Revolution: 3D Green Apple
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Revolution has introduced a new line of ready-to-drink beverages that combine white tea, fruit juice, and vitamins. Revolution describes the 3D beverage as:
3D blends one dimension super fruits, one dimension premium white tea, and one dimension essential vitamins for the first 3-dimensional beverage. Crisp and delicious, 3D is a powerhouse of antioxidants, all natural and low in calories.
I was very fortunate to try one of each new flavor. I started with the green apple since I felt it would be the one I’d like the least (it’s just a personal taste preference - green apple has never been my favorite). I was immediately surprised by the crisp, smooth flow of the beverage. The well-designed slim and tall 12-ounce can adds to the overall value of the product. The green apple juice is tart, but the blue agave and cane sugar sweetens the beverage to make it refreshing. The green apple flavor is reminiscent of candy sour apple flavoring. That said, this beverage is more than just green apple. It is full of antioxidants and vitamins. The white tea flavor is very faint and hard to detect. With this beverage it’s a secondary ingredient as far as overall flavoring. The color of the liquid was a pale green. 3D is a non-carbonated beverage. Overall the tea, juice, and vitamin combination (3D) is a bold statement from a tea company that is already separating themselves from the competition by offering premium products that demand your attention.
marTEA
Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium offers one of the best flavored white teas I’ve ever tried: Blueberry Pie White Tea. This tea is a total treat from start to finish. The fine white peony adds to the presentation of the dried product. The aroma of the dried Canadian Blueberries is absolutely breathtaking. What makes this tea special is the delicate balance of a fresh, light, naturally sweet white peony mixed with the natural flavor of fresh-picked blueberries. You will smile as you drink this tea. White tea is low in caffeine, but it is high in flavor and antioxidants. If you really want to treat yourself to an excellent loose leaf white tea, this is it.
This is an excellent white tea from Revolution Tea. If you enjoy the sweetness of a fresh pear with the delicate flavors of white tea, you’re in business. This tea has a very enticing scent, and a smooth and refreshing flavor. I like this one with just a touch of sweetener to make the pear flavor standout more. Straight from the T-Box (Revolution’s single serving tea boxes), you’ll see the white tea leaves through the biodegradable tea bag. If you are new to white tea, this is an excellent choice because it’s a very middle-of-the-road white tea. You will not be offended by extreme flavors. The only thing you need to worry about with this tea is steeping it in water that is too hot. White tea leaves are very delicate and the goal is to extract the flavor from the leaf not to “cook” the leaves in your cup. Let the water cool from a boil before pouring the water over the tea infuser. The more of this I drank, the more I realized I missed pears. We’ve turned into an apple family with all the orchards around my house. It’s time for some good pears. In the meantime, this tea will suit me just fine.
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.
I’ve been drinking a lot of Mighty Leaf tea products lately. So far, I’ve been impressed with every tea I’ve tried. Today, I’m drinking a white tea from Mighty Leaf. This tea is packaged in a stylish artisan whole leaf pouch. It has been a while since I’ve tried a flavored white tea. White orchard contains a flavorful mix of melon and peach with delicate notes of white tea from China. Again, I’m very impressed with Mighty Leaf’s products. Their presentation is top-notch. The artisan whole leaf pouches are very stylish. You can see the tea leaves through the pouch, which adds to the presentation and quality of the product. The melon flavor works well with the delicate flavor of white tea. The peach flavor is not as revealing as the melon in my opinion; however, it’s not really important because together they create a sensational flavor blend. The scent of the tea is phenomenal from start to finish. This is one of those teas that stimulates all of your senses. If you enjoy white tea or you are new to white tea, this is an excellent choice. I prepared the tea using water that was about 190 degrees, and I brewed the tea for 3 minutes. If you enjoy melon or peach flavors, you’ll love this tea. The white tea is low in caffeine and high in flavor.
Here’s another flavorful selection from Honest Tea… The Pomegranate has made its way over the last couple of years to almost every recipe from relish to tea. I’m sure some of you have been well aware of pomegranates for several years. In my small part of the world, it’s fairly new to me, but I’m seeing them used a lot more. The pomegranate is native to Iran; however, they can be found growing in several parts of the world. Pomegranates tend to have a balanced fruity flavor between sweet and sour. The fruity flavor makes it an excellent compliment to a wide-variety of recipes. Since the ready-to-drink tea market is booming, it was only natural to find pomegranates flavoring teas. Also found in the white tea is Açaí (commonly pronounced a-sigh-ee). Açaí is another tropical fruit, mainly harvested in Brazil. It has a deep purple color or green color (depending on the variety), and it is about the size of a grape with less pulp. I haven’t had a lot of time to fully research the berry, but I read that it supposedly has 10 times the antioxidants of grapes. Each fruit has numerous health benefits. The majority of the health benefits of the mentioned fruits are believed to improve your cardiovascular health. When you mix the fruit with the white tea, you get a healthy and flavorful combination. The flavor of the tea is almost grape-like. The white tea flavor is also present, and that’s why I like this beverage. I was afraid with all the fruit, the white tea would be buried in the beverage. The fruit flavors actually compliment the white tea very well. The bottle contains 16.9 fluid ounces, which totals 74 calories. Compared to most bottled teas, the calorie count of this beverage is excellent. I’m not a major fan of berry flavored hot teas; however, it works well with iced tea. Again, another job well done by Honest Tea.
A couple of months ago, I read an article by James Norwood Pratt that was published in “Fresh Cup” magazine (May 2007). Mr. Pratt mentioned that white tea coming to America would have been difficult to predict. He references John Frederick Walter’s “Book of Coffee & Tea,” defined in the 1990s, referring to white tea as a “tasteless leaf of no commercial importance.” I found James Norwood Pratt’s article to be very interesting. More importantly for the tea industry, white tea did gain in popularity regardless of what was said in the early 90s.
I can’t stress enough the authentic green and white tea flavor that this beverage packs in every bottle. This is bottled tea in its purist form. I can’t stress how refreshing this bottled tea is after a hot day of work. Teas’ Tea is totally unsweetened. It comes in a sleek plastic bottle that makes it an easy on-the-go drink. I’ve blogged about a lot of bottled teas this summer; however, it’s important to note that Teas’s Tea has a very strong natural flavor. I encourage you to try it if you are new to tea. It’s an easy way to see if green and white tea will appeal to you. In simple terms, the bottle label states the green tea is from Japan and the white tea is from China. So, you’re getting the best of both worlds. The green tea wins out as the dominant flavor, but just knowing you’re getting all the antioxidants from both varieties is extra value. Years ago, I didn’t think I would ever like green tea. After trying a few varieties and realizing the health benefits, I now love the natural green tea flavor. I’ve always been a fan of white tea. This is a great beverage for anyone that thinks purified water, Vitamin C, and tea leaves is a good idea.