Crazy Tea Chick (Emily) Send Message

If you’re the least bit familiar with me or my blog, you’ve possibly figured out that I’m kind of crazy about mint – the taste, the herb, the smell, blah blah blah. I dig it.

Needless to say, I find it very hard to pass up a box of mint tea while out shopping – brand doesn’t matter, packaging doesn’t matter, bag or loose, flavored or unflavored…if it’s minty, this sucker’s buying it.

The newest mint tea I’ve tried comes in tea bag form, and it’s courtesy of Carrington Tea (the makers of one of my favorite green teas ever). It’s Carrington’s Peppermint Tea (ingredients? 100% Peppermint Leaves. That’s it. How great is that?). I picked up a 20-bag box at Wal-Mart for – get this – $0.97. Yep, ninety-seven pennies. Okay, I didn’t actually purchase it with 97 pennies, but hey, I could have, plus a few cents tax. Anyway, the tea is really, really good. I’ve been drinking it hot (it’s how I roll), but I’ve heard that it tastes great iced, too. It’s got a tiny aftertaste that’s slightly sweet, to me at least. But I’m sort of like the princess and the pea in that regard – if there’s a sweet taste to find, I’ll find it. (I just don’t love a sweet taste to my drinks unless it’s like a frappuccino or an iced mocha or something like that; but sweetness in my tea? No thanks.)

Anyway, I still recommend this tea, and you really can’t beat the price. Peppermint is known to be good for you, and obviously herbal tea won’t hurt you, so dig the change out of your drawers or couch cushions, get yourself to Wal-Mart, and go crazy.

Last month I was lucky enough to try Teas’ Tea Mango Oolong Tea, a delicious lightly sweetened bottled tea. And don’t take my word for it – if you read the company’s June press release, you’ll discover that this tea won “first place at the 2011 North American Tea Championship in the Ready-to-Drink Flavored Oolong Tea category”. So yeah, it’s that good.

Here’s a little more about the taste (in my personal…oh heck, professional, opinion): it’s, um, amazing. I don’t hesitate to call this the best Oolong tea I’ve tried, and this is coming from someone that normally wants their tea hot and unsweetened. It has about 80 calories per bottle, and each bottle contains 160% of your daily Vitamin C allotment. When drinking this tea I immediately detected a wonderful mango/orangey (sure, that’s a word) taste, but the aftertaste is almost peach-like. The aroma is fruity and pleasant, and the tea is packed with antioxidants.

Loved it!

(Guest post from my mom!)

I recently tried, and loved, a bag of Adagio Tea Organic Citrus Green Tea. I’m a tea fanatic and I have a special place in my heart for green tea. When I see a new tea or tea blend I haven’t tried, I throw it in the cart. If it happens to be green tea, I do a little happy dance THEN throw it into the cart.

The most recent happy dance (and believe me, it’s something to behold) was spurred by the beautiful bag of tea bags you see at the top of the post. I love it when a tea company takes such pride in their tea that they package it as beautifully as Adagio does their teas. Everything is always first class – the packaging, the tea bags, the flavor. You name it, if it has Adagio on the front, you’re in for a first class experience.

As is the case most of the time, I saved my first cup of tea for the evening. This is my favorite time to try a new tea. After supper’s been made and eaten and order in the kitchen has been restored. Then it’s just me, my cat, and (hopefully) a very special cup of tea. Adagio Tea Organic Citrus Green Tea did not disappoint. I knew, from the aroma alone, that I was in for a special evening. As I walked, cup in hand, to the sofa, you could practically see a beautifully aromatic trail following me through the air. If there’s a better smell than citrus, I haven’t found it.

This tea is absolutely Heavenly and would be a great fit for anyone unsure about green tea. I tried my first cup without honey and it outstanding. I added just a bit of honey to my next cup and found it to be EVEN better. Yes, I’m one of those green tea drinkers…. hooked on honey! I’ve also made this tea with a little honey AND a floating slice of lemon /or orange. The orange slice and honey combination is otherworldly.

Adagio Tea Organic Citrus Green Tea also passed the iced green tea test. It as wonderful iced as it is hot. Trust me, you have to try this tea! If your grocery store is on its game (really, really on its game), you can find some Adagio teas in the tea aisle. If they’re a little off their game, Amazon will come through for you like a champ.

(Guest post by my mom!)

Lipton’s Mandarin Orange Green Tea… Heavenly!

Green tea is a personal favorite of mine. Given the fact that it’s a disease fighting ninja – I wish it were a favorite with everyone. My oldest daughter (Emily, aka, the Crazy Tea Chick, herself) is also a green tea fanatic. If more people would give it a try, they’d realize that green tea is the elixir of the gods – especially with a little honey or fruity flavor.

