Løv Organic

Yay, more from Løv Organic! Another fruit tea, which is definitely not my favorite type. They tend to be either weak due to the lack of base, or tart hibiscus nightmares. This one is looking like the hibiscus kind, unfortunately. The packet is a cute and happy hot pink that made me smile. Inside the sachet are very small pieces of fruit (apple possibly?), citrus peel, and hibiscus petals. Dry scent is tart and vaguely fruity.

O. M. G. This is a big ol’ cup of hibiscus juice. I made the most epic pucker face when I tried and sip, and I’m glad no one was around to see it and make fun of me. :P Yeah, I can’t even drink this, such a big nope. It’s like eating a Shock Tart (if anyone else remembers those…).

Still puttering along, working my way through my sweet little Løv Organic sampler. I think I only have a few left to try! I felt like having a rooibos this evening and I was thinking about Lupicia’s Sweet Autumn, but decided to give this one a try instead. Inside the sachet is a mixture of red rooibos and citrus peel. I was surprised that the dry scent is mostly orange with very little cinnamon. Hooray, this won’t be one of those teas in which the cinnamon overpowers everything else! :)

In keeping with most of the teas I’ve tried from Løv Organic, this is quite subtly flavored. It’s mostly just red rooibos with a little bit of orange, which accents it beautifully. I can taste a little hint of cinnamon at the end of the sip, and I definitely appreciate that it has a very small role here. I do enjoy this one, since I’m a fan of red rooibos. I think the orange alongside the rooibos is a very tasty and autumnal combination. However, I can see others not liking this one because it focuses on the flavor of the rooibos base.

Another Løv Organic creation! I’ve been liking mint teas more and more lately, so I’m happy to have gotten a couple different types in my sampler box. This looks quite similar to the Kusmi version of the same tea (although it’s Moroccan mint, which is really common). Some of the leaves are rolled into gunpowder pellets and some are more loosely curled. Dry scent is way spearminty!

Meh, I think plain spearmint teas aren’t really my thing. It kind of reminds me of chewing spearmint gum, which is not terribly unpleasant as much as just odd. To be fair, this is the type of tea that people cold brew/ice more often than not, so I should probably be doing it that way. As is, gum tea is weird. :P It’s well done though, no bitterness and the level of mint flavor is nice – identifiable but not overpowering.

I must say, I was curious whether this would be the exact same as Kusmi’s ginger lemon green tea (since I believe the companies are related). Visually, I would say definitely not. The Kusmi version has very different leaves – they’re thick and somewhat curly/wavy, while this tea has what resembles a sencha base. Dry scent was quite strong on the ginger.

Hmm, I quite like this. The ginger and lemon manage to be more subtle than I would expect, and the way that they merge together makes me like the ginger aspect a bit better. Definitely a very zen and spa-like tea – it says “relaxation” to me. The base tea is mild and a touch grassy with some nutty notes to it. I don’t think I’ll have a problem finishing my other two sachets in the evenings to come.

This is an individually-wrapped sachet from my Løv Organic sampler. Now, as all of you know by now, I’m not big on floral teas. However, jasmine is one of the few floral flavors that I do actually enjoy every now and then. I’m not sure why this is, possibly because it’s a sweeter floral? Anyway. Though it doesn’t say in the name, this is a green tea with jasmine. I don’t see any petals mixed with the green tea leaves. Dry scent is sweet and somewhat potent jasmine.

Yum, this is a tasty tea. The only other reviewer said they found it bitter, but I don’t get that at all. The jasmine flavor is present but it’s not too strong. The green tea base is fairly standard and unremarkable, but I don’t taste any bitter or grassy elements here. Overall, it’s a perfectly nice jasmine tea. :)

Another caffeine-free option from my Løv Organic sampler! I must say, I’m not generally a fan of fruit tisanes, as they almost always contain hibiscus (this one does as well). I do like fruit flavors, but I prefer them in conjunction with a base tea. Anyway, the wrapper is a lovely rich turquoise color that definitely goes along with the “exotic” theme, and there are all sorts of pieces of fruit in the sachet. Dry scent is lovely – a combination of peach/mango and pineapple.

