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Fruit Tea Reviews Tea Reviews

How Good Is Dr Stuarts Blueberry and Acai Fruit Tea?

9th June 2015

Earlier this week my sister gave me some of her Blueberry and Acai teabags from Dr Stuart’s. I don’t usually use teabags but blueberries are my favourite fruit by a mile so I figured why not give these a go?

The first thing I noticed is the packaging, it’s mainly white but with a beautiful deep purple lid and the same purple styling round the box. The teabags are individually packed and have a nice length of string with a nicely weighted piece of card, which is important to avoid the string falling in the cup (one of the main reasons I avoid teabags). The other solution to this problem is to use teabags with a product called Tea Top which I reviewed last week.

Dr Stuart's Blueberry and Acai
Teabag Packaging

 

As I opened the teabag the blueberry fragrance was lovely, really sweet and had that natural blueberry smell. I poured the freshly boiled water over the teabag and a purple swirl instantly began to fill my mug. The tea has a herby smell alongside the blueberry smell, looking at the ingredients I think this must either be hibiscus or rosehip, hibiscus is great for cardiovascular health which is always a plus!

Teabag

 

The taste is sweet but with a slight tang which surprisingly I really like. My ultimate blueberry tea has to be blueberry blaster from Whittards of Chelsea, I love it’s sweet but delicate blueberry flavour and the floral tones. I’m not sure if Dr Stuart’s Blueberry and Acai tea is on the same level but it does have an equally as interesting flavour so there’s really no reason not to drink both, after all variety is the spice of life! (cheesey enough? :p ). I wonder if the difference in the flavour isn’t so much down to the ingredients but to the difference in steeping using teabags versus loose tea, either way I like both 🙂

Tea Colour

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review and I’d love to hear your comments below, thanks so much for reading. My newsletter is a wonderful blend of tea news, giveaways and reviews and I won’t bombard you, promise! 😉

You can find this Dr Stuarts Blueberry & Acai Tea on Amazon.

You can also get a 3 pack of 45 teabags which saves you money overall 🙂

Black Tea Green Tea Tea Reviews

How Much Do I Love My Blackberry Mallow Forleaves Tea?!

26th May 2015

This week I was lucky enough to receive some samples from Forleaves Tea Company, read on to find out what I think of them!

Forleaves Tea Company is based in Leicestershire. The ethos behind Forleaves Tea Company is to “encourage everyone to take a moment in their day to slow down a little, take time to create something special”, their tea is certainly perfect for this very thing! Forleaves Tea Company is a home based business, which is fantastic and their tea really does have a homely feel to it.

The flavours I received were:

No.27 Blackberry Mallow

No.10 Orange Blossom

No 15 Flower Blossom

No. 10 Lavender White Tea

The package arrived well packed and the presentation of the tea is really smart. Each tea comes in a sealed pouch, which you cut open and then you’re left with a ziplock to seal the freshness in after each infusion. I’m really impressed with the quality of the tea, the leaves are big and they smell fantastic. I decided that these teas are worth a review for each flavour so this will be the first of 4.

 

Tea Info

Tea Loose

The first tea I’ll be reviewing is No.27 Blackberry Mallow. This blend has a base of Assam black tea and China green tea which are entangled perfectly, the sweetness is thanks to the natural Blackberry flavouring. Forleaves Tea Company describe the tea as being “Malty Assam flavour with a blackberry & mallow sweetness”, sounds like a match made in heaven! They rate it as 5 (strong black tea) which I’d say is pretty spot on, I prefer a weaker amber toned tea so a lot goes a long way.

 

The flavour

Prepared Tea

As soon as I opened the teas I got straight in to steeping the Blackberry Mallow and WOW the smell blew me away, just gorgeous. You can smell that wonderfully intoxicating smell of good quality black tea but it’s softened by the blackberry tones, I really couldn’t wait to take my first sip. Immediately I tasted the perfect blackberry flavour. When the tea is made to the optimal strength you can almost forget the malty black tea is there because the blackberry is really strong, which is a magical balance.

Forleaves Tea Company suggest adding milk to a stronger cup. I basically never add milk to tea, mainly because I only drink soya and it’s not great in tea, but I could imagine if you were milk friendly it would taste great in this tea.

 

Overall

I definitely suggest you try this tea, I love black tea and the Assam paired with the blackberry is so comforting to drink, like a big hug in a mug! 🙂 If you prefer a more traditional flavour and aim for unflavoured black tea, you might find the blackberry overpowering but that smooth Assam flavour is wonderful. This tea is a fun tea, with the blackberry mallow it’s sweet and doesn’t take itself too seriously, a quality I like in a tea! 😉

 

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this review, if you’d like more tea joy delivered directly to your inbox you should definitely join my mailing list!

I’d like to give a huge thumbs up to Forleaves Tea Company for providing these teas for me to review, check them out and be sure to come back for the review of the other three flavours!

