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Kent & Sussex Tea Review: Spring Tea (A China Black Tea with Berries and Peppermint Leaves)

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Spring Tea from Kent & Sussex - Iced and Hot
Remember the last cup of tea that just left you speechless? That’s exactly the experience I had with Spring Tea from Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Company.  Needless to say, don’t let the name fool you – this “Spring Tea” is uncommonly delicious year-round and will leave you speechless whether you’re enjoying it in early June or late December.

I normally can say whether I prefer a tea iced or hot but this one is absolutely impossible to choose. Just when I think the winner is iced, I try it hot and think, “Well…” It’s simply beautiful either way.

Loose Leaf Spring Tea from Kent & Sussex
As soon as I cut the bag open, I was hit by the beautiful scent of berries and mint. The aroma was Heavenly and let me know, straight away, that this was going to be some exceptional tea.

The tea was even better than the aroma advertised. You can taste the raspberries (one of my two favorite berries – tying with the infamous strawberry) and the delicate mint flavor as well. With each sip, you get a new berry flavor and it’s just out of this world wonderful.

Loose Leaf Spring Tea from Kent & Sussex
Spring Tea Brewed in my Beloved Hario Tea Pot
 

From the Spring Tea Bag: This China Black Tea is scented with the warm notes of Raspberries – Blackcurrants and Elderberries – blended with Juniper Berries – Nettle and Heather Leaves – Blackberries and Peppermint leaves. A fresh tasting flavored Spring Time Black Tea.

Brewing Time: Using boiling water, brew for 3-5 minutes.

A lot of people stick with tea bags instead of loose tea because they think it’s difficult, complicated, or time-consuming to brew loose-leaf tea. Nothing could be further from the truth.  My favorite way to brew loose leaf tea is with my Hario Tea Pot.

It’s Simple – while bringing the water to a boil (or a specified temperature for non-black teas), you put some of the loose leaf tea into the basket that fits into the Hario Tea Pot. When the water is ready, pour it over the leaves (and into the pot) and allow it to brew for the specified amount of time (generally just a few minutes). Simple!

A lot of loose leaf tea can even be re-brewed. I dare anyone to try that with a bag of tea!

Spring Tea from Kent & Sussex - Iced and Hot

About The Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Company

The Kent Tea and Trading Company and The Sussex Tea Company were founded in 1982 when the Smith Family returned to England after two generations of Tea Planting in North East India.  Their extensive range of award winning teas and coffees are packed at their factory in the village of Pluckley, in the Garden of England.

Read more about this beautiful and unspeakably delicious Spring Tea by clicking the link. This is, undoubtedly, one of my favorite teas of all time.  Ironically, another tea that has become one of my all time favorites is coming up in a tea review I’ll post tomorrow morning and it is also from Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Company.

These people know their teas! See Kent & Sussex Teas for more information.

Loose Leaf Spring Tea from Kent & Sussex

Spring Tea

Lipton’s Bavarian Wild Berry Black Tea: Strong, Fruity, Rich

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I’ve been drinking a lot of “berry” teas lately…I think subconsciously I’m getting myself ready for the fruity tastes and smells of late spring and summer. 🙂 Most of the berry teas I’ve ever had have been herbal teas, without an actual “tea” basis, just brewed herbs and leaves with fruit flavoring. However, if you’re more into actual tea leaves, and a stronger taste, I’ve found the right berry tea for you: Lipton’s Bavarian Wild Berry Black Tea.

This is a flavored black tea made with pieces of real berries, packaged nicely in Lipton’s awesome little pyramid bags. (I love the pyramid bags – you can actually see the fruit pieces basically open up after steeping, and the smell and taste are much stronger.) Here’s the tea’s official ingredient list: Black tea, dried apple pieces, rose hip peel, chicory root, cinnamon bark, licorice root, modified corn starch, natural flavor, dried blackberry pieces, dried black currant pieces, ginger root, orange peel, dried blueberry pieces, dried raspberry pieces. That’s a lot of fruit pieces, people. The fruit never overwhelms the black tea though – the strong black tea is just as easy to taste as all of the wonderful fruit.

I haven’t tried the tea iced yet, but I’m guessing that like most teas, it tastes even better hot. I let my bag steep for 3-4 minutes in boiling water. Each bag has 80 mg of Flavonoids per serving (that’s a good thing), and 20 mg of caffeine per serving.

Final say: The tea smells fantastic, and tastes just as good – this one’s a must-try.

My 5 favorite hot teas this month…

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As you may know (scratch that, you better know), January is National Hot Tea Month. I’m not sure how that works in other countries – I would recommend that they celebrate hot tea this month as well, but no one’s asked my opinion. Yet.

Anyway, as a way of celebrating hot tea, I’ve listed my current favorite hot teas below…obviously I’m pretty much crazy about most hot teas, but these are the ones that I just…can’t…stop….DRINKING. 🙂

White Coconut Creme by Tea Gallerie (official website): I cannot, with my great talent at words and description, even begin to describe how good this tea is. It seriously is amazing, and decadent, and reminiscent of a moist coconut cake that my mom makes that is out of this world. Make 2012 the year that you do nice things for yourself, and start by buying some of this tea.

 

Mint Chocolate Delight by Boston Tea Company (official website): Another tea that is delicious beyond words. Reminds me of those tasty after-dinner chocolates you get at Olive Garden when you’re ready to pay. Seriously one of the best teas I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking.

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Tea by Stash Premium Teas (official website): This tea is so, so decadent. It’s like you’re drinking a fancy chocolate Starbucks latte, but without the calories or caffeine. There have been times when I’ve wanted something sweet to eat, but I’ve just brewed some of this tea instead. Less calories, and all of the taste.

 

Wild Sweet Orange Herbal Infusion by Tazo Teas (official website): This is one of my 5 favorite teas of ALL TIME, not just for the month. It’s also the only tea that I’ve been able to convince Dill (my soda-guzzling spouse) to drink, and he loves it. As in, drinks about 2 cups of it each night. Success!

 

Mint Medley Herb Tea by Bigelow Tea (official website): I’m a hussy for anything with mint in it, and this tea is no exception to my rule. It’s delicious and tastes wonderful hot. We all know how good the herb mint is for us, and it goes without saying that tea does a body good, so do the math, people…drink this tea. 🙂

Long Overdue High Praise for Black Tea!

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Three cheers for black tea! I’d give more cheers but I’m too busy enjoying a tall glass of the beautiful drink right now. Pure, old school tea.  That’s right, it is your momma’s tea: Black tea.

It isn’t like it’s something I’ve never done before. To tell you the truth, I drink black tea every single day and have for as long as I can remember.  Let’s put it this way, when I started drinking black tea:

  • calories were things other people worried about
  • Justin Bieber wasn’t even born.. heck, his parents might not have even met
  • none of my 3 daughters (which, of course, includes the Crazy Tea Chick, Emily, herself) were born – in fact, I was younger than my youngest daughter

Wow. Do I feel old.

Changing the subject with speed a gazelle would envy.   The reason for this ode to black tea is because:

  1. It’s long overdue.
  2. I was served iced tea so weak at lunch today that I ran home crying to my own pitcher.

We all spend so much time concentrating on green tea, white tea, herbal teas, fruity teas, Chai Tea, and so on (for crying out loud, not that there’s anything wrong with these beautiful reasons to live). We talk about their antioxidants, how they’re conducive to a healthy lifestyle, how they’re versatile and delicious.  The whole while, black tea’s standing nearby thinking, “I’ve been doing that for years.” And years, and year, and years…

Did you know that you should never, ever, ever squeeze your tea bag into your tea? Doing so releases bitter tannins which,  in turn, negatively affect the tea’s flavor.

Yes, green tea is so good  for you that it should be required drinking. But let’s not forget that good old black tea is also great for us – and it’s as delicious as any drink you can name.  If you don’t believe me, grab a glass of impossibly weak tea – you know, the kind that causes your taste buds to debate whether it’s water or tea that just splashed by – then grab a glass of delectable black tea and leave no room for debate.

I guess we tend to take some great things for granted, like black tea. Doing so is downright criminal and I’m going to have a talk with God about making it sinful.

If you’ll forgive me, I have another pot to brew.  I may be at this all night.

Boston Tea Company’s Delightful Coconut Joy Black Tea

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A few things I’m loving right now: AMC’s “The Walking Dead”. Olive Garden. The Hunger Games. Zombie video games. My Green Bay Packers. Tim Tebow. Oh yeah, something else I’m enjoying the heck out of? Boston Tea Company. Because my two favorite teas right now are both from their company (Mint Chocolate Delight Green Tea and Coconut Joy Black Tea).

I’ve already reviewed the Mint Chocolate Tea, and now I have the honor of reviewing their Coconut Tea. As you can see from the images above, it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. The smell alone makes this tea worth drinking – honestly, it smells like a wonderful, edible sort of suntan lotion or dessert. The taste won’t let you down either. The coconut taste is noticeable, but you never forget that this is indeed a black tea. The ingredients are Ceylon Black Tea, pieces of coconut, and natural coconut flavorings. I use boiling water (or right about to boil), and I let the leaves steep for 4-6 minutes for the best flavor. The leaves do infuse a very strong taste, so for a 8 oz. mug, I don’t use more than a teaspoon of the loose leaves.

If you’ve ever read a review of mine, you know that I pretty much always prefer hot tea to iced tea. However, this tea is one of the FEW that is honestly every bit as good iced as it is hot. Seriously, it’s good iced.

I have nothing bad to say about this tea: the aftertaste, the smell, the leaves, the taste – it’s all amazing. Awesome job, Boston Tea Company. Very happy tea drinker here. 🙂

The Republic of Tea’s Earl Greyer black tea

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This is me…in Joe Muggs…with a cup of hot tea. And if you live around here, this sight probably looks familiar because I’m there looking through books and magazines and sipping tea very often.

The tea I was enjoying on this evening was The Republic of Tea’s Earl Greyer black tea, the ingredients of which are simply “fine black tea and natural bergamot oil”. The bergamot oil was very noticeable and very tasty, as it always is. This brand of Earl Grey contains more bergamot oil than other varieties, according to The Republic of Tea. I’m a big, big fan of Earl Grey tea – Earl Grey is actually the first hot tea I can remember drinking – so any variation of this tea is always a treat for me. The Earl Greyer has a very strong taste, though not as spicy or peppery as some brands; it also has a delicious aroma.

I’m going to be completely honest and say that my favorite Earl Grey variety is still the Twinings brand, but I enjoyed the Republic’s Earl Grey tea a lot and I’m sure I’ll be ordering it again. You just can’t flip through magazines and judge books by their (front and back) covers without some form of hot tea there for moral support. 🙂