When I saw the name of this tea, I was immediately intrigued. I’ve never seen rosewater shortbread before and, in fact, I didn’t even know that it was a “thing”. To be honest I find it very creative and now I need to find a recipe for this shortbread! Especially after trying the tea because this flavor combo is heavenly!
First off when smelling the dry leaf of this white tea blend, I could instantly smell cookies. Once steeped, that cookie smell stays. There is a hint of that floral rose, but it isn’t overpowering and I think that the vanilla cookie flavor is more dominant. There is also a hint of cinnamon sugar. When it comes to the taste, the white tea is very sweet and fluffy and it compliments the cookie, vanilla, rose, and cinnamon notes. I feel like this is a really well done and realistic tea and it would be a great dessert replacement tea. If you are craving cookies but can’t have any because you’re on a diet, this will totally satiate your craving! It is a delicious blend that is best enjoyed hot on a cool summer evening! A must try from A Quarter to Tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Sweetly floral white tea with vanilla, butter and a touch of cinnamon.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Plum Oatmeal Squares from A Quarter To Tea. . ..
Oh plum oatmeal squares, where art thou? Pastry, fruit, and vanilla tea- you’ve already won me over. I love anything that is described as having “pastry notes”. I am one of those people who could cook an entire slab of pastry dough, and just eat it with some cinnamon and sugar. I have loved pastry dough since I was a kid. I utilize it whenever possible in my cooking, and of course in my desserts. The name “Plum Oatmeal Squares” definitely peaked my curiosity. We’ve all had those Quaker Oatmeal Squares as a quick breakfast or snack, but how would they translate into tea?
The answer to that, my friends, is “quite well”. That’s how! Yeah, I am really enjoying this. The first thing I taste when I take a sip is the fruitiness of the plum. Next, is the warmth of the vanilla. Lastly, this tea finishes with strong notes of pastry and oat! It is so good. Personally I would prefer to drink this on a crisp fall morning, but the fruity notes do make it suitable as a summer beverage. Although, i’m not sure how well the pastry and oat flavors would transfer iced. I would stick to drinking this hot, because it is dang delicious!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Temi’s perfect muscatel notes are blended with rich dessert flavors: plum, pastry, and vanilla butter. A warming dessert tea, perfect for this (or any other) season.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Peace from A Quarter To Tea. . . . .
April’s A Quarter to Tea monthly tea box certainly had an interesting selection: Rose Water Shortbread, Strawberry Rhubarb Salad, Cacao Cashew Beet Cake, and this tea, Peace.
This tea is a herbal but one that is based on Olive Leaf, which I personally have never seen before, though that would explain the name. In light of that, I was certainly intrigued. In addition to the olive leaf, this tea has ginger, lemon, and rose “for a calming experience”.
Now that I am actually drinking the tea, I will say it is both familiar and unique. The lemon, like that of lemon zest, is by far the strongest flavor. The ginger is contributing to the taste as well, though it lingers in the back of the sip. However, there is no ginger spice/kick in this tea, which seems to actually work better with the other ingredients. There is a little sweetness from what I imagine is the base, or maybe the rose, and also a touch of dryness from those components as well.
If I didn’t know any better, I would probably think this was a lemongrass and ginger infusion, with something added to keep it smooth and slightly sweet. This is because the lemon and ginger flavors are by far the most prominent and bright.
It is good for a herbal blend and definitely fun to try something new. Like I said, this tea is simultaneously unique while also remaining familiar.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
A slightly sweet and floral full-bodied tisane featuring olive leaf and brightened with lemon and ginger.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Caramel Torte from A Quarter To Tea. . .
My daughter is one of THOSE people who goes crazy over pumpkin-everything in the fall. When I saw this sample, I knew we had to taste it together, so I packed it up for the trip out of town to her place.
The dry leaf smells wonderful, with a creamy vanilla and spice scent that is very promising. The white tea leaves are large and there are chunks of all kinds of goodies in this blend. We followed the recommended steeping instructions to a T.
The steeped tea has a wonderfully comforting aroma, different from the leaves. The dry leaf smelled primarily of vanilla and caramel to me, but the clove is intensified by steeping and the aroma of clove tingles in your nose as you take your first sips. It isn’t strong enough to over-tingle the tongue or detract from the creamy caramel and vanilla flavors.
My daughter said she was pleased to find that she tasted PUMPKIN, and not just pumpkin spices as is so often the case. Maybe that is because of the sweet potato bits in the blend.
This was a limited edition blend that is presently sold out, so why review it? Because it may give readers a good idea of the skill of the tea blenders at A Quarter To Tea and some insight into the quality of their ingredients.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Ginger and pumpkin with a slight pastry and note cool into a dreamy caramel creme.
Abundant caramel when slightly cooled.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose Water Shortbread from A Quarter To Tea. . . .
If I am being honest, this is probably the tea in April’s tea box that I was least excited about. I blame the Rose Water for that. When I think Rose Water, I think of sickly sweet desserts like baklava and gulab jamun. I don’t mean any offense as I know these are loved by many but they just aren’t for me and I thought the same might be said for this tea. Add to that the fact that I don’t really love white teas and you might get my hesitation here.
However, this tea came in the monthly box which means someone took the time to carefully craft this tea, testing it and perfecting it until they felt it was worthy enough to be sold. When a friend once commented at a restaurant how weird a dish on the menu sounded and questioned why anyone would eat it, my father said that chefs don’t just put things on their menus willy nilly but rather they partake in trial and error until they think they came up with something that is worth serving in their restaurant and if nothing else, it is worth a try. That stuck with me and I think about it whenever I’m at a restaurant but also I think that applies here. So even though these aren’t flavors I love, I know that Lauren at A Quarter to Tea would not be sending a tea she didn’t think was awesomely delicious so the least I could do is give it a taste.
Lucky for me I had enough sense not to try and pass this along without sampling it because as soon as I cut open the package I knew I was in for a treat. The smell of the dry leaf just filled the air!
This is one tasty, TASTY tea!! It’s like a rich and buttery graham cracker or maybe a shortbread with a slight cinnamon sugar glaze. Sweet but no where near sickly. Just smooth. Sugary. Baked goods. Deliciousness. It took me by surprise but now that I have tried it, I can say with confidence I will be having this again.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Sweetly floral white tea with vanilla, butter and a touch of cinnamon.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!