Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Monarch Tea Co. or Monarch Tea Co. on Etsy
Tea Description:
This warm and inviting blend brings memories of sitting fireside with a good book. Notes of apple, cinnamon and spice come together to warm and soothe. Ingredients: black tea, dried apple, cinnamon pieces, blackberry leaves, safflower petals, natural flavours.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to receive my Postal Teas box today. This box is actually September’s subscription – which arrives in October. Kind of confusing. Maybe I should just call it October’s box?
Anyway, this month’s featured tea company is Monarch Tea Company. I was excited to see that this is the featured tea company this month, because I had noticed that this company was featured earlier this year, before I became a subscriber. I’m glad to have this opportunity to try some of their teas.
The first tea that I am trying is this Apple Spice Embrace. Perfect for this evening for two reasons: first, it’s a cold and wet day here in the Pacific Northwest and a warmly spiced tea suits me just fine on a day like this. Second, my daughter is visiting this evening and its a tea that I think she’ll also appreciate.
I notice the packaging right off the bat. The teas are in Kraft, foil-lined pouches and they are “sealed” with a bit of whimsical black polka dot fabric tape. The front of the package has a label with the name of the tea and the ingredients (all the important stuff to know), and the back of the pouch is marked with the elegant Monarch Tea logo. I like the combination of whimsy and elegance and simplicity.
When I opened the pouch, I inhaled deeply to take in the fragrance. I notice a “black tea” aroma with notes of cinnamon. The cinnamon isn’t overpowering and I kind of expected it to be (it seems that in blends like this, the cinnamon is the main event, and I like that it is a gentle presence here.) There is a light apple-y scent beneath the notes of cinnamon.
I brewed this tea in my Breville One-Touch, pouring 750ml of freshly filtered water into the jug and measuring 3 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket. Then I set the temperature for 212°F and the time for 2 1/2 minutes. When I poured my cup of tea, I enjoyed the scent: hints of apple mingling with notes of cinnamon and a front note of black tea – much like the dry leaf, although it isn’t quite as aromatic.
This is a tasty cup of tea. The black tea notes are prominent. A brisk tasting tea – I suspect a Ceylon – but there are some subtle malty notes to this as well. It’s smooth and moderately astringent. A sweet, honey undertone that complements the apple notes.
The apple note isn’t in your face. It’s a subtle taste of apple, offering a slightly sweet, delicately tart flavor that reminds me of the flavor of an apple pie filling, complete with a light touch of cinnamon. I think that the cinnamon is my favorite part of this tea because it is a rather light touch of the spice. All too often when it comes to cinnamon in a tea, it’s been added with such a heavy hand that it becomes all about the cinnamon. Here, the cinnamon softly accents the tea. It’s a gentle warmth. Lightly sweet, lightly spiced.
Overall, a really pleasant autumnal tea and as I eluded to at the start of this review, it’s just perfect on a day like today when it’s cold and wet. I like that I’m curling up to a warm cup of apple-y spiced goodness.
