Teas Etc | Tea Traveler™

I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy tea.  Lately, I’ve been drinking more coffee on the go  than tea because my wife always has a pot ready in the morning and we have plenty of coffee travel mugs handy.  In order to get back into my usual tea consumption habits, I had to find a companion for my early morning travels.  Teas Etc offers a product called the Tea Traveler™.  There are pros and cons to this product, but the pros far out weigh the cons for me.  The issue some people will have with this product is it was designed to allow you to place your tea leaves in the container, add water, seal the strainer and lid, and go.  You drink the tea with the leaves in the Tea Traveler™.  The strainer separates the leaves from your mouth as you take a drink.  If you try to use your normal tea leaf to water heat ratio, you might be left with a bitter brew – no one wants that.  So, you need to apply some common sense.  Going with the suggestions from Teas Etc., the common sense approach was to use less tea.  I have been using approximately the same water temperatures I would normally use to steep tea.  To date, I’m very happy with this approach.  The Tea Traveler™ is a stylish and functional on-the-go tea container.  The product is 100% BPA free.

So far, I’ve tried Teas Etc.’s: Huang Jin Gui (oolong), Golden Monkey Superior Organic (black tea), and Bai Hao Silver Needle Organic (white tea).

Teas Etc | Bai Hao Silver Needle

Today, I want to focus on Bai Hao Organic Silver Needle (Yinzhen).  This tea has been a real treat.  As the name suggests, the dry tea leaves show the white “hairs” of the tea buds with a needle-like appearance.  As the tea steeps, the leaves take on more of a darker green color.  It has a very pure flavor,  and it is a refreshing tea to drink.  The natural sweetness mixed with a hint nature’s breeze gives this tea a very calming characteristic.  What I love about elegant white teas of this quality is the fact that not only is it organic, but it makes you feel grounded and healthy as you drink the tea.

Preparation: Steep the leaves for at least 2-3 minutes in water that has cooled from a boil (maybe 190 degrees) for about 3-4 minutes.  Filtered water definitely helps to bring out the subtle notes of the white tea.

Teas Etc.’s view of the tea: “A scrumptious all bud white tea from the world renowned Fujian province in central China – obviously a cut above. The pure clean character and woody tone stands out with a lingering, smooth finish, and makes this tea quite memorable.”

• Visit Teas Etc.

marTEA

Rishi Ancient Moon White Tea (2009)

What makes white tea special?  To me, it’s the pure and subtle flavors derived from the tea.  Primarily labeled as “the least processed” tea, white tea is not oxidized.  It’s easy to say the tea is simply plucked, steamed, and dried, but there are still major tea skills necessary to produce a high quality white tea. When drinking a pure white tea like this, the leaves have to come from excellent growing conditions in order to taste good on its own. Due to the fact that the leaves and buds go through very little processing, it is said by many tea experts that white tea contains more antioxidants than green tea and black tea.  It’s important to me as a tea consumer to share my thoughts regarding white tea with you to help you form an expectation. Having said that, your taste buds will be the final judge.

I drink white tea when I want to relax.  After a stressful day or before a hectic day, white tea is very calming.  It’s a beverage that helps me focus and it helps me relax with its subtle notes of  freshness.  White tea does contain caffeine.  In fact, recent studies that I read in the January 2009 edition of Fresh Cup magazine revealed that certain white teas contain a much higher amount of caffeine than was recently thought by the tea industry. One defining characteristic I like about white tea is it’s appearance. When you show someone white tea, if their only experience with tea has been finely chopped dust and fannings in a tea bag, now they can actually relate to tea as a leaf or bud from a plant (or tea tree). Once the tea steeps, the soaked leaves come to life. You can see the vivid colors and defined shapes of the leaves and buds.

