Secret Garden's Secret Tea - Secret Garden Tea Company

 Well this tea name is a mouthful, yeah? Well it is fitting because this tea is LOVELY and I'd take a mouthful of it any day.

I steeped this tea at 212F for 4 min as the instructions suggest. This tea sipped in with a vanilla creaminess accompanied with a hazelnut finish (Is that the secret ingredient? I wonder..). I found this tea to be my favorite of all that I've tried from them. It's very refreshing and naturally sweet. You can pair this tea with some sweet treats or have it by itself as desert on its own. Even my significant other tried this tea and stood back and said, "oh.. that was not what I was expecting - it has so much depth, really good" If you get any tea from their website, I can't recommend this one enough.

And if you're wondering if I watercolor painted some flowers just for this review.. you'd be right haha. I felt it was fitting to have some floras in a secret garden tea review.

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask! 

xoxo

Jordan

Christmas Spice Tea - Secret Garden Tea Company

 Okay can we just stop and admire how big those pieces of fruit are? Secret Garden Tea Company contacted me about reviewing their tea and doing a HUGE giveaway of $200 to their store!!!

I steeped this tea at 212F for 4 minutes. This tea sips in with a good amount of spice from the cinnamon, hints of citrus and lots of berry. I picked up some fig and malt flavors underneath and it is deliciously sweet all by itself. I've tried a lot of Christmas tea blends, and I have to say this one takes the cake because it doesn't taste artificial or overpowering. Everything balances out well creating a warm cup of tea on a cold winter day!

I have a few more teas from this company to review and I've tried most of them - and I really have to say that I wish I could win this giveaway because when I want a cup of western brewed tea - this tea company has some delicious offerings. If you would like to enter, be sure to check out my Instagram post here.

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask! 

xoxo

Jordan

Spirit Old Growth Shou Puerh - Global Tea Hut

 Global Tea Hut sent me this shou puerh to review!

I steeped this tea at 212F starting with two rinses and then 15 seconds for the first infusion. I continued steeping this tea increasing the steeping time by 10 seconds and then 30 seconds once I hit a minute. Alright - This is where I become transparent. I do not like shou, there's only one shou tea I've tried and loved and it's because it was dry storage, some are okay but not something I would drink often while others I put away forever. Shou actually causes me to have bad stomach aches making it hard for me to drink more than a couple infusions. So with this in mind, I will be reviewing this tea on what flavors I got and not whether I liked it - you can decide if those flavors appeal to your pallet!

"Spirit" A 2017 old growth shou puerh smells like wet moss on a log mixed with the earth around it. Flavor wise this tea sipped in similarly with more mushroom/earthy and some seaweed notes. As I continued to steep this tea it started to taper off the mustiness and I was left with a more hearty cup that continued to deliver. Despite the pictures, this tea can come in DARK, as dark as coffee and coats the tongue. As shou goes, this is a more enjoyable cup to brew - I do feel like I want to let it rest for 6 months before trying it again to see how the mustiness mellows out. For all of you shou lovers out there, I do recommend trying this tea! You can check out their website here.

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask! 

xoxo

Jordan

What Camera Do You Use?

It doesn't matter.
Seriously.

Gui Fei Oolong - Totem Tea

 Gui Fei Oolong originated in Taiwan and is a dark brown roasted dry leaf color.

Ruby 8 Black - Totem Tea

Totem tea contacted me about trying their tea and incense and I could not refuse! 

Apple Vanilla Hibiscus Tea - Fusion Teas

 This tisane includes apple, vanilla and hibiscus pieces. This is not considered a true tea (from the camellia sinensis plant) but a tisane or a herbal.

Zushan Spring Oolong - Totealy

Totealy contacted me about reviewing their tea and they sent some delectable samples!

Peppermint Patty from Snake River Tea

 Peppermint patty is a blend of rooibos, peppermint, chocolate chips and chocolate flavor.

Citrus Mint Sencha from Snake River Tea

 Snake River Tea contacted me on instagram to try some of their teas! Here we have Citrus Mint Sencha which is a house blend of menthos green tea, lemon jade sencha and lemongrass.

Toyo Mukashi Uji Matcha from O-cha

 Here’s all of my matcha gear! Whisk, chawan, matcha and scoop

Pine Oolong - Golden Tea Leaf

Mint Sencha Tea Crystals - Pique

 Pique reached out to me about reviewing their tea and I agreed. The tea comes in little packets, not unlike crystal light that you get from the grocery store. Out comes this yellow orange crystal powder that smells faintly of mint.

Reading Nook Blend - Plum Deluxe

 Alright - just do yourself a favor, and skip the review and purchase this tea here

Crimson Lotus Gongfu2go and 2013 Xiaguan Shou Puerh

 So todays review is going to be a little different. Why? Because I’m also reviewing teaware! I was surfing /r/tea on reddit and someone posted a link to Crimson Lotus’ Gongfu2go portable tea brewer. Well… there’s nothing other to say than I HAD to have it.

In Nature Tea’s Nai Xiang Oolong (Milk Oolong)

 In Nature teas contacted me on my instagram to review a tea from them!

Yuuki-Cha Organic Gyokuro

Yuuki-Cha is a Japanese tea store. I was after their kyusu but decided to pick up some green tea while I was there!

Teavana's Maharaja Chai Oolong & Samurai Chai Mate

Maharaja Chai Oolong is comprised of Cinnamon, oolong tea, ginger pieces, carob pieces, artificial flavoring, chicory root, pepper, cloves, cardamom and Samurai Chai Mate has Green maté, green rooibos, cinnamon, candied pineapple pieces (pineapple, sugar), candied papaya pieces (papaya, sugar), orange peels, artificial flavoring, lemongrass, anise seed, coriander, cardamom. Needless to say. There is A LOT OF FALVORS going on. 

Teavana's Jasmine Silver Needle

Okay, so someone requested that I do a review on jasmine pearl tea, and I said of course! Thinking I had some (because at one point I did!) buttttt, I already drank the sample a while ago .-. SORRY. It’s also been a very off day for tea review so bare with me haha.

Teavana's Royal English Breakfast

I actually picked this tea up from starbucks! I noticed they were selling cans of Teavana tea and this was my very first English Breakfast tea.

Crimson Lotus 2006 Yunnan Shou Puer

Today’s review is on Yunnan Puer Special Tea Factory - 2006 Shou/Ripe Puerh. I’m still very new to Puerh tea so this is a sample that I bought. Crimson Lotus Tea has amazing customer service and is very active on reddit.com/r/tea if you ever have any questions about diving into Puerh tea or gongfu brewing!

Teavana's Tulsi Dosha Chai Tea

Tulsi Dosha Chai is a spicy Rooibos Tea for those wanting to warm up on a crisp fall day.

Butiki's 2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong

This is that kind of tea that you stash for forever because you never want to run out. Especially since it was harvested in 2003 and YOULL NEVER GET IT AGAIN. Once the supply runs out, it’s gone. But oooo it’s so worth the drink.

Harney & Sons English Breakfast

If I said this wasn’t my go to tea for when I want to be classy AF in the morning, then I would be lying. I like to pretend I am sipping this during a overcast, threatening to rain, british kind of day. But alas, I live in Texas and this is as good as it’s going to get. 

Butiki's Three Friends

Hello tea lovers, this is another Butiki tea review! Three friends smells heavily of dark chocolate orange zest, which bytheway.. smells AMAZING!

Butiki's Watermelon Xylophone

So it’s pretty easy to say that this would make a great summer drink hot or cold! It's a shame Butiki closed down but since I'm rolling out reviews from my tumblr starting from the beginning, here it is regardless! Butiki’s Watermelon Xylophone is a unique blend of white tea that refreshes you on your hottest day! (Also, aren’t the little clay teapots adorbes?)

The Tea Farm's Peppermint Green Tea

I loveeeee this tea. Gunpowder by itself has a very light earthy flavor and paired with peppermint it’s so amazing! For a while I drank this tea exclusively, would come home from work and immediately make it because it was so refreshing and clean tasting. 

Teavana's Jade Citrus Mint

As I've gone through my tea journey, I have moved away from Teavana but I have to say that Jade Citrus Mint is one of my favorite teas from there.

Mandala's Milk Oolong Tea

OH MY GOSH. Is this my favorite oolong? Most definitely. You can find this awesome tea here. Their website is currently down but if you email them they can send you some :)

Butiki's Caramel Apple Tea

Caramel Apple is another one of Butiki’s awesome tea blends. Unfortunately they are officially closed! This tea smells strongly of a sweet oolong with apple tones.

Butiki Lemon French Macaron Tea

This is my all time favorite tea. So much so that when I learned that Stacy was closing Butiki - I ordered 4oz of it! 

Welcome to My blog!

This is a place where you can find awesome tea photography and reviews! I hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions or requests, let me know.

xx
Jordan