I’ve been drinking Choice Organic teas for a couple of years.  The Whole Leaf Organics line clearly shows an evolution with the tea selections offered by Choice Organic.  I was very fortunate to try several of the new selections.

Reasons to enjoy Whole Leaf Organics (WLO):

• Choice Organic Teas offers the largest selection of exclusively organic and Fair Trade tea pyramids, keeping in line with its long-time commitment to manufacturing organic and Fair Trade teas.
• Whole Leaf Organics (WLO) tea pyramids are fully biodegradable.
• Choice Organic Teas does not use any PVdC in their packaging.
• The 100% recycled box is printed with soy ink and features a unique cover with a die-cut pyramid window, offering a peek at the tea garden-inspired painting commissioned by Seattle artist Maija Fiebig.

Black Tea: Estate Blend Darjeeling: This tea exceeded my expectations by having a lot more flavor and character than I anticipated.  Darjeeling’s muscatel flavor is always inviting, but this one had a welcomed grape-like flavor that added a special element to the tea. Choice Organic described the tea as having a floral, nutty taste.  Either way, it was really good. The leaves expand in the tea pyramid during the steeping process to remind the consumer that they are drinking tea from real organic Darjeeling tea leaves rather than dust and fannings.  This is a great choice for tea drinkers looking for a solid/flavorful organic black tea in a convenient tea bag.

Green Tea: Jasmine Green: I haven’t always enjoyed Choice Organic’s green teas, but this one was very refreshing.  It was definitely my favorite green tea offered by Choice Organic.  The pan-fired organic Chinese green tea was very pronounced with an oceanic and slight smoke flavor.  The jasmine flavors balanced perfectly with the green tea to create an enjoyable cup.  Choice Organic described the tea as having a lightly floral, almost sweet taste to it. I have to agree with their description, but I want to add that the green tea flavor shines through the jasmine.  For me, that is a definite plus. The split personality of the green tea and sweet-jasmine flavors combine to create one delicious cup of green tea.  It was gone too fast.

Herbal (Caffeine-free): Chamomile Citrus: If you enjoy Chamomile, you’ll love this one.  The chamomile dominates the cup, but your taste buds are hit with orange peel, hibiscus, and lemon myrtle (all organic).  The zesty citrus flavors mixed with chamomile were very interesting.  I think this one would be perfect with honey and a tad bit of your favorite sweetener.  Again, the key to this herbal is you have to enjoy chamomile.  Choice Organic describes this herbal as: citrusy blend brings out the best of mild-mannered chamomile. Its sweet, floral taste comes from whole yellow chamomile flowers harvested on a Fair Trade farm in Egypt. Orange peel and pink hibiscus add a light, fruity essence.

That completes a long list of Choice Organic teas that I’ve been fortunate to recently drink.  It’s exciting to see the direction the company has taken with this line.  The quality of “bagged” teas continues to be raised by companies like Choice Organic.  This is welcomed change for all of us.

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English Breakfast Tea: Let me start by saying English Breakfast tea is quite confusing for new tea drinkers. If you are an experienced tea drinker, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably established your favorite English Breakfast teas by now. Anyway, almost every account of its origin that I’ve read did relate the tea as a breakfast compliment. That said, this is an anytime of the day tea. Keep in mind it does have caffeine, but almost all black teas have caffeine. Choice Organic’s english breakfast tea is a blend of teas from Ceylon, Assam, and East Africa.  The tea is organically grown and certified fair trade.  This blend comes in a pyramid tea infuser.  All-in-all, I felt the tea was on par with other bagged teas.  The tea was very smooth, but it did require milk and sugar to bring out the flavor.  With Assam tea in the blend, I expected it to have more of a kick.  This tea is perfect for the casual tea drinker.  If you require more of a bold flavor, this is not the tea for you.

Jade Green: I was looking forward to trying this one.  I let the water cool to about 180 degrees and steeped the tea for about 3 minutes.  Like the other Choice Organic teas, the tea comes in a pyramid biodegradable tea infuser, and it’s organic and fair trade certified.  The tea has an interesting almost fruity flavor to it.  The vegetal flavor was slightly bitter for my taste, but the faint almost floral flavor helped me through the cup.  I’ve had bad luck with Choice Organic’s green teas.  The bitterness is just too much for me to truly enjoy the cup.  Choice Organic describes the tea as: A healthful blend that brews up a mellow yet lively cup. It’s an artful combination of fine green teas grown in the lush jungles of China and the sweeping hills of India — offering a light, almost fruity taste with a gentle finish.

