Last Red Rose Review! Naturally Decaffeinated

Oh noz!   My final Red Rose K-cup review!   For those of you who are late to the game, Red Rose gave me three different types of K-cups to review – English Breakfast, Original, and now, Naturally Decaffeinated.

For those of you who don’t know, decaffeinated tea STILL CONTAINS CAFFEINE.   It is in trace amounts, but it is still present, so please tread lightly if you have any allergies to caffeine.   Tea labeled as decaffeinated must have less than 2.5% of the original caffeine level.

Red Rose uses a process to decaffeinate their tea called the ethyl acetate, or EA, process, which is also the most widely used method in the US.   Basically, this means that the chemical ethyl acetate, which is found naturally in tea, is used as a solvent to extract the caffeine.

Now, the most important question – how is the tea?

Red Rose Naturally Decaffeinated Tea

The first thing that I noticed about the tea was that it was lighter in appearance than the others.   While this normally is not a bad thing, it did sadly translate over into taste a bit.   I only tasted a hint of the tea and have not been able to figure out why.   I did find that the ethyl acetate is very difficult to remove and can leave a chemical taste to the tea sometimes.   However, thankfully, this was not the case.   The tea was just a bit weak for my taste.   It smells strong, and I brewed it in the Keurig as I did the other teas, but for some reason, this one is just not working for me.

So, in short, while I do love Red Rose tea, I am not sure if I will be running off to purchase more K-cups.   I might get the Original since that tasted like normal Red Rose tea, but the English Breakfast tasted just like the Original, so I’m not sure if that is worth it.

So Red Rose, I do thank you, and I will keep buying your tea bags, but your K-cups are not my cup of tea.

Tea Review – Red Rose English Breakfast Tea

Hi all!

So, life has been busy, busy, busy!   First off, GREAT news regarding my recent health issues.   I finally got everything resolved.   Cysts have disappeared, kidney is non-existent but not a bad thing, and my low iron has been resolved.   Even better?   Ever since taking my iron pills, I have had more energy, I feel less depressed, and I have even started going to the gym again, this time with my mommy in tow and soon, my boyfriend will be joining on Saturday!

Very excited about all of that 🙂

I also got word that I will be doing another Tea Love talk!   This one will be in February, details to follow.

Now, as some of you might already know, I received a package from Red Rose Tea again, this time asking to review their Keurig cups.   Though I must admit, I am not the biggest fan of K-cups, I decided to give it a whirl.   Last time, I reviewed the original K-cup.   Now, I moved on to…

English Breakfast From Red Rose Tea!

English Breakfast!

So, I brewed it and, as you can see here, it has its signature red flavor to the tea, almost like burnt cinnamon.   Truly, if I could, I would put some of this tea in resin and wear that as a necklace or ring, it looks so pretty.

Unfortunately though, in terms of taste and scent, it doesn’t quite meet standards.   I do not taste any outstanding flavors to it, nor do I smell any.   To smell anything, I have to quite literally stick my nose deep into my cup and even then, I get a slight smell of black tea.   As for taste, it is a good black tea, mind you, but I would not want to use it to wash down a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage.   It is more mild, better for some light sandwiches.

I know that my aunt likes to dress up her Red Rose Tea with a little bit of orange juice, so I might give that a shot, but this is more of just a pleasant tea, nothing too outstanding about it.

Sorry, Red Rose!   I do like your products, but this one, I would recommend an improvement on.

Next week, I will review the final one, the naturally decaffeinated tea.

 

First Round Of Red Rose Tea – Original K-Cup

Hi all!

So, for the first K-cup from Red Rose Tea, I decided to go with the original.   After all, can’t beat starting out with what seems to have been working!   So I ran upstairs in my office to our Keurig machine and brewed myself a cuppa in my cute puppy mug (because who doesn’t love puppies?).   The result?

A Cuppa, Cuppa, Cuppa Red Red Rose 🙂

A dark, rich color with hints of red undertones.   Not quite as dark as coffee, but not a light tea either.   The scent was a little weaker than what I am used to from Red Rose Tea, but the taste was still good.   Again, it was a little weaker than when I brew the bags myself.   That being said, I also tend to leave the tea bags in my mug while I drink, so that it something to consider when you brew this.

