Blueberry Cheesecake Green Tea

Ingredients: Dried blueberries, Green Tea Leaves, Cheesecake Flavoring - TeaCo

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 I got a sample pack of this tea a few months ago and it got buried in my tea bowl (yes, I have a big bowl of tea). I found it while I was digging around in the bowl for something to drink a few nights ago. I saw the little, gold, TeaCo sample pack sitting near the bottom and decided it was high time I brewed some of it.

Upon opening the bag the first thing anyone should notice is the smell of blueberries. If you pick through the leaves you will find whole, dried blueberries. There are plenty of advantages and disadvantages to dried fruit. When it comes to storage or travel, dried fruit is the better way to go. It's easier to carry around with you in a baggie or container without having to worry about it spoiling or going bad. A disadvantage, and a big one, lies with the nutritional values of dried fruit. The heat involved in drying out fruit decreases some heat sensitive vitamins...such as Vitamin C. What it loses in vitamin C, it retains in being high fiber. Dried blueberries, specifically, are approximately four times higher in antioxidants than their fresh counterparts.

Now, since we're not going to be actually eating these blueberries, the question might be is the goodness in these dried blueberries released into tea? Yes and no. Tea will never have all the benefits that eating a handful of dried fruit or fresh fruit will. But many of the vitamins, minerals, etc are put into the tea when you brew it.

 For this tea specifically, there are no secondary players in this tea. It's all about the blueberries. Blueberries are wonderful. The little dark-blue balls of joy. Seriously, they are. The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry has linked wild blueberry juice in helping with the symptoms of depression in adults. There is little these berries can't do. From being linked with helping depression to Alzheimer's disease to urinary tract infections. It's just fantastic what the things grown in nature can do.

This tea is just everything good about blueberries. It's flavorful and it smells like sticking your nose into a blueberry bush. From the moment you open the sample bag/canister to the last drop of tea, it's all blueberry. I only put two dried blueberries into my tea ball and that seems like more than enough. It blends so nicely with the green tea. There is no bitterness or dry mouth feeling like you get with most green tea. Even after steeping it for 5 minutes (which average is 3-4), it's not bitter at all.

Now, this tea is called Blueberry Cheesecake Green Tea, not Blueberry Green Tea. So where is the cheesecake?! Unfortunately, as much as I hate to put down a tea that tastes so good, there is very little that is 'cheesecake' about this drink. There is a hint of something sweet that is obviously not blueberry that runs over your tongue and it does have that sweet smell of cheesecake behind the berry. It's a creamy flavor and smell that is definitely not blueberry. I really think they could have done better with the cheesecake flavor. Maybe add some cream bits like they do in the Orange Cream tea. Or even find a way to put actual cheesecake bits into it (I'm pretty sure it can be done these days!) to add a more cheesecake flavor to it.

This will never replace real blueberry cheesecake and I would never want it to. It's a wonderful blueberry tea that happens to have a sweetness to it. Even the color is nothing much to write about. It's a green tea. It's good, flavorful, and light. Very nice for an after meal drink, maybe lunch or breakfast. While I don't plan on buying a canister of this one, I do recommend it to people that like blueberries, green tea, and lighter teas.

Chocolate-Butterscotch Rooibos Tea

"TeaCo's Rooibos Tea is made from the leaves of the Red Bush plant which is grown in South Africa. It is not derived from the traditional Camillia sinensis plant like most other teas, therefore it is considered as an herbal drink. It is traditionally drank with sugar and milk, though many drinkers today prefer it plain or with a bit of honey.

Rooibos tea is high in anti-oxidants and many minerals. It is also caffeine free. Studies have shown Rooibos tea to help prevent cancer, increase immune functions, and reduces headaches, insomnia, and irritability.

