Company: Tea Forté

Type: Herbal

Cost: $48 for 48 pyramid infusers or $15 for 35 serving canister

Since I am out of town on vacation this week I thought it would be the right time to post this tea which I have already reviewed over on Teaviews.  I actually really, really like this herbal tisane but if you would like to read the whole review click the link below:

Raspberry Nectar Review

Company: Tea Forté

Type: Green

Cost: $24 for 20 infusers, $15 for 35 serving canister

Tea Notes:

• Steeped in water that was 175 degrees for 3 minutes.
• Dry tea leaves in the infuser are a nice size.  They do not appear to be severly broken.
• Aroma of liquor is obviously jasmine.
• Taste is too strong and perfume-like.

Thoughts:

I love jasmine teas as long as they are done right.  Their soft sweetness and floral qualities reminds me of pure elegance.  I was really hoping that Tea Forté’s Jasmine Green would be a wonderful treat but I was a little disappointed.  This jasmine green is very, very strong and has an odd soap taste that is quite unpleasant.  I could not taste any green tea so I cannot comment on that.  However, I didn’t detect any bitterness so I am going to assume the green tea they used wasn’t of a bad quality.  I prefer my jasmine teas to be a little bit more delicate and subtle but this one overpowered my senses.  Now that I think about it, my over all preference for teas leans towards the more gentle teas and I don’t like anything too strong.  I am starting to feel bad that every tea I try from the tea chest is falling very short of my expectations and my tastes.  I know that there must be some gems in there, I just keep picking ones that I end up not liking!

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.

Water is another issue as we don’t have filtered water where I work so I bring in several water bottles that I refill at home each morning.  Part of my morning routine also includes picking out tea for the day.  Sometimes this causes me to be slightly late as I contemplate tea choices, but we won’t get into that.  All this enables me to make tea throughout the day at my own little tea station much to the amusement of my students.  I can’t imagine having to go all day without several cups of tea and so my setup fits with my work routine.  And despite the fact that I use tea filters and infusers, I enjoy my tea times during the day and I don’t think the taste suffers too much.  I would rather have tea all day long in slightly less than perfect brewing conditions than none at all.

Here is a picture of my tea station.  Not the most beautiful or serene place in the world, but it gets the job done.  How do you enjoy tea at work?

Company: Tea Forté

Type: Oolong

Cost: $48 for 48 infusers or $12 for 35 serving canister

Tea Notes:

• Pyramid infuser has a very strong perfume smell.  I think it is from the paper wrapping.
• Steeped for 3 minutes in water that was just under boiling.
• Taste was roasted and woody.  Slightly drying in the back of the mouth.  None of the perfume smell came out in the taste thank goodness.

Thoughts:

I am still very new to the world of Oolong teas.  They truly intrigue me but I always feel nervous trying them because of their unique and special characters.  I guess I am afraid I won’t be able to pick up on their subtle qualities.  I know, it is a silly thing.  What can I say.  But I shall push myself to new adventures and get over my weird hang-ups in the tea world.  This tea reminds me of some Wuyi Oolongs that I have in my tea cupboard.  It is roasty and a little bit woody with no sign of anything floral.  There was a slight drying effect in the back of the mouth and I noticed that as it cooled off it got this very odd brown bag taste.  Not that I know what brown bags taste like, but I can use my imagination.  I don’t think this tea is horrible and as long as it stays warm it is actually quite nice.  I had a cup while I was making dinner so I have a feeling it cooled off more than I prefer while I was running around the kitchen.  Again, not bad but not something I would keep around since I already have teas that taste quite similar.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.

Company: Tea Forté

Type: Black, Chai

Cost: $24 for 20 pyramid infusers, $15 for 35 serving canister

Tea Notes:

• Steeped in boiling water for 4 minutes.
• Aroma is a typical chai but not overly strong.
• Taste was incredibly strong by itself but mellowed out with soy milk and agave added (see below).

Thoughts:

I do not make chai often.  It seems like more hassle than it is worth to me to steep the tea, add milk and sugar and make sure all the proportions are right.  I would much rather just make a cup of tea and drink it without adding anything to it.  However, since this week I wrote about spicy teas I figured it was a good time to try Tea Forté’s Bombay Chai.  At first, I thought this tea was not going to be strong what-so-ever.  I had to stick the infuser right up to my nose to smell anything and ended up with a nose-full of cinnamon.  I recommend you avoid doing that.  After steeping the tea I took my first couple of sips without anything added to it just in case this was a chai that didn’t need anything additional.  It is not.  This tea demands something in it to round it off.  It has a very, very strong chai taste that is not very pleasing.  So out came vanilla soy milk and agave nectar to join the chai in my cup.  I rarely use regular milk for reasons I’m sure you don’t want to read about, so I substitute with soy milk.  Once I added the two ingredients mentioned only moments ago the chai came alive.  It was sweet and tasty though still a little heavy on the clove taste in my opinion.  Not bad at all and was quite happy to have an enjoyable cup!  While not the best chai I have had, this is definitely drinkable and has an overall nice chai quality.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.

Company: Harney and Sons

Type: Flavored Black, loose

Cost: $6.50 for 4oz tin

Tea Notes:

• Dry leaves are covered with cinnamon powder and omit a strong but heavenly aroma of sweet cinnamon.
• This was steeped in boiling water for 3 minutes.
• Taste is sweet and the cinnamon is obvious.  The black tea neither sits in the background or overpowers.

Thoughts:

This week I am featuring some spicy teas that are wonderful for the colder months but would be nice any time of the year as well!

