I will be back I promise!

The holidays have been crazy at my house! We will be working and traveling this month, so shelovestea will return in the new year with some new stuff!!

Sorry I'm a slacker :-(

See ya in 2011!!

Stash: Holiday Chai - black tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Blended black teas, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, ginger, gingerbread and Jamaican rum flavors, nutmeg oil.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like a holiday explosion. All great holiday dessert spices wrapped into one tiny little bag, what will they do next? After steep tea smells like a warm holiday dessert explosion.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   Woah, a gingerbread man, a pumpkin pie, a shot of rum, and spicy eggnog all in one. So rich, so warm, so calming. I snuggled up with my mug after I added my tea crack, which is why I don't have any pictures of it with the creamer..er crack. I still tasted this tea hours after I finished it. It is perfect for a rainy or snowy day snuggle. When I go snowboarding this & next year, I will pack this tea for sure.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 9/10

Overall 9/10

Stash: Holiday Chai

Stash: Christmas Morning - black tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Assam, Ceylon, Keemun, Sumatra, Jasmine.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like Christmas Eve.. or just amazing jasmine and exotic  ceylon and sumatra. YUM! Rich, sultry, sexy (yeah I called tea sexy AGAIN) and just yum.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and deep colored tea flakes.

Taste:   SEXY! A well-balanced blend of malty (from the assam) and sweet (from the jasmine) the hint of floral sweetness blends with the brisk malty-ness (yeah) into a more complex blend than I expected. Subtly spicy, sweet, floral, smooth, delicious, and uh.. all things great. Tea had so many layers and they all hit you separately with each sip, also the mix of the taste and the strong (also layered) scent is fantastic. This shouldn't be a holiday only tea. I would stock up year round, if I had the cabinet space. 

When I added my french vanilla creamer (I will now start referring to this as my tea crack) I was impressed at the balance of the vanilla and the tea flavor. The vanilla didn't overpower the flavor, it added to it perfectly. 

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 10/10


Stash: Christmas Morning

Stash: White Christmas - white tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : White tea, peppermint, ginger root.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like spearmint gum, after steep it smells the same, but amplified.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   It taste like spearmint gum. I know there is peppermint in it, not spearmint, but the mixture of the white tea, the peppermint and the ginger root make this tea an amazing clean, sweet, fresh, minty, and all that good stuff - tea. Just YUM. I added french vanilla creamer and BAM, my new favorite drink was born. Seriously, I need to order 365 bags. Also note that the "plain" tea picture has some creamer in it, oops. I got too excited by the smell and original flavor that I had to add creamer right away.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 10/10


Stash: White Christmas

Stash: Pumpkin Spice decaf tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Decaf Black Tea; Nutmeg; Cinnamon; Ginger Root; Natural Flavor of Pumpkin Spice; Clove

Aroma: Dry tea smells like fake/sweet pumpkin: dislike, after steep the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger take over, its delightful.
 
Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes & other ingredients.

Taste:  It tastes like a bland chai tea. I do taste some pumpkin, must it's muted by the other spices. I added french vanilla creamer and honey (my Lose It! app was not happy) and I was still underwhelmed by the flavor. I tried a second cup with a 6 minute steep (first cup I only did 4) and there wasn't much of a difference. Disappointing as I LOVE pumpkin.

Aroma 6/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 5/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 7/10


Stash: Pumpkin Spice

Stash: Peppermint caffeine free herbal tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Oregon peppermint leaves

Aroma: Dry tea smells like fresh sweet peppermint, after steep it smells like a stick of peppermint gum.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Deep and colorful peppermint leaves.

Taste:   Ahhh-mazing. I love peppermint, I love the smell, the fresh taste it leaves in your mouth, the tingle I get in my throat when I have it, the way I feel fresh and light afterward. This tea is great, it's fresh, it tastes clean, it is minty, and left my mouth feeling clean and cool. I am impressed by the single ingredient, but am perplexed as to what the different shades of green and white are in the tea mix.

I added french vanilla creamer (not fat free *sigh*, note to self: never send Don to do my specialty grocery shopping) and it made the tea get a different feel. Not so clean and fresh anymore, but sweeter and richer.