Ingredients: Rooibos tea, Chocolate chips, Butterscotch chips, and Natural flavorings." -TeaCo

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Once again, I would like to point out that while I believe in the health benefits of tea, most of the studies done are not 'proven' or done in a controlled setting/environment. The health benefits of teas are things that I prefer to think of as 'home remedies'. Yes, it is high in anti-oxidants, but depending on your diet, activity, and life style...drinking a cup of tea a day while sitting around eating nothing but pizza and candy, the tea isn't going to help. For me, tea is a light feeling drink. It makes you feel warm and happy and makes it easy to jump up and move around or sit back and relax.

Now, while tea may be good for you and better for you than most drinks...don't force yourself to drink it. It's not medicine. Don't chug it down while holding your nose like you would for nasty tasting cough syrup just to get the good benefits of it. All, natural, teas have anti-oxidants. So if you're going to drink it for that, find a flavor and type you like.

Remember, Rooibos is naturally caffeine free! The next step up from this tea type for caffeine is white tea.

Anyway, today I have brewed myself a cup of TeaCo's Choco-Butterscotch Rooibos. With Loose Leaf Teas isn't great to have a tea ball, unfortunately they can fail. Rooibos is a 'broom' like plant. This basically means that the 'leafs' are thin and almost needle like. When dried out and made to be used for tea they became like tiny, little splinters that seep through every little opening...even that of a mesh tea ball. They slip through the crease of the two ball parts and even through the mesh itself. I'm sure not all Rooibos does this, but this one sure does.

After a few little experiments, I find the best thing to do is to make a tea bag or empty one and fill it up with the tea, the stuff that into the tea ball. That should prevent any tea leaves from seeping out. On the other hand, you can forgo the tea ball and bag all together and use a French Press or Infuser. Both of which would work wonderfully for this kind of fine leaf tea.

Unlike green tea, Rooibos takes a 5-7 minute seeping. The longer it seeps, the darker the color and richer the taste. Over seeping (more than 10 minutes) will leave you with bitter, cold tea. So watch the clock or set a timer. This specific blend has chocolate and butterscotch chips in it. I recommend either using very hot water or just putting the chips in the bottom of your cup. I put them in the bottom of my cup and just stirred till they melted. Doing as I do tends to leave the water looking a little cloudy rather than that clear, red color that Rooibos gives, but it doesn't hurt the flavor one bit.

As for the color, when not putting the chips in the bottom of the cup, it should be a rich, deep rusty color or a beautiful, dark amber color. It really is one of the most beautiful colored teas I've ever seen. The chocolate/butterscotch chips even give it a 'shine' and makes it almost glitter. It's really amazing. Just like the Pom-Green Tea from before, you may need to bob the tea ball or bag a little to get the color to mix with the water.

The taste is almost as wonderful as it looks. It's rich and smooth. Naturally sweet and warm. Not a bit of bitterness in it at all. It's almost creamy and buttery. I don't know how it would taste iced, but I wouldn't dare put ice in it. It really does taste perfect at a lukewarm temperature. Even the smell is nice. Before putting the chocolate/butterscotch chips in, you should dunk just the tea in with the hot water and take a good smell. It's hard to describe, but it smells warm, buttery, and just made me smile. While you can really smell the butterscotch just from opening the canister, you can't really smell it once it's mixed in the water. The Rooibos itself smells fantastic. It's dusty and deep.

As I've said before, I don't really add anything to my teas other than what is in the bag/canister...but yes, traditionally it is drank with milk, honey, and/or lemon. I don't like adding milk to tea, I think it tastes funny and sour. But I do like honey with plain green tea and lemon in nearly anything. While I don't think this blend needs anything added, I can see lemon giving it a nice tang to balance out the sweetness.

Overall, this is a wonderful tea experience. The flavor is deep without being over powering. It doesn't leave any kind of 'weird' after taste. While I still think green tea is a good starter for people just starting to drink tea, this would not be a bad start either.

