The Northern Lights Tea Company

mj sent this is her last package, and I must say I really enjoy it. It’s malty and light, a nice mid-morning tea. And it’s a sipdown! :)

If someone that never had a pear smelled this dry leaf, they would expect a pear to taste sour and also like dried prunes. I am really not getting pear from this, but hey, sometimes, the scent of the dry leaf is weird and the steep in wonderful, so I’ll stop being mean about it and just try.

Oh yes, that’s pear. Rest assured, no sourness or prunes. I love the spices , and although the pear notes could be a bit more natural, and the spices a bit more tame the combination with the spices is interesting. Pear has such a delicate flavour though, I feel like it’s getting somewhat ruined by all that ginger. And then the cardamom. The cinnamon would’ve been enough. I think I remember mj1851 wasn’t crazy about this, but I actually enjoy it. I can’t say that I would necessarily buy it, but it won’t be one of those samples that I feel resentful about and force myself to drink to make it disappear.

Just wanted to add that the company’s website definitely needs a bit of love, just saying.

Before I start I should note that I prepared this without a variable temperature kettle because I brought this to work. So, it may have been steeped incorrectly. It wasn’t the smartest choice for work tea, but at least I remembered tea. I did not remember food.

This oolong is much lighter and greener than I apparently prefer my oolongs. In all fairness, the employee at The Northern Lights Tea Company told me this would be too green for me based on what I told her about my preferences and she was right. Props to TNLTC for having a very knowledgeable and friendly employee. I don’t know why I didn’t listen to her. This tea just sounded cool.

There’s a little bit of that characteristic oolong flavor (that I love so much) to start out, but that is followed up by grassy notes with an almost green been flavor behind them. The sip finishes with a slight astringency, but it’s not too bad at all. This oolong is more like a green tea cross dressing as an oolong. Not my favorite, but if you prefer greener oolongs I think it’d be quite nice. I won’t rate it since I’m the first reviewer and it’s not really to my taste.

This tea is so pretty! I love the dark twisty leaves interspersed with light golden leaves. Uuuuhhh this tastes amazing! So smooth with zero bitterness or astringency. Each sip brings up unsweetened chocolate with a nutty finish that’s a tiny bit sweet. What a nice way to wake up this morning :-)

I was pretty excited to try this tea because I’ve never had a pear tea before and pear is one of my favorite fruits. I must admit that I ended up disappointed. To me, this neither smelled nor tasted like pear, or at least not like real pear. It was quite artificial tasting. The spices were balanced nicely and didn’t overwhelm the fruity flavor with ginger taking the forefront. They were more muted though, so if you like a lot of spice to your tea this would not be the blend for you. This tea was pleasant enough but nothing that I would buy again.

This is unbelievably good! Vegetal with barely any astringency, and a smooth, sweet finish.

Instructions say 30-45sec at 212°F, but I prefer 1min at 200 for the first steep.

For a non green tea drinker, this is a very pleasant tea. The taste is very delicate and had no astringency whatsoever while maintaining an obvious herbaceous flavor. Very relaxing and refreshing.

I was hesitant to steep this one at the recommended 212’F due to my experience with other Japanese green teas, but I did and everyone I’ve served it to has enjoyed it as well as myself.

The first thing that struck me about this tea is it’s AMAZING smell. It smells just like mint chocolate chip ice cream. It brews a delightful cup with very light notes of chocolate (which are not sweet, but instead more akin to cocoa) and a soothing mint aftertaste. The aroma is strong, but the tea itself is delicate, yet remains flavorful. It holds up well to steamed milk and a touch of sugar, making it a delightful treat. I have been brewing a pot of this each day at work just for myself! Would make a great gift for the occasional tea drinker or coffee drinker, especially around the holidays.

This black tea differs from other chai types in that it has a bit more of a fruity profile to it. Despite the unusual notes from the rose and safflower, the tea still makes a great latte with steamed milk and a touch of sugar. The black pepper is hardly noticeable at all, giving the tea an overall subtle taste. Highly aromatic.

The pomegranate flavor in this white tea is very light, but obvious nonetheless. The aroma, however, is quite strongly scented and pleasant. I enjoyed it iced. As with most white teas, steeping for more than 6 minutes maximum results in a bitter and unpleasant flavor. Overall I was more than pleased with the tea and drink it with some regularity.

First tasting note, so please bear with me. :)

Today I paid a visit to Northern Lights’ retail store, tucked away in the skyways of downtown Minneapolis. I spent some time browsing through their considerable collection of teas, and came away with a few to sample. This was one that caught my eye, and was recommended to me, but I couldn’t help but be wary – rose? I haven’t yet come across a black tea with rose that I’ve truly enjoyed, and I’m not a huge fan of overtly floral teas in general. However, not being one to refuse a chai blend, I brought it home and brewed myself a cup. Added some honey (this is probably not a tea you want to add milk to), and noted how amazing it smelled – slightly spicy, but the main scent was of sweet rose syrup (more foody than floral, i guess, if that makes sense). And it tasted pretty much the same way it smelled; mild rose syrup-y chai, no bitterness whatsoever. I really like this – it managed to far exceed my expectations, and it’s something I’ll be stocking up on regularly.

It’s got a very subtle pom flavor.