2/28/2018 Tea Finds at The FitExpoWhen you think of something called the FitExpo it may bring to mind testosterone and steroids, men made of muscle and women kickboxing their way to their best butt ever. Yes, there were best arm competitions, workout classes and the Marines were there with their chin-up challenge but there were many people there who were just starting their fitness exploration and even families just looking for healthier options. This was most apparent in the food and beverage section. This was my first time at the FitExpo LA and I had a feeling I would encounter tea somewhere in the sea of booths, and sea of people. Someone likened it to a night at a club just set in a convention center. They were accurate. It was like moving through a crowded amusement park, just with the majority of people having almost double the shoulder width of the average person. I even ran into an awesome wrestler I’ve seen live at Lucha Underground, Brian Cage! (yes, I am a proud wrestling fan) His catch phrase is “he’s not a man, he’s a machine!” In person I can see why! Still I found a few companies hawking their tea wares. First up: HONEST TEA The guys working for Honest Tea had great attitudes and seemed to be having a good time sharing tea with the FitExpo’s many, many attendees. They had some of their line of RTD (ready to drink) teas with an iced focus. Organic Unsweet Peach Ginger Tea SCENT - peachy nose, fragrant, satisfying scent TASTE – Ginger mutes the sweetness of the peach, but doesn’t kill it. Slight bitterness but not overpowering. The first time I had it I felt it was more bitter than the second time. It may have been where my palate was at the time, what I had eaten, etc. Tea flavor is light to mid-level – not robust. If you prefer your tea with additional flavors and no sugar this may fit you. Organic Honey Green SCENT – faint nose, minute green and honey notes TASTE – It is said to be ‘a tad sweet’. This may be true in comparison to the American palate, as it is 19g sugar per bottle compared to many RTD drinks that have 30-60g per bottle. If you are used to your tea without sweetener this may taste sweeter to you that just a tad. There is sugar in the ingredients as well and that taste is more forward with the honey a ghost in the background. Green tea flavor is very light. Pomegranate Blue Flavored Herbal Tea What does blue flavor taste like? I think is referring to the use of organic blueberry juice concentrate, but I thought it sounded funny. SCENT – Smells like a fruit punch TASTE- Tastes like a fruit punch. There is no tea here and the ingredients include organic pomegranate and concord grape juice concentrates so that makes sense. It is a satisfying fruity taste with moderate sweetness at 23g per bottle. Sugar is the second ingredient after water so this is not juice, per se. The hibiscus doesn’t add too much bite thankfully. It is essentially adult fruit punch with a bit less sugar. NUMI TEA Aged Earl Grey SCENT – This RTD smells like tea. The bergamot doesn’t drown the tea itself, but acts like a partner which is great. TASTE – It is also great that they indicate it is an Assam tea base. The tea taste is milder than the tea scent, which is surprising considering it is an Assam which is known for boldness. The flavors are well blended and it is closer to a home brewed iced tea than most and only has 14g sugar per bottle. LAKANTO
Matcha with Monkfruit Lakanto is mainly a supplier of monk fruit as a sweetener. They created a Matcha powder you mix with milk of choice that has their monk fruit in it. This is far from a traditional Matcha experience. It is more of a bridge for the sugar-dipped western palate looking for a sugar alternative. The monk fruit is the focus here rather than the tea. Monk fruit is touted as zero glycemic index and zero calorie yet can replace sugar in equal amounts. In their Matcha it has a malty result. The packet I tried indicated it was to be mixed with 8oz. of milk substitute. I used regular milk because right now it is my preference and how I am rolling. I found it to be too sweet for my palate. I prefer the traditional grassy taste of traditional Matcha but the sweetener itself is intriguing. It has a natural taste free of the bitterness of many other sugar substitutes. I would just prefer being able to choose the amount I use so the pre-measured thing isn’t for me. This is in the sweetness level category of a Starbucks drink, but without the calories or sugar spike. If fitness and healthy living are of interest to you, the FitExpo is still making it’s way through many major cities in the US with Philadelphia, Chicago, San Jose, Anaheim and San Diego still on deck for 2018. Maybe you’ll find some tea gems I missed. Cheers! This is not a sponsored post I love tea gifts and when my friend Joanne went to London and brought me back some Mariage Frères Love Song Tea I was jazzed! Thanks Joanne! So this is a mix of a brief review and a cocktail suggestion. First, a sip of history: Founded in 1854 and named for a family with a long history of trading in various goods, Mariage Frères supplied tea and tea accessories to hotels and salons of the noble classes. The main shop has 650+ teas from 36 countries including rare varietals and their signature blends based in perfume tradition. Love Song Black Tea