Rishi’s Ancient Moonlight White Tea (a.k.a Yue Guang Bai, from Yunnan) was a very enjoyable white tea.  Again, you’re not going to be wowed by powerful flavors.  However, if you’re like me, you’re going to be impressed with the natural freshness that white tea offers.  It’s not grassy like many green teas.  This white tea captures that hot sunny day when the sun has been shining bright on the vegetation of the land and the gentle breeze is sharing the scent of the land to anyone lucky enough to be near.

Rishi describes the tea as: “Having a rich and lively mouthfeel. The complex floral aroma and sweet finish suggests pit fruits, persimmons and wildflower honey.”

I’m not picking up a lot of sweetness in the flavor of this tea.  The floral and fruit flavors are very distant and not always easy to recognize.  This tea has more of a dryness to it.  My best advice to people wanting to try a white tea like this, don’t expect it to taste like something it’s not.  This tea is very mellow and shines with it’s subtle nature and not it’s popping flavors.

Visit Rishi

marTEA

Anteadote White Tea

Moving on to an unsweetened RTD from Adagio – Anteadote Organic White Tea…

I wasn’t anticipating wonderful things from the Anteadote White Tea.  The Jasmine and Oolong have easily been my favorites in this product line.  They were packed with natural flavor and freshness.  The white tea fell short for me in the flavor department.  I can barely detect the white tea flavor.  The beverage starts with a quick crisp sweetness, but the bitter finish washes the faint white tea flavor away.  It tasted very similar to the green tea.  The white tea had a noticeable vitamin flavor to it, which I noticed in the green tea (Vitamin C is an ingredient).  Although I appreciate the addition of Vitamin C, I don’t necessarily want a beverage that tastes like a vitamin.  The good news, this is a refreshing beverage.  Even though I think there is a lot of room for improvement, I enjoyed the fact that it was a healthy/unsweetened beverage that I could drink after working out or coming in from the hot weather.  The plastic 16.9 FL OZ bottle makes white tea more convenient for those that aren’t comfortable steeping loose leaf teas.  If Adagio can get the white tea to shine a little brighter, I’ll give it another shot.

Visit Anteadote – Adagio Teas for more information

marTEA

Mango Açaí White Tea

Welcome to all the new marTEA.com visitors.  I’ve enjoyed many teas over the years and picking one favorite sweetened iced tea (ready-to-drink) was really difficult.  I selected Honest Tea’s Mango Açaí White Tea when asked in a recent interview with Woman’s World Magazine (The Best Iced Tea – June 29, 2009 edition).  It was nearly two years ago when I first reviewed this delicious and organic tea.  If you are looking for unsweetened teas, many of the tea brands I’ve blogged about carry unsweetened teas.  I learned a long time ago, if you find a tea that you enjoy, drink it and enjoy it often.  I know my taste preference is not always going to be the same as yours.  So explore the vast variety of flavors offered by the numerous tea companies and find the one that is right for you.

Here are a couple of links from my blog that might help:

• Ready to drink (bottled teas)
• Honest Tea: Mango Açaí White Tea

Thank you for visiting,

marTEA

Inko's White Peach

Inko’s bottled iced teas are really starting to grow on me.  A product line of bottled white teas is an intriguing idea to me.  Inko’s flavor selections give the consumer a wide variety of familiar flavors (with a few that our slightly out of the norm).  When I tried Inko’s teas last year, I was impressed with the overall flavors and quality of the products.  Inko’s White Peach continues to impress me.  Although the beverages are not labeled as organic, they still have a very fresh and natural flavor.  The bottle label makes a point to stress that Inko’s uses fructose crystals (not corn syrup).  There are only 28 calories and 7g of sugar per 8 fl oz.  That’s not too bad.

As for the flavor of the beverage…The white peach shines through and balances well with the white tea.  That’s what sells me on this product – I can actually taste white tea.  For those new to white tea, it’s a step closer to enjoying organic whole leaf white teas.  This beverage is very easy to drink.  It’s smooth, refreshing and flavorful.  The description of the product closely resembles the flavor.  The beverage is sweet, but it’s not at all overly sweet.  The white peach flavor was natural and inviting.  Inko’s does an excellent job of balancing the dominating flavors of a peach with the delicate white tea flavors.  The sweet white peach flavor makes this a perfect beverage on a hot summer day.

