Tea Experimenting is continuing today with another go at an inside-out latte. Last time I used On Wisconsin by A Quarter to Tea and the floral base and honey notes just didn’t compliment the prep method. So, this time around I went for a richer, more chocolatey tea, Peppermint Crunch by the NecessiTeas.
My first step was to make concentrated tea ice cubes by steeping the tea per the company recommendations but using about double-triple the amount of leaf I would use regularly for the amount of water. Once it steeped long enough, I put the concentrate in an iced cube tray and left it to freeze overnight.
Once the ice cubes were frozen, I was able to take them out of the tray and fill a glass with them. I then topped the glass with milk and waited for the magic to happen. The ice cubes slowly flavored the milk and the more they melted, the more peppermint flavor they imparted. They also produced a chocolate quality but not exactly a creamy chocolate bar, more like a chocolate cookie. Actually it had me thinking thin mints…dipped in milk and I was quite happy.
I also decided to take some of the ice cubes and blend them with milk. This is what I did last time with On Wisconsin and I used too much ice, making for a slightly chunky drink. This time around, I went heavy on the milk and light on the ice and it turned out much smoother. Though initially it separated into a milky foam on top and the flavored milk below, it eventually melted back into each other given I got distracted for quite some time before actually getting around to drinking this. Flavorwise, this had a nice creamy peppermint to it, with a sprinkling of cocoa. It has a similar taste to the milk over ice but with slightly less chocolate. Personally I think that is because the ratio of tea ice cubes to milk was less in this drink and thus it was more water and less tea flavor. Nevertheless, both inside-out lattes were quite good and rather refreshing on a humid day.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for blends that are.
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