California Tea House Loose Leaf Black Tea 'Mango Preserves'

Tea Information:
Tea: Mango Preserves
Type: Black Tea
Packaging: Loose Leaf
Company: California Tea House
Purchase:




Mango Preserves - $ 13.00

Mango Preserves is simple fruit and floral blend of full-leaf black Chinese tea tossed with tropical mango preserves and sunflower petals. If you like black tea and want to round it off with some real fruit, this is the one to try. Use 1 tablespoon per cup of spring water at a full boil and steep for 2-4 minutes.


Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 212° 500ml filtered
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (Black, Strong)
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet and fruity, but not specifically mango
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, mango + other fruits + black tea
Flavor: black tea, dried mango snacks, astringent, a touch bitter
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet fruity, astringent, a touch bitter
Liquor: dark orange brown

Gift generous from Lori which I sadly forgot to be expecting and then was confused, but happy when the tea arrived. I decided to hold off trying it until I could figure out who it was a gift from. We're always on the hunt for anything with 'mango' since it's a favorite flavor around here.

And now that I know who it's from, TEA! It, as the name implies, tastes like those dried mango fruit snacks. It's not the fresh juicy mango taste, but it is truly mango. If we had not tried Mango Black from thepuriTea.com this would be the new favorite. Theirs wins out by virtue of being true fresh mango.

Next time I think I'll steep 2 minutes.

Post-Steep Additives: 1/2 tsp German rock sugar
More sweetened dried mango, yum yum!

Rating: 3/4 leaves


Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing

California Tea House Loose Leaf Black Tea 'Almond Butter'

Tea Information:
Tea: Almond Butter
Type: Black Tea
Packaging: Loose Leaf
Company: California Tea House
Purchase: Here
Description: Our delicious Almond Butter black tea is quickly becoming one of our most popular teas. We tested it out at Farmer's Market and we can't keep enough in stock.

We set out to make a smooth 'anytime' tea. The smoothness comes from our high quality black tea. We added large almond slices, cinnamon sticks and safflower blossoms to create this instant hit. Sprinkle in some sugar to bring out more of the cinnamon and almond flavor, but no cream is needed.

Use 1 to 2 heaping teaspoons of Almond Butter for each cup of boiling mineral water and steep for 3 to 4 minutes. The best flavor is when the cup cools for about 5 minutes before enjoying.
Ingredients: ?

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Water: 22 ounces filtered water
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet, almonds
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, almonds
Flavor: black tea, almond, smooth
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: astringent
Liquor: translucent dark reddish-brown

A generous sample from Doulton!
It was a nice black tea, but not amazing or WOW!
I could see getting it along with an order but not as the reason for an order.

Post-Steep Additives:
+German rock sugar - sweeter, nicer cup of tea, more flavor less black tea
+Almond milk - overpowered the tea, not recommended

Resteep: 3 minutes
just as flavorful and delicious as the first round

Rating: 3/4 leaves


Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing