Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts

First Sakuraco box!

 


 Saw an ad for this on instagram and I guess since I was following matcha and asian starbucks accounts that I was ad targeted and boy they got me good lol!  This box service apparently just started so I was able to get the grand opening discount. But it seems this company has a handful of Japan type monthly boxes so it seems to be established already. Sakuraco box focuses on the tea culture in Japan. So each box has tea, sweets, and some sort of tea ware. Its mostly sweets so far. The sweets are more on the traditional side which is what I like rather than snacks like Pocky. Each box will have exactly 20 items inside. The price for one month is $37.50 with the 1 year sub its $32.50 per box. I just got the box and I've enjoyed what I've tried so far. Sure its a bit pricey, but I think its worth it as someone who likes tea and Japanese sweets and lives too far away from Japan.

Since they ship from Tokyo, they do charge shipping separately so shipping costs me about $12 per box so each box cost me $44 with their grand opening discount and 6 boxes sub discount. That makes each item cost $2.20 for me. This price will be a bit higher without discounts. I think if you paid full price for one box its about $2.50 each. Some of the snacks are bite sized and small like about 1.5" small. Its up to you if you feel ok with paying that but the sweets so far all vary in sizes but generally compared to American sweets they're small. The box is only 8" x 8" x 4" but shipping was fast. Took 3 days from when DHL picks up the box to delivering it to my door. I probably shouldn't worry about anything melting when summer comes around since shipping is fast. Did anything break? Only thing that broke was the straw roll cookie and one of the monaka got a tiny bit crushed. Everything else looks fine!

 


The sweets are nice but I wish there was more tea options than just one. This box is sakura themed so the tea is pickled sakura flowers which is pretty to look at since its the full flowers. They only include two packets of it so only two cups of tea. The contents of the next box is already revealed and it seems there's always a certain type of sweets or snack includes. Other than two servings of tea, there's at least one cake type sweets, a cup sweets (like pudding), monaka, candy type, and cracker like snacks which so far are the senbei which are shrimp crackers. Of course this could change but so far all this is fine with me. They do put info on allergies or whether it vegetarian. 

UPDATE: So I've gone through the second box and have something to note. Some snacks can go stale since some won't include the little preservation packet so be sure to eat the cake types and other soft snacks that don't have the preservation packet in their packaging asap!

Republic of Tea

So I finally went and got some teas from Republic of Tea. Interestingly enough when I went to their site and did some "window" shopping, a few days later I get an email from them with a Free shipping coupon to complete my order. How nice! Though it has to be an order of $25 or more. So if you want free shipping try signing for an account and leaving items in your basket till you get the email!

I am not a tea expert so I won't be talking about the body and such of the teas. I just got a box where you can pick individual teas. So what better way to try an company's tea than to try as many as I can.

Get Clean is a detoxing hertabl tea. Says it helps stimulate the liver, encourage healthy digestion, and keep kidneys flushed. Its a blend of organic rooibos, milk thistle seeds, dandelion, burdock roots, red clover, chicory, and indian sarsaparilla. There's also vanilla, and almond flavorings. This tea is quite light and easy to drink. The medicinal taste is mild and not very bitter. The scent is mildly medicinal, but there is a sweet scent that balances it out.

Get Active is a endurance tea for exercise and daily activity. Its a blend of organic green rooibos, sarsaparilla, licorice root, maca root, and holy basil. Its has quite the medicinal taste, but it is smooth so its not that bitter. Definitely more of a tea for health benefits rather one to enjoy though I didn't take it with milk or sugar but I doubt those would help with the taste.

Get Relaxed is a stress relieving tea. I saved this for one of my most busiest day and I think it helped. Its a blend of rooibos, linden flower, passionflower, eleuthero, chamomile, lavender, and damask rose. This is a pretty tasty herbal tea so I'm definitely thinking of getting a full tin of this tea.

Chamomile Lemon is a blend of lemon balm, linden flower, orange blossoms, chamomile, lavender flower, skullcap, passion flower, and valerian root. It is a sleep aid tea herbal tea. Though I don't have trouble sleep, I did want to use this during times when I'm stressed and need to relax. All these herbs does make the tea smell and taste herbal and medicinal it isn't too bitter. Drinking it is kind of soothing.

