Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Our goal with this blend was to create something that was distinctly Minnesotan with additions like Minnesota Wild Rice and north woods juniper berries, while still feeling decadent and rich for a tea lover like Lady Gaga. Vanilla bean and generous saffron make the brew rich, full and sweet without overwhelming and heavy-handed cloying artificial sweeteners.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I saw that this was a limited-edition blend created to honor Lady Gaga’s visit to Minnesota, I knew I had to try the tea. Not because it’s a tea created for Lady Gaga, but, because it is a limited-edition tea! I am a sucker for limited-edition because … well, they’re limited. I like to know what I might possibly be missing out on, you know?
And I’m glad that I decided to buy a sampler package of this tea! It’s lovely!
Reading the ingredients list, one might think that this is a wild twist on the classic Genmaicha … and yeah … there are some similarities, but this is WAY more than just your average Genmaicha!
It’s a delightfully aromatic and sweet cup with notes of vanilla. I am also picking up on a gentle, warm ‘pine-like’ resinous flavor from the juniper berry. The rice gives it a smooth, nutty flavor. I don’t taste a heavy ‘vegetal’ flavor with this tea although I do taste notes of edamame. I’m getting that an umami sort of taste here that I attribute to the green tea.
At the start, I don’t taste a lot of saffron flavor, but I can definitely smell the saffron when I lift the cup to take a sip. It’s beautifully fragrant! As I continue to sip, I can taste the saffron notes beginning to develop, although I must admit that saffron is not a spice I have a lot of familiarity with (it’s a seriously expensive spice!) but I do taste subtle hints of it here.
I taste the rice and the vanilla most prominently and these two together give the cup an almost “rice pudding-ish” sort of flavor. By the time I reach mid-cup, I can pick up on more of the green tea flavors – it tastes sweet and savory and lush without tasting overly “leafy” or “green” or “vegetative.” The nutty notes of the rice intensify by the time I’ve reached the bottom of the cup.
I find myself in agreement with the last sentence of the above description … the vanilla and saffron make this a rich, full, and sweet without needing to add sweetener and yet the sweetness is not an overpoweringly, cloyingly sweet taste, so I would recommend adding sweetener very cautiously and only after you’ve tasted it first, you may find that you don’t need it at all!
This is also a tea that offers multiple infusions. I steeped the leaves three times and got a really pleasing flavor each time I steeped it. The second infusion was a little less “creamy” and “full” than the first cup, but it was still very satisfying and deliciously rich. These later infusions offered more nutty flavors and a little more green tea taste than the first did, and I think these flavors are worth exploring!
A really good blend. I recommend getting some of this while the getting is good because the website says that the quantities are low!
French Vanilla Bean Black Tea from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
Whether you fancy hot or cold with a spoonful of honey or rock sugar, this French Vanilla Bean creamy tea is great either way. This tea offers an impeccably smooth blend of organic black loose-leaf tea and sweet vanilla bean flavor.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I was excited to try this French Vanilla Bean Black Tea from The Persimmon Tree. I really love vanilla teas – the sweet, creamy notes of the vanilla meld beautifully with the camellia sinensis, and I find this to be particularly true with a black tea such as this one.
The black tea base is a robust and full-flavored black tea. It has some malty notes and a rich, earthy taste. The natural, caramel-y sweetness of the black tea together with the creamy sweetness of the vanilla is really yummy. It’s a very luxurious and cozy kind of flavor.
The tea has some dry, tingly astringency. I’d classify it as a medium astringency.
There are some almond slivers and coconut shreds in the blend, and I’m not sure if these ingredients are present to offer more visual interest to the dry leaf or if they’re there to provide additional flavor to the cup, but, I really don’t taste a lot of almond or coconut in this blend. If I slurp the cup to aerate it, I find that these flavors reveal themselves slightly, but neither the almond nor the coconut are really profound flavors to this blend.
And really, with a name like French Vanilla Bean – one really shouldn’t expect anything but a really rich vanilla flavor with a strong, flavorful black tea base, and that’s exactly what this tea delivers.
I’ve brewed this tea twice now, the first time I brewed it, I think I may have either added too much leaf ~or~ I steeped it a tad too long, because I found that it was not only astringent but a wee bit bitter. The second time I brewed it, I was careful to steep it for only 2 1/2 minutes and keep the leaf at just 1 heaping teaspoon, and this second cup was much better. Some teas are a little more persnickety than others, and this is one of those teas that it’s important to pay attention to the details to get the most out of your cup. And once you taste this tea – brewed properly – you realize it’s really worth the little bit more effort.
It’s a good one!
Pumpkin Pie Crepe with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
So, I’m thinking that this tea, this Pumpkin Pie Crepe with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas has the longest name ever for a tea, right? If you know of a longer name … let me know!
I hot brewed this tea because I wanted to be sure to get all the flavor out of it that I could. I find that when I cold brew, the flavor is a little more subtle. Usually its still good, but for the strongest flavor, hot brew is the way to go. At least that’s what I’ve found with the Southern Boy Teas line of iced teas.
I don’t know if what I’m tasting is a pumpkin pie crepe that has been topped with vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Then again, I haven’t ever had a pumpkin pie crepe that has been topped with vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. I would definitely order said crepe if I ever saw it on a menu though.
What I am tasting, though, is an interesting medley of flavors that is a little bit of pumpkin, a little bit of vanilla, subtle notes of spice, hints of chocolate and notes of black tea in the background. It’s TASTY. I like all these flavors that I’m tasting in this glass of iced refreshment. It’s certainly an interesting combination of flavors, that’s for sure.
By the way, 52Teas/Southern Boy Teas has another Kickstarter campaign going on, this time to bring iced green tea (as well as white and honeybush iced teas) to the SBT line, as well as enable the company to become organically certified (they’ve been using organic products, but, its costly to become certified organic!) plus help to get Southern Boy Teas out to more customers. Check it out, and please consider contributing to helping this small business.
Vanilla Bean Honeybush from California Tea House
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: California Tea House
Tisane Description:
Honeybush is made from the Cyclopia sessiliflora plant from the mountains of the South African Cape. It is very similar to Rooibos in taste and health aspects, yet it is naturally a little more sweet. We took the highest grade Honeybush and blended in vanilla bean pieces and marigold petals to create our naturally caffeine-free Vanilla Bean Honeybush.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I had my doubts, but this Vanilla Bean Honeybush from California Tea House is really tasty. It is sweet and it is loaded with real vanilla flavor. I love that the vanilla notes here don’t taste artificial. This tastes like true vanilla. It’s sweet and creamy deliciousness!
The vanilla is the strongest flavor that I’m tasting here. And like I just said, it’s deliciously sweet and creamy. But the honeybush can be tasted too, and it adds a hint of honey and a nutty tone to the background.
I love the simplicity of this blend – it’s just vanilla and honeybush (plus a little bit of marigold petals to add some pretty color to the blend.) But it’s also a really smart pairing, because honeybush – as well as it’s South African cousin, Rooibos – tend to produce a somewhat thin textured liquid, but with the creaminess of the vanilla … it doesn’t feel thin. This feels pleasantly soft and smooth to the palate.
To get the most out of this tisane, I recommend steeping it at a just below boiling point (195°F) for 10 minutes. I go with the slightly lower temperature because this helps to avoid the sour wood taste that sometimes accompanies rooibos and honeybush … while still achieving the maximum amount of flavor out of a honeybush (or rooibos) blend.
Vanilla fans … this is your answer for those late at night cravings! This will satisfy those sweet tooth cravings without any caffeine!
Organic Vanilla Bean Black Tea from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description
This organic, Fair Trade Certified tea offers a delicious synergy between excellent North Indian tea and rich, creamy vanilla. Organic vanilla beans were added in the Fall of 2008 to make this blend even more decadent than before! Excellent with milk, this tea is great for dessert. We recommend adding a bit of sugar or honey to satisfy a sweet tooth. This Vanilla Black Tea, as with all of our flavored blends, uses only the highest quality teas, essential oils and botanical ingredients, insuring an excellent cup every time!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Even though I don’t usually get too excited over a vanilla tea, I do consider vanilla to be among my favorite tea flavorings. There’s just something so irresistible about a good cup of vanilla tea – so rich, smooth and creamy!
And this is a good vanilla tea! The black tea base is strong but not what I’d call aggressive. It is earthy and pleasant tasting, and there is a hint of bitterness toward mid-sip. This is not that “oh no, I oversteeped the tea” kind of bitterness, but instead, it is a savory note that offers a contrast to the sweetness from the organic vanilla bean.
And while this IS a rich and creamy vanilla tea, it isn’t quite as creamy as some other vanilla teas that I’ve tried. Don’t get me wrong, I love a smooth and creamy, decadent tasting vanilla tea, but sometimes, its nice to find one that is a bit more focused on the black tea than the vanilla, like this one is. I think that this would be the ideal vanilla tea for those who typically find vanilla teas to be too cloying, because this one isn’t too sweet or creamy or anything verging near “cloying” at all.
Barely a hint of astringency, I don’t know if that’s the work of the vanilla there, smoothing out the astringency of the tea … but I just know that I hardly notice astringency as I sip. Aftertaste is softly sweet.
A lovely cuppa.