Lipton’s Mandarin Orange Green Tea is outstanding. I would have shared it with the members of my family but… well… I drank it all.

In just three days.

I guess it goes without saying that this tea is exceptional, but I’ll go ahead and say it anyway. It’s exceptional. Whether you already love green tea or are warming up to it, you’ll love Lipton’s Mandarin Orange Green Tea. The orange flavoring is just perfect – it isn’t overwhelming but you get that distinct and delicious mandarin flavor. I drank it throughout the day (yes, all three of them). In the evening, I like a couple of hot mugs of tea while watching baseball with my husband. During the day, while working at home as a web publisher, I prefer my green tea on ice. When feeling particularly feisty (usually on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – my feisty days), I”ll float an orange wedge in the glass. This morning, I added a little mint from my herb garden. Lovely.

The next time you’re in the store, find Lipton’s Mandarin Orange Green Tea and give it a try. I know you’ll love it.

I’m so crazy about Lipton’s Pyramid Tea Bags. I love that the tea leaves have room to spread in the bag to release their flavor; I love that I can see exactly what the leaves look like; I love that the box always smells amazing when I open it. So yeah, big fan here.

Lipton’s Blueberry & Pomegranate White Tea is quite a treat. As someone who has never eaten pomegranate by itself, per se, I can’t really drink this and say, “Oooh, this tastes just like the last pomegranate I ate!” However, I love blueberries and I can definitely identify that taste in this tea. The tea bags actually contain real pieces of blueberries, which ends up making this tea taste and smell like some sort of decadent dessert or treat as opposed to just white tea.

The tea’s ingredients list dried apples, which I had identified by smell before reading the list. It also contains blackberry and raspberry fruit pieces, green tea, cinnamon bark, and orange peel, among other natural things. Seriously, though, sounds like an ingredient list for a pastry or yummy treat.

This tea packs 65mg per serving of body-protecting flavonoid antioxidants, 20mg of potassium, and 25mg of caffeine per serving. Just pour boiling water over a tea bag and let steep for around 2-4 minutes (your preference), and enjoy!

Ahhh, World Market’s Ancient Pu-erh Tea. I met this tea quite a few months back. This, friends, was the first Pu-erh tea I ever tried, and it was also my first ever loose leaf tea. I remember that first cup – I spent the whole time drinking it with an odd expression on my face, puzzling, grasping for the right words and the right description. It was so different; I couldn’t place what the tea reminded me of. And then when I did realize what it smelled like, I was shocked: was I drinking something that – gasp – smelled like hay?

As far as taste goes, it’s actually a very smooth and rich tea. I detect a slight smokiness, and like others have mentioned, a little bit of a leathery, even nutty, taste. Personally, I almost NEVER add anything to my teas, but I have heard that this tea tastes good with milk or honey. Also, this Pu-erh tea is supposed to aid in digestion, so it’s suggested as an after-meals tea.

The bag (which cost me about $8) yields 50-55 cups, and you can get several cups out of each infusion (just add a few minutes steeping time for each additional cup). Boiling water is recommended (brings out the fullest flavor), and recommended infusing time is 4-5 minutes (although I have done if for closer to 3 minutes, and that was fine too).

Folks, this isn’t your ordinary tea. I like to think that if it were a person, it would be one of those television survival men, like Bear Grylls or Les Stroud. This tea embodies “nature”, and it’s nothing if not “outdoorsy”. I could throw out more adjectives, like “earthy” and “woodsy”, but I think you get my point.

This isn’t a city-boy tea.

Confession: I’m a sucker for any product that has “island” in the title. I pretty much live for my annual beach vacation, and those marketing people know where to hit suckers like me. But this tea could be called “XYZ Tea” and it would still be one of the best teas I’ve ever had. Seriously, Lipton’s Island Mango and Peach tea is gooood.

For starters, the tea comes in pyramid-shaped bags, which allows the leaves a lot more room to spread, allowing for a smooth, rich flavor to flow into the cup. The leaves are infused with actual pieces of fruit, which gives the tea a REAL fruit taste – something authentic – as opposed to the flat flavor found in a lot of “fruity teas”. The box comes with 18 of these bags, and each bag packs 75mg of flavonoids per oz. serving. Ahhh, the healthy deliciousness of this tea.

This is technically a white tea, although the ingredients also lists green tea, along with rose hips, lemon grass, orange leaves, and a few other natural ingredients. I always drink this tea hot – the scent is pretty killer – but it also makes a great iced tea.