Hmm… I can definitely smell the tart hibiscus in the steeped tea, but it’s not completely fuchsia in color, so that’s a good sign. :P Hm, the flavor is a little weak, but I’m impressed that’s it’s not completely overcome by the tartness of hibiscus. It’s actually a nice little mix of peach/mango and pineapple. There’s some tartness here, but it actually goes well with the tropical flavors, since pineapple is pretty tart anyway. There’s an interesting little hint of sweetness at the end of the sip that kind of reminds me of an extremely mild licorice root, so I’m not sure where that’s coming from. Overall, it’s good. :D

I chose this as a nighttime tea from my Løv Organic sampler. This is one of the ones I was most excited for, as I’ve taken an increased liking to rooibos lately and I love all things almond and marzipan-flavored. The package is such a lovely and happy teal color, the same as in the picture. I can see a few small pieces of almond mixed in with the red rooibos base, and the dry scent is powerful marzipan/almond extract. I must say, it was quite gorgeous when I poured the water over it. It immediately turned a lovely goldenrod, which then transformed into a stunning orange and finally changed to the dark mahogany that I associate with red rooibos. It was like watching a sunset in my mug! I don’t often get to see this type of thing, as generally I steep my tea in a brew basket and in an opaque mug (this is a sachet instead and I used a mug with a white interior). Lovely!

I can smell the same marzipan aroma in the steeped tea, though it has lost some of its potency (which is not a bad thing considering the strength when it was dry). The taste is more subtle than I expected, but I still enjoy it quite a lot. I can taste the rooibos base, with its slight woody character, and then the flavoring melds so well with it. Yum, definitely the better almond rooibos out of the two that I’ve tried!

I was unsure what to expect with this one, as the name tells me nothing about it. I remembered that it had green tea in it, and once I opened the packet I could see green maté in the sachet, as well as pieces of dried apple. Wow, for some reason the dry scent was very powerful in an almost spicy manner, and I have no idea where that came from… Strange!

Um… So the steeped liquid actually smells smoky. (Is that a maté thing…?) I can also smell apple and citrus, but the smoke is quite strong. According to Steepster chat, green maté “tastes like green beans and dirt”, so maybe the strong earthy presence is what I’m smelling here. Wow, this certainly tastes quite earthy in an almost mineral way. The citrus is actually a really nice complement to the flavor of the maté, though I don’t think I taste apple or green tea here. Strange, but not bad.

So, this is odd. I opened this sachet fully expecting to find a red fruits-flavored black tea. However, this is actually a flavored green tea. Also, it doesn’t appear to be on Løv Organic’s website at all. And the only pictures I could find on Google were of a tea with the same name, but using a black base. WTF? Anyway, flavored greens aren’t generally my thing so I was quite disappointed to discover that my sachets are the green tea version. Dry scent is mild and very candy-like red fruits.

The flavoring in this tea is far too light for my tastes. It’s just a subtle suggestion of fruit candy in the background, and the focus is on the rather unremarkable green tea base. Overall, doesn’t taste like much and has only a slight grass/vegetal quality about it.

Hooray for rooibos! Seriously though, for someone reason I’ve found myself liking rooibos (red and green) blends more and more lately. At this point I think I might even like straight rooibos, though I’ve never tried it. This one is a red rooibos tisane, and there are quite a few pieces of fruit mixed in along with some kind of crushed herbs. Dry scent is yummy sweet-tart orange and lemon along with some lovely caramel notes.

Mm, the steeped liquid also smells yummy and orange-y with some caramel. Yum, this is lightly flavored but very tasty. I can taste a bit of the rooibos, but it’s not medicinal or woody or anything like that, just a pleasant herbaceous note. There’s also sweet orange combined with lemon (I guess from the lemon balm) and some apple. Over the top of everything is a nice light caramel flavor, similar to a caramel sauce. Tasty!

Another caffeine-free option from my Løv Organic sampler. Pineapple teas always remind me of Roswell Strange now, because I know it’s one of her favorite flavors. Silly, I know. :P Anyway, this is a green rooibos base with a few pieces of dried pineapple and crushed mint leaves. Dry scent is a sweet and fairly even mix of pineapple and mint, which is lovely.

