Zhena’s Gypsy Tea – Biodynamic Green Tea – Caramelized Pear Review

From the Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Website:

Regarded by some as the first modern ecological farming and gardening system, biodynamic agriculture is modern science integrated with ancient wisdom that preserves the land by upgrading and nourishing soil and plant life through special processes and emphasis that exclude the use of chemicals in the soil. Biodynamic is the oldest non-chemical agricultural movement in the West, predating the organic farming movement by 20 years. The biodynamic approach looks upon the maintenance and furtherance of soil life as vital to the production of high-quality, pure and healthful food. Biodynamic speaks to the healing of the environment with consideration for future generations.

Implementing holistic practice and an understanding of ecology to the care and vitality of soil and plants, this ultimate pure experience of health-enhancing leaves, fruit and botanicals, is grown and processed according to the highest sustainable agricultural and environmental canons. Zhena’s Gypsy Biodynamic Tea is the result of one of the smallest carbon footprints of any agricultural method.

I love anything organic and green, so this tea already gets brownie points in my book for being organic and having a smaller carbon footprint than other teas.

The ingredients in this tea are: Organic fairtrade biodynamic green tea, organic pear pieces, organic pear flavor, organic caramel flavor and organic marigold flowers.

I steeped the triangular teabag (or couture tea sachet as they call it) for about 3 minutes in my Ovo mug at just under boiling point. The tea immediately became a nice dark golden color. Right away you could smell the sweet aromas of the tea wafting through the tea. The tea literally smelt like caramelized pears! Amazing! I could smell this tea all day and not even drink it.

At first sip, you could really taste the caramel. It wasn’t a sugary sweet, but you could definitely taste the caramel. The taste reminded me of candy apples actually! Yummy. The aromas of the pear arrived afterward lingering on the tongue as a soft gentle undertone. The tea had lots of complexity and character. It is definitely on the medium side of green teas in terms of body. The strong smell of the tea is always there to remind you of what you are drinking – dessert in a cup!

Don’t steep this tea for too long though, or the tea will become heavier and bitter as more tannins are released. Steep for 1, 2 and then 3 minutes and/or more to get the experience you want. For iced tea, double the sachet and add honey!

Sweet, fragrant and inviting, this tea is perfect as an after dinner snack or to share with friends. Or if you need a caffeine boost, you can always take a bath in this!

PS. Yes I saw Cirque du Soliel’s Ovo in Toronto and yes it was amazing!

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Two Leaves and a Bud – Organic Acai White and Peony White Teas Review

I’m reviewing two Two Leaves and a Bud White Teas today – Organic Acai White Tea and Organic White Peony Tea.  White teas unlike green or black teas, are made from the bud of the tea plant. White tea from what I’ve read had very little caffeine in it, although in The Harney and Sons Guide To Tea on page 19 it says

“To further deter predators, buds also contain extra caffeine and polyphenols…White teas are therefore more caffeinated than green and black teas.”

antioxidants in a cup

The first tea I am going to review is the Organic Acai White Tea.  Acai has been all the rage in the health industry lately thanks to a show where Oprah uncovered the amazing health benefits of acai.  It is Number 1 of Dr. Perricone’s Top 10 Superfoods.  The ingredients are organic white tea, conventional acai berries and natural flavor.  The white tea they used as a base in this tea is the silver needle.  This tea is nice.  It’s aromas are reminiscent of a bouquet of fresh flowers from the garden.  As with silver needle tea, the body is quite thin.  The tea is more on the vegetal side rather than fruity.  Either way, I would recommend this tea if you are looking for the antioxidant effects of the acai berry in a tea.

white peony - the darkest of all white teas

Next is the Two Leaves and a Bud White Peony Tea.  A little darker in color, this tea is still a light golden brown shade.  it is suppose to be the darkest of all white teas.  The ingredients are organic white peony blossom tea with rose petals.  The taste is a bit like a steamed pumpkin or melon on the end note.  Any white tea enthusiast needs to try this tea.

It took a while after I sampled these teas for the caffeine to kick in.  I usually feel the effects right away from teas, my conclusion is that these teas are very light in caffeine.  Be careful when brewing though, both of these teas are heavy in tannins so don’t forget to take it out after the recommend times 5 and 4 minutes respectively.  Oh and these teabags are good for multiple steepings.

9/15 teas down – 6 more Two Leaves and a Bud teas to go.

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Two Leaves and a Bud – Organic Pomi-Berry, Peppermint and Chamomile Tea Review

I’m going to be reviewing a trio of caffeine free herbal teas from Two Leaves and a Bud today.  It’s 5pm and I really don’t want caffeine coursing through my veins if I go to hot yoga tonight.  The three teas are peppermint, chamomile and Pomi-Berry.

like a hug from your favourite grandmother

I’m starting with the Pomi-Berry first.  The ingredients are organic: chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, apple, linden flowers, lemongrass, hibiscus, strawberries, raspberries and natural berry flavor.  The tea is a nice smell of chamomile and berries.  The color of the tea is brown with a red tones underneath.  The tea tastes strongly of chamomile and apples!  There is a hint of citrus and lemongrass on the end note.  The taste is very mellow.  I think this would be a good tea to drink while you’re camping.  This tea is so down to earth and cozy, it’s like hug from your grandmother.

full fat buds

Next is the chamomile tea.  This is every sick persons favourite.  The ingredients are pure organic Egyptian chamomile flowers.  The flower heads are left fully intact in the teabag.  Many companies choose to use broken down versions of the flower heads.  This tea is silky smooth, light and super gentle.  I love their version of this classic herbal tea.

Finally we have the 100% organic peppermint tea.  Peppermint is excellent for digestion, so after a heavy heavy meal this would be the tea to enjoy.  This peppermint definitely has some body and kick to it.  Some peppermint is thin and watery without much taste.  The mintyness is akin to my mouthwash!  Wow.  It’s very nice.  Talk about peppermint umami.  I could really go for some chocolate right now to complement this cup!

7/15 down – 8 more teas to go!

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Two Leaves and a Bud – Organic African Sunset Tea Review

Ah royyyy-boss.

If there was only one tea I could drink for the rest of my life it would be rooibos tea.  This South African tea is pronounced roy-boss in Afrikaans and literally means red bush.    When I’m stressed or having a less than perfect day, rooibos tea helps me to forget all of my problems and just bask in the experience of the tea.  It’s also caffeine free.

Today I’m going to be reviewing the Two Leaves and a Bud – Organic African Sunset tea today.  I need something to calm me down and help me unwind.  The ingredients of this rooibos are: organic rooibos herbal tea, organic lemongrass, organic lemon peel and natural lemon flavor.

The color of the tea became a reddish brown, more brown than red.  It’s aromas were sweet, smooth and velvety.  Again, I’m tasting this lightness to my tea.  This tea was very mouth watering.  There was an umami to it, but different from a Japanese teas. It wasn’t as vegetal.  If a Japanese umami is more golden, this umami was more down to earth.

On a side note, I am using these nylon teabags from Two Leaves and a Bud because they are made of biodegradable cornstarch based nylon, not petroleum based nylon.  I still rather brew this loose and take it out of the teabag, but as I already started brewing this teas in their teabags from review number 1, I will continue.

4/15 11 more teas to go!

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Two Leaves and a Bud – Alpine Berry Herbal Tea Review

It felt like Christmas morning!

I got this package from Two Leaves and A Bud last week and I finally had a chance today to review one of the teas. I’m seriously contemplating doing a tea week dedicated to these guys because of the sheer amount of samples they sent me. If I go forward with this, this will be 1/15 teas. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Two Leaves and a Bud from Colorado is one tea company that I would be proud of owning.  Their packaging design is colorful, fun and engaging!  Their packaging and press kit actually reminded me of my website.

I decided to kick start off, hopefully, Two Leaves and a Bud Week with the caffeine free Alpine Berry.  I’m not a fan of berry teas, but I’m optimistic.  The ingredients are: hibiscus, apple peel, rosehips, blackberry leaves, orange peel, and natural berry flavors.

Yum!

I brewed the tea with almost boiling water and steeped for several minutes. The liqueur instantly became a brilliant burgundy.  The color reminded me of a deep red wine or pomegranate juice.  The smell of the tea is very light.  It’s smelled of baked apples and strawberries.  Now comes the taste test.  Wow.  I love this tea.  It is completely unlike many of the berry tea experiences that I’ve had in the past.  The flavours are rich and fragrant.  I feel like I’m drinking plump raspberries, blackberries and strawberries in a tea.  I’m used to berries being very sweet so I would definately add some honey into my tea in the future.  I think this would also make a fantastic iced tea – add some apple and lemon slices with some honey and you’re good to go.

I highly recommend this tea to people who are looking for a berry based fruity herbal tea that is caffeine free.

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