Hibiscus Superflower Key lime Tea is a  blend of Hibiscus, rosehips, apples, lime and lemon, and stevia. This has a nice citrus flavor and quite sweet for an herbal tea. Though since it says that its can be enjoyed cold it would make sense to have it sweet so no additional sugar is needed. The scent is very much like lime and very sweet like candy. Definitely find this tea to be summer like. I do find it delicious! The Hibiscus Superflower Blueberry tea is also pretty tasty. Its not as sweet but it its tangy. The blueberry scent is also quite strong and it does taste like blueberries. Hibiscus Natural Hibiscus is hibiscus blend with hints of berry and citrus flavors. It definitely taste berry and citrus. Another delicious tea from this line of teas. Hibiscus Vanilla Apple is hibiscus, rosehips, apple bits, stevia, and natural vanilla and apple flavors. It has a mild vanilla scent and taste a bit like apple juice plus some citrus taste. I added sugar to it since it helps bring out the flavors more. Probably the least sweetest tea out the Hibiscus line I've tried. This is quite an enjoyable tea though so I do recommend them.

The People's Green Tea is a very delicious green tea! Sometimes it can be hard to find green tea that doesn't taste like bitter yard work. This one is just smooth and mild to me which makes it delicious!

Peppermint Chocolate Cuppa Chocolate Tea is a Rooibos blend with carob, cocoa kernals, peppermint leaves, sweet blackberry leaves, natural mint, chocolate and vanilla flavors. Its a herbal tea so its caffeine free. This tea is better with milk and sugar so you get the flavor better. Having it black or with just milk just taste minty, and I didn't taste any chocolate. This is quite appropriate tea for the holiday seasons. A good substitute for the latte counterpart.

Their Earl Greyer tea is black tea leaves with natural bergamot oil. The fragrance is really wonderful and the taste is very flavorful and fresh. Definitely one of the best Earl Grey teas I've ever had so I highly recommend it.

British Breakfast is a blend of black teas from Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, and Africa. A very smooth and easy tea to drink. Its lighter than Earl Greyer which is nice, but I prefer a richer taste so I'm sticking with Earl Greyer.

Hicaf Teas Pom-berry Black is black tea, green tea extract, licorice, and natural pomegranate and blueberry flavor. It has 130mg of caffeine compare to coffee which has 100mg. I definitely noticed the caffeine effectiveness, and I didn't even finish my cup then. I steeped it too long so it was a bit strong and bitter even with milk and sugar. Its not a bad tea though I don't think I would want this much caffeine in my system. Might be good for those who work long hours or students. A healthier alternative to coffee and energy drinks for sure.

I never tried white tea before so I got a few fruit flavored white teas. First one I tried is the Ginger Peach white tea which has a really sweet fruity smell. The taste it really light and mainly just a tea taste. The peach scent just adds a subtle taste to it. I don't really taste ginger in this tea though. Orange Blossom is white tea with natural orange and orange flower flavoring. It has a wonderful orange smell to it but like the previous white tea it hardly has any taste other than tea. It is rather light. Not really my thing but if you like lighter taste then go for white teas.

The Pomegranate Green Tea is chinese green tea flavored with hibiscus and pomegranate flavors. It is sweetened and quite light for a green tea. I quite like it since its like the iced tea drinks. Definitely didn't have the bitterness of green tea. The Acai Green tea is chinese green tea with hibiscus, natural flavors, and Acai berry bits. I barely taste any green tea in this since the juice taste is quite strong and I like it. Definitely recommend these flavored green teas for those who aren't into bitterness of green tea, but want the health benefits.

Honey Gingseng green tea is kind of interesting. It has a nice honey fragrance but I don't taste much honey or ginseng. It's a very mildly flavored since the green tea is much stronger. Not a bad tea though.

Organic Mint Fields is an herbal tea blend of organic spearmint, peppermint, and lemon balm. It definitely taste natural so the minty flavor and sensation is moderate. It's great by itself or with sugar.