Visit Inko’s

marTEA

Organic White Acai

I’ve been craving an organic white tea and two leaves and a bud delivered just what I was looking for.  One of my favorite iced teas is an organic mix of Acai and white tea, so I’m always looking for a hot version of my favorite iced tea. An important note to point out about this tea: the authentic white tea flavor is present in every sip.  The berry flavor is not overpowering.  In fact, this is one of the more authentic Acai teas I’ve tried.  I don’t see any “crazy” artificial colorings in the liquor of the tea (I can’t stand that).  The acai flavor does have a slight tartness to it.  You may want to add a touch of your favorite sweetener to balance the flavor.  I liked it without sweetener.   Whole-leaf teas served in tea sachets have really grown in popularity.  The average tea consumer is graduating to higher quality teas and sachets (sometimes pyramid shaped) are perfect for them.  What I learned years ago…there are millions of tea bags sold every year for a reason.  Some people are not going to change from what they know, and in many ways I totally understand.  I say, drink the tea that makes you happy.  An organic whole-leaf tea served in a tea “bag”  is a great transition.

Two leaves and a bud describes the tea as: “Special harvest long whole-leaf tea leaves and buds create this super light but full tasting white tea. Light enough in the cup to be called “white” with nutritious tropical acai berries to round out a great cuppa’!   Acai berries are berries grown on special Amazonian palm trees, harvested in the rain forests of Brazil. The rich taste is a distinct combination of berry flavor and subtle chocolate. The berries are high in anti-oxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids which aid in fighting off cancer and other diseases as well as sharpen mental focus.”

Visit two leaves and a bud

marTEA

An organic orange spice white tea.  The tea is very spicy…

Ingredients: Organic Cinnamon, Organic Orange Peel, Organic Cloves, Fair Trade Certified and Organic Pai Mu Tan white tea, Organic Hibiscus, Organic Allspice, Organic Ginger, Organic Schizandra Berries, Organic Lemongrass, Dried Lime.

The first thing you notice with this flavored white tea is the powerful aroma coming from the dried ingredients. The cloves are very strong.  I detect a faint scent of orange peel.  Honestly, the tea sachet has such a high-powered aroma, I can’t detect many of the ingredients due to the cloves.  After steeping the tea in near boiling water for about 6 minutes. The first sip tingles my tongue with an explosion of flavors.  The flavor is spicy like an authentic chai and tangy like a citrus beverage.  The aroma from the tea is just too much for me to thoroughly enjoy.  It’s reminiscent of an air freshener or potpourri.  The white tea is really lost in this mix.  There are too many dominant flavors working against each other.  I was looking forward to an orange flavored white tea with a light spice accent, but this tea was over-the-top. Unfortunately, this tea did not appeal to me.  As always, I still greatly respect Numi.  Their efforts to incorporate fair trade and organic ingredients in their products should not go unnoticed.

Visit Numi Organic Tea

marTEA

My wife found this tea at our local grocery store.  She grabbed a couple of flavors for me to try.  I’ve never seen or heard of Inko’s until I opened my refrigerator this morning.  It’s a glass bottled ready-to-drink white tea. There are only 56 calories and 14 grams of sugar per 16 FL OZ.  That’s not bad at all compared to many other bottled tea selections.  The tea itself has a very subtle white tea flavor.  There are no bitter or grassy flavors derived from this beverage.  In fact, there’s a touch of organic ginger to add some value and flavor to the delicious white tea.  Although it’s not packed with sugar, it still has a very enjoyable sweetness about it.  The bottle states its ingredients are 100% natural.  Inko’s white tea (original) is very refreshing.  I do recommend trying this tea if you see it in your local grocery store.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

To learn more about Inko’s white tea, visit HealthyWhiteTea.com

marTEA