The steeped tea is stronger on the mint. I can still smell the sweet/tart pineapple, but the spearmint overpowers it a bit. Aw… I can’t taste pineapple at all in this tea, which makes me extremely sad. It basically tastes like a very mild spearmint tea with a kind of herbal flavor that reminds me of chamomile or linden. Not bad, but not at all what it’s supposed to be.

Continuing on with my Løv Organic sampler! Time to move on to some caffeine-free blends for the evening. I admit it, I chose this sachet because of the cute name and the pretty rich purple color of the wrapper. Shhh don’t tell! Inside the sachet, I can see rooibos and honeybush along with chamomile and some kind of crushed leaf. The dry scent reminds me of cinnamon apple and chamomile, though after looking at the ingredients it’s actually cinnamon pear.

The steeped tea still has that apple cinnamon-like aroma, though now I can smell the licorice as well. I must say, I really like this company’s licorice root because it doesn’t add that weird artificial sweetener aftertaste, which is what I normally dislike about licorice root. This is a really tasty blend! I can taste the chamomile along with the linden, and there’s a nice, light apple cinnamon sort of flavor going on, as well as a very light sweetness from the licorice. I would absolutely buy more of this one for nighttime!

Sipdown! (28 | 437)

A bit of a sad sipdown for me, as I feel I enjoy this one more and more each time I have it, and unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have made the transition from Løv Organic to Kusmi. It’s such a relaxing tea, with just the right amount of stonefruit flavor – I don’t have to search for it, but it’s still a fairly restrained flavoring. And I can still taste the base as well.

Ah well. I do see that Kusmi has a peach and apricot white/green tea blend, so maybe I’ll have to give that one a try and see how similar it is to this tea.

A pretty tin of this recently made its way into my oldest teas focus box, and I’m so glad! My big tins often get forgotten about because I tend to put them on the back upper shelf in my tea cupboard. Poor tins!

Anyway, this is tasty! I’m not sure how much the three different bases are contributing? I think I mostly get the green rooibos flavor-wise. But I love the combination of the sweet (and very realistic) peach/apricot with the pop of tropical mango. It’s not an in-your-face sort of tea, but it’s so relaxing to sip on in the afternoon or evening.

Unfortunately now Løv Organic is no more, and I don’t believe this is one of the teas that made the jump over to Kusmi branding. Oh well… :(

Home – 10:00 PM

This is an interesting one – a mix of green and white teas with green rooibos. I suppose it’s not dissimilar to Kusmi’s detox blends, just with white tea instead of maté.

I do like this one. The peach/apricot flavor is very natural and not overly strong. There’s a bit of pineapple as well, which really brightens up the blend. Something almost tastes minty, even though there’s no mint here. The green tea has some marine notes, and there are earthy, herbaceous notes from the rooibos and a bit of hay from the white tea.

This definitely seems like a “spa” blend – relaxing and tastes as if it would be good for you.

My only issue is that really this tastes like an herbal blend to me, yet at the same time it’s caffeinated. I guess it fits well as an afternoon tea. :)

Yay, more Løv Organic teas! I figured I should go for the ones that have actual tea in them for now, so that I have the caffeine-free options to enjoy later tonight when I’m trying to wind down. This tea is a blend of green, white, and green rooibos – not a combination I’ve had before. The leaves in the sachet are quite small, and the green tea almost resembles gunpowder. There is one big piece of peach in this sachet, and it smells amazingly peachy with a nice tart edge (which makes it more realistic for me). Perhaps some apricot here too?

The steeped tea has that same peach/apricot aroma, and it’s making my mouth water! (I love apricots so much.) I can also smell a little bit of the pineapple sharpness. Hm… This is definitely a lightly flavored tea, and the peach/apricot is much more subtle than I was expecting. However, this actually works quite well here because the base tea(s) are very light and refreshing. I can taste slight cucumber notes from the white tea, as well as hay. The green rooibos is just a little bit herbaceous and works well with the hay notes from the white tea. I’m not sure whether I can taste the green tea or not, but at least it’s not grassy. The peach/apricot/pineapple combination is just a subtle suggestion for the majority of the sip, but they become a bit stronger in the aftertaste. I would definitely describe this as a “spa tea”, it just has that refreshing and soothing vibe to it! I’m sure it would be lovely cold brewed/iced as well.

