This fragrant brew tastes more like a juice than a tea; because of that those of you that just aren’t that into tea may find this a pleasant accompaniment to your breakfast…sort of like a hot juice.  The blueberry flavor is very apparent with a tangy finish. It smells heavenly when it is steeping, wafting over the entire kitchen. It smells like a warm summer day in a blueberry patch! The acai adds earthy notes and you end up with a complex, juicy tea. This tea contains hibiscus, rose hips, blueberry, blackberry, orange, cinnamon, and a touch of grape seed extract.

Get healthy, fight the flu, and enjoy this. I loved it. You can find it in your local grocer or on Amazon.

Disclosure:

Bigelow Tea sent me a huge basket of tea as a gift. There was no agreement to review the tea, no money was exchanged, and I do not have to send the gift back. My review, as are all of my reviews, is based solely on my opinion. No animals were harmed in the creation of this post.

Image: Via Amazon

Post from: Kettle and Cup

This was a sweet tea. There was cranberry flavor but it was almost overpowered by the flavor of cherry, it seemed to me. If you like tangy cranberry flavor you will not find it here.

BUT it was very good….  A bit like the difference between the jellied cranberry sauce and homemade – both are good in their own way. The flavor was very fruity and would be great iced or even used as the base for a spiced hot tea. Let it steep a little longer than you normally would for a more intense flavor.

Bigelow Cranberry and Ginseng is a good tea to have in the morning. It is a little too sweet and fruity to work well with an afternoon snack, however.

Disclaimer: The tea was a gift from Bigelow. I did not buy it. My review has not been colored by the fact that it was a gift, nor  do I have to return any of it. No money exchanged hands and no animals were harmed in the writing of this review.

image: marye audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

image:maryeaudet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Disclaimer – this tea was sent to me without charge. I did not have to send it back when I was done. No money exchanged hands. No animals were harmed in the making of this post…I will probably drink more of the tea when I get done here.

The tea is in a little canister. Inside I found two muslin bags of tea:

• Ginseng Oolong
• Ginger Orange Oolong

and some organic paper envelopes for making tea by the cup.

The citrus and  and ginger flavor comes out nicely. It is delicate but not nonexistent. The tea is beautiful to look at as well. I am a freak about that, by the way..I not only want my tea to be good, I want it to be pretty. LOL!

It was refreshing and clean tasting. The flavors were nicely balanced. I liked it.  You can see the whole product line at Village Tea Company.

images:marye audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

So, if you want to get Christmas Tea and send it along with a teapot then you can order it now, save the shipping and schedule the delivery in December.  What a great idea?

I love Adagio. I have been buying their tea for several years, and used to send it to my daughter when she lived out of state. The favors are clean and clear and the variety of tea available is almost endless. I have never had one problem with them at all and often they have sent me coupons for discounts and free tea with my purchases.

If you want a holiday theme but the Christmas flavored tea doesn’t interest you consider:

• Sweet Potato Pie
• Chai Sampler
• Peppermint
• White Tangerine

image: SXC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

In reality it was too awesome! If you like gingerbread you need to try this tea. Spicy, gingery, definitely chai, Zhena Tea Gingerbread Chai is a great way to get some down time on one of those shop ’til you drop afternoons. Sip it and you can just about hear Christmas carols and sleigh bells in the background.

Gingerbead Chai is organic, fair trade, and I may be thoroughly addicted. Add some steamed half and half and sugar for a gingerbread chai latte and I suspect you will be addicted too.  This is a great tea to tuck into a stocking for you favorite tea freak or keep it just for yourself  on that high shelf that noone else knows about. Yeah…that one.

image:amazon

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Stash White Peach Oolong Wu-Yi tea is delicate and refreshing. The clean Oolong is followed by definite peach flavor but there is nothing overpowering or in your face about it. This is a tea to relax with, to sit by the fire and remember summer with all of it’s  long, lazy days and black velvet nights.

I don’t really see this as a breakfast tea…more of a tea to drink when you want time to slow down and get dreamy for a moment. I think it would make a great iced tea in summer but it seems to be just as good as a hot tea in winter. I liked mine with a little sugar and a few drops of vanilla.

The Stash White Peach Oolong Wu-Yi is very reasonably priced and easily found at most grocers.

image: via amazon

Post from: Kettle and Cup

We used to buy this tea when we had the tea room and I can tell you that the tea is very high quality. One of our favorites was called Casablanca, also one of Marc and my favorite movies! The prices are very reasonable and the coupon code makes it impossible to turn down a few tins of tea.

They have organic tea as well as some beautiful bone china tea pots. With the holidays right around the corner take time to stock up!

image:SXC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I found them at Bonzai Aphrodite, which may be added to my top ten, because the blog, images, and stuff is amazing. Hey, you know I am impressed; I said awesome, incredible, and amazing in the first 55 words! Basically you take unbleached cheesecloth and fill it with your own personal tea blend. The result is an adorable, whimsical, cozy looking array of tea bags that would look fantastic in an apothecary jar on the counter!

If you are searching for great ideas check out this one. Make them for yourself or your family and friends (or both).  Pick out some loose leaf teas that seem like they would go together at Teavana or Adagio, or anther good company and then try them in different combinations until you get the ratio you want.

You could even put them in a apothecary jar of some sort and make a label for them with the name of you custom tea on it.  If you grow your own herbs you could even mix your own herbal tea blend.

Wow..thoughts are flowing…NOW I am inspired!

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Were you aware that different types of teas had different optimum brewing temperatures? Well, it is true, and you can coax the most flavors out of the tea leaves when you bathe them at their favorite heat. Why?

Well, each type of tea is made differently. Some is more delicate than others and some needs massive amounts of heat to get every molecule of flavor. Do your own taste test and see if you can’t tell the difference.

Black Tea- 203F to 212F

Fruit Tea/Tisane – 203F to 212F

Herbal Tea – 203F to 213

Oolong Tea – 185F to 194F

White Tea- 167F to 185 F

Jasmine Tea – 160F to 185F

Green Tea – 155F to 195F

Cut and paste that to a word doc. and print it out to hang on your fridge. Perfect tea every time. No more excuses for bitter tea, right?

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup