Depending on where you live, you may have seen some snowflakes flying on the air this time of year, which would be the perfect time to brew up a cup of Snowflake tea from Aromatica Fine Teas.
This is an award-winning blend, taking 1st place in the North American Tea Championships in 2011. Thinking about tea championships puts some silly images in my head, like some kind of tea Olympics, with little packs of tea on a snowy downhill ski slope. Anyway, the story is getting away from me.
Like beautiful, white, creamy snowdrifts, this black tea is blanketed with extra vanilla and creamy flavors. This tea is somewhere between a breakfast blend and a dessert blend, so that means it can be brewed up just about any time of day. In addition to the vanilla, there are coconut flakes, which add their usual creamy, buttery taste. Luckily there’s not too much coconut, and this moderation keeps the brew from getting too oily.
What really sets this blend apart are the real slivers of almond. These stylish blonde slivers go beyond the typical marzipan flavoring, and add real, sweet, nuttiness from actual nuts as ingredients. With smooth almond and lush coconut shavings, this tea taste a bit more like a coconut cookie than a simple coconut cream tea.
Overall, Snowflake is a really solid vanilla tea blend, super drinkable and smooth. I drank it black, but it would amazing as a latte or made hot-cocoa-style, topped with marshmallows. The blend isn’t too sweet, nor too plain.
I know coconut is traditionally a tropical flavor, but with a name like Snowflake, this can be your next favorite winter brew.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Aromatica Fine Teas
Description:
A fabulous almond coconut tea. Brew it in steamed milk for a Tropical Fog. Ceylon and China black tea, coconut rasps, flavour, almond flakes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
My Morning Blend from The NecessiTeas. . . .
This robust tea is made from two simple, quality ingredients: black tea leaves and roasted cocoa beans. This tea has everything that is good about hot bold black tea, hot chocolate, and coffee. The black tea gives enough fresh tartness to keep the chocolate from being too sweet, and the roasted cocoa beans add a decadent smoothness that hints at the rich and nutty tones of coffee. No matter how long I steeped the leaves, the blend stays strong and smooth, with no bitter astringency.
Many black teas in people’s cupboards are English breakfast blends. I feel like My Morning Blend could easily be called American Breakfast, with all that Hershey chocolate flavor over the top of a welcoming tea brew (if we Americans weren’t already drinking coffee as the breakfast beverage of choice, that is).
I recently tried some cocoa shell tea for the first time, and found it to be a tasty, unique experience, a mix of sweet and salty, almost like chocolate-drizzled popcorn balls. Cocoa shells are well and good, but as a tea-lover, sometimes I just need that black tea undertone. My Morning Blend from The NecessiTeas was the perfect fix.
This blend takes milk like a champ, only growing more delicious and creamy with rich chocolate and toasty tea notes. This blend should be an essential on everyone’s tea shelf for those mornings when you want a cup that feels like putting on your favorite sweater and smells like your favorite cookies baking in the oven.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description:
If you are looking for a wake-me-up, perk-me-up cup in the morning, that’s off the beaten path of coffee, look no further. This strong black tea has the smoothness of chocolate, and the boldness of roasted cocoa beans. Doctor it as you would a cup of coffee, with milk and sugar to start off your day!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Candied Yams from Bluebird Tea
There’s something supremely fun about unusual seasonal blends that only come out at the most festive times of year. When I heard about the blend, Candied Yams from Bluebird Tea, I had to get a taste.
So, Candied Yams? I’ve had my fair share of mashed sweet potatoes (yams) and squash with butter and brown sugar, and the sweet, earthy, orange mash is a delicious side to any holiday dinner. (We’ve even forgotten to put the sweet potatoes out during dinner one year, and ate it with spice cookies during dessert, and they were still a winner). No wonder I like the cinnamon and nutmeg alongside the yams in this tea blend.
This tea blend is going for an even sweeter version of sweet potatoes; the kind that were baked in a casserole and topped with marshmallows. Cooking with marshmallows seems like the most nostalgic, American ideal, like putting marshmallows in ambrosia salad. All you need to know is that this tea also has mini marshmallows, and plenty of them to make the tea leaves look festive and the blend taste sugary-sweet.
Beyond the carrot-like yam sweetness, this brew also has a fair bit of tartness, like red cranberry, which comes from the small dash of hibiscus in the blend. This red-berry flavor adds a touch of mulled wine flavor alongside the sweet earthiness and light spice. I figure that if my family can put orange flavored dried cranberries in their Thanksgiving stuffing then this flavor profile makes some sense in this tea.
Don’t worry if you’re more excited about the yams than the cranberries, the yams are the driving force of this blend, most noticeable in the scent and aftertaste. After each sip, I get the sweet and starchy potato flavors, reminding me a bit of carrot cake with walnuts. As the initial sweetness fades on my tongue, the brew has a great, mellow, nutty, taste.
If you’re a fan of weird holiday brews, I’d recommend you pick up a sample of Candied Yams before the sweet-potato-yam season passes. And if you get super inspired, you can even bake a marshmallow-yam casserole to accompany your cup of tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description:
Always looking forward to those sweet candied yams at Thanksgiving? Wish you had an excuse to enjoy ’em all year round? We hear you! Now you can get into the festive spirit with this Limited Edition holiday tea – it’s Thanksgiving in a cup!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Peach Crostata from a Quarter to Tea
What is a crostata? Apparently, it is a type of tart or pie, or it might even include a crumble-like dessert. Either way, imagine buttery crust, sugar and spice, and plenty of fruit. This tea blend looks to capture the the essence of a peach crostata, with sweet stone fruit and warm pastry.
The tea leaves are yunnan black tea, but they were so tightly rolled I almost mistook them for oolong leaves. Brewing this blend, the tea is dark and rich and brews up quickly. Both the dry leaves and the hot tea are very fragrant with natural peach flavor.
When taking my first sip, my nose is full of fruity peach, but the brew is much more robust. The taste of the tea has more roasty, caramel notes than it does fruit, and its boldness overshadows the peach. The tea is smooth at first, finishing with a tart, mineral dryness in the aftertaste. It’s possible the boldness of the tea has to do with my brewing techniques, so I would brew this a little cooler and shorter next time. I found that adding milk helped make the brew more gentle, which brought out the best of the peach notes.
Even if this wasn’t my favorite tea lately, I’ve had other blend from a Quarter to Tea that I absolutely loved, like their Carrot Cake or Peeps Krispies genmai cha teas. Give any of their flavors a try for a quality brew.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: A Quarter to Tea
Description:
A take on a late medieval version of a peach crostata, with warming spices and a rich peach flavor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Summer Lovin from becauseURpriceless
With a name like Summer Lovin, this has got to be brewed as an iced tea. I brewed this tea with hot water at double strength, and poured it over ice. I took a sip while brewing the tea hot, and was surprised to get hit with a wave of out-of-season nostalgia. Cinnamon and citrus always remind me of wintertime spices, and brewed warm, this tea almost seems like an orange chai.
On paper, hibiscus and cinnamon sound like weird bedfellows, but the combination turns out to be well-balanced, both hot and iced. While hibiscus is an overbearing herb, there are undertones of lemon and rose, to give some variety to the taste. Sweet licorice root and earthy cinnamon tame the hibiscus, and keep it from getting too tart.
This would be a great tea for showing off in a sangria or summertime fruit punch. It brews up a luscious ruby color, and looks amazing in any glass pitcher: vibrant red against snowy, white ice cubes and contrasting fruit slices.
Pick up a bag of this blend before the heat of summer takes you by surprise!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: becauseURpriceless Etsy Shop
Description:
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!