Souvia

THANKS to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea!

A delicious apple-y, cinnamon-y tea. I like that the cinnamon is tasted, but doesn’t overpower the apple taste. It has such a lovely flavor that reminds me of warm apple pie! YUM!

The green tea is also present and tastes fresh and clean. This cup is absolutely delicious!

My full-length review can be viewed here:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2010/12/30/harvest-moon-from-souvia-tea-2/

The tea is a deep amber color with red hues. This is definitly a black tea, although it doesn’t look as fermented as it smells. The smell is not all that much different from the way that the leaves smelled. Tangy with a hint of alcohol, the smell is that of unripened grapes, still green and juicy. There is a hint of something not as tangy lingering in the smell. It is sort of like jasmine and oak mixed together. Breathing it in, I feel peaceful. There are no grassy hints in the smell.

This tea has a slight alcohol taste to it, but it is not overpowering. It does remind me of a wine. It is grape like, slightly fermented, but not a lot. It is just enough to give it a hint of alcohol, but without having alcohol content probably. There is a hint of an oak undertone to it that is accompanied by a roasted almond flavor. It is clean and refreshing. In fact, it reminds me more of an oolong than a black tea. There is a strange sort of tangy nuance to the tea that seems to vary from sip to sip. There is a bitter aftertaste and the alcoholic taste of the tea seems to go up in the very end. There is a slight note of jasmine that is almost drowned out by the oak tones.

For the full information on this brew see the following post.

http://teasnobbery.com/2010/12/03/tea-review-vithanakanda-from-souvia-tea/

I loved the ‘Lady Gray’ from Twinnings so I thought I would give this a try.

The lavender and vanilla are a little overpowering so I use 1tsp/8oz and steeped for only 3min. Here is where I found the taste to be the best. The smell is very fragrant and nice.

When I visited Souvia they had this tea as a taster. It was pleasant and not overpowering. When I made it at home the smell was overpowering and I almost had to force myself to drink it. I tried it again and it was a little bit better.

I love Starbucks Chai latte and Souvia said this was their spiciest Chai tea. I think I steeped this tea a little too long, 3min 20secs. I think 3min would be the best because I can taste a little bit of bitterness. Unfortunately I only had enough to make one cup.

The taste is good. I can taste the cardamom which is nice. I added lots of sugar getting ready to make a latte but wanted to try it first without the creamer. Its ok with the creamer.

If I didn’t have to order this online I think I would get it again to try other ways to make it.

This is really REALLY really GOOD!!! For me…this has the PERFECT amount of both the cinnamon and the apple and they are equally yummy. The semi-sweet and juicy green tea is the focus of this offering from Souvia and I just think it’s genius! Tea-riffic! I Well done!

WOW!!!!!!!!! This is CRAZY! OMG! This couldn’t smell more like a Gingerbread House! AND…the taste is so flavorful and complex and jam-packed with ingredients it’s hard not to comment on it! This is incredibly sweet , very sugary!!!! The candied pineapple, mango, and papaya are going NUTS even more than the actual NUTS! Their are HONKin’ HUGE Walnut halves in there! And good sized chunks of the other nuts too! The Coconut chips are fun and are about the same flavor level as the nuts. The Rooibos takes a back seat to everything else that is going on here and that is ok with me! I love interesting teas/tisanes and this is certainly one of them! Whether you like it or not – at least it’s interesting! Eventho this is intensely sweet and sugary without even adding sugar to it – I like it! The aftertaste is a little funky but I can get past that. Thumbs up for creativity! A FUN Tisane!

SERIOUSLY LOVE this stuff! I’m almost out, tho! I had two cups Sunday. Forgot to log! Upping rating…see other notes…

Backlogging a few cups from the weekend…YUM-Super-YUM! See previous notes!

Backlogging…LOVE>>>>

http://sororiteasisters.com/2010/12/14/holiday-delight-from-souvia/
Full Review!

Increasing rating!!! YUM! LOVE the orange and the spice is nice, too! This is great hot or cold. I picked up on the apple more today, too! Woot!