So, if you like a mellow tea, this might be the way to go for you.   I like mine a bit bolder (I blame the fact that I naturally have trouble breathing through my nose which then affects my taste glands, or it could be just that I like strong-tasting things), but I can see the benefits of having the tea in a flash like a K-cup Red Rose Tea can offer.

I know that my aunt has offered in the past that she adds a little orange juice to her tea, which helps to bring out some of the more acidic flavors to it.   While I don’t have any directly on hand, that might be a good solution to help bring out the strength of this tea while also keeping the brewing in a short time span.

Well, next week?   I’ll be reviewing English Breakfast 🙂

Mystery Package – Revealed!

Hi all!

So, in case you didn’t read last week’s blog post, I did have a bit of a health scare which is getting better.   I am not completely out of the woods yet, but it looks like kidney cancer is very low on the possibility list.   I might either just have some other issue, or I might only have one kidney (kinda cool!).   I will keep everyone posted.   In the meantime, prayers, well wishes, what have you, are all welcomed.

Now, onto tea…

I got a wonderful little Christmas gift in the mail the other day!   Not one, not two, but THREE Keurig cup packages from Red Rose Tea!

Yay! Lots Of Tea!

That’s right – Red Rose Tea contacted Tea Love again for another round of reviews, and this time, they are having me test out their new Keurig cups.   Admittedly, one thing I love about Red Rose Tea is the little figurines they include with all their teas.   Sadly, the K-cups do not come with the nautical theme that they have this year, but I did manage to score a cute little scuba diver head the last time I did a review for them.

As you know, I am not entirely sold on K-cups.   The Keurig delivers a flash brew from a bunch of tea dustings.   While it’s good for what it is, I can’t say I am wild, over-the-top, crazy about them.   However, when I am looking for something faster than even a tea bag, I know I can also grab a K-cup.

Now, to dissect these little guys.   Each one has a tin foil lid, just like most K-cups.   Let’s take a peek inside:

 

Never Too Thrilled With Tea Dustings…

As I thought, the tea is a bit of a powder.   This will help promote quick brewing, but does lack the quality of a loose leaf tea.   However, when you are on the go, this is pretty helpful.

As established in my blog Undressing The K-Cup, I explored how a Keurig brews the tea.   There’s no temperature control, so everything brews at 192 degrees, which is a bit colder than the 200 degrees needed for black teas, but should do here because the tea is a powder.

Now, what about the taste?   Find out next week how it is, how it looks, and if you should go running to your grocery stores!

 

Coffee And Tea Festival – New York City, Baby!

Next Saturday to Sunday, March 22nd – 23rd, the 9th annual Coffee and Tea Festival will take place in New York!   This event will be held at the 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue (between 25th – 26th).   VIP Hour is held Saturday, March 22nd, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.   The general public can then join in on the fun Saturday, March 22nd, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Sunday, March 23rd, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM.   While Saturday is currently sold out, Sunday still has a few tickets left!

What is the Coffee and Tea Festival, you might ask?   Over 60 vendors from around the world selling tea in one spot, hosting tastings, and giving away gift bags!   What more can you ask for?   Not only that, there will be special foods that are meant to complement all the teas that you are tasting, adding an extra delight to the show.

Who will be at the show?   Well, a small sampling of the tea vendors include DavidsTea, serendipiTea, Harney and Sons (a favorite and a company that I had tried to work for but sadly, without luck), Damn Fine Tea, Salada (anyone remember that tea contest that Tea Love had a while back?), and many others!

As everyone who knows me knows, I am obsessed with philanthropy, charity, and giving back.   The Coffee and Tea Festival is no exception.   This year, the Coffee and Tea Festival has partnered with Cup for Education.   According to the Coffee and Tea Festival website, “Cup for Education is a non-profit organization that is helping poor, rural coffee communities of Central and Latin America build schools within their communities, and assist in providing them with teachers and the basic tools needed to educate future generations of coffee farmers. Cup for Education has bettered the education of children in over eight countries through the implementation of schools, computer labs, libraries, playgrounds, and more.”   The organization will have a booth at the festival.