Downton Abbey Bates' Brambleberry black tea is a blend of black tea, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. This is the only Downton Abbey tea I've tried and its pretty good. I do like the show so I find these teas quite neat. This tea definitely is smooth and the berry smell is very nice too. Though the taste is light which is not what I was expecting, but not bad.
Now for more fruit flavored black teas. Mango Ceylon Black tea is a blend of black tea, mango flavors, and sunflowers. This is an ok fruity tea. Though the smell is wonderful! The tea bag smells very sweet, and the tea is fragrant. Too bad the taste didn't match up to it. Blackberry Sage is black tea with natural blackberry flavors and sage. I don't taste the sage, but it definitely taste like blackberry which is pretty good. It has a very nice but strong blackberry scent too. I like it better than the Mango. The Cranberry Blood Orange black tea smells amazing and the taste it pretty good. Definitely one of the better of the fruity black teas so I recommend it.The Ginger Peach black tea is also pretty good though I don't taste ginger that much. It has a nice peach smell and its good with honey. The Wild Blueberry black tea is one of my favorites from the teas I've tasted so far. Its a blend of black tea, natural blueberry flavor and blueberries. It has a great blueberry scent and it actually taste like blueberries without the sourness. I usually make my tea strong, but I steeped this at short time and it really brought out the flavor rather than the bitterness of tea. Perhaps if I did that with the teas before I may have a better view of them.

Overall, I did enjoy the teas, and definitely highly recommend this tea company. I especially love their fruity teas. Definitely like them better than David's tea.

Republic of Tea Holiday Trio Stackable Tin

Got these last month since its seasonal. It comes with 36 tea bags of Republic of Tea's holiday tea blends: Comfort and Joy, Dream by the Fire, and Peppermint Bark. The tins are about 2.5" wide and 2" tall. Stacked together they're 5.5" tall. The tins are festival-y designed with snowflake pattern, and festival images that goes with the teas. They come in red, gold, and green. The sticker doesn't come off cleanly, but its not too difficult to clean the residue off with the sticker. They would be nice containers for anything really.

Comfort and Joy is a black tea blend with cinnamon, cloves, licorice root, apple bits, and natural flavors. It has quite the clove smell and taste than anything else. Its definitely good with milk. It does have a fruity smell kind of like oranges too. It has a great strong scent, though its ok taste wise.

Dream by the Fire is a Rooibos blend with natural cinnamon and vanilla flavors. This tea has the litter scent compare to the other two in this set. It mainly just has the scent of rooibos tea. This tea is the mildest tasting tea in this set so would recommend adding sugar and milk. It kind of has a warming effect when drinking it that's similar to drinking hot cocoa. Would go well with cookies or apple pie.

Peppermint Bark is green rooibos with peppermint, cocoa extract, vanilla flavor, and stevia leaf. Most of the ingredients are organic too. This has a great minty chocolate smell, and its already sweetened so I really didn't need to add anything to this tea to enjoy it. This is my favorite in this set, and its delicious.

Overall, this a decent holiday tea set though I would probably just get the Peppermint Bark. Its good to try or as a gift. Definitely would recommend this companies stackable tea sets!

Republic of Tea Pumpkin Spice Sample review


I just got a sample tea bag from Republic of Tea. I never had their tea before but have heard good things so I'm excited to try this out. Their Pumpkin Spice is black tea with typical pumpkin pie spices and pumpkin flavors: ginger, cinnamon, natural ginger and pumpkin flavors, sweet blackberry leaves, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. 

It came as this little circular pod with no string or tag to make it more environmentally friendly. The smell it quite sweet and delicious. Its does smell like pumpkin pie! I had some honey and milk to it, and have to say its quite delicious. Most pumpkin products don't ever taste like pumpkin so this tea is no exception. It does taste cinnamon but its not immediately obvious. It does have a nice spiced taste. Overall I do enjoy it. I plan on getting their holiday teas and try them.  

Koshun-en Ta-Fu Green Tea

The great thing about going to a Japanese restaurant is the green tea they serve. I always get it and it tastes amazing. For awhile I have been buying alot of green tea of different brands, and most aren't as good as the ones I've had at the restaurant. And they aren't even green (more brown-ish) and taste closer to oolong or another Chinese type of tea with the green tea.

So I found Ta-Fu's tea in a asian market and finally found the green tea that's really good and the closest to the restaurants and isn't expensive. It comes in tea bags and the leaves are really fine which is nice because I do like having that added texture when alittle bit of it comes through the bag. Unlike the other teas I've had, this tea is light and more earthy rather than woody or medicinal herb like. Its actually green! And made in Japan. Although it still doesn't beat the kind you get at the restaurants.

If you love green tea, I'm sure you'll love this brand! You can actually buy a large pack of it on Amazon otherwise I have yet to see it anywhere else besides asian markets.