Peppermint Creme Brulee from A Quarter To Tea. . .

I am a creme brulee fiend. It is one heck of a tasty dessert and it is one of those flavors that always ends up in my shopping cart. So when this tea (complete with glitter balls and cute candy cane sprinkles) showed up in my monthly subscription box, I was all too excited to give it a try.

I steeped it per the package directions, in 185F water for 3 minutes. The brewed tea filled the entire kitchen with the smell of bruleed sugar deliciousness.  Flavor-wise, there is definitely a sugar sweetness but as much as I thought peppermint would be a great addition, I feel it is a bit too medicinal for this tea. It takes over and though there is a sweet mint aspect, there is also a burn that is far too distracting. With that, any hope of caramel from a bruleed brown sugar aspect or any creamy custard notes are drowned out.

I had high hopes for this one but it was a bit of a miss for my personal preferences.I want more brown sugar. More custard. Less herbal mint.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Oolong
Where to Buy:  A Quarter To Tea
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Jasmine Creme Brulee from DAVIDs Tea. . . .

Picture this: young tea reviewer-Mary, at a fancy lunch with her dad, celebrating her 16th birthday. Side note: my parents often took us out for special one-on-one time (hello, life with siblings), especially around our birthdays– but this year was a special one, so my dad pulled out all the stops. After a particularly decadent dinner, my dad insisted we order some dessert. Who was 16-year-old-I to say no? Faced with a delicious decision, I decided to go rouge– crème brulee, a dessert I’d never tried before. All I knew was this: it looked delicious, and had some serious bonus-fun in the form of crackling that burnt-sugar topping before diving in. Sugar AND an activity? Count me in?

Needless to say, ever since that first burnt-sugar-crack, I’ve been a fan of crème brulee. So of course, when I saw this latest offering from David’s Tea, I knew this one was coming home with me. This green tea boasts creamy, burnt-sugar-and-vanilla flavors, with just a hint of floral jasmine on the side. Brewed up solo, it’s delightful– but definitely leans more heavily on those floral notes. I was looking for something creamier, something more reminiscent of the fancy-dessert-nostalgia of my youth. With juuuuust a tiny, tiny touch of honey and a splash of steamed coconut milk on top, this one transforms from creamy floral green tea to magical, burnt-sugar-esque crème-brulee-in-a-cup. In fact, I’m not sure how they manage to perfectly capture that slightly toasty creamy note (almost like a genmaicha, but without a bit of toasted-rice in sight) through flavor alone, but I love it. This is one I’ll be brewing up to share with my dad, for sure.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green
Where to Buy:  DAVIDs Tea
Description

Meet our newest obsession: the crème brulée. French for “burnt cream,” this rich and creamy dessert is famous for its silky custard base and crunchy toffee crust. This decadent green tea captures all the vanilla-cream sweetness of a classic crème brulée – with a pop of jasmine for a light floral touch. It’s satisfying, sophisticated and downright addictive.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

A Jasmine Creme Brulee Delight! #DAVIDsTea

I have tried one other creme brûlée tea before, and while it was yummy, I think I prefer this one. This blend by DAVIDsTEA includes apples, rosehips, and jasmine green tea! I actually really like the addition of Jasmine because I think it gives a nice, refreshing twist to classic creme brûlée flavor.

The smell of the dry leaf on this one reminded me of DAVIDsTEA’s caramel corn, I think it was because of the sweet/buttery scent of creme brûlée flavor and the apple pieces. I couldn’t detect the scent of jasmine in the dry leaf, but could smell it once the tea was steeped but just ever so faintly. It was very lightly floral and the jasmine was very much in the background. I could really smell the apple pieces and the buttery/caramel sweetness of creme brulee.

On taste, I think this tea was really on point. It tasted buttery, sweet, and lightly floral. The apple was there, but really just added a hint of fruit flavor and was not tart or overpowering. The buttery custard flavor was there in the aftertaste and really resembled creme brulee, for me. I know that a lot of people may be a little scared of this blend because of jasmine if they don’t like floral, but trust me when I say that this tea is not overwhelmingly floral. It is so slight and really just a hint and it blends really well with the apple and buttery custard flavors. I actually enjoyed this green tea version of creme brûlée better than the black tea creme brûlée blend I tried from a different company. I like how this one was made lighter by the green tea and the addition of jasmine and apple pieces definitely gave it a nice twist.

Overall I would say that this blend was very “springtime”. It was light, sweet, and comforting. I’A Jasmine Creme Brulee Delight! #DAVIDsTeam wondering if it would be good iced, but I think that hot is the way to go with this one.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green Tea
Where to Buy:  DAVIDs Tea
Description

Rich and creamy with a delicate jasmine twist, this sweet blend is downright addictive.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

A Dessert Tea from Simpson and Vail. . . .#creme brûlée #SimpsonandVail

When I was a kid I hated creme brûlée. I have no idea why! I think it was the custard that turned me off as a child. As an adult, I love me some yummy creme brûlée. I love cracking into the sugar top and I absolutely love custard. I tried a creme brûlée flavored tea a few months back and would have loved it except for the tea-base that they used was gunpowder green tea, which was way too smokey for my tastes. Since then, I have been on the hunt for a yummy creme brûlée flavored tea. I have found two! This is the first one i’m going to try. I will reveal the second at a later date, so stay tuned!

Creme brûlée by Simpson and Vail is a black tea blend. I can smell the sugary sweet custard scent in the dry leaves. I steeped this lovely blend with near-boiling water for four minutes. The steeped liquid smells like summer. I don’t know why I think that…something about it reminds me of summer! But, it definitely has that sweet creme brûlée smell as well. I read some comments about this tea on Simpson and Vail’s website, and a lot of people said that this does not need extra sugar. I usually add a little agave but decided to try it first without sweetener. For me, I still added a little agave.

Why am I tasting coconut? For some reason i’m tasting a hint of coconut, but I think its just the creamy and buttery caramel flavor. This tea has a burnt sugar aroma with creamy caramel and custard undertones. It definitely has a mild sweet taste and is reminding me of flan. For some reason I cant get past coconut though. I wonder if anyone else feels this way too! For some reason this is reminding me of coconut flan or coconut creme brûlée. BUT that is not a bad thing. In fact, I love it!

Aside from the coconut dilemma, this tea does accurately resemble the delicious, burnt sugared custard that we all know and love! I think I may even have enjoyed the flavor of this tea as a child! It is addictive and I keep taking another sip… its all of the yumminess of the decadent dessert, without all the calories!

How can you pass that up?


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:   Simpson and Vail
Description

This scrumptious black tea blend has the taste and aroma of buttery, creamy sweet goodness. The dark amber cup is sweet and creamy with a finish that tastes like caramelized brown sugar.

Ingredients: black teas, flavoring, and marigold petals.

Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!