Sweet Liquorice Mint: I don’t often take the time to drink an herbal tea (tisane), but when I do, I prefer something minty.  This was a great herbal tea.  It was sweet and minty.  The flavor lingers leaving your mouth with a fresh minty taste.  I highly recommend this tisane to anyone that likes peppermint, spearmint, or liquorice root.  The tea is absolutely delicious.  This would be a great tea after a meal.  Not only will it leave a smile on your face and cleanse your palate, it will help you digest your meal.  One of the ingredients is organic cornflowers.  I cannot honestly say I detect the flavor, but I applaud Choice Organic for adding something unique and interesting to the herbal blend.  Sweet Liquorice Mint is a caffeine free beverage because it does not contain tea.  So, feel free to drink this one all day long.  I can’t say enough about the flavor of this blend – awesome.

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Choice Organic’s Earl Grey is made from Fair Trade Certified black tea, organic orange peel, organic oil of bergamot, and organic safflowers. This tea is another example of Choice Organic’s commitment to social responsibility and customer satisfaction.  Their Whole Leaf organic products contain loose leaf tea in a pyramid tea bag; which gives the tea consumer a quality tea in an easy to use tea infuser.

Earl Grey is a popular black tea blend often referred to as an afternoon tea. I like it anytime of the day, especially in the morning. There’s one catch to liking Earl Grey, you have to like the flavoring of the Bergamot oil. Bergamot is a citrus fruit described as a cross between a pear lemon and a grapefruit.  The flavor combines to create a flavorful black tea that is a favorite of many.  With the Choice Organic Earl Grey, I didn’t find the flavors to be overpowering.  I typically do not add milk, sugar, and honey to tea, but this one needed something extra to bring it to its full flavor potential.  I think most people that enjoy Early Gray in a tea bag will enjoy this tea.  If it had just a bit more flavor from the start, I would have been more satisfied with my cup.  Keep in mind this product is organic and fair trade.

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Choice Organic Teas has recently introduced eight new whole leaf organic teas.  The teas are neatly packaged in an artistic wrapper.  The tea itself is contained in a biodegradable tea pyramid (mesh-like). Today, I’m drinking Lychee white.  The white tea is both organic and fair trade.  From the start, this tea’s fragrance will make your mouth water.  The dry tea has an inviting sweet scent to it.  It’s a very welcoming scent.  As you inhale the fragrance, it awakens your senses and motivates you to get your day moving along.  If you drink white tea for its low caffeine content, you’ll enjoy the relaxing nature of the tea.  The lychee is a small fruit native to southern China.  The lychee flavor found in tea reminds me of a mix between a sweet grape and a raspberry.  You need to try it for yourself and decide.  Regardless of what it reminds me of, it tastes great.  To prepare the tea, I let the water sit for about 3-5 minutes after it boiled.  I let the tea pyramid float in the water for about 2-3 minutes.  I was left with a delicious cup of tea.  The white tea was very enjoyable.  The flavor is very well balanced.  The white tea and lychee flavors blend together to create a beautiful medley of flavors.  For an extra touch, Choice Organic added organic osmanthus flowers to the mix.  This is easily one of my favorite Choice Organic products, and I can’t wait to try the other new flavors.

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Press Release:

Seattle, WA, March 12, 2008 — Choice Organic Teas, North America’s leading purveyor of exclusively organic teas, announces the launch of Whole Leaf Organics, the largest collection of organic, Fair Trade Certified™ tea pyramids on the market today. Packed in eco-friendly, biodegradable tea pyramids, this product line brings an artful new shape to the organic tea experience. Available May 2008, the first taste will come at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA from March 14-16.

Loose leaf teas are often considered by tea connoisseurs to be the finest way to enjoy a cup, as the unfurling of the full tea leaves allows complex flavors to come to the forefront. With extra room inside each tea pyramid, Whole Leaf Organics achieves this same quality but with the added convenience of a tea bag. The line includes eight varieties of traditional blends and new favorites — English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Estate Blend Darjeeling, Jade Green, Jasmine Green, Chamomile Citrus, Sweet Liquorice Mint, and Lychee White. The suggested retail price is $8.49 for a 15-count box of individually wrapped tea pyramids.

“As pioneers in organic tea, we’ve developed close relationships with our tea gardens over the past 20 years,” said Eric Ring, Head of Purchasing and Production. “Whole Leaf Organics takes that connection to the next level and allows us to showcase some of the highest quality organic teas available.”

Whole Leaf Organics continues the traditions of social responsibility and environmental sustainability that have been pillars of Choice Organic Teas since the company’s founding. As the first tea crafter in the United States to offer Fair Trade tea, it is natural that each selection in the Whole Leaf Organics line proudly bears the Fair Trade logo. Fair Trade guarantees livable wages for workers and their families, improving their opportunities for better healthcare, housing, and communication.

The 100% recycled box features a unique cover with a die-cut pyramid window, offering a peek at the tea garden-inspired painting commissioned by Seattle artist Maija Fiebig. With an elegant twist, the retail box also meets foodservice operators’ need for quick access to product. Each box easily folds open into an attractive, self-dispensing display, eliminating the need for a dispensing cut-out, and the available counter rack completes the presentation.