YUP! MUCH Better when using less! A little loose leaf goes a long way with this one!!!! :) See my previous note…

Orange Spice! But TRUE Orange Spice! There is a little bit of the juicy from the orange but it’s more orange zest than juice if you know what I mean! I usually like my teas STRONG so I tend to add more loose leaf to my infusion right off the bat. And that’s what I did with this but I think I am going to try it again with the normal amount because it is VERY VERY strong and I am thinking it will be JUST RIGHT for me with the normal amount instead of the up to double amount I usually use. The peppercorns really come thru on this. It smells awesome and it very potent in both aroma and taste!

cannot express how much I LOVE this…it’s the best pina colada flavored tea I have ever had so far! See previous notes…

I have been CRAVING Indian Food BIG TIME and I am finally having some today! YUM!!!!! (Mattar Paneer – vegetarian, of course!) I decided to have a cup of this with the lunch! WOWZA! I have missed this little gem!

Apparently It’s OLDIE BUT GOODIE DAY for me and tea today! LOL

WOW! This is great!!!

The sweet and juicy green tea and the super juicy pineapple are in the forefront and the coconut has a great deal of flavor too!

I had a cup hot and a cup cold and LOVE both! If you like flavored greens and like pineapple you must try this!!!! YUM!!!!!!!

Upping the rating a little…a nice go to tea – yummy

The Vanilla really is the key for me here! NOM. Check out my other notes on this…

Strong this morning! The Vanilla is KEY. Ahhhhhh! Wake Up Folks!!!

A mild Earl Grey Flavor with vanilla and an almost pine-like after taste. I can taste all of the ingredients and they are pretty good!

I bought this tisane for my wife but I thought I’d do some quality control before I gave it to her.

As the name indicates, this is full of the best the islands have to offer- ripe, juicy tropical fruits and fragrant, exotic blossoms.

I can’t sufficiently describe the appearance of this so I have to let a picture be my 1000 words. This is simply a work of art. http://twitpic.com/29b5mc

The fragrance is incredible. You’re first hit with lemon and banana then the rest of the tropicals (pineapple and papaya) work their way up. At the bottom, you can just make out the hibiscus, chamomile and rose. Towards the end of the cup, I thought of bubble gum.

Initially, the lemongrass seemed to overpower everything else in flavor. Let the cup cool a bit before you dive in (and you may literally want to dive into this cup) and all the fruit flavors start to mingle together. You’ll picture yourself in one of the small Hawaiian roadside markets sampling the produce while surrounded by native blossoms.

This is another winner from Souvia. I know my wife is going to love this- almost as much as she loves the massage by the same name.

I have to admit that I only had a small sample of this tea, but it was so good I wanted to make sure I at least recorded my initial impression.

Pear is one of those delicate flavors that’s really difficult to get into a tea without resorting to artificial flavors. This green tea does an excellent job of highlighting the flavor.

The tea itself is (for lack of a more masculine way to describe it) pretty. It’s a vibrant green with flecks of yellow and gold and contains small nuggets that look like gemstones. These are the candied pear bits.

Prepared, this is a smooth green but maintains some of its pleasant grassiness. You can taste the pear and it’s a clean, crisp version. It’s not artificial or overly pronounced.

When I first read the description of this tisane, I thought ICED!

I went to Souvia and the two very friendly and helpful ladies working there were patient enough to brew up a batch and ice it down for me to try before I purchased a bag. It was everything I expected and more.

This tisane was visually appealing. It was vibrant, full of color and had readily recognizable ingredients. The fragrance is of a chai with faint hints of lemon and an underlying mellowness most likely from the apple and chicory.

This is such a complex mixture that it will probably taste a little different every time I make a cup. In the iced preparation, the spices pop to the top and are really refreshing. The apple and chamomile cool down and take the edge off the “hotter” components. The cardamom provides a bit of mouth-tingle and makes you feel clean and fresh. The tea finishes off on subtle notes of lemongrass and berry.

What is truly remarkable is that if you concentrate, you can mentally pick this apart into the most subtle notes of black pepper and even the rose hip. This blend obviously had a lot of time put into its design and it shows the craftsmanship behind its maker.

I’m looking forward visiting Souvia regularly!