Aroma 9/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 9/10


Stash: Peppermint tea

Have a great Thanksgiving!

I am brainstorming for my next post, which will be after my fabulous extended weekend. A weekend full of eating my weight in dessert and bird, and not waking up on black Friday to shop!

See you Monday!

Working on something special

It will hopefully be up tomorrow...

excited?!

Stash: Cinnamon Vanilla caffeine free herbal tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Cinnamon, chamomile, rooibos, sarsaparilla, and vanilla extract

Aroma: Dry tea smells like fake vanilla flavoring and cinnamon. After steep tea smells like a fresh ground cinnamon stick and a more natural vanilla.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   It tastes just like a cinnamon stick, have you ever just chewed on a cinnamon stick? I have (weird? I know), and I loved it (in my defense I was 8, but I probably would still love it, so *sticks tongue out*), that's what this tastes like. I can taste a good hint of natural vanilla flavor, not that fakey fakey sweet vanilla. I added fat free french vanilla creamer and I was in heaven. Definitely reminds me of the holidays, and cold weather (I drank it in my 72 degree heated home, but it was like...60 out). It goes perfectly in the holiday box I received it in, I would drink this tea year round. I was actually thinking this tea would be fantastic in a hot bath (or with a hot bath, I don't want to bathe in cinnamon), with candles, and music, but by the time I got the bath candles and music set up, my tea would be cold. It's a great thought though!

Aroma 8/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 9/10

 Stash: Cinnamon Vanilla

Zhena's Gypsy Tea: Raspberry Earl

Steep time: 3-4

Ingredients : Ceylon & Indian Black tea, with Italian Bergamot, Freeze-Dried Raspberries & organic Raspberry flavor.

Aroma: Smells like earl grey with a raspberry twist. Raspberry smells smells a little fakey. After steep raspberry smell is more natural.

Packaging: Embossed recyclable air tight tin containing 22 sachets of certified 100% fair trade and organic tea.
 
Tea Leaf Quality: small tea flakes, didn't find any freeze dried raspberries, but I am blind as a bat, if you see any in the pictures let me know!

Taste:   Interesting. It tastes mostly like earl grey, but I can taste an odd raspberry flavor. I don't know that this mix was the best or most thought out. It was good, but not what I was expecting.

Aroma 710
Packaging 10/10
Value: 7/10

Taste 7/10
Tea Quality 7/10

Overall 8/10

 Zhena's Gypsy Tea: Raspberry Earl

SALONTEA: The Lover

Steep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients : Indian estate black tea, rooibos, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, cacao, chocolate bits, vanilla

Aroma: Smells like a spicy, exotic, chocolate, gourmet drink both before steep and after.

Packaging: Tea is packaged both loose and bagged, loose tea comes in a tin, bagged tea comes in triangle fiber sachets, in a large clear box.
 
Tea Leaf Quality: Quality tea, large pieces of all ingredients, impressive.

Taste:   Sooo good, tastes like a gourmet chocolate spicy drink. It's very smooth, it's very spicy, it's very good with milk and honey. I can taste the cinnamon, cardamom, chocolate and vanilla.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 10/10
Value: 9/10

Taste 9/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 10/10

SALONTEA: THE LOVER

Choice Organic Teas: Earl Grey

Steep time: 4-5 minutes

Ingredients : Organic black tea, organic orange peels, organic oil of bergamot, organic safflowers.

Aroma: Oh how I love Earl Grey, I love this tea's smell. I smell the strong citrus from both the orange peels and bergamot oil, which I love, and the tea. After steep, the citrus smell is mellow, but still there.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in a biodegradeable packet, and bag. Packet has fresh seal.  
Tea Leaf Quality: Very nice, I like that I can see the orange peels, and I can see the texture in the black tea.

Taste:   Because of the smell, I thought I was in the for the best Earl Grey I have ever tasted, I was wrong. At first taste, the tea is great, it's rich and smooth, but the aftertaste was a bit of a turn off. I let the tea steep for the full 5 minutes, but not longer, I think if I had another bag I would only steep for 3 or 4 to get rid of the bitterness.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 10/10
Value: 10/10

Taste: 7/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 9/10

Choice Organic Teas: Earl Grey