A brand of Granum, Inc. of Seattle, Choice Organic Teas made its debut in 1989. As North America’s #1 selling exclusively certified organic tea line, Choice Organic Teas has promoted the growth and development of organic agriculture in tea estates worldwide and offers more than seventy varieties of teas and herbal infusions available in teabags and loose leaf. In 2000, Choice Organic Teas became the first tea crafter in the United States to offer Fair Trade Certified™ tea. Visit www.choiceorganicteas.com for more information.

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Choice Organic offers an organic white tea mixed with organic Chinese green tea that has been scented with jasmine blossoms. I found it extremely important to make certain the water temperature is around 190 degrees. Anything hotter and the tea gets very bitter. If you brew the tea in cooler water temperatures, you’ll experience an enjoyable cup of tea. Choice Organic’s white jasmine tea comes in a traditional tea bag filled with finely chopped tea leaves. The tea brews very dark for a white tea, which is most likely due to the mix of green tea. The green tea and jasmine flavoring is very faint. I was straining to find the jasmine flavor. The white tea is definitely the dominant ingredient of the mix. Since the tea has more body than a lot of other white teas, you can easily add a little flavor to this tea if you desire. I experimented with a drop of honey, and I thought it really worked well with this tea blend. Choice Organic Teas appears to make every effort to ensure that their products are produced with organic ingredients. In addition, many of their teas are Fair Trade Certified.

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This is just what I needed after the holiday rush. Everyone around me seems to be sick…lots of sneezing and coughing. I’m doing all I can to fight it off. Choice Organic’s Lemon Lavender Mint Herb Tea is absolutely delicious and it’s very soothing on my throat. Choice Organic describes the tea as: Our sophisticated organic blend features accents of sun-blessed lavender, layers of mellow lemon, and crisp mints in a fresh yet soft-tasting herbal tea.

The tea is very comforting and all of the flavors are welcomed. The herbal blend comes in a convenient tea bag, which makes it easy to take with you. I’m sure many of you have tried teas or other herbals with similar ingredients and found the beverage to be overpowering. This is not the case with Choice Organic’s herbal blend. The tisane leaves you wanting more when the cup runs dry. You get a 360-degree experience with this herbal. It will help to relax and revive all of your senses. In fact, I wasn’t feeling very well the other evening. After a cup of the herbal my stomach felt much better. If you are looking for an herbal tea that is sure to please, this is it. Obviously, if you don’t like mint flavored beverages, you may not want to try this.  The blend consists of organic spearmint and peppermint.  The lemon grass, lemon peel, lavender, and lemon oil are balanced well with the mint.

Remember, most herbal teas are caffeine free. Lemon Lavender Mint is caffeine free. So, after it helped to calm my stomach, I was able to fall asleep without any problems. In addition, it’s important to note that it is USDA certified organic.

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I first wrote about Choice Organic Teas in February of this year in a blogment on marTEA.com. A story about their efforts to donate to Save The Himalayan Kingdom caught my attention. Tea is often referred to as the second most consumed beverage in the world – second only to water. As I’ve started my journey into the tea industry, I often read of the impoverished conditions that tea workers live in. I read about the economic struggles that tea farmers face due to the lack of money to modernize their facilities and processes. With all the hardship that faces those closest to the actual product, the industry boasts major growth with billions of dollars in revenue. So why is it that the second most consumed beverage in the world is surrounded by these troubles? Well, many of those reasons are debatable. However, tea companies like Choice Organic Teas are trying to make a difference and doing something to make life better for those closest to the product.

I like how Choice Organic Teas are not only supporting Fair Trade, but they are also selling environmentally friendly organic products. Now, to take it one step farther, they have chosen to support a cause that they feel is worthy of attention (Save The Himalayan Kingdom). With each purchase of a box of Himalaya Green Tea, ten cents will go toward Save The Himalayan Kingdom. Nepal and its surrounding mountains are natural phenomenons that challenge the imagination of mankind to ponder its mass and beauty. Nepal is located in South Asia. If you look on a map, you’ll notice that Nepal borders China (north) and it is surrounded by India (south, east, west). It’s easy to see why Nepal is a tea producing country. Now, the green tea I’m drinking today is a USDA certified organic bagged tea from the Kanchanjangha Tea Estate in Nepal. The tea inside the bag was finely cut. The organic Nepalese green tea was light and fresh. There was a slight bitterness about it that didn’t agree with my palate. I wasn’t impressed with the overall flavor, but it easily rivaled its competitors that offer similar products. That said, if you enjoy bagged teas and you are looking for a green tea to try, what a great company to support. I enjoyed some of their other teas that I’ll blog about in the near future.

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