-Hope you’re having a great holiday season!  I got a lot of new teas for Christmas.  I’m trying a new steeping mug from Rishi.  Enjoy the holidays, drink lots of tea!

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Sweet Leaf | Mango

My local grocery store has been well stocked with Sweet Leaf products.  My last Sweet Leaf adventure was with their Mango Green Tea.  As usual, Sweet Leaf did not disappoint my taste buds.  Lately, my first test is to try a ready-to-drink tea regardless of the flavor compliment and see if I can actually taste the tea that is advertised on the bottle (if it’s on the bottle, I want to taste it in the bottle).  In the case of Sweet Leaf’s Mango Green Tea, I could easily detect the green tea in both scent and flavor.  Sweet Leaf put just the right amount of organic cane sugar in the bottle to sweeten the green tea to a level that would appeal to most sweet(er) tea drinkers (26g sugar/120 calories/ per 16 fl oz).  The mango fruit flavor is perfectly balanced in this mix.  I truly expected this product to taste like mango fruit juice.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The mango flavor shines through without being overpowering, and it is well supported by the green tea.  This might now be my number two favorite Sweet Leaf tea (Mint and Honey Green Tea is my favorite).  If you are interested in a deliciously sweet green tea with many organic ingredients – give this a try.  You will not be disappointed by the lush mango flavor and perfectly sweetened green tea.

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Drink the Leaf | Golden Monkey

It’s great to be back after a long break from marTEA.com.  I’m starting back with Drink the Leaf’s Organic Golden Monkey.   First of all, I’m a huge fan of most teas from the Yunnan Province.  The classic copper colored lush tea leaves are always something I look forward to.  To me, Organic Golden Monkey (Panyong Wang) is a hearty tea.  It’s a filling/satisfying tea.  I enjoy an almost earthy/sweet flavor coming from the tea.  Drink the Leaf describes the tea as having a cocoa flavor to it. I do detect the cocoa vibe, but I’m more intrigued by the balance of flavors.  This tea has something for everyone.  If you have a sweet tooth, sure you’ll pick-up on the cocoa notes of the tea.  I pick-up on the scent and flavor of a sweet smelling forest. The taste and scent reminds me of a solid mix of fresh air, flourishing vegetation, and fresh spring water.  At times, I can taste a faint pepper-like flavor.  I guess that is the beauty of a tea like this, it’s flavors are subject to interpretation.

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I’m taking some time off, but I can’t wait to get back to marTEA.com.

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Sweet Leaf | Pomegranate Green Tea

Hopefully by now you’ve tried something that is flavored using Pomegranate.  If you haven’t, you can start with a beverage such as Sweet Leaf’s Pomegranate Green Tea.  Sweet Leaf has been on the tea scene for over ten years and their product line is steadily evolving.  Their distribution growth has been the topic of many tea related news stories.  I’ve had mixed reviews of various pomegranate flavored teas, but Sweet Leaf knows how to make tea – S-W-E-E-T.  There’s no holding back on the sweetness.  The pomegranate green tea is USDA certified organic.  This beverage does have a slight fruity tartness to it, but the organic cane sugar helps to balance the flavor.  At times, I pickup an almost sweet/tart apple flavor from the green tea.  I do appreciate that I can tell I’m drinking green tea with each drink.  One of my complaints about many fruit flavored RTDs is the fact that you can’t taste the tea.  That’s not the case with Sweet Leaf’s product.  Clearly the sweet fruit flavor of the pomegranate is the focal point of the beverage, but the green tea makes for a good base.  With most organic bottled teas, you need to give this one a good shake before drinking to get all the ingredients mixed up.  There are about 28g of sugars and 120 calories per 16 fl oz.

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Drink the Leaf | Organic Hong Tao Mao Feng

I started sampling tea from Drink the Leaf this week, and I have to say I started out with a winner.  This organic black tea has a wiry and long shape to its dried tea leaf.  There is a natural sweetness to the dried product that makes it very enticing.  I steeped the tea according to the recommended directions of 1.5 tsp/200°F/3 min.  The tea retains its sweet scent that rises from the steam after it is steeped.  The flavor had a rustic component to it that made it enjoyable for me.  It had a very warming nature to it.  You get a slight earthiness mixed with a natural sweetness in every drink.  At times, I could detect a nutty flavor when the tea was at its hottest temperature.  As the tea cools, the rustic flavors mellow and the sweet notes shine through with just a delightful and lasting classic black tea flavor.  I really enjoyed this tea.  It has a good mix of character, but it really is a relaxing black tea.  The flavors are mellow enough to calm yet pronounced enough to keep it interesting  The combination of the nose and flavor makes for a very pleasant tea drinking experience.

Drink the Leaf describes the tea as: “Keemun grown in the Anhui Province, near a high mountain lake. The dry leaf is black and golden. The color of this tea is one of my favorites in our selection- like a “red peach” but with a darker amber hue. The aroma is great, but the flavor is the key to this tea. Medium to full, with caramel and honey notes,and a long finish. Enjoy this tea- a new discovery for us.”

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I’ll still be drinking and blogging about iced tea over the fall and winter months, but I have to admit I look forward to hot tea once the weather starts to cool.  It’s time to get the gongfu tea tray out and round-up all of my Yixing clay pots and start enjoying some tea.

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Tazo | Chai Latte

For those of you new to tea (chai), Chai is an excellent introduction to the tea world.  Although the word “chai” translates to the word “tea”, most of us refer to Chai as a specific blend of herbs and spices with tea (originating from India’s famous Masala Chai).  It’s often spicy, sweet, and creamy.  Most Chai suppliers have a flavor that will appeal to you.  Concentrates make it easy and convenient to prepare the beverage and enjoy the experience of chai.  I’ve been drinking chai for years, but I still enjoy a good concentrate for its convenience factor.  My family and friends really like chai prepared this way.  Tazo’s Chai Tea Latte surprisingly has an authentic chai flavor.  I only say “surprisingly” because most ready-to-drink chais tend to lean toward the overly sweet side.  Tazo wasn’t afraid to add some spice to the mix.  It had a nice balance of spice and sweetness.  With each drink, there was a slight tingle on my tongue that was mellowed by the sweetness and cream that quickly followed.  The chai concentrate is very simple to prepare.  I go with about 55% concentrate and about 45% milk (you can use your favorite milk substitute).  I pour the concentrate into a microwave safe cup for about one minute.  Then I add milk.  At that point, I put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds (shake carton before pouring and stir the chai as you add milk).  There’s no exact science to it, just heat the chai to your liking.  The more concentrate you add, the spicier the chai.

Ingredients: Black Tea, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Natural Flavors and Star Anise, Cane Sugar, Honey, Ginger, Natural Flavors, Vanilla and Citric Acid.

The box label states about 70 calories per 4 fl oz (to make an 8 fl oz drink).  I highly recommend this product if you are in the market for a convenient way to make an extremely flavorful cup of chai.  Again, you have to enjoy the spices listed above.  They are well-balanced in this mix and shouldn’t be too much for you.  Keep in mind you can always mellow the beverage by adding less concentrate and more milk (or milk substitute).

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