Ginger Green Tea

Another fantastic Asian market find, this green tea has the added twist of ginger root to add a slightly spicy kick.

Home remedy central?

We purchased a box of 50 sachets of Ginger Green tea with the hopes it would alleviate stomach pain. 

A single sachet

A slightly over-steeped cup

 After a bit of fail, I finally succeeded in creating a delicious tea with a 5 minute steep time. With a full five minutes, you get a big gingery flavor without the bitterness. Unfortunately on second or third steeps of the same bag, the ginger seems to be mostly lost.

We did notice that there is a big difference in ginger-to-green-tea ratio (ie strength of ginger flavor) from sachet to sachet. So luck of the draw, maybe?

China Green Tea

Everyone touts the health benefits of antioxidant-rich green tea, so let's give it a try.
We purchased this big box of 100 sachets of Chinese green tea at our local Asian market.

Check out that rockin' gradient box!

After a bit of trial-and-error (as well as following the helpful hints on the box), we've determined a 3-5 minute steep time is best for this tea. Too long and you get a bitter tea. Too short and you get a cup of hot water. This tea is a mild, soft green tea that goes down easy.

Can you tell which is the 2nd brew?

 Once again, we have discovered a tea that is a great candidate for a second steeping. In the above photo, the tea on the right is the second steeped cup. Could you tell? Perhaps a little less golden in hue, however, the taste is comparable if a bit less perfume-like in fragrance and a bit less strong in taste.

Iron Buddha Tea

100 sachet box

We purchased a big box of Iron Buddha from our local Asian grocery store. Pretty brave of us to go for a big box when we've never tried it before, huh?

Single packet

Open packet

Be wary when buying cheap tea that the packet hasn't opened up - if it has, your tea will be full of leaves - bleh!

30 second brew time difference!

Iron Buddha tea is a type of Oolong tea. We experimented with a few steep times and found that 6 minutes was the sweet spot for the first brew. The awesome thing about Oolong tea is that the second brew is more flavorful than the first. For the second brew, give it about the same amount of time, but check on it periodically until it turns a light brown color (left cup in above image). You will notice that the second brew is in a league of its own. Give it a try!

Synergy Kombucha Tea: Gingerberry Flavor

Sleek Synergy Kombucha bottle

We were excited about opening this kombucha tea the second we got home, but upon further research, we discovered that it is recommended one drinks kombucha first thing in the morning.

The next morning, we cracked it open. It is recommended you start out drinking kombucha with a small serving and work your way up to a decent serving size. We started with 1/4 cup, but if you have a delicate constitution, you may wish to reduce the serving size further on your first dose.

The kombucha was a sweet, crisp almost soda-like drink (without the sugary blast) with a very pleasant taste. We recommend you savor the serving, however small it may be, in order to prevent digestive distress.

We have since seen sales on this brand of Kombucha tea at Whole Foods, Publix and Target, so you may be able to find it at a discount for your first taste. If you get a taste for kombucha and want to make it a part of your daily routine, you should consider making your own at home, as the bottles can run from $2.50 - $3.50 for a 2 cup bottle (as we have seen in our area).