Kimberley's Kyusu

Hey there Teacups! I hope you’re all doing okay so far this week. It’s been really grey and gloomy here the last few days with lots of rain so for today’s Stateside Steeps post I wanted to review something that reminded me of summer and warmer times. There’s just something about sunny days that just make much much happier, that’s not too say I don’t love autumn and winter but it’s hard to find happiness in grey and gloomy rain filled skies. When it’s sunny it’s almost like sky is happy and cheery which in turn definitely effects my overall mood.

So for today’s Stateside Steeps post I’m going to be reviewing The California Tea Houses – Lime In The Coconut blend. I just couldn’t help but read its name and smell the delicious combination of lime and coconut in its aroma and not think of sunnier and warmer times. Normally I would save this kind of review until it was actually summer but like I said I think I just needed a little bit of a pick up so even though we’re heading into Christmas i wanted to review this now. Mostly so I could use the sample bag I was sent to make a big pitcher or two of this iced to sip on while I was feeling a bit low.

Here’s what the team over at The California Tea House have to say about this blend over on their website: “You put the lime in the coconut and drink them both up.” If you don’t know it, look it up; especially the Muppets version on MP3.”

“This ‘Muppet’ inspired blend turned out to be a keeper! Lime in the Coconut green tea is a ridiculously tasty blend of superior Indian Assam and fine Chinese green teas tossed with shredded coconut, lime juice and sunflower petals. You’ll love this coconut tea so much you’ll scream, “Doctor!” Try it with a little sugar and becomes a desert tea.  Buy Lime In The Coconut loose leaf green tea with our 100% satisfaction guarantee.”

Tea Tasting Notes

For this tasting session I tried this a few different ways: on its own (hot), with just honey added (hot), on its own (iced) and then finally with a little bit of honey added (iced). Of them all I think my favourite ways to drink this are hot with honey added or iced with honey added. I was shocked to find I enjoyed this hot because I never normally enjoy fruity or blends with coconut in them hot as my taste buds just aren’t used to those flavours in any form other than iced. But, this blend was definitely the exception; the light, vegetal smooth and buttery green tea base paired brilliantly with the lime and the coconut.

Both the lime and the coconut however were much stronger in the aroma than they were in the flavour in the hot cup I had on its own which was a little bit disappointing but luckily the addition of just a little bit of honey seemed to amplify the lime especially. The coconut was a decent strength and added a nice creamy note to the cup but as someone who is crazy for coconut I personally would have liked that to be a little stronger but that’s completely down to my personal taste. There was a little bit of astringency to the cup I had of this on its own but again the addition of the honey helped to get rid of that. With the addition of the honey it definitely felt much more like a dessert blend as well.

The cup of this I had iced on its own was very similar to the hot cup I had on its own, only the vegetal notes were a little bit stronger and luckily the coconut was also a little bit stronger which I enjoyed thoroughly. The lime element didn’t really change in terms of strength but again was amplified with the addition of just a little bit of honey. If I had to pick between the hot sweetened cup and the iced for me it would have to be the iced one because for me this is just one of those blends that was meant to be enjoyed iced.

Both iced and hot (sweetened) this blends overall flavour profile really reminded me of the way that key lime pie tastes which in turn definitely reminds me of Florida. So not only did this blend do a great job in terms of taking me back to summer and lifting my overall mood, it also managed to take me back to being in Florida in 2017 which definitely made me smile and only upped my excitement to visit again *hopefully* during 2021. This if definitely a blend I would go back to re purchase in the future mostly because I know it will be a great refreshing treat during the warmer months and I also want to experiment a little more with it and include it in some recipes. This is the first blend I’ve tried from California Tea House and made such a great first impression overall and really set the bar high for all other teas I may end up trying from them in the future.

Overall Teacup Rating: 4.8/5

If you want to find out more about The California Tea House and purchase some of this blend to try for yourself, you can do both here. As always if you have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll do my best to answer them all as soon as I can.

Speak to you again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley

*the tea featured in this post was gifted to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and have not been paid for.*