TeaVivre Review and Giveaway

 

I rarely do product reviews, but every now and then, an opportunity presents itself that I just can't refuse.  That's what happened when TeaVivre contacted me to review some of their teas.

You see, TeaVivre is a Chinese tea company who has a goal to bring Chinese tea to every corner in the world.    And I'm a big fan of Chinese tea.  It's partially a sense-memory thing.  Thatdad used to travel to China a couple times each year and he would always bring home tea for us.  It was my first experience with real "tea" - not that bagged stuff you find in the supermarket, but actual leaves and blooms.  Some of the teas would actually bloom in the teapot, revealing a beautiful flower.  And the taste was like nothing I'd had before.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the fun fruity flavors like apple cinnamon and orange ginger, but they all do taste a little, produced.  Real Chinese teas taste fresh and floral.  It's like comparing homemade pasta to storebought.  Storebought will do, but nothing compares to fresh.

With this in mind, I was glad to accept some samples from TeaVivre.  I got really excited when my vacuum sealed bag filled to the brim with samples arrived!

They had send me 4 of each of the following teas: 

Organic Hangzhou Tian Mu Qing Ding Green Tea

Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

Premium Keemun Hao Ya Black Tea

Organic Silver Needle White Tea (Bai Hao Yin Zhen) 

Taiwan Dong Ding (Tung Ting) Oolong Tea

I loved that each serving was packed in a little contained, so I didn't have to worry about measuring, or making a mess with loose tea leaves.

Both green teas were so very fresh.  It sounds silly to say that they're "green" tasting, but they are.  For me, green teas are also some of the most floral tasting, so that adds to the green for me.  They're also very light.  It's hard to find a bad green tea.

The black tea is a richer tea, darker and more like what many of us are used to in English teas like English breakfast and Earl Grey.  For me, this is a weekend tea, because it's a little more complex than the greens.

I think this was my first experience with a white tea, and this was a great introduction.  It falls somewhere between the green and the black teas.  It's still light and floral, which made it especially nice for the summer.

The oolong was my favorite.  I don't put sugar in my teas, preferring to enjoy their flavors without the added sweetness that often overtakes delicate teas.  But the oolong was naturally sweet.  Fruity instead of flowery, with notes that changed during the time it was in your mouth.

And the good people of TeaVivre have agreed to give one of you lucky readers the same package of teas they sent to me!  I'll make this really easy for you - the giveaway will run for the next week, and all you have to do is leave a comment with your favorite tea.  I can't wait to share with you some of my new favorites and explore some of yours!


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