This is one of my favorite teas and one that I always make sure is in my cabinet. I recommend it for anyone that loves white tea, green tea, fruit tea, herbal tea, orange or peach tea, healthy and nutritious drinks…or has a pulse. That means you, buddy.

Oh, lucky me. :) I recently received a sample of Admari Tea’s WONDERFUL Tranquil Herbal Tea. It’s an extremely relaxing and pleasing blend, and it’s naturally caffeine-free (as most herbals are). Here’s the Admari website‘s blurb about Tranquil:

Serenity Now! It’s your time, choose the right tea. Enjoy tranquility in every cup with this calming and serene herbal blend. Need a break? Relax with Tranquil, a serene herbal infusion of calming chamomile, lavender and peppermint. Pure herbals are combined to create a lightly sweet, floral elixir of true serenity. After a long day find comfort with this naturally caffeine free blend.

This tea is from Admari’s “Relax” line of teas; their other two lines are “Active” and “Restore”. The Tranquil Herbal Tea was even better than I was expecting; the taste was very “floral” with only the tiniest hint of mint and sweetness. I was in the mood to unwind when I brewed this tea, and by the time I reached the bottom of the cup I was chillin’ like a villain. I definitely recommend this tea and can’t wait to get more for myself. You can find this tea on the Admari website; a canister of 15 pyramid bags is currently being offered for $11.99. Enjoy!

On a recent trip to Pensacola, Florida, I frequented a lot of antique stores/flea markets. One of these shops had a booth that I wanted to LIVE in: it was devoted to tea and coffee, and featured products from Wilkinson’s of Norwich. The company originated in Norwich, England, and has two US locations that I know of (a factory in Brewton, Alabama, and a new retail store in Pensacola, Florida). On a whim I grabbed a bag of Earl Grey loose leaf tea. Sometimes I make very smart decisions. :)

The tea is wonderful. It tastes delicious, with EXACTLY the right amount of bergamot, and the aroma truly makes your mouth water. I would even go so far as to say this is my new favorite Earl Grey tea. You can buy a 2 oz. bag of leaf tea from the website for only $4.00; they also offer 4 oz. for $8.00, and so on. Here’s Wilkinson’s description of the tea, from their site:

Fine black China leaf, a handful of jasmine and only the finest pure oil of Bergamot, this is the traditional afternoon tea (with cucumber sandwiches) best drunk black; if desired, mix with our Royal tea for a stronger infusion that will take a little milk or lemon.

Once again, this tea is good. As in, darn good. I really can’t add much to that, except for this: you bring the cucumber sandwiches, and I’ll provide the tea.

I just returned from a weeklong Florida vacation several days ago; the trip itself was a blast but the tea selection was a bit lacking (as in crappy tea on the beach and 2 total teabags in my hotel room). Luckily for me, I got back home to find quite a few wonderful tea samples waiting for me in my mailbox. Some of the tea I found waiting for me to review was rooibos tea from Suffuse Herbal Tea Infusions. The tea I brewed tonight was their Red Rooibos Tea with Mixed Berry, which Suffuse refers to in this way: “Packed with vitamins, flavonoids, & antioxidants. Helps protect the body against damaging free radicals.”

The rooibos plant, grown in a small area of South Africa, is used to make rooibos (ROY-bos), or red, tea. Rooibos tea is known as a very “healthy tea” due to it being caffeine-free and packed with antioxidants. Suffuse’s Red Rooibos Tea with Mixed Berry is a caffeine-free “100% natural” herbal tea which boasts of numerous health benefits. It has a delicious fruity smell, along with a sweet, pleasing taste. It tasted great as a hot tea, but if you brew double-strength and pour over ice, it also makes an amazing iced tea.

More about Suffuse’s Rooibos, from the Suffuse website:
Suffuse Rooibos Herbal Tea is more than just a refreshing beverage with an enticing aroma and naturally sweet taste. For centuries this redbush tea has been used as a home remedy for a large variety of conditions from headaches, poor digestion and allergies to skin problems.

Based in Houston Texas, Suffuse was established by George Allibone, M.D. who is not only passionate about healthy living but is also an avid tea connoisseur. He has made it the Suffuse mission to provide customers with exceptionally high quality, organically grown, 100% natural Rooibos fine herbal teas.

Suffuse Green Rooibos and Red Rooibos Herbal Tea Infusions include a large variety of both Botanical and Fruit & Spice Blends. Our botanical range includes all natural Rooibos tea blended with Hoodia, Buchu, Sutherlandia, and Sceletium, while our fruit and spice range includes many tempting flavors from Vanilla to Litchi. Rooibos tea has so many incredible health benefits it doesn’t make sense to not enjoy this delicious, antioxidant-rich, pick-me-up beverage.