This tea embodies the romantic notions of Paris to me, with the flavors of roses and almonds in a black blend base. There are actual rose petals and pieces of almonds not just flavoring. There are no further details on the blend on the website, but I found it can be steeped to a deep strength or to a lighter brew by adjusting the amount of tea without losing balance. It is a quite broken leaf so the steep is quick. At 3 minutes, using my usual amount of tea it was quite strong. The blend has a lovely balance between the almond and rose flavors – neither overwhelm the tea blend which tastes like it includes a bold Indian leaf. The sweetness of the blend is brought out in different ways when adding cream and/or sweetener of choice. I found I could drink this with or without milk if I brewed it light to average strength. The Love Song Tea line includes a green and a rooibos version also. Tea & Champagne We decided to say hello to the New Year with a bubbly glass of fun that includes tea of course. Mixing champagne (or sparkling wine) with other flavors is hardly new. If you have not yet paired the bubbly with tea you may want to try these combinations for any time you are feeling festive – birthdays, weddings, launching of a new project or just because life is worth celebrating. A very simple, low effort way is pairing a pre-made kombucha of your choice with a champagne/prosecco/sparkling wine. I like the brut or dry versions for a less sweet result. If you put the kombucha in your flute first then pour the bubbly leaving some room at the top you can perfect your mix adding more kombucha or bubbles to taste. Another option is to steep a strong tea of choice to mix with your bubbly. That is what I did with the Love Song black tea. General suggestion: Steep double the amount of tea you would usually use for a cup in half the water. Here is the lowdown:
I am looking forward to a new year of festive tea adventures to share with you and wish you all many reasons to celebrate in the coming year! Cheers all! by Cassandra Vincent Adagio Teas are known for a wide variety of choices from over 10,000 fandom tea blends created by fans of the brand all the way to a Masters collection of single origin, high quality teas. I have reviewed some of their fun Doctor Who themed fandom blends that I have enjoyed. This time I broke out the yixing teapot to explore their version of Formosa Ali Shan. Note: Did you know that Formosa means shapely/beautiful and was the name given to Taiwan by early Portuguese explorers upon seeing the island: Formosa insula ‘beautiful island’. The name remains to describe this oolong – beautiful indeed! Adagio Teas are known for a wide variety of choices from over 10,000 fandom tea blends created by tea and entertainment lovers all the way to a Masters collection of single origin, high quality teas. I have reviewed some of their fun Doctor Who themed fandom blends that I have enjoyed. This time I broke out the Yixing teapot to explore their version of Formosa Ali Shan. A little background quickie – the Portuguese explorers that deemed Taiwan ‘Formosa Insula’ or Beautiful Island’ did so in the 1500s. Dutch and later Chinese influence grew Taiwan into a unique tea producing nation. Tea crops became a significant trade for Taiwan in the late 1700s. Being a small country with unique topography, Taiwan teas focus on quality over quantity with some regions limiting harvesting to twice a year due to elevation. Through the island’s varied history of influence from other tea producing countries Taiwan eventually settled on producing mostly oolongs and quality ones. Ali Shan is considered a High Mountain Oolong – there are many teas that fall into this distinction which is for those teas grown at 3,300 feet above sea level or higher. Fewer harvests, rarer tea, greater price and I find it is often quite worth it. This is considered a green oolong. Though that sounds like a contradiction I learned it is due to processing that uses lighter amount of oxidation than other darker oolongs resulting in a character that rests between green and oolong categories having aspects of each. Nice! Even dry the leaves gave off buttery and floral notes with a bit of vegetal depth, though lighter than other oolongs I’ve had. During my first steep (3 minutes) the leaves gave off a big buttery nose reminiscent of a milk oolong with a softness. In taste I received both the floral (like lilacs) and butter aspects equally. I thought it was very smooth and round and satisfying. In comparison to lower grade Ali Shan’s I’ve had this was fuller with much more in the way of buttery scent and flavor and overall complexity. This is a pearl tea where the leaves are rolled into a