Tried any interesting teas lately? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below 🙂 xXx

 

 

Black Tea Fruit Tea Green Tea Tea Reviews

Gently Stirred Tea Tasting! Russtea’s Review

19th May 2015

A few days ago I was sent some samples from Gently Stirred.

I opened my package and I was blown away by the care that had gone in to packing this for me. It was beautifully wrapped in green tissue paper and had a string tied in a bow. It looked like a present you’d receive from a good friend and I really fell in love with the presentation and attention to detail of the package. There was also a printed catalogue and small information sheets for each tea, you just don’t get such a personal service anywhere else!

The Flavours

I received Cucumber & Orange Marmalade, which is a black loose tea with character! I was also given a tea bag of Uki Uki which is a black tea with a tropical fruit flavour, amazing or what?! The third tea I sampled was Saint Clement’s Green Tea, this was also in teabag form.

The Taste

Cucumber & Orange Marmalade Bag

Cucumber & Orange Marmalade

I decided to get stuck in straight away with the cucumber and marmalade, I was a little hesitant about the cucumber but also really excited to try something different. The smell of the tea is very strong, it overpowered the smell of the others. The pieces of cucumber and orange are HUGE, I’ve never seen such big bits of fruit in tea before!

I began steeping the tea and watched as the water turned a beautiful amber colour, the cucumber and orange erupted out of the mug. I steeped the tea for 2-3 minutes using one teaspoon of tea and it was just the right strength.

Saint Clement's Teabag

Saint Clement’s Green Tea

This is a gently fragrant tea made using Gently Stirred’s popular Pai Mu Tan as a base. Added to the Pai Mu Tan are oranges, lemons and bergamot oil. Green tea is renowned for it’s health benefits which is an added bonus with Saint Clement’s. It has a slightly floral taste, which usually I’m not a fan of but this was different, it was there just enough to sweeten the blend, without feeling like you’re actually eating flowers.

The tea turned a slightly pink colour and smells fantastic every time you take a sip. I used my teabag 3 times and all three mugs were different, the first was sweetest and then the other 2 were more savoury but just as delicious. The other thing I could detect was a herbal taste which was really lush!

 

 

Uki uki

Uki Uki

The third tea was a black tea with tropical fruit called Uki Uki, this was an absolute dream. Instantly it smells like a tropical paradise, or at least how I’d expect a tropical paradise to smell :p . It tastes so sweet and is so addictive, unbelievably fruity, even to the point where the fruit is stronger than the black tea, which is really rare. There’s also no bitterness, even if it’s steeped to quite a dark strength, I assume this must be due to the sheer amount of the succulent fruit flavour that’s packed in.

My boyfriend said that he felt that the tea had a slight spicyness to it which I didn’t really detect, it became less sweet when we made additional mugs with the same teabag but that’s to be expected, and all of them were immensely pleasant.

 

Conclusion

Overall I was thrilled with these teas, I love it when I find something a little different and these flavours really are unique. There’s just a handcrafted pleasantly warm feeling to all of three of the teas Gently Stirred sent me. I’d like to thank Gently Stirred for giving me the chance to try these three teas and I urge you to go and check them out!

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You can check out Gently Stirred’s website here.

What teas have you found that are a bit different? 🙂 xXx

Iced Tea Recipes Tea Reviews

10 Iced Tea Recipes To Celebrate The Sun!

5th May 2015

 

1. Mango Iced Tea

Mango Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE mangos and this mango iced tea looks fantastic. Courtesy of Veg Recipes of India

 

2. Lemon, mint and passion fruit


I found this one on taste.com

 

3. Strawberry Basil

This looks awesome and I’m sure the basil will make it immensely refreshing. You’ll find this on MarthaStewart.com

 

4. Matcha Mint

Matcha Mint Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mint in this will really cool you down, throw in some Matcha and you’ll get a health boost too! You can find the recipe here.

 

6. Bubbly Mint Lime Iced Tea

Bubbly Mint Lime Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing will feel better on a sunny day than mint and lime, super refreshing. You can find the recipe here.

 

7. Blueberry Iced Green Tea

Blueberry Iced Green Tea 500 6487

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This looks lush, I love blueberries and often drink ceylon blueberry tea from Tea People. This recipe gives you all the health benefits of green tea but with a super sweet blueberry flavour! The full recipe is on Closet Cooking.

 

8. Vanilla Matcha Iced Latte

Matcha-latte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The matcha craze is spreading fast so I couldn’t resist including a matcha iced latte. The recipe is from Bluebird Tea Co. and they sell top quality matcha!

 

9. Strawberry Chocolate Iced Tea (OMG!).

Chocolate Strawberry Iced tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This courtesy of Melissa Hartfiel, full recipe on her blog.

