Tag: Oteas

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Oteas’s Berry Blend

Berry Blend by Oteas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 tea sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Berry Blend for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Another week, another Oteas tea to drink! This week’s review is actually of a fruit infusion blend, called Berry Blend. The tisane comes prepackaged into biodegradable tea sachets, that came to me in a shrink-wrapped cardstock box. Berry Blend has a really bright, mixed berries aroma to it, which is really inviting because the weather is getting warmer where I am and it reminds me a lot of a fruit punch.

Berry Blend consists of: currants, hibiscus, elderberries, grapes, blackberries, flavour, and raspberry fruit granulate. I did have to look up what ‘fruit granulate’ is, and the general gist of it is that fruit granulate is freeze-dried fruit pieces – the more you know!

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Berry Blend in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 10 minutes. I did an initial steep of Berry Blend for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Berry Blend steeps to a beautiful dark pink colour – it’s actually pretty close to what colour my hair is currently. There’s a really bright and fresh berry aroma from it. On first taste, I notice that Berry Blend has a really sweet, fruity/berry flavour to it. There is a tartness to it, which isn’t surprising because this fruit infusion has hibiscus in it and that generally gives drinks a pink colour and tart flavour. It is tasty though, and would make for an excellent iced tea.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Berry Blend, but found that the flavours and colour were not quite where I wanted it to be in comparison to the initial steep. I would recommend Berry Blend for just one steep (and have it iced!).

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Berry Blend. With he weather warming up, I’m really enjoying more teas and tisanes that taste good at a cooler temperature or iced. I really enjoyed drinking it because it had a great fruity flavour and the colour was just so intense! I can see this making a great iced tea during the summer and it’s quite refreshing because of the sweet and tart flavours.

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Oteas’s Earl Grey

Earl Grey by Oteas
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Earl Grey for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Earl Grey and I go way back.  It’s pretty much always been a tea stash staple for me. It’s a very approachable tea – easy to source out and find, easy to steep, and easy to muck around with when it comes to adding sweetener and cream. I was pleased to find Earl Grey in the package that Oteas sent me, primarily because I’m always looking forward to try new-to-me Earl Grey.

Like the other Oteas flavours that I’ve reviewed previously, this one contains teas in biodegradable sachets – which is great for the environment! The tea has the very classic Earl Grey aroma – I can smell both the black tea base and the bergamot. Earl Grey consists of: black tea, cornflower, and essence of bergamot.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Earl Grey in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 4 minutes. My initial steep of Earl Grey was for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Earl Grey steeps to a lovely reddish brown. There’s a nice bergamot aroma to it, which is one of my favourite features of Earl Grey. The black tea base is tasty, although I note a touch of astringency at the tail end of each steep. The citrus notes from the bergamot are bright and add a sense of freshness to the tea itself. If you’re not a fan of the astringency, you can always opt to steep for a shorter period of time (e.g. 3 minutes) or add a touch of milk or cream to help temper the astringency. It is not off-putting though, and I find the tea to be quite tasty.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Earl Grey. I found that it wasn’t as delicious as the initial steep, primarily because most of the bergamot notes weren’t as strong as they were in the first steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Earl Grey. I really enjoy a well balanced Earl Grey, and I found that this one was quite pleasing to the taste buds. I drink Earl Grey quite often at home, but having the tea already preportioned into sachets makes it easier to drink tea on the go, or to steep a cup at work without having to deal with spoons and filter bags – just one less step to take before getting some tea! The bergamot flavour is delightful, and everything that I look for in a tasty Earl Grey.

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Oteas’s Raspberry Leaf Tea

Raspberry Leaf Tea by Oteas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 24g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Raspberry Leaf Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed about Raspberry Leaf Tea is the fragrance. It smells fruity – mostly raspberry, and really inviting and sweet. The tea sachets come 12 in a card stock box that came shrink wrapped in plastic – sealed for freshness and all that good stuff.

Each tea sachet consists of: raspberry leaves, hibiscus, apple pieces, rosehip shell, blackberry leaves, raspberries.

If you’re pregnant, you may have heard about drinking raspberry leaf infusions before for morning sickness – which is something that Oteas mentions on the side of the box – but this blend also contains hibiscus which is often recommended to be avoided during pregnancy. I highly recommend always checking with your health care professional about when to drink herbal teas as a lot of herbal teas also have medicinal effects to the body. This goes for all herbal teas when you take any over-the-counter or prescription medications as well.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Raspberry Leaf Tea in 70°C (158°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I used my kettle to heat up the water to the lowest temperature (79°C/175°F) and allowed it to cool for 5 minutes, and then my initial steep of Raspberry Leaf Tea was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Raspberry Leaf Tea steeps to a light berry pink colour. It has a pleasant raspberry aroma to it, and it smells sweet. The flavour of Raspberry Leaf Tea is a mix between sweet and tart, which I think can be attributed to the hibiscus in the blend. It’s not too tart that I feel the need to add some sugar to the cup though, which is good. If you’re not a big fan of hibiscus, I’d recommend a little bit of sweetener to even out the tartness to make it more palatable for you. Overall, it’s quite pleasant and I think it would be great iced.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Raspberry Leaf Tea once, and found that it didn’t taste as good as the initial steep and was quite watery in comparison. I would say that Raspberry Leaf Tea is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Raspberry Leaf Tea. I think it makes for a really nice fruity infusion – it’d be great for iced tea and spring/summer weather since it is a fruity mix.  The level of sweet is well balanced against the tart, and the raspberry flavours are well presented in the initial steep. Again, use caution if pregnant or may be pregnant and consult with a health care professional about having herbal blends.

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