I love cinnamon.  Honestly, the more cinnamon something has, the better it is to me.  I can eat atomic fireballs one right after another and never tire of the tingle they give my mouth.  When I picked up a little sample of this tea from Harney and Sons and gave it a sniffy sniff, I knew it was going to be love at first sip.  Hot Cinnamon Spice has a base of black tea with cinnamon, orange, and cloves mixed it.  This is quite a bold flavored tea that is sweet and spicy at the same time.  I don’t find this tea as strong as an atomic fireball but it has the same type of flavor minus the fire.  The Harney and Sons website says that this tea “sets off miniature fireworks on the tongue” and I totally agree.

This flavored black tea is right up there on my list of favorites.  The small amount of my sample is going to quickly be replaced with a much larger quanity because I love it that much.  I think it will also make a wonderful iced treat for the summer months.  Of course some people may think cinnamon isn’t something you want to have in the summer, but as a cinnamon fiend I don’t think there is ever a wrong time to drink or enjoy cinnamon treats.  If you, like myself, enjoy the incredible power of cinnamon then you will be pleased with this tea.

The product(s) included in this post were purchased by myself or sent as a free sample along with a purchase.

Company: New Mexico Tea Company

Type: Flavored Black, loose

Cost: $9.60 for 4oz

Tea Notes:

• Dry tea is a beautiful mix of tea, orange peels, cinnamon and rose petals with a subtle spicy aroma.
• Steeped in boiling water for 4 minutes.
• Aroma of steeped tea is similar to dry aroma but with a hint of fruit and flowers.
• Taste includes cinnamon with an interesting mix of rose and citrus.

Tea Thoughts:
This week I am featuring some spicy teas that are wonderful for the colder months but would be nice any time of the year as well!

Before I talk about the tea I want to clarify what I mean when I say ‘spicy’.  Coming from New Mexico I normally view the term spicy as meaning hot.  I eat a lot of hot foods, which includes the wonderful and amazing green chile, but when I’m talking about spicy tea I am referring to the spicy qualities of a chai.  That said, Sandia Spice is not a chai but can still be put in the spicy tea category because of the cinnamon.  However, this is unlike any cinnamon tea I have had.  There are apple pieces, orange peel, almonds, and rose petals in addition to the cinnamon bits.  All of those ingredients mesh together with the black tea to produce a truly unique taste.

I found myself spending a lot of time with this tea trying to figure it out.  After a whole pot of it this weekend I finally had to decide to just drink and enjoy it rather than pick it apart or analyze it.  The cinnamon is obvious in the taste but there is an orange taste as well as a rose taste that peek out every so often underneath the black tea and cinnamon.  It seemed like every sip tasted different and special.  I happen to love teas that have a cinnamon punch to them, but this one is softer than other cinnamon teas and has such unique qualities that I can’t imagine anyone being turned off or afraid of the cinnamon in it.  If overly spicy teas aren’t your thing, you might give this one a try.

The product(s) included in this post were purchased by myself or sent as a free sample along with a purchase.

Company: Tea Forté

Type: Black

Cost: $24 for 20 infusers or $15 for canister (35 servings)

Tea Notes:

• Tried twice using boiling water with steep times of 3 minutes and then 1 minute.
• Aroma of liquor is typical English Breakfast with a hint of green bean.  Color was dark brown with red undertones.
• Taste was very astringent and bitter.

Thoughts:

Tea Forté’s English Breakfast jumped out at me this week so I decided to give it a shot.  The 1st time I prepared the pyramid infuser, I steeped it for 3 minutes which is the time I typically start with black teas.  What I got was a cup full of bitter, incredibly strong, smack my senses silly black tea.  I couldn’t even finish my cup because of the overwhelming bitterness.  It also had a very drying, astringent mouthfeel.

I always like to give teas a second chance by changing the way I steep them and have often found that a tea steeped a different way becomes something I really enjoy.  Knowing that, I prepared this again the next day with a 1 minute steep time to see if it helped.  I found that the tea was not as strong but it was still very astringent and an odd metallic bitterness was now present.  So instead of the bitterness being overwhelming it was now metallic.  This tea is just plain not for me.  Perhaps there are people out there who like strong teas with characteristics as this one has, but I am not one of those people.  While black teas are quickly becoming more and more a part of my tea collection I still find some of them a little too strong.  However, I  am not going to let my experience with this English Breakfast prevent me from continuing my adventures with them.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.

Company: Copco

Cost: $9.99

Thoughts:

I have a couple of infusers lying around that I do occasionally use when I want a quick cup of tea.  Infusers themselves aren’t bad but I much prefer to use something where the tea leaves have lots of room to move and dance.  That said, infusers do have a place in my tea routine, especially at work.  When I received this Snap Open Tea Infuser from Copco’s Total Tea line of tea products I immediately added it to my work tea area so I could put it to the test.

This infuser has two wings that pop open when you press the buttons on the side.  These wings then allow the infuser to sit on the top of the cup with the basket suspended down into the water.  I will go ahead and state right now that I wish the infuser was a little bit longer and wider to allow the leaves more room to move and more contact with the water.  However, it still works as well as any infuser can.

When it is time to remove the infuser, the wings can be snapped back down so that they now cover the infuser preventing drips.  This is a very nice idea but I have noticed that it doesn’t totally prevent tea from getting on the table so it is important to make sure you let the tea drip out in the cup as much as possible.  The holes in the infuser aren’t overly large but they still allow small bits and dust to escape.  If tea dust bothers you then I suggest you not drink the last couple of sips because with this infuser it is inevitable to get a little bit of a collection at the bottom of the cup.

Clean up is fairly easy and the tea leaves glide out smoothly with an occasional leaf getting stuck in one of the holes.  I think all infusers have a certain amount of annoying cleanup involved but that just comes with the territory of using one.  Again, for some of us there is a time and place to use infusers and so for an easy, modern, and fun looking infuser this one does the trick.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.