Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
Whether you fancy hot or cold with a spoonful of honey or rock sugar, this French Vanilla Bean creamy tea is great either way. This tea offers an impeccably smooth blend of organic black loose-leaf tea and sweet vanilla bean flavor.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I was excited to try this French Vanilla Bean Black Tea from The Persimmon Tree. I really love vanilla teas – the sweet, creamy notes of the vanilla meld beautifully with the camellia sinensis, and I find this to be particularly true with a black tea such as this one.
The black tea base is a robust and full-flavored black tea. It has some malty notes and a rich, earthy taste. The natural, caramel-y sweetness of the black tea together with the creamy sweetness of the vanilla is really yummy. It’s a very luxurious and cozy kind of flavor.
The tea has some dry, tingly astringency. I’d classify it as a medium astringency.
There are some almond slivers and coconut shreds in the blend, and I’m not sure if these ingredients are present to offer more visual interest to the dry leaf or if they’re there to provide additional flavor to the cup, but, I really don’t taste a lot of almond or coconut in this blend. If I slurp the cup to aerate it, I find that these flavors reveal themselves slightly, but neither the almond nor the coconut are really profound flavors to this blend.
And really, with a name like French Vanilla Bean – one really shouldn’t expect anything but a really rich vanilla flavor with a strong, flavorful black tea base, and that’s exactly what this tea delivers.
I’ve brewed this tea twice now, the first time I brewed it, I think I may have either added too much leaf ~or~ I steeped it a tad too long, because I found that it was not only astringent but a wee bit bitter. The second time I brewed it, I was careful to steep it for only 2 1/2 minutes and keep the leaf at just 1 heaping teaspoon, and this second cup was much better. Some teas are a little more persnickety than others, and this is one of those teas that it’s important to pay attention to the details to get the most out of your cup. And once you taste this tea – brewed properly – you realize it’s really worth the little bit more effort.
It’s a good one!
Tea Book Volume 1 with Black Tea from Basilur Tea
Tea Description:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Basilur Tea
Product Description:
Basilur is an expression of the art of drinking tea. Each range of Basilur depicts its own story related to the rich Sri Lankan heritage. Each product is a unique tea drinking experience which transports its discerning tea drinkers to another time and place. Basilur tea takes you through this long journey of tea, with innovative blends and packaging yet, keeping the 5000 year old traditions intact. This Tea Book is a gift from Basilur tea family to the connoisseurs of tea.
Ingredients: 100% Pure Ceylon black tea, cornflower, jasmine buds, blue malva and flavour roasted almond.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
From a tea enthusiast’s and consumer’s prospective, this Tea Book Volume 1 with Black Tea from Basilur Tea has got to be one of the coolest products I’ve come across in a long time! It’s a book shaped tin (LOVE it!) and tucked inside the tin is a 3.5 ounce resealable pouch of almond flavored black tea!
I love the tin. It’s one of the neatest tins I’ve ever seen! It’s visually stunning, and it’s just a really unique way to package tea! It would make a great gift for your favorite tea drinker (even if that tea drinker is you!)
And the tea inside is really good too. The blend is visually stunning with its beautiful blossoms of blue cornflower and white jasmine along with pieces of roasted almond tossed with the black tea leaves. It smells of sweet almond and flower. The brewed tea is especially delightful to the nose. The warm almond notes evoke thoughts of something freshly baked.
The flavor is quite nice too. The black tea base is a Ceylon, and it is a mild, even tempered sort of taste. Nothing too bold or harsh, instead, it’s smooth and brisk and mellow. It isn’t an aggressive or overstimulating type of tea, making this a nice choice for afternoon sipping. (And I can’t help but think that this would be excellent with a piece of almond biscotti!)
While the tea is piping hot, the almond flavor is a little difficult to discern. I recommend allowing the tea to cool to a drinkable temperature (give it about four minutes after you’ve poured the tea), and this time allows the flavors to develop properly. I can taste the almond now! It’s a pleasing flavor, not so strong that it overpowers the flavor of the tea. This is definitely a tea that I’m drinking here, and the flavoring lets you know that the tea plays the starring role in this cup.
It’s sweet and nutty, and I can taste hints of flower in the distance. This isn’t a jasmine tea. While the jasmine blossoms do add a touch of jasmine essence to the cup, it is not a significant enough flavor – in my opinion – to deem this a “jasmine” tea. I think that the jasmine elevates the almond a little bit. Interesting … that was kind of unexpected how the light, exotic sweetness of the jasmine helps to accentuate the sweet, nutty flavors of the almond. I like that.
I found this to be a really delightful and tasty cup of tea. It definitely has a winter-y sort of flavor to it (this “book” is Volume 1 of the winter series), so I can see why they’d include it in the winter series. It tastes best served hot, but it also makes a nice iced tea.
On The Seventh Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent Me This Tea …
Today is day seven. I have some catching up to do, because, well, I had a bad case of food poisoning, so I’ve been out of commission for a couple of days. I’m glad that I had a couple of posts already prepared and scheduled, so that you didn’t miss out on the countdown fun!