 

10. Sparkling Raspberry Iced Tea, the lazy way 😉

Sparkling Raspberry Iced Tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t have time for the above recipes you can cheat here! :p

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and have some great weather so you can try out these recipes.

As always you can join my blog below for a regular flow of tea related goodies!

 

 

Tea Reviews White Tea

White Chocolate & White Tea? Yes Please!!

29th April 2015

Yesterday I had a wander round Whittard of Chelsea looking for something new and exciting. I’ve been loving the originality of the flavours from Bluebird Tea Co. but mainly just bought fruit tea in Whittard’s, which is awesome but I’ve got soooo much fruit tea!

So I saw white chocolate, obviously a winning ingredient, paired with white tea. I wondered how the sickly sweetness of white chocolate would pair with tea but it’s perfectly blended with the delicate flavour of white tea. The smell is incredible, as soon as the shop assistant poured the tea on to the scales it smelt like we were in a chocolate shop! 😀

I always find that Whittard’s tea lasts a long time and this is really true with this tea. To avoid too much of a tang from the white tea, you want to have this tea quite weak and also use 80 degrees water instead of boiling (otherwise the white tea gets burnt and bitter!).

This tea is great when you’re craving something a little naughty, I had my first mug alongside some chocolate fudge from The Fudge Kitchen so mine was a lot naughty (Shhhh!).

If anyone can suggest any other tea that’s a little different in the comments below I’ll be sure to take the plunge and review it <3

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Tea Reviews White Tea

Bluebird Tea Co. Have Made Liquid Candy Floss!

22nd April 2015

 

A few weeks ago me and my boyfriend decided we’d like some time away in Brighton (something we often decide to do). While wandering down Gardner Street we saw Bluebird Tea Co. and I’m so glad we did!

The Shop

Inside Bluebird Tea Co. I was greeted by one of my favourite sights, a wall of tea. what could be better?

I bought three flavours in the smallest size which is 20g. I always appreciate a tea shop that is happy to sell their loose leaf tea in small amounts, Bluebird Tea Co. KNOW you’ll be back!

Liquid Candy Floss

I’ll be reviewing all three flavours in the coming weeks but first up is Candy Floss. When I saw it on the wall I instantly decided I needed a candy floss flavour drink in my life, who wouldn’t want that!?

This tea is SWEET, it’s Chinese white tea which has a delecate flavour and blends beautifully with the sweet sugary flavour. I don’t know how they do it but this tea really does remind me of candy floss!

Bluebird’s candy floss tea is perfect for those times when your sweet tooth is craving something a bit naughty. This tea is sugary sweet and will satisfy your sweet tooth, without the guilt that follows after chocolate (my favourite food in the world!).

Final Words

I really wish I got some Strawberry Lemonade as well as it looks lush, hopefully I’ll get some soon and be sure to let you guys know how it tastes!

I also got Vicky’s Sponge Cake and Cherry Bakewell when I visited Bluebird Tea, join my newsletter and you’ll get freshly delivered reviews on day one!

To get your hands on some of Bluebird’s fantastic tea you can shop online.

If you love tea you’ll love my newsletter! <3

 

Fruit Tea Tea Reviews

Find Out Why Tea People’s Tropical Burst Was My Biggest Surprise At VEGFEST

15th April 2015

Recently I attended VEGFEST in Brighton with my boyfriend, I’m vegetarian and he’s vegan so it’s quite a heavenly event with a ton of free samples. I expected to only find vegan food but I was joyfully surprised when I stumbled upon Tea People.

 

Tea Peoples inspiring ethics:

Tea People are a great company that donate 50% of all of their profits to educational and social projects in underprivileged tea growing areas. So even if the Tea was average it would be worth buying to help a good cause. Tea People’s tea is far from average!

I bought 5 flavours which I’ll be reviewing over the next few weeks as I get a chance to taste them all a few times. I decided to go with their Tropical Burst flavour first.

 

The Flavour:

Tea People’s Tropical Burst is an all fruit caffeine free blend which primarily tastes of Mango. Immediately upon opening, the mango smell really does “burst” from the packet. You know the tea is high quality by the size and quality of the enclosed fruit.

As I made my first mug of Tropical Burst I waited in anticipation for the kettle to boil, as soon as I poured the boiling water in to the mug I knew it was something special. The taste is sweet but not sickly sweet, the mango flavour feels almost smooth like mango juice. To balance the sweetness of the mango there’s a slight spicy taste that lingers in the background, offering a comforting warmth.

 

Bang for Your Buck:

A little goes a long way with this tea, half a teaspoon for 5-7 minutes and you’re good to go. If you’re using a teapot or flask that allows the fruit to continue to infuse, the yield per teaspoon will be even better.

 

What I LOVE:

What I love about Tea People is not only their ethics, but most of all the taste! I also like that small tester packs are available on their website so you can try the flavours without investing in a whole box, a sure sign of their confidence in their product.

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