Tag: The Sugared Teacup

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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.

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

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Pluck’s Spa Day

Spa Day by Pluck
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.00 for 30g

Pluck’s Spa Day came to me as part of a subscription box from The Sugared Teacup.

First Impressions

Sometimes it’s nice to have a cuppa and unwind, and sometimes it’s also nice to have a cup of something that isn’t caffeinated before bedtime. I was really excited when I found Spa Day in my subscription box from Deb at The Sugared Teacup, because I’m always looking for new herbal infusions to try out to see if they’ll fit the bill for me. Spa Day comes in a resealable bag that’s see-through on the front so you can see all the ingredients. The aroma of this blend is primarily that of mint, mint, and more mint.

Spa Day consists of peppermint, spearmint, honeybush leaves, chamomile, hibiscus, calendula petals, osmanthus petals, rosebuds – all organic. It’s not surprising that the first (and last) aroma from this bag is minty. I think if I were to have been blindfolded when sniffing it, I would have thought it was a pure peppermint tisane!

Preparation

Pluck recommends steeping Spa Day in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I did an initial steep of Spa Day for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Spa Day steeps to a beautiful almost ruby-red colour – I attribute a lot of the colour to the hibiscus in the blend. The aroma of the tea is primarily that of the mints – peppermint & spearmint, which I don’t find surprisingly considering those were the overwhelming fragrances coming from the dry leaf. On first sip, I found there was a tartness that gave way to sweet very quickly. The mint leaves a refreshing cool finish to each sip. Unfortunately, I found that the floral notes that should have been present were quite lost, but I think the tartness might be from the hibiscus – and possibly the sweet flavours from the flowers.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Spa Day and found the flavours to be quite muted compared to the initial steep. I would say that Spa Day is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Pluck’s Spa Day was just okay. I was anticipating something a bit more floral, considering there were five different floral ingredients in this blend. If you’re looking for a minty tea that has a touch of tart & sweet, I think this might be the blend for you! It does have some nice refreshing qualities to it, and the mint is so, so strong if you love mint flavours and enjoy a good mint tisane. I do like the sweetness to this tisane, I just wish the flower ingredients had a stronger presence.

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

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The Sugared Teacup: Subscription Box Review

The Sugared Teacup
Monthly Tea Club Subscription
$20-35 per month or $35 USD per month

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The Sugared Teacup is a curated monthly subscription box by Deb, who I’ve had great pleasure in communication with online prior to purchasing the June and July themed boxes this year. I was really drawn to both the June and July boxes because they were themed for the Canada 150 celebration (and I’m a sucker for all things Canadiana this year!). This review will be centered around the July box, which she entitled True North: With Love from Canada.

There were a lot of hand written goodness in this box, including a handwritten card, the story of how The Sugared Teacup came to be, and just cute handwritten notes throughout. Opening this box was like opening up a present that someone made just for me – it was so much fun and I could really tell that there was a lot of thought and care put into each item that was so carefully wrapped and put together. It’s definitely a fun way to treat yourself on a monthly basis.

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One of the goodies for the July box included one of four wooden tea-themed coasters created by The Maker Bean Cafe. The note said to smell the wood, so I had to! It smells amazing. I wish I had all four though, I love sets of things and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Deb decides to include the coasters in future boxes or sells them a la carte. Who doesn’t need a good set of tea-themed coasters?

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The next goodie was this lovely Canada 150 pin. Pins are just very on-trend right now, but I’ve always been a long-time collector of pins and magnets, so this one will fit right into my collection of badges. The art is by Yolanda of YFL.ART and includes the very iconic CN Tower from the Toronto skyline.

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Next up is the teas! I won’t be reviewing the teas in this review (because this is of the box only), but reviews of these teas will be coming up in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back for my thoughts and opinions on these three lovelies: Pluck Tea‘s The Canada 150 Blend (black tea blend), Lemon Lily‘s Summer Splash (herbal infusion), and Tealish‘s Northern Lights (green tea blend).

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The Sugared Teacup offers local pick-up of the monthly boxes (if you live in Toronto or can get to Toronto…), as well as shipped within Ontario, and the rest of Canada. There’s also a USA option if you’re south of the 49th parallel. The prices vary depending on if shipping is a factor or not. There are 1, 3, and 6 month options when subscribing to The Sugared Teacup.

The amazing thing is that there’s so many options for your tea boxes! Deb offers boxes for: black, green, straight green, fruit, herbal/rooibos, mixed, or her Tea Box of the Month. Like I mentioned, just so many options! The Canada 150 boxes that I got for June and July fall under the “Tea Box of the Month”, which I just thought were amazing. I think if I were to continue getting The Sugared Teacup boxes, I would definitely opt for the themed boxes because it would really push me to try different teas from companies that I may not have heard of. As it is, I’m really excited to try the teas that I got in both the June and July boxes because the companies are new to me and the teas are also new to me as well.

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I loved getting my box in the mail. It’s just a lot of fun to open up a well-decorated box that just had so much going on. I think that The Sugared Teacup is a fun way to introduce yourself to new-to-you teas, and the personal touches that Deb puts into these boxes are incredibly thoughtful. The Sugared Teacup boxes are just so well put together and the curated collection of teas are just done so well.