Almond Biscotti
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
Swimming like the swans did on the 7th day of Christmas sounds a little too cold for me. But, if you must…
Warm up with this Almond Biscotti green tea. Just like the name implies, a baked, deliciously almond green tea is what you will have on this magical day!
Taster’s Review:
This is my first cup of tea since my aforementioned bout with food poisoning. I’m sure that my tummy could have handled the tea (and my caffeine withdrawal sure would have appreciated some) but I just didn’t have the wherewithal to prepare a cup of tea, or sit at the computer and write reviews … or to do much of anything else for that matter.
But that’s enough of that. Let’s get on with this yummy tea. This is the first green tea from this year’s Christmas box, most of the tea until now have been flavored black teas. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just an observation. That’s part of what I do. I observe things – particularly things that are tea related – and then I share my findings with you.
When I looked inside the pouch, I could see a lot of coconut, and the aroma was very coconut-y. I might even say that it was more coconut than it was almond. But once brewed, the aroma becomes a balance between coconut and almond.
The flavor is very much a balance between the two as well. The flavor is sweet, nutty, creamy, and I do get some of that “biscotti,” baked cookie-like flavor. This tea delivers just what it says it will with the name – the taste of Almond Biscotti!
I taste green tea flavor in there, too. A slightly vegetal and slightly savory note that contrasts with the sweetness of the almond-y, coconut-y, cookie-esque flavors.
A very satisfying blend!
Snowflake from Georgia Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Georgia Tea Company
Tea Description:
An excellent black tea with coconut, almond and vanilla flavoring. A Christmas favorite. Great with sugar and cream!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Like a lot of tea drinkers I go through stages in what type of tea I crave. Lately I have been feeling put off by flavored teas, just wanting to enjoy unadulterated teas. After several failed attempts today at flavored teas I remembered my prized precious stash Georgia Tea Company teas. Snowflake from Georgia Tea Company is one of those flavored teas that I never tire of. As a matter of fact, I could select any of my Georgia Tea Company flavored teas and be in bliss. At this time I only have a few teas from them but I do intend to get more as I dwindle down my existing stash.
Snowflake has the perfect balance of nutty, vanilla, and coconut to give your mouth a buttery feel. It is also perfectly sweet without adding creamer, or sugar, but is also strong enough to support either, or both, if you are so inclined. I have it both ways depending on my mood but when I really want a decedent dessert treat I go with creamer and a little german rock sugar.
I love that Georgia Tea Company teas are heavily scented because not only does it add a lovely dimension to the sipping experience but it makes your home smell warm and welcoming as well. Put out the candles and put away your room spray, just steep some tea! While the tea is heavily scented it is not overly flavored. Georgia Tea Company does not smother their teas in artificial flavorings just to cover a bad base. I rather enjoy this simple yet flavorful black tea base used in this blend. Their green blends are even more amazing!
This tea reminds me of marzipan, or amaretto, actually it reminds me of a few different things but I do love the taste of this blend. I am quite picky when it comes to the use of coconut in teas. Often times the coconut tastes rancid, or stale. Not in this cup! This tastes fresh!
Do take the time to check out Georgia Tea Company’s website and browse through their selection of teas. They have a really cute Mother’s Day gift basket on sale now with this tea blend included!
Almond Sugar Cookie from Simpson and Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Tea Description:
Heavenly! That’s the best word to describe this black tea blend. You’ll think you’re in a bakery when you open the bag and the aroma of nutty goodness wafts out. The brewed tea is divine – with no calories!
Ingredients: Black teas, almonds, flavoring and safflower blossoms.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am generally not one who cares for a murky cloudy cup of tea but Almond Sugar Cookie from Simpson and Vail is the exception. When I looked into my cup I thought someone was messing with me and had dipped some cookies in my tea. I have done that myself on occasion. The steeped tea looks like there are little floaties in it but I have determined they are indeed supposed to be there. I was hesitant though because I wanted to be sure I was not sipping from a dirty cup. Now don’t let all of this turn you off because the flavor is outstanding! Sweet, but not cloying, almond, vanilla, which made me think of my favorite Almond Cookie Tisane but I needed to wake up and so a black tea base was in order!
The base in this tea is a good one, I can’t say it is outstanding, but it holds up to the rich flavors within the blend. I get no astringency or bitterness in the sip, and I can taste the black base well. I realize this is considered a dessert tea but some mornings I just want something a little sweet and having tea in place of bad breakfast selections is a great way to start my day. I had this tea with some oat nut bread and it made both the tea and the bread really decadent, they complimented each other beautifully.
There are a multitude of flavored teas out there to try, but this is one that truly does taste exactly the way you would expect it to and I respect that greatly. There also are no nasty artificial after tastes from the flavorings. The mouthfeel of the tea is not really creamy but it is heavier giving you a feeling of fullness upon drinking which is really nice when you are trying to satisfy a sweet tooth!
A really delightful flavored tea.