t end up steeping a bit more pink or more tart, given the presence of the hibiscus.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Bohemian Raspberry once by adding an additional 30 seconds to the steep time and found the flavour to be a bit lacking compared to the initial steep. The fruitiness from the berries just wasn’t as forward as I would have wanted it to be, but the green tea and oolong tea bases both shine a bit more. So I would recommend resteeping if you’re a fan of the base teas.

My Overall Impression

I loved Angry Alpaca’s Bohemian Raspberry. I really enjoyed the flavour profile that they were able to create with both the green tea and oolong tea base. I think the fruity flavours are nice and really shined in the initial steep. I’m definitely going to set aside the rest of the bag for some cold steeping/iced teas for this summer because I just really think it’ll do well iced or cold steeped. Plus, I do need to give bonus points to a company who takes such care in their design to include fun artwork, highlighting Canadian artists, and giving their tea blend a punny name.

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