Loose Leaf Pomegranate Green Tea

"TeaCo's Green Tea is a 'True' tea with leaves coming from the Camellia Sinensis plant. It is created by the leaves going through very little oxidation while being processed. There are many health benefits to drinking green tea. Green tea is anti-oxidant rich and has been linked to lowering cholesterol levels. Studies have also shown that green tea is healpful in preventing or reducing cancer, arthritis, infection, and cardiovascular disease.

TeaCo's Pomegranate Green Tea is made from the finest ingredients possible. This freshness is unmatched in the tea industry and provides the consumer with one of the most unique drinks imaginable.

Ingredients: Green Tea, Pomegranate Peel, Hibiscus Flower, and Natural Pomegranate Flavoring." -TeaCo

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Now, while Green Tea does have health benefits, it does not mean that drinking a cup a day is going to keep you healthy forever. The health aspects of Green Tea are widely debated. Over a decade of studies to determine all the health aspects of tea and yet there are very few real-world evidence. Most of the facts are coming out of labs and not from word of mouth reports. There are very few studies actually done on humans to determine the exact effects of Green Tea.

Despite that, it does have important antioxidants and compounds that help in maintaining good health. The antioxidants in Green Tea are similar to the ones found in grapes and berries, red wine, and dark chocolate. It is also unknown just how much Green Tea would need to be consumed in order to reap the full benefits of the leaves.

Still...it's good to drink.

Today I've brewed myself a cup of TeaCo's Pom-Green Tea. For Loose Leaf Tea you're going to want some way to get the leaves and pieces out of the cup (though they are not harmful to digest). You can use a tea ball, French Press, tea strainer, cheese cloth, or even make your own tea bag. I use a combination of tea ball packed with a homemade tea bag. To make the tea bag you can either purchase empty bags and fill them yourself or pay $1 for those boxes of 100 Iced Tea bags at the store and empty them yourself. I empty them myself and save the Iced Tea leaves for use in the summer when I need to make pitchers of Sweet Ice Tea for parties and what not.

Measure out your leaves 1tsp per 8oz of water. My cup holds 10 oz and I like my tea a little stronger, so I put 2tsp. Heat your water and dunk your bag or press into your infuser. Let steep for 2-5 minutes depending on how strong you like it. The longer is steeps, the stronger the flavor. Be aware that the longer your tea steeps, the more bitter it can become too. For a first time taster, I would say about 3 minutes steeping should do to get you a nice, light flavor.

The color should be a light, tannish color. You may need to bob the tea ball or bag a little to get the coloring and flavor to disperse. If you look in the cup before that, you can see the tea water settling at the bottom of the cup. But don't worry, once mixed up it won't separate again. The longer you let it steep, the darker the color will be.

As for the taste, since I like mine a little stronger, tastes a bit like biting into a Pomegranate seed. It's a light flavor (even after 5 minutes of steeping) and you just barely get them smell of the fruit after steeping. While steeping the scent is a little stronger. Those with not-so-good sense of smell may not smell anything at all. The taste washes all over your tongue, getting more bitter as it reaches the back and down your throat. Strangely enough, if you have ever bitten your cheek or lip while chewing or anything like that...it kind of leaves that irony taste in your mouth for a few minutes after drinking.

While I don't add anything to my teas, this is a tea that can have honey easily added to it without damaging the flavor. The honey may make it easier for some people to drink it since most people are more used to sugary flavors. Again, I don't do this, but I have in the past and I don't enjoy it. Still, many people do and it doesn't hurt the flavor. It will get rid of that irony after taste and does cut some of the bitterness if you over steep. I would say that about 1/2 to 1tsp of honey is more than enough for a 8-10oz cup.

Personally, I think it's a nice starter tea. Like most Green Teas, it can sit and cool without losing it's taste. Personally, I like dropping a few cubes of ice into it.

Once again, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will get to you in due time. Also, if you would like to purchase this exact tea, you can get it from: www.teacoteas.com in their green tea section. You can also find it on Amazon from other brands. I recommend Biglow, Yoga Teas, and The Republic of Tea.

~Teacup Fairy