Mango Sorbet

Another sample from Octavia Tea! Thanks so much! Mango teas are some of my favorites, so I had to try this one. Summer is waning so I have to revisit the mango and melon teas in my collection! This is a lovely looking white tea with itty bitty pieces of mango. Mango and melon have always paired well with white teas and this is no exception. Somehow to me, this tastes more like melon, or it’s switching between the two flavors. Possibly the white tea naturally tastes like melon. But then the hairs on the white tea give the tea a starchy quality like mango occasionally has in the fruit itself. It’s refreshing, light, and definitely fruity. I bet this is even better when you use around three teaspoons for a mug but I didn’t want to do that to my sample. I do give the tea points for actually including mango in the blend and not just flavoring.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 26 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

Sipdown! Thanks to Roswell Strange for the last of her precious sample of this tea! Also, super pleased that Octavia’s samples are in small resealable pouches.

Anyhow, I found this tea kind of interesting. The initial aroma smelled quite appealing, and reminded me of a 52teas blend I enjoy – Apricot Cheesecake Shou Mei. I think that’s the one… So clearly my brain wasn’t wanting to process a difference between apricot and mango, which was a little odd. Either way, once brewed up, it tastes rather similar too, so I think the base tea must be the same and contributing something in each case, and the flavourings, both being fruity, aren’t different enough for me to distinguish. Regardless, it’s tasty, and in the aftertaste, I get a sort of tanginess that makes me think of sorbet. To be honest, though, it’s probably not mango-y enough for me, but I haven’t really ever had a mango tea that was.

Sipdown (114)!

So Friday I called in sick to both workplaces; I woke up with a really terrible headache and aching all over – and my tender gum around that back wisdom tooth was the worst it’s been yet. It almost had me whimpering my my tongue just grazed over it – and it’s so hard for it not to.

At first I thought I’d just cut it eating something a little more sharp, but I think if that was true I wouldn’t be in pain at this point. I’ve done as much reading as I can; common causes are food being trapped under the gum, but I’m quite certain this is not the case, “Gumboils” – but I have no visable “boil” on the gum and “Perciconitus” (sp?) which seems most likely as it’s typically associated with the gums around the wisdom teeth and I’m displaying most of the “symptoms” except for the key one: which is pus or blood leaking from the gums around the edge of the tooth. As it is, there’s no visual indicators at all of any kind of infection: just a little puffyness around the tender areas.

I’m mostly really happy my mouth isn’t all pus filled – but part of me wishes it was because then I’d at least have that confirmed and could get the appropriate antibiotics. Ugh. I keep hoping it’ll go away but it’s Sunday now and no such luck. Painkillers and Orajel aren’t cutting it.

But you guys don’t want to hear about my crappy mouth problems: you want to hear about me trying my first Octavia Tea sample which made it to me a few days ago! I’m actually really impressed how quickly it got here: since it was coming from the States to Canada I absolutely expected a longer shipping time than this. And who knows, maybe by the time I’m back in Saskatoon my Whispering Pines order will be waiting for me! Probably not, but it’d be a lovely surprise.

So first things first: Packaging. I’m impressed. Everything that came in my order is samples since this is a totally new company to me whom I have not seen reviews for on Steepster – so no larger quantities in my purchase. But as far as sample go, this have super cute packaging with fun, broughtly coloured labels that are unique to each tea, plus they’re in tiny releasable pouches which is really cool: I hate getting samples that are big enough for more than one cup but come in those wrapper type things that can’t be resealed. Sample sizes are pretty good too: I wish there was a little more white tea since they recommend 1 tbsp. of tea for 12 oz. but there is generally enough tea in each for at least two cups. Only gripe I have is that one side of the pouch is clear so the tea is exposed to light, but for a sample it’s not a huge deal especially since I plan to drink them right away – not hoard them.

Dry, this one smells super fruity and fresh and, to me, comes off distintly mango; not some sort of muddled fruit flavour. Taste wise it was really straight forward: sweet/light and authentic mangoes on a kind of silky white base. I imagine someone pouring the juices left behind from slicing a very ripe mango into a cup of straight white tea. And, this wasn’t even the slightest bit bitter: just very light and summery overall. I’ve only had one other mango white tea, as far as I can remember, DAVIDsTEA’s Mango Madness – and this was better.

I really enjoyed it, more than I expected, but would not personally stock up just because mango is not an everyday fruit for me at all – just a really nice, out of the ordinary treat.