Home – 11:00 PM

Oops, I thought this was an herbal chai. Turns out it has black tea in it. Luckily, it looks to be very little black tea.

This is a pretty nice little (mostly) herbal chai blend. It’s spicy enough, but not too spicy. There’s a nice mix of cinnamon, clove, ginger, and licorice, along with some cream and nut notes.

I feel like this one needs a little sweetness, I may have to steep it like a traditional chai next time.

Yay, my Løv Organic order is here! I’ve been wanting to try this company’s teas for a while now (I think they’re the same company as Kusmi) so I was happy to see a $50 credit for $25 on Rue La La a couple weeks ago. I ordered the biggest sampler and then a tin of this tea (I was originally going to order a box of sachets, but I needed two more dollars for free shipping, so I upgraded to the tin). I’m not usually one to order a large amount of a tea I’ve never tried, but I figured what the hell. Even if I hate it, someone else around here will love it! Visually, there isn’t a ton of black tea in this blend. It’s a mix of crushed up pieces of cacao shell and various spices with a few leaves in there. Dry scent reminds me of Verdant’s Campfire Blend – it has that creamy spice element, but without the orange.

Mmm, nice aroma! It smells creamy and spicy with a definite sweet edge from the licorice. I can smell a hint of cacao as well. Wow, I’m actually really surprised that this isn’t a licorice root bomb! Meaning I don’t get that odd sweet aftertaste that licorice root usually gives. Instead, I can actually taste the licorice/anise-like flavor. There is also definitely a lot of clove going on, and I can taste dark chocolatey cocoa in the background, providing a nice base note. I think I can also taste a little bit of marzipan-like almond, but it’s blending pretty seamlessly with the licorice so it’s hard to tell them apart! Something in here is making my mouth a little bit tingly, possibly the ginger? I added a little touch of sugar to the second half of my cup, and yum! Definitely an improvement. Overall, I don’t regret this one! It’s a nice little chai with some chocolate and almond notes.

This is the third and final fruity white tea from Lov Organic. Coconut is not one of my favorite flavors, but I do love blueberry! And I do enjoy coconut teas every once in a while.

Hmm… This is mostly coconut, and it’s the artificial suntan lotion sort of coconut. I can maybe taste a little hint of blueberry at the beginning and end of the sip, but if I didn’t know it was supposed to be here, I wouldn’t pick it out. I think it’s because both the blueberry and coconut are quite sweet, and the strong, creamy coconut flavor overpowers the blueberry a bit.

It’s tasty, and I think white tea goes very well with creamy coconut. But the coconut here is a bit too artificial for me, and I was looking for more blueberry flavor and perhaps a little tartness.

Another sample from Nicole! I purchased a $50 credit toward Lov Organic on Rue La La (for $25), so I wanted to try this one and make sure it wasn’t amazing before I made my order. It appears to be a silver needle base with some flower petals in it. Dry scent is heavy on the coconut, in a coconut milk kind of way.

Meh, it came out a tiny bit bitter, which is unfortunate. Otherwise, it’s okay. There’s a lot more coconut than blueberry here, which is a shame. The coconut is kind of creamy and it reminds me of coconut milk. I don’t really taste blueberry at all, but I do get something peachy in the aftertaste. Not bad, but not a purchase for me.

Cold steep for about 20 hours. Blueberry very pronounced, coconut in the aftertaste. Very good. A bit of bitter but probably oversteeped by a few hours. I think I do prefer this cold.

I picked this one up at the Palais des Thes store. I didn’t even realize at the time that it was not their tea but another company. No matter – this smelled soooo good.

It was very tasty hot, but even better cold. Blueberry with mild coconut hot but as it cools off a buttery note sneaks in. I think this is one to be careful with as it could be bitter if not handled with attention. But I will enjoy this tin, I think. Trying a cold steep of the used leaves tonight.

Oh, and here’s a picture of how bad I was on my trip…http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/dagony/media/Tea%20collection/IMG_3464_zpsed958e8c.jpg.html?filters[user]=131747557&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0
(oh, and I should note that the tiny adorable little pot there is not my doing…someone sneaky and exceedingly generous gave that to me while I was there…:)