Fall flavors are usually dominated by pumpkin and cloves and cinnamon and spice, but Apple Sage from Simpson & Vail focuses on the less obvious sensations of the season. With fresh apple and savory sage, this blend should definitely be in everyone’s fall rotation. Apple pieces in the dry leaf immediately give off a fragrance that transports me to my hometown orchard: juicy, sweet-tart fruit, maybe paired with a cinnamon honey-stick from their local honeybee hive. The apple pieces are numerous, and provide a true, luscious, apple flavor.
What really makes this blend unique is the sage. I can’t say I’ve tried a tea with sage before, even if I have used the herb in other places in the kitchen. Sage is a smell I associate with Thanksgiving dinner, an herb that goes well with turkey and stuffing or with chicken pot pie. When brewed hot, this tea is both sweet and savory, almost like taking bite of everything off your holiday dinner plate.
In a way, it’s like the Willy Wonka 3-Course-Meal chewing gum! (Only without the disastrous blueberry-transformation consequences).
Sage evokes the taste of main course dishes like poultry or roasted potatoes, while the blackberry leaf adds a bit of tart berry like cranberry sauce, and finally the blend is topped off with sweet fruit flavors akin to apple pie. The black tea base is strong enough to hold its own with all these flavors and give the blend a hearty undertone to pull it all together.
I get so distracted by all the pumpkin spice and cinnamon eggnog flavors of the holidays, that I forget there’s more to the fall-winter palette. Apple Sage was an unexpected blast of Thanksgiving, apple pie, and all things fall. Definitely worth a taste at this time of year.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: black tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description:
The taste of sweet apple and fragrant sage blend together wonderfully. The amber colored cup offers a depth of flavor that is warming and refreshing at the same time. This tea complements foods such as hard cheese, salads, sandwiches, fruits and more.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea #VeganMoFo2016
Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea is our featured tea of the moment and also a Vegan MoFo tie-in for the day! Today’s Vegan MoFo Daily Prompt is “How To Make Friends” and/or “What’s Your Go-To Meal”. I would say that Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea is one of those go-to teas to share with friends! Here at SororiTea Sisters we have tea friends from all over the world and celebrate each country and region for their teas, ingredients, culture, and/or LOVE for tea and tisanes!
What’s REALLY interesting with Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea are the ingredients it contains. Not only does this have a green tea base Balcony has blended it with Greek Mountain Tea – as well as – Juniper Berries, Wild Thyme, Apple Pieces, Olive Leaves, and Calendula Petals. Therefore, this tea is – your guessed it – VEGAN.
I really LOVE that Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea is a Mediterranean Inspired Teas and those are the teas that Balcony specializes in! All of the ingredients are extremely fresh and flavorful! The Chinese Green Tea is delicate and light. It’s NOT heavily floral or vegetal but still has a nice flavor. The Greek Mountain Tea is gently herbal. The Juniper Berry gives it a slight pine aroma and flavor. The Thyme contributes to the wildness and herbal notes for sure. The apple pieces and flavor kick it up a notch but don’t make it overly fruity…it’s ‘just enough’. The olive leaves and Calendula petals are more visual that anything but overall makes this a remarkable cuppa!
Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea offers wonderful notes of herbal, vegetal, fruit, sweet, and pine. The ingredient and flavor ratio works out perfectly. It all meshes well and not one ingredient over-powers the others. A lot of thought and love went into this cup and I think it would WOW friends and family. It would be a great tea to share with old (and new) friends, too!
Oh! I should also mention that Mountain Bliss Green Tea from Balcony Tea was noted “Great Taste 2015” by the World Tea Expo!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Balcony Teas
Description
This blend is inspired by flavours and aromas that bring back childhood memories of walks through Mediterranean valleys. An invigorating blend of green tea, sweet apple and mountain herbs.
Ingredients:
Chinese Green tea – Delicate and light. Greek Mountain Tea– The best-kept Mediterranean secret. Juniper Berries – For a light pine aroma. Wild Thyme – Our thyme is wild-harvested in the Mediterranean to ensure its intense aroma and taste. Apple Pieces & Flavour – Fruity goodness. Olive Leaves – A Mediterranean treasure used in traditional Mediterranean medicine. Calendula petals – A beautiful splash of sunshine yellow.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea #VeganMoFo2016
This isn’t just a tea review post of Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea this is a post with several goodies within including a tea review, a tea recipe with variations, and some lovely photos! So sit back and scroll away!
As I opened the sample bag of Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea I seriously couldn’t BELIEVE the aroma! Not only was the scent spot-on it was powerful and incredible! I wanted to dive into a cup at first sniff but I had to hold off until now. Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea was totally worth the wait.
Apples and Cinnamons with a bready aroma topped with a heavy and potent maple syrup flavor all wrapped up into one that is what this Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea not only smells like but tastes like! The black tea base is of medium strength but the other flavors are intense and I LOVE it in this flavored black!
If you have ever had Maple Water and enjoyed it – you might get a kick out of this tea! Lucky for me I certainly did enjoy Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea. But I want to say the word ‘enjoy’ is a drastic understatement! This tea is down right scrumptious!
As promised we have a recipe using this tea for you but I can’t take credit for it – it was listed on S&V’s website but I thought it was so interesting and unique that I wanted to share it here, too! Check out the information below in the ‘Here’s The Scoop’ section. Because I don’t eat eggs/dairy I hope to try this with an egg substitute and almond milk or other non-dairy milk in the future but I am sure there are several ways to use this tea in recipes if you are clever and wanting to tinker in the kitchen! Until then…I think I will pour myself another cup of this glorious Apple Cinnamon French Toast Black Tea from Simpson & Vail Tea!
Apple Cinnamon French Toast Tea Crepes
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ tsp salt
3 eggs (or vegan egg substitute)
2 tsp. Apple Cinnamon French Toast Tea 1 cup milk (or Milk Alternative)
2 Tbsp melted butter (or vegan butter)
In a small pot, heat the milk on the stove until very hot. Remove from the stove, add the tea, cover and steep for 4 minutes. Strain out the tea leaves.
Blend all ingredients with a whisk or in a blender until smooth. Pour 2-3 Tbsp at a time in a hot oiled frying pan and swirl until evenly distributed. Cook until lightly browned then flip and cook the other side.
Spread with your favorite jam or preserve, roll it up and enjoy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description:
Apple and cinnamon goodness with a hint of maple flavor. The aroma is pure lazy Sunday morning. Breakfast on the griddle, hot tea in your hand, your favorite book waiting to be read. The sweet apple and the heady cinnamon flavors dance on your tongue, while the rich maple taste offers the base note in this amber colored cup.
Ingredients: black teas, apple pieces, organic cinnamon pieces and apple cinnamon french toast flavoring.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lavender Dream from Dave and Solomons Tea
Dave and Solomons are a mother and son tea blending company, currently selling their indie creations on their Etsy store. I hadn’t come across them before this sample arrived with me, but it’s always nice to discover a new tea company, if a little dangerous for the bank account!
Lavender Dream is a fruit and herbal blend, combining the sweet fruitiness of peach with the light floral of lavender. It sounds a little odd to begin with, but I was pleased to discover that they’re actually two flavours which work incredibly well together. The dry leaf itself is incredibly pretty, with dark pink rose petals, bright blue cornflowers, and purple lavender buds, plus large (1-2cm square) chunks of dried papaya.
I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 5 minutes in boiling water. The result is a medium orange-brown liquor, which smells wonderful and which filled the entire kitchen with the scent of fuzzy peach. To taste, it’s very much as you might expect. The peach isn’t particularly natural-tasting, hence “fuzzy” peach, but it’s strong and incredibly juicy, and I’m more than happy with that. The lavender is definitely playing second fiddle here, not really making itself known until very much the end of the sip. When it does, it’s a pleasant counterpoint to the sweetness of the peach, adding a delicate floral flavour, and just a hint of perfume.
I expected this one to be a lot heavier on the lavender, given that it’s called Lavender Dream. Having tasted it, I feel Peach Dream 
would be a much more appropriate name, because it is primarily a peach flavoured tea. I’m not the biggest fan of floral teas, particularly when they’re herbal blends, but in this case it shouldn’t put you off. The lavender really isn’t very prominent, but the contribution it makes is balancing one, and pleasant to boot.
As this is a caffeine free blend, it’ll likely be making a regular appearance in my evening rotation for a good long while to come. I love the juicy peach notes, and I’d actually like to try this one iced (although I might have to wait until summer, or a rare warm day, for that now.) I’ll definitely be trying more blends from Dave and Solomons Tea in the future on the strength of this experience. There’s certainly some skilled blending going on!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Dave and Solomons Tea
Description
Yummy peach cubes with organic lavender, rose petals, marigold & cornflower petals. MMMM Soooo good!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Chocolate Coconut Truffle from The NecessiTeas
Imagine my JOY…Chocolate Coconut Truffle from The NecessiTeas option! YAY! The chocolate in this flavored Black and Honeybush Blend is cocoa nibs. I really must pause and try and explain to the best of my ability the aroma that rolled out of the bag once I opened it. It was like a DARK Chocolate Brownie. Upon a second sniff I was able to take in the coconut aroma as well.
Chocolate Coconut Truffle from The NecessiTeas has a very dark sip at the beginning and then follows through with a sweeter middle sip. The end sip on to the after taste is much more creamy and dreamy and the flavor that lingers well on to the after taste is another treat in itself.
The apple ingredient is more of an afterthought. It’s very subtle but I couldn’t imagine Chocolate Coconut Truffle from The NecessiTeas without it.
Once this has had a chance to cool at room temperature for a bit I noticed the flavor becomes even more smooth. This is darn tasty! Now I want to eat a brownie! Chocolate Coconut Truffle from The NