Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Product Description:
Have you heard about the new tea in town? She’s a looker alright: dark, robust, and seductive, with a heart of gold. And you didn’t hear it from us, but she’s even better with a little booze. She’s a luscious black tea, with deep caramel flavour from dried golden mulberries and spicy warmth from orange peel and cinnamon. Take her apple picking. Bring her to Thanksgiving dinner. Sit with her by the fire. You’re going to want her by your side all fall.
Taster’s Review:
When I first opened the pouch, I was a little surprised by what I saw. The dried golden mulberries look a bit like tiny honeycombs. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at! So, I hurried to the David’s Tea website to read more about this tea. Yep… those are mulberries alright. Big, whole, dried golden mulberries, blended with black tea leaves, bits of orange peel, and chips of cinnamon. It looks very festive, and it smells oh-so-good!
The black tea base is pleasantly strong but not too aggressive. It is brisk and flavorful, and provides a good, solid backdrop of flavor so that the fruit, caramel and especially the cinnamon can present themselves.
The cinnamon is warm but not too spicy. While it is the dominate flavor of the cup, because of the other flavors here, this doesn’t taste like a cinnamon tea. In other words, its not all about the cinnamon with this tea; instead it works harmoniously to accent the other flavors while offering a pleasant strength all its own.
The fruit flavor is lighter than the cinnamon flavor. I can taste the orange peel – it tastes citrus-y orange but not in an orange juice kind of way. If you’ve ever made a holiday cider using orange peels and spices, you know the kind of flavor I’m talking about. This, mingling with a hint of mulberry is quite nice and deliciously different.
The caramel is also quite light, but it does develop as I sip. The first few sips, I could barely taste the caramel, but, now, as I’m nearly finished with the cup, the caramel is there. Not a lot of caramel… but just enough to really round out the flavors of this cup without being cloy.
Some recommendations go along with this tea: first, be sure to give the package a good, upside-down shake before you open it and begin measuring. This will help redistribute the flavors. Second, use just a little more leaf than you’re used to. If you usually use 1 teaspoon for 1 cup of tea, use 1 1/2 of this tea. Finally, I recommend adding just a little bit of sugar or other natural sweetener to. My first couple of sips without sweetener really didn’t offer much flavor, but I noticed after a little bit of sugar, the flavors really came to life. I wouldn’t add milk to this because it might overwhelm the balance.
Try these recommendations and prepare yourself for a different approach to the usual orange spice holiday blend!