ball-like shape as opposed to other oolongs that are twisted. They are beautiful leaves with varying shades of green. I have found that pearl teas often don’t give up their full flavor until the second or third steep when they have ‘opened up’ more. I did a second steep for 5 minutes and found that the tea was even more floral though the butter aspect lessened a bit. I had a nice buzz on the tongue on this steeping. This tea will give flavor over multiple steeps – 4 or more depending on your taste. That makes the price point more agreeable. I would drink this again. I shared it with some friends who had never had this kind or level of oolong and they truly enjoyed it. Thanks to Adagio Teas for providing the tea for this exploration. If you haven’t yet tried a rarer tea I encourage you to expand your experience. Some companies, like Adagio, offer sample sizes enabling you to try a higher price point tea without having to make a large size (and cost) commitment. I wish you ongoing joyous adventures in great tea! All opinions are my own. This is not a paid or affiliate post. by Cassandra Vincent "After a fairly shaky start to the day, Arthur's mind was beginning to reassemble itself from the shell-shocked fragments the previous day had left him with. He had found a Nutri-Matic machine which had provided him with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, The first loose leaf tea brand I explored while in school in the US was The Republic of Tea. A friend had shared with me one of their herbal blends, Ginseng Peppermint (yeah, I know it’s not technically tea. We’ll get to that). I was never a fan of mint tisane but found I loved this crazy blend. It was such a surprising well-balanced taste and the ginseng offered a kick in the absence of real ‘tea’ caffeine.
I went on to discover The Republic of Tea Blackberry Sage black tea and Ginger Peach black tea which were regular staples in my cupboard. I appreciated not just their unique blends, but also the loose and bagged options. As I still used bags a lot at this time, for travel especially, I really liked that their bags are unbleached. To me there is a massive difference in taste let alone the gross idea of sucking on something that has been through a bleaching process. When The Republic reached out to me about their new line of herbal tisanes focused on women I was glad to reconnect with the brand. The line is SuperHerb Tea and the one I tried is Nettle. I have had many herbal infusions of a single herb alone and though some are fine this way others do feel like I’m taking medicine either from the blandness or outright yuck taste (valerian – love the effect but it smells like something died in my cup). The Republic of Tea blends peppermint and vanilla with the organic nettle leaves for a light and well-balanced infusion. It has a lovely gentle sweet smell from the vanilla in particular without smelling like a cake or something. It doesn't lure you in with a smell that ends up being far different from the taste - I hate a bait and switch in my tea. Nettle alone is more of a ‘meh’ feeling than a gross one but I prefer some pleasure with my medicinal benefits and this works for me. Like most well-known herbs nettle has been used for ages to aid in a variety of ailments and has been through a battery of scientific tests in the more modern world. Nettle is helpful for kidney function, inflammation, hair growth and allergies. Nettle has been used in women’s health for hundreds of years including supporting pregnancy and fertility. With herbs it is a good idea to make sure your individual needs are met. Like anything else an herb can interact with other medicines/herbs in an undesired way. It’s a good idea to refer to your doctor and do your research. Also, herbs are different for different people based on so many factors outside other medications including body weight. I mean really, is that ‘recommended dosage’ on any bottle meant to apply to both a 120 lb. adult and a 300 lb. adult? Take that into account. I've noticed when I’ve eaten and what I’ve eaten in regard to taking in a supplement has changed my results. I know that herbal ‘teas’ are technically not tea as they do not contain any camellia sinensis leaves. They are ‘tisanes’ – basically herbs steeped in water, sometimes with fruit and/or spices. The etymology of the word goes back to a reference to medicinal barley water (what the Japanese having been drinking for centuries and call mugi-cha, but that’s for another post). I'm a fan of herbal infusions and have used them for years. I think they have a place in the world of tea because of the similar way in which they are prepared for drinking (not manufacture), and how they have become connected in our society. I’ve told tea about my friendship with herbals and tea doesn’t mind. Tea is very secure about its place in my life;). What herbal teas do you have a good relationship with? Share with fellow tea lovers on Twitter and Facebook. |
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