Tea Forte recently launched its line of Skin-Smart Teas, which are blended to help the body protect and take care of skin from within. The descriptions of the line are full of health benefits: detoxifying polyphenols, plant-based antioxidants, and other anti-aging benefits. They were kind enough to send me a sample, so I thought I’d share my thoughts.
While there’s a lot of literature out there about health benefits associated with tea, I’m not much of an expert on these things. Instead, I’ll focus my review on the actual taste of the teas included in the line.
The Skin-Smart Teas
Cherry Marzipan
Special reserve green tea with the tart-sweet lushness of acerola cherries and the depth of nutty toasted almond
My impression: After a childhood of cherry cough syrup and cough drops, it’s a high bar to get any cherry-flavored drink right. Tea Forte comes close, with a sweet and lightly-scented cherry tea. The nutty almond taste rounds it out.
Cucumber Mint
Special reserve green tea with invigorating cool notes of cucumber fruit and fresh mint, with the taste of sweet, succulent blueberries.
My impression: Refreshing, minty, and slightly herbal. I expected from the description that it would be light and crisp like cucumber and mint infused water, but instead it’s a mellow, medium-bodied mint tea.
Honey Yuzu
Special reserve green tea with bright exotic citron flavor of yuzu sweetened with full blossom bee pollen.
My impression: Sweet, slightly tart with bright notes of citrus. In case you weren’t aware (I wasn’t), a yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit with a taste that resembles a mashup between grapefruit and orange.
Lychee Coconut
Rare white tea with the exotic tropical notes of sweet lychee and the intoxicating fragrance of fresh cut almond.
My impression: Very sweet and fruity, coconut and lychee make a very complementary and well-blended pairing. Coconut is the dominant flavoring; try this if you’re a fan. This would be great as an iced tea.
Swiss Apple
Naturally caffeine-free rooibos tea with the taste of fresh crisp apples, the euphoric flavor of delicious, deep dark Alpine chocolate, and a tingle of cinnamon.
My impression: This tastes just like a holiday spiced, mulled cider, with all the health benefits! It’s not over-sweet, but refreshing and festive, perfect for a cold day.
Overall Impression
Tea Forte has done a nice job of assembling an approachable and well-put-together line of teas. Despite being very, very partial toward full-leaf and traditional teas, trying out this set was a nicely curated excursion into world of flavored and herbal teas which are particularly popular in the US. There’s a tremendous amount of variety, so I imagine that if you tried these teas, you’re likely to find something delicious. My favorite of the bunch is Swiss Apple, followed by the Cucumber Mint (edged out because it’s less differentiated against other peppermint teas). My least favorite is the Cherry Marzipan, for the cough syrup associations mentioned above. I’d definitely recommend giving this a whirl, and it’s also nice to note that all of the teas are organic and fair trade certified.
Note: Image credit to Tea Forte
