How wonderful is the title “Himalayan Dew Delight”?
Pretty great, but the flavor is even better.
Usually black teas taste heavy, a sturdy base that tastes malty, chocalate-y, rich, or some combination thereof. If you want a lighter touch, you have to look elsewhere.
Not today! This was called “dew delight” to clue you in! It’s springy and warm. It tastes like flowers and pollen and ragweed. Sparrows swooping through clean pale yellow air.
Just a general spring outdoor vibe.
Minus all the runny noses. Oh man. Our family has been struck by seasonal allergies like a nuke. Our sinuses are trashed. Eyes weep. Coughs and snorts interrupt our sleep.
We have traveled from prescription to prescription like wanderers through a war-torn apocalypse movie. We have found acceptable solutions, but no guaranteed safe haven.
Drinking this tea might be the closest we get to spring this year — but it’s delicious!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Terroir Tea Merchant
Description
A colourful black tea with silver-tipped leaves and a smooth, medium strength reminiscent of a Darjeeling.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
In Love With The Coco from Pacific Tea. . .
The name of this tea refers to a rap song. The coco in its lyrics is not cocoa; nor is it coconut — it is a more forbidden, snowlike substance.
(My young coworkers explained this to me months ago… with the weariness one typically reserves for one’s grandparents.)
The “coco” in this blend refers to the innocuous coconut.
It’s a wholesome blend altogether (ironically). It has a sweet coconut-pineapple-banana flavor with a splash of berries and petals to round it out. The brew blends up clear, but don’t let that fool you; it cooks up very flavorfully. It tastes like if Lilo and Stitch were a tea.
Normally I’m not into bananas as anything other than bananas. No banana-flavored things. No semi-dried bananas in bags (feel free to look this up). No bananas in smoothies. No banana bread.
But here it works pretty well. I think I only allowed it past The Gates* because I didn’t realize it was there until I was actively drinking it.
* Note: (“The Gates” are what I am now calling my mouth. Like, literally, just now. I will forget it by the end of the day unless you, dear reader, make it catch on.)
The banana flavor does stick around after I’ve swallowed, which is why I probably wouldn’t buy this for myself, but if you like sweet things and banana herbal teas, you should give this a whirl. I drank it hot, but I think that it would also be pretty good iced.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Pacific Tea
Description
The essence of the islands. A smooth, warming harmony of coconut, pineapple and banana to whisk even the most discerning wanderlust traveller away …
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
The Cake Is A Lie from Geeky Teas. . .
The tea’s name, “The Cake Is A Lie,” is a “Portal” reference. It’s a PlayStation game in which you use your wits to survive through a corrupt company’s testing facility. You’re told at the beginning that cake will be served at the end of your testing, but spray painted messages begin to pop up saying “the cake is a lie.” And it is. The company expects you to die, so why would it prepare a cake?
So it’s kind of fitting that I don’t think this tea quite tastes like cake. (A LIE. Though I think they meant it to taste like cake.)
I think it tastes like that delicious crunchy sugar-cream glaze one finds on cinnamon buns, danish, or glazed donuts. Which is ALSO delicious.
I don’t know if I oversteeped, but I also detected a sort of coffee tang here. Coffee is not one of the ingredients. It might be a note in the underlying black tea. Or it might just be in my head.
Because when I think donuts, I think donut shops. I think about how, when we were in elementary school, when it was your birthday, your mom typically purchased enough donuts or cupcakes for the whole class. They got distributed at lunch.
I’d always follow Mom into the coffee shop to procure those donuts. And it always reeked of coffee and cigarettes.
Yes, it used to be legal to smoke inside eating establishments. And some places were way worse than others.
Bars and donut shops were the absolute worst. Bars because the smell would mix with skunked beer. Donut shops because the old guys who sat around drinking coffee at the counter would smoke really low-end cigarettes which have a distinct smell.
Smelling vaguely like coffee and cheap cigarettes all day didn’t deter me from birthday joy, though. I’d have that donut with lunch, and cake with dinner.
So really, I guess the donuts and the cake aren’t that different. Was the cake a lie, after all?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Description
Black tea, natural vanilla flavour, candy sprinkles, natural creme flavour and natural caramel flavour.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Chocolate Bon-Bon from Tin Roof Teas.. . . .
I didn’t know what a bon-bon was before tossing this tea into my travel bag on a trip. I sort of had an idea that it was something that pregnant people and lazy people ate. The phrase “sitting around eating bon-bons” was in my head.
Turns out bon-bons refer to chocolate-covered confections, or sweets in general. You’re welcome.
If I were pregnant, I would have to down bon-bons because I couldn’t drink black tea, this one specifically. This is a really yummy blend. It has a sweetness that stays in your mouth after you’ve swallowed. It’s got moxie. I might even describe it as “sassy.”
While I was drinking it, I drew a picture of a Cheshire Cat teacup. . . .
I think this tea would be a great accompaniment to a novel about tricky, morally ambiguous talking animals, etc. An adult sort of Alice in Wonderland meets Harry Potter, maybe like the Magicians, but with more mayhem. You should read the Magicians series, by the way. I’m not being paid by them to say that. It’d be a great reading pairing with this tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tin Roof Teas
Description
Our Bon Bon black tea, is a decadent, creamy sensation morning, noon or night.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Mocha Breve from Adagio Teas. . . . .
It’s sunny as hell, and the first day of Penn State’s summer break. Yet here I sit with a pumpkin spice tea. Because I break ALL THE CONVENTIONS. I’m standing strong against The Man. Resist where you can, kids.
Pumpkin spice is tasty all. year. round. Yum.
Throw in a little chocolate for taste and mate for kick, and I am ready to roll. This is a great blend.
It contains mate. Mate is a caffeinated genetically-not-technically-tea. Its influence varies from person to person. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this in any previous posts, but I feel like I should probably point it out to you now. My best friend could drink a mug of it and fall asleep for the night shortly thereafter. However, she has no idea how it would affect her baby (she’s breastfeeding), so she can’t drink it right now.
She’s worried her baby might react to mate the way I do.
Mate makes ME feel like a kid at Chuck E Cheese, though.
SORT OF RELATED FACT: Did you know that Chuck E Cheese’s full name is “Charles Entertainment Cheese”? I’ll wait while you Google that.
Regardless of whether you love giant mouse mascots, video games, pumpkin spice, chocolate, or caffeine, this is the tea for you!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Mate
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
That perfect delicious drink, invented and served by Levi to warm any girl’s heart. He’s sorta brilliant that way. This black tea is filled with the smooth sweetness of pumpkin and spices mixed with warm cream. A touch of mocha nut mate with accents of cinnamon, apples pieces and cocoa nibs might just blow your mind.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!