Tag: Lemon Lily

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Lemon Lily’s Cherry Vanilla

Cherry Vanilla by Lemon Lily
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 50g

Lemon Lily’s Cherry Vanilla came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s August themed subscription box.

First Impressions

Cherry Vanilla came to me in a matte white resealable foil bag. What I enjoy about Lemon Lily is that they do take care in selecting their ingredients for their tea blends. For example, this black tea blend contains all certified organic ingredients: black tea, cherries, vanilla bean, safflower, and natural flavour.

The dry leaf mostly smells like vanilla to me with a hint of cherry. Vanilla in teas always remind me of baking or making me want to bake, so it’s probably good that I’m having this tea as the weather starts to turn cooler since I can stand having the oven on now.

Preparation

Lemon Lily recommends steeping Cherry Vanilla in 93°C (200°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. My initial steep was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Cherry Vanilla steeps to a golden orange. There are hints of cherry and vanilla in the aroma of the tea. On first sip, I do note that there’s a nice sweetness to the tea, it’s very pleasant on the tongue. I find that the cherry flavour is a bit lost, I think that the vanilla is a bit stronger and so is the black tea base. At a five minute steep, there’s just a subtle hint of astringency behind the base of the tea that may be overpowering the delicate fruit flavours.

With the natural sweetness, I think this tea may fair better being had iced or even cold steeped, which may help preserve some of the more delicate cherry flavour.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Cherry Vanilla once and found that the flavour of the vanilla was mostly gone, and couldn’t find the fruity flavours. The black tea base is, however, very nice on its own and does well in being resteeped.

My Overall Impression

I liked Lemon Lily’s Cherry Vanilla. I think that the black tea base is a bit too strong for some of the more lighter flavours of the vanilla and the cherry, although I really do think the flavour concept is great. I would recommend having this tea iced or cold steeped, to help temper some of that astringency from the black tea and to also help the vanilla and cherry notes shine through a bit more.

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Lemon Lily’s Pink Lemonade

Pink Lemonade by Lemon Lily
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 50g

Lemon Lily’s Pink Lemonade came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s June themed subscription box.

First Impressions

Pink Lemonade came in a resealable white foil pouch, with a now-familiar label on the front. Lemon Lily’s teas generally come in increments of 50g or more, but The Sugared Teacup gets them specially packaged for the subscription boxes. The first thing I noted when I opened the packaging is that it smells like lemonade. I can see the hibiscus, which is what I’m assuming gives the tea a pink colour.

Pink Lemonade consists of black tea, hibiscus, lemon peel, lemongrass, and raspberry leaf – all organic ingredients and Lemon Lily’s products are certified by Ecocert Canada.

Preparation

Lemon Lily recommends steeping Pink Lemonade in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. My initial steep was for 6 minutes.

First Taste

Pink Lemonade steeps to a beautiful dark pink colour, and it smells exactly what you’d expect a tea called “Pink Lemonade” to smell like. There’s a really nice, bright lemon aroma that comes from the tea. On first taste, I really noticed the lemon, and there was a good amount of tartness in the tea that really reminds me of lemonade. I’m not sure if the tart quality is coming from the lemon ingredients or from the hibiscus (likely the hibiscus, I think). If you’re not a huge fan of tart teas, I would recommend adding a bit of sugar or sweetener to help balance out the flavours.

I also iced a cup of Pink Lemonade and I’m pleased to share that it is very good iced as well.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Pink Lemonade. I found that the flavour was alright, and the colour was considerably weaker in comparison to the initial steep. I think Pink Lemonade is good for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Lemon Lily’s Pink Lemonade. I think the flavour was fantastic, and it tasted just as I expected it to based on the name and the fragrance from the dried leaf. I really liked the colour and flavour in my initial steep of Pink Lemonade. I think this black tea is best iced/cold, and with a touch of sweetener if you’re not into having a bit of a pucker action going on due to the tartness of the tea.

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Lemon Lily’s London Fog

London Fog by Lemon Lily
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 50g

Lemon Lily’s London Fog came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s April themed subscription box.

First Impressions

Lemon Lily’s London Fog came to me via The Sugared Tea Cup’s April themed subscription box (late spoilers: it was all things British in preparation for the Royal Wedding last month!). I can definitely smell the bergamot, it’s very strong and overwhelms the vanilla. I can see the pieces of vanilla bean, but smelling it is a whole other story. The black tea has some long, wiry leaves in it which is nice to see – I can’t smell them though since the bergamot is a force to be reckoned with.

London Fog consists of: black tea, vanilla bean, and natural bergamot – all organic ingredients.

Preparation

Lemon Lily recommends steeping London Fog in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. My initial steep of London Fog was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

London Fog steeps to a deep reddish-brown colour. There’s a very mild vanilla aroma to it, with the bergamot being very much present (much like it was in the dry leaf). There’s a mild astringency to London Fog when I drink it, causing a little bit of a mouth pucker. I found there was a light vanilla flavour, with a slight creaminess behind each sip. The bergamot flavour is very present, with a bright citrus flavour throughout.

Given its name, I did try London Fog with a bit of sweetener (I used locally harvested honey) and evaporated milk. I found that the vanilla flavour to be more present once the bergamot had been tempered down.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped London Fog twice, adding an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the first resteep was very much like the initial steep, while the second had no vanilla flavour that I could find. I would say that London Fog is good for a least one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Lemon Lily’s London Fog. I think it’s really great with some extra sweetener and milk. I found, for me, the bergamot was quite powerful and it was overwhelming the more gentler flavour of the vanilla bean and I would have liked for the vanilla to be more present. I think if the flavours had been a bit better balanced, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

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