Cucumber Mint

Just needed something light and palate cleansing today. The whole family is just still fighting this niggling bug whatever it is. Were all lazy, super sleepy, and congested. I so want to try some of my new teas that have arrived but don’t want to waste sampling new teas on a palate that is only so so right now. This tea fits the bill. Its not one of my all time favorites but has a touch of mint that helps with the sinuses. The cucumber can still be tasted through my head cold – or whatever it is. Refreshing. Nice tea. Not changing rating but showing some love.

The bag smells gorgeous as soon as I open the packet. Again, I am reminded of Bath and Body Works, but in a good way. It smells so clean, fruity, and lightly minty. I’m also getting hints of lime. I wonder why the art on the packaging doesn’t show any blueberries, though. They’re a pretty ingredient! Wouldn’t that be something enticing to show off?

The liquor brews up to a yellowy tan and smells more strongly of spearmint than the dry tea did previously. The flavor is similar. Mint is the first thing I taste, followed by sweet cucumber and blueberries. Again, the green tea aspect is very muted and just barely there. It’s a little hint of sencha in the aftertaste. (But I’m a little weird about green tea, so this is fine with me.) I’m really enjoying this stuff. It’s something I can see myself drinking year-round. Again, I am impressed by Tea Forte. Eco Denizen will be seeing me again soon to get their little variety pack, I’m sure.

I also want to note that I’m getting a pleasant feeling in my sinuses from this tea. I think it might be the soothing effects of the mint? Either way, I’ll have to remember this tea next time I get sick.

I plucked this from the traveling tea box. Originally i had passed over it, but went back to it. So glad i did.
The dry notes smell lightly, but so deliciously of cucumber and mint. It’s so fresh smelling. As it steels you still get the cucumber and mint, but also smells sligtly of… Ummmm….. marijuana :\
I accidentally let my water boil oops, then over steeped it… This is why I need a breville.

My first sip was really sweet. But that tamed over the next couple of sips. It delicious and fresh. Cucumber like and minty. Very nice. Definitely lovin this one.

It is slightly bitter and a little dry in the mouth, but I’m sure thats a result of my crappy brewing.

I got this one from Azzrian!

I was a bit worried about this one. I don’t typically like cucumber or melon flavored teas, they just never seem right, somehow sour, like overripe fruit. I opened the bag and didn’t get much of a scent. Brewed up I can smell the cucumber and the mint, the mint is light.

The taste is a little odd, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. I can taste the cucumber, but it’s more of the cooling sensation that you crave in hot summer months than actual taste. It’s not gross or sour or anything bad, it’s just not what I was expecting. The mint is there, but it is, like the smell, light. I think the mint is spearmint, it doesn’t have that bite or herb-y taste to it that peppermint does. This is much sweeter, it might be part of the hint of blueberry sweetness I get in the tail end of the sip.

I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it. It’s good, but it’s different. It’s very true to cucumber flavor too, this is what surprises me most. It re-steeps well, I’m on number three. I think I may have to cold-brew a small mug of what’s left of the sample.

Thank you Azzrian for sharing this with me!

The awesome Azzrian sent me a sample of this when she saw it was on my shopping list (which is more like a “tasting list”). I love cucumber and I love mint, but this has mixed reviews so I wanted to try it out first. Now I have the chance!

This definitely sounds like a tea that’s best iced, so I cold brewed some last night. I’ve been experimenting with smaller cold brews recently, since I usually do huge pitchers but that requires a lot of tea. So I just made a big glass of this: 1 teaspoon loose-leaf, filtered water and a little simple syrup (since I like my iced teas sweet) and let it sit for 12 hours. I was worried it would be weak since it wasn’t a great tea to water ratio, but it came out fine! Crisp, refreshing, with strong mint notes and a hint of cucumber. I’d like more “POW” cucumber flavor, but that seems to be pretty hard to capture in tea-form. I have enough of my sample left for another cup, so I think I’ll just add some cucumber slices!

There’s also some subtle blueberry, which is nice but also weird since this isn’t “Cucumber Mint Blueberry” tea. It does add some nice sweetness, but it’s as prominent as the cucumber which throws me a bit. I don’t think it’s really a stand-out blend, but I do like all the flavors so I might consider buying this just for cooling down over the summer.

Wow. I am actually lucky to say that I seem to find all the GREAT mint teas, even though I am NOT a big fan of mint. But all the mint teas I have tried are wonderful!

Smell: Minty-cucumbery. And the cucumber is calming and not icky.

Taste: A smooth, mellow mint, kind of in mouthfeel (that cold feeling, you know?) but also mid-swallow and after taste. The first taste/hint is the cucumber, but again, it’s just this subtle taste and it isn’t, well, “vetegable-y.” Not a word, but best thing I had for the moment. So yes, I am very pleasantly surprised on this one. I really do like it. :-)

I drank this last night to relax. This is the second teabag I have had of this. I LOVE IT. I LOVE all cucumber teas I have tried For some reason – even though I drank it hot – this tea is very soothing. I liked it so much I went to order it online at the tea forte website. However, shipping is only free at $50.00 and I only wanted this one item. ALAS, I had a brainstorm! I looked on Amazon and they also had the loose leaf. With Amazon Prime I got it shipped to my house for free! YAY!

Has anyone else ordered tea from Amazon? I have purchased other tea forte items (kati cup) from amazon in order to utilize the prime shipping. Looking quickly I noticed some Art of Tea items as well as Teavana and Adagio on Amazon.

Back to this tea – To me this is calm in a cup.

Azzrian sent this to me a while ago, and I’m just now getting to it. I’m not really getting any mint flavor to it, which makes me think it’s no good. Or maybe I’m just expecting the mint flavor to be overpowering, and it’s not. Who knows. It’s just tasting like generic green tea. It’s definitely not bad, but I wouldn’t have guessed one of the flavors would have been mint.

Anyway, I’ll leave a rating off tonight. I’m feeling very “blah” and I’ve been sneezing up a storm. At first I thought it was allergies but maybe it’s a cold. It’s hard to tell this time of year :(

This is really nice. The cucumber is well-defined, the mint is more of an accent flavor. I don’t taste much blueberry until the end of the sip and it is especially noticeable in the aftertaste. But during the sip… not so much. The green tea is light.

Overall, I really like how crisp and fresh this tastes.

My first of Tea Forte’s Skin-Smart sampler. It’s… weak. I steeped it for three minutes but it might have needed more. The flavors just wasn’t as big as I’d have liked. I got the cucumber and mint flavors. The blueberry was minor and more towards the end. It reminded me a bit of cucumber aloe creams. I drank this hot, but it seems like it would be better cool or iced. Cucumber and mint are naturally cool flavors so maybe an ice cube would have helped.

On another note… Tea bags? It’s a beauty-themed product and they use generic tea bags? Even a pyramid bag seems more in line with a beauty enhancing tea. Generic tea bags aren’t pretty.

Full review: http://www.tea-tank.com/?p=282