A traveling tea exhibit will be present where artist Michele Brody collected tea-stained bags, asking drinkers to write their thoughts and general reflections on the tea, dubbing the exhibit “Reflections in Tea“.   Brody will be present to sip some tea with you.

Finally, the events!   Multiple events pertaining to tea and coffee will occur throughout the day.   Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn a little more about Taiwanese tea.   Or perhaps the robust black tea that, per this workshop, conquered the world!    Maybe you want to sample some tea with a cocktail, chocolate, or cheese.   Not to fret; there is a workshop for you.

The event is sponsored by:

– Salada and Red Rose

– Ito En

– Capital Teas

– The Disney film “Saving Mr. Banks”

– Roast Magazine

– Fresh Cup Magazine

– Tea Time Magazine

– The Tea House Times

– The Village Voice

Got some free time?   Get on over there for the experience of a lifetime!   The next festival will be November 8th and 9th in Philadelphia.

Another Tea Love Review! Red Rose Tea

Tea Love is hosting a contest!

If you follow my Facebook page, then you saw that I posted a picture of a mysterious package.   Wanna know what was inside?

A Fun Package Of TEA!

Tea Love will be giving away some of this lovely tea, courtesy of Red Rose and Salada Tea!   You might remember my blog post on Red Rose Tea from January 27th this year.   Well, now Tea Love will be giving away a collection of tea to one lucky winner!   All you need to do is send an email to CAFelegi@aol.com with your name, your address, and your best tea story (500 words maximum), anything you want as long as you write about tea.   The winner will have their story posted on my blog on Sunday, July 14th and will have this shipped to them:

If You Win The Contest, You Will Receive These Lovely Teas

The package will include 1 (one) box each of Salada Raspberry Green Tea Iced Tea, Salada Peach Nectarine Green Tea Iced Tea, Salada Berry Patch Black Tea Iced Tea, and Red Rose Original Tea.   Winners must be located within the U.S. to receive this prize.   Sorry, all international readers!   The blog post with the winner will hold the first name and first initial of the last name only.   Tea Love will not use any information provided outside of the contest.   No purchase necessary.

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My last post before the winner of the contest is announced!!!!   Make sure you submit your work to me at CAFelegi@aol.com!

The final tea is a nice hot cup of Red Rose Tea 🙂

One cute thing about Red Rose Tea is how with every box, there comes a ceramic prize.   I got the nautical theme, which had a diver’s helmet within:

Diver’s Helmet From My Red Rose Tea

Not going to lie, that was most definitely an adorable perk.   After all, who doesn’t like a little free gift in their box of tea?

The tea box that I received had tea packaged in tea bags, 100 total.   That’s going to be a lot of cups!   The brew is an amber color, a typical black tea.   The smell is not strong either, which is nice.   Sometimes, you’ll get an overbearingly strong tea and that turns off the entire experience.

When I took a sip, I was surprised that this was more of a dry tea.   So, don’t expect to have a wet whistle after taking a few sips.   However, again, keep in mind that does not necessarily mean that it is unpleasant.   It’s like drinking a dry wine.

The taste has a sweet aftertaste, which, with my latest sweet tooth craving, is PERFECT!   It has the bitterness of the black tea with the aftertaste of a fruity herbal.

Overall, I will definitely be brewing a lot more cups of this tea!

Another Tea Review – Salada Peach Nectarine Green Tea Iced Tea

Tea Love is hosting a contest!

If you follow my Facebook page, then you saw that I posted a picture of a mysterious package.   Wanna know what was inside?

A Fun Package Of TEA!

Tea Love will be giving away some of this lovely tea, courtesy of Red Rose and Salada Tea!   You might remember my blog post on Red Rose Tea from January 27th this year.   Well, now Tea Love will be giving away a collection of tea to one lucky winner!   All you need to do is send an email to CAFelegi@aol.com with your name, your address, and your best tea story (500 words maximum), anything you want as long as you write about tea.   The winner will have their story posted on my blog on Sunday, July 14th and will have this shipped to them:

If You Win The Contest, You Will Receive These Lovely Teas

The package will include 1 (one) box each of Salada Raspberry Green Tea Iced Tea, Salada Peach Nectarine Green Tea Iced Tea, Salada Berry Patch Black Tea Iced Tea, and Red Rose Original Tea.   Winners must be located within the U.s. to receive this prize.   Sorry, all international readers!   The blog post with the winner will hold the first name and first initial of the last name only.   Tea Love will not use any information provided outside of the contest.   No purchase necessary.

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For the rest of June up until July 7th, I will be reviewing these amazing tea packages for you and telling you how wonderfully fantastic they are!   Our second tea?   We’ll discuss the Salada Peach Nectarine Green Tea Iced Tea.

Salada Peach Nectarine Green Tea Iced Tea

I am sipping on a cup right now and it’s interesting.   It’s slightly lighter in color compared to the Raspberry Green Tea that I reviewed last week, almost like a copper color.   What impressed me was that, almost immediately after pouring the brew into my glass, I smelled the peaches and nectarines.   Sounds like it’s too much?   Nope!   The strong smell of the tea is surprising but not bad!

The taste is nothing like I expected, either.   There is only a twinge of green tea taste in the drink, more so the peaches and the nectarines.   I feel that this is more like I am drinking an herbal tea rather than a green tea.   This one will do a good job keeping you awake like a caffeinated drink, but will keep you relaxed like an herbal.

Do not add sugar to this one.   Even if you have a strong sweet tooth (which I do), you will not need it.   So now, with the temperatures starting to soar, kick back, relax, and sip on a glass of Salada Peach Nectarine Green Tea Iced Tea.

A Unique Tea Gift

Those who read my Facebook have read my latest post regarding my friend Jon, who received a sea horse figurine when buying Red Rose Tea.   Though he was admittedly confused by the gift, he took it with gratitude and made sure to forward me a picture of this cute little surprise:

Jon’s Sea Horse, Regally Sitting On His Desk

While, of course, most people don’t like looking a gifted horse in the mouth, I don’t mind looking a gifted sea horse in the mouth.   Why did my good friend receive such an unusual, yet delightful gift?

Well, in order to do that, we have to look at the history of the Red Rose Tea brand.   Red Rose started in Canada in 1890, when founder Theodore Harding Estabrooks decided that the public deserved a cup of tea that was consistent cup-to-cup.   According to the Red Rose Web site, “Before that, tea was sold loose from tea chests by local merchants and quality varied a great deal.   Mr. Estabrooks’ innovation meant that tea lovers could count on the quality of tea in every Red Rose package — a tradition that continues to this day.”

Initially, his tea was sold in Canada but in the 1920s, his business expanded into the US and, in 1929, he made the monumental contribution to the tea world – tea bags.

Estabrooks sold his tea company in 1932 to Brooke Bond & Company of England.   Red Rose continued to grow at an astounding rate under the company’s guidance.   According to Red Rose, “In 1985, Unilever NV acquired Brooke Bond Foods, Inc. Shortly thereafter, Unilever sold the rights to the Red Rose brand in the United States to Redco Foods, Inc. retaining the rights in Canada and other parts of the world.”   In 1967, as part of a promotion, Red Rose started giving away Wade figurines, figurines that fit into the palm of your hand.   At first, they were only distributed in Quebec, Canada and were only meant to be a short-term promotion.

Little did Red Rose know that the promotion would be a huge success, eventually spreading across all of Canada.   In 1983, the figurines were offered in the United States as well.   Now, it is estimated that over 300 million figurines have been given out to date!

These figurines are given out in series and, at the end of each one, consumers can purchase the entire set via the Red Rose Web site.   Currently, they are in their nautical promotion series.

Per the Red Rose Web site, “Today, Red Rose is blended with the same care that Theodore Harding Estabrooks established more than a century ago. Red Rose contains high-grown black teas from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Kenya, India and Indonesia. The result is a blend that produces a full-flavored cup of tea for the tea lover. We think Mr. Estabrooks would be proud.”

Personally, I know I would love to open up my tea box full of fresh, delicious tea and find a tiny sea horse looking back up at me 🙂   Start a collection – buy tea!