Tag: Oteas

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Oteas’s Organic Darjeeling

Organic Darjeeling by Oteas
Black Tea / Straight
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Organic Darjeeling for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Oteas’s Organic Darjeeling came in what is now a very familiar cardstock box. Inside was the tea bags inside of a plastic bag for all that freshness. The tea sachets are biodegradable, which is always a feature I like to point out because being environmentally friendly is a good thing.

Darjeeling has an interesting aroma – I find it to be a mix of earthy and nutty notes that is inviting. There’s a nice mix of shade of browns with hints of green in the tea leaves, along with some reddish browns. It’s amazing how many different colours can be found in a single tea.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Organic Darjeeling in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep of this black tea was for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Darjeeling steeps to a golden reddish orange. The aroma of the tea is a lighter earthy fragrance compared to the dry leaf. There’s some roasted nutty notes in the flavour of the tea, and I found it to be mildly astringent when the tea’s been steeped for four minutes. It made for a pleasant cup of tea. If you’re not fond of astringency in your tea, I would add a bit of cream or milk to help temper the tea. As a black tea, it would take sweetener well also.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Darjeeling twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each steep. Look at how much those leaves opened up! I found that the flavour stayed pretty consistent throughout, with the astringency lessening with each steep – which made it increasingly pleasant.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Organic Darjeeling. I love the flavour of Organic Darjeeling has and how it’s reflected in the aroma of the dry leaf. Bonus points for the astringency not being too strong and lessening with each steep – a quality that is easily fixed if you’re not a fan of the astringency. But I enjoyed the roasted nutty flavours throughout, it makes for a nice savoury cup of tea that’s a nice option for afternoon tea.

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Oteas’s Rooibos Vanilla

Rooibos Vanilla by Oteas
Rooibos / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Rooibos Vanilla for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Rooibos Vanilla came in a shrink wrapped cardboard box that holds the 12 tea sachets – made of biodegradable material. There’s a bit of information on the box regarding the origin of rooibos – from the South African coast near the Cedar Mountains and how it’s been cultivated since 1930. There is a strong rooibos aroma, with light notes of vanilla in the background.

Rooibos Vanilla consists of the ingredients in the name: rooibos and vanilla. The strong rooibos aroma is medicinal to me, which is great for people who enjoy rooibos.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Rooibos Vanilla in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 8 minutes. My initial steep of Rooibos Vanilla was for 6 minutes.

First Taste

Rooibos Vanilla steeps to a golden red colour. There’s a strong rooibos aroma from the steeped tisane. I found that the taste was primarily of the rooibos – it has a strong medicinal flavour to it. There was a light sweetness of vanilla throughout. I enjoyed the vanilla flavour, but not so much the rooibos base – but rooibos isn’t my favourite.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Rooibos Vanilla once, and found that the vanilla flavour was mostly gone in the second steep of the same leaves. I would have enjoyed more vanilla notes.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Oteas’s Rooibos Vanilla was just okay. I think the vanilla flavour was great, but unfortunately I’m not a huge fan of rooibos in general. I found that the rooibos flavour was strong throughout and it did resteep well with strong rooibos flavour in the second steep. For fans of rooibos, you may enjoy this one because the vanilla notes are very pleasant and the flavour of rooibos is smooth.

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Oteas’s Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon

Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon by Oteas
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon come in pyramid tea sachets, that are in a bag that’s inside of a box. As mentioned in previous Oteas reviews where the tea comes in sachets, the bags are biodegradable – which I think is so awesome. As a fair disclaimer, I haven’t tried composting one of the sachets – I live in a condo, so I can’t really keep a compost bin on the balcony (I’m sure strata would say something!) so the sachets (and tea leaves) end up in the green waste bins.

The aroma of Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon is primarily that of ginger and lemongrass, with hints of cloves and cinnamon in the background. The dry leaf looks amazingly beautiful with the flower petals throughout. Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon consists of: lemongrass, ginger pieces, cinnamon, fennel, licorice root, pineapple granules, orange peels, basil, spearmint leaves, pimienta triturada, tangerine orange granules, cloves, osmanthus flowers, pink pepper, pink cornflowers. Oteas mentions that people with hypertension should “avoid excessive consumption” of products with licorice root.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon in 100°C (212°F) water for 8 to 10 minutes. My initial steep was for 10 minutes.

First Taste

Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon steeps to a beautiful golden yellow-orange colour. The aroma of this herbal blend is primarily lemongrass and ginger, I find the cinnamon has a hard time being strong with those other more powerful, fragrant ingredients. There is a gentle sweetness with this blend and I can taste the lemongrass and ginger, with light flavours of the cinnamon at the end of each sip. There’s an almost fruity quality in the sweetness, which may be coming from the pineapple and tangerine.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon, but I found the flavour to be lacking in comparison to the initial steep. I would recommend steeping Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon. I found the flavour to be quite good, although I do wish that the cinnamon had been more prominent, but it had some tough competition. The sweetness in the blend is nice, and I felt that it helped temper down the ginger, which normally adds a spiciness to things. I had this blend hot, and found it to be pleasant – I think it would be nice as an iced tea or cold steeped, since the ginger would add some heat in the flavour.

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