Cinnamon comes in two common forms when it comes to tea. There’s the natural, cinnamon-stick flavor, which is warm and spicy, and slightly floral, evoking the smell of baked-goods and breakfast.
And then there’s the cinnamon candy flavor, which is hot, hot, hot like flaming Fireball candies or like red cinnamon chewing gum. I like both kinds of cinnamon, natural and artificial, but I always find it helpful to know which kind of cinnamon I’m getting into before I take a sip.
Expecting one and tasting the other is not always a pleasant experience.
Let it be known: Hot Mama from Tea and Tins tastes like blazing cinnamon candy! Even double-sealed behind zip bags, I can smell the cinnamon in this tea buzzing into my nose when I walk by my tea shelf.
In the dry leaf or brewed, this tea tastes like Hot Tamale candies, warm in temperature and in sensation. As a fan of Hot Tamale and Fireball candies, I enjoy the saturated, artificial cinnamon taste of this tea and it feels marvelous down my dry throat on a cold winter day.
This is a perfect tea when you need something fierce and fiery. The cinnamon in this blend goes beyond the usual kick of chai spices. It’s so hot, it might rival some of the teas out there seasoned with hot chili spices.
Ay caramba!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea & Tins
Description:
Loose leaf black tea, super hot and spicy! For cinnamon lovers!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Strawberry Genmaicha Green from ESP Emporium
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: ESP Emporium
Tea Description:
Here, we have two green teas, which were combined to an exceptional premium tea blend. The characteristic of Japanese Genmaicha is supported wonderfully by our smooth green tea. This creation is perfected by the added strawberry pieces and a finely balanced flavor composition.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Since I’ve tried a few ‘unconventional’ Genmaicha blends lately I wanted to do something different with this one, which is why I cold brewed it. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever done that before with a Genmaicha blend; I can’t easily bring an example to mind.
I have to admit it was a little weird tasting a cold brewed Genmaicha; the green tea wasn’t anything exceptional nor was it disappointing but the strong, drawn out notes of roasted brown rice – which took on a near barley taste, were more intense than I would expect from Genmaicha. More like a good mugicha than anything else, to be honest.
The strawberry certainly is not the most vibrant strawberry flavour though. I wouldn’t even call it all that realistic to be honest; what it does taste like it strawberry candy. Some kind of cross between those fluffy strawberry marshmallow five cent candies you see in gas stations and a really nice strawberry gummy candy? I like the taste itself, but the pairing with the green tea/roasted notes doesn’t work for me.
So overall; I’d say there were definitely high and low points to this tea and if I revisit it I’ll definitely be trying an alternative prep method (perhaps something more traditional) than revisiting this one. It’s not worth a second taste.
Happiness Rooibos/Green Blend from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green/Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
Rose petals, marigold and small mallow decorate this green tea and green rooibos blend scented with energizing grapefruit and luscious white peach. One sip and you will find happiness.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
In Canada Lupicia teas are fairly hard to get a hold of without swapping with someone else, which is what I did in order to try this sample. I’ve only tried a handful of their teas, but generally speaking I’ve enjoyed most if not all of them. That said, I’ve read almost entirely negative, or at least relatively critical reviews about this particular blend so know I have some expectation bias prior to trying this blend. With the sample I have, I decided I’d cold brew this tea because I thought it would work well for the fruity aspects but also the dual bases used.
My first thought upon trying this was that it tastes very familiar. I realize I drink a lot of tea, and so it’s no uncommon for new teas to bear a resemblance to ones I’ve tried before but I’m talking serious Deja Vu with this tea; I was convinced I’d had the experience of drinking this one before even though I know I haven’t.
As for the actual flavour of the blend I do have to say the peach element comes through the clearest to me: I made a recent discovery regarding peach, actually. I’ve always thought of peach as a flavor that I could go either way with but someone at work recently pointed out to me that I’m actually very consistent with some peachy things and that’s either “Peaches & Cream” or “White Peach”, both of which I regularly like. So I did a little bit of research (I asked one of our produce clerks the difference between white and yellow peaches; that counts, right?) and it turns out the main difference is the acidity – yellow peaches have a much more noticeable acidity that only levels out as they ripen while white peaches are more delicate and naturally sweet, ripe or not. They’re also a little more floral. Makes sense to me.
So in addition to the clear and enjoyable flavour of white peaches, I tasted a few other fruits – however one fruit I didn’t observe was grapefruit which is actually the flavour that’s supposed to be present. Instead I tasted a more mellow strawberry flavour which was a great compliment to the peach notes. Chef Darcy, at work, tried a little of the cold brew and said he tastes peach and green melons and while I didn’t taste that melon flavour myself I can see where he was coming from: there was a sort of “bubblegum” sweetness, and as I’ve observed from honeydew teas sometimes the flavor of of those two things can be similar. As for the bases, visually I know there was more green tea in my sample but the taste of the green rooibos was a lot stronger in my opinion. I really like the green rooibos that Lupicia uses though – it’s one of my favourite of any company’s.
Overall, this was a really great experience – not just for the flavour, but for the little journey of self discovery that it took me on.
Rice Crispy Treat Black Tea from The East Indies Coffee and Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: East Indies Tea Company
Tea Description:
No one can resist the fluffy, gooey marshmallow taste of this fun blend!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The East Indies Tea and Coffee Company is probably the most old-school tea company I have ever dealt with. I have never even heard of them until Marzipan from Steepster offered a group buy of their teas. They so their teas to Della Terra, which is on hiatus until further notice. I am such a sucker for tea names, I figured, why the hell not?
The first tea to try out of the gate, this was also the first tea I pulled out of the box. This is such a fragrant tea! The dry leaf is just dripping with gooey marshmallow sweetness. There are pieces of rice crispies in the bag, lending to the malty smell, as well as some strange dust of pulverized cereal pieces. It’s probably one of the strongest smelling teas I have smelled. (probably to date, it’s quite the head rush!)
Upon steeping the tea, I do get a bit of a sour note from the base black tea. Nothing that makes me want to put down the cup though. I can see this tea being a treat iced, because of the robustness in the cup. The rice crispness of the tea is the show stopper here, the sweet marshmallow and the rice flour richness is quite strong, and I expected no less from this blend. I actually resteeped this too, with interesting results. The sweetness was almost all that was left, and there was little malty note from the tea base/rice crispies. A crazy decadent black tea, great for you dessert lovers out there!
Just Peachy Tisane from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
It took us years to find the perfect peach iced tea – but this sweet, summery blend is so peachy, it tastes like it’s fresh from the orchard. Now that we’ve finally mastered our favourite summer fruit, we just can’t get enough. And we keep discovering new, delicious ways to try it. It’s amazing mixed up with peach sliced and frozen into ice pops. Or served chilled with a splash of Prosecco. But the best way might just be straight up, with lots of ice and a touch of agave. However you enjoy it, this blend is a real peach.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is part one of a five part review of the DAVIDsTEA Summer Collection.
Just Peachy Tisane from DAVIDsTEA was around last year, but I didn’t get around to trying it because it just really didn’t interest me: I’m kid of fickle towards peach teas, and at that time I was especially wary of them. However, this year I’ve opened up quite a bit more to trying new things so I gave it a shot! It was popular enough to come back a second year so there’s got to be something good about it.
This review is for my tea soda preparation of the tisane; I did this at home using my standard tea soda method (Infuse the tisane into a simple syrup and then float the simple syrup in a can of club soda), not as one of the in store tea soda’s that DT makes.
Dry, the leaf smells very intensly of sweet peach candy with some apple-y undertones – it’s really fresh and in your face. I also took a small sip of the syrup before it had been diluted with the club soda, and (keeping in mind how concentrated it was) I thought it tasted exactly like a Fuzzy Peach!
Based purely on this tea soda, I would one hundred percent buy more of this: it’s absolutely one of the better tea sodas I’ve ever made – The peach is very strong, fresh, and sticky sweet tasting. I’d describe it as Fuzzy Peaches meet Peach Bellini meets Peach Schnapps. The Peach Schnapps comparison is very high praise; that’s easily my favourite liqueur or, really, kind of alcohol in general. It does a great job of navigating away from overly artificial or cloying territory, as well.
The touch of sweeter but also slightly tart green apples stops this from being totally monotone in flavor, but really that secondary flavour is all this needs – the absence of blackberry doesn’t disappoint me. This is just a simple, fun tisane that’s incredibly hydrating and energetic with the peach candy flavour. I can’t get enough of this one; and just writing about this tisane soda has me craving it again so badly; I’m sure a restock will be in my future – I think the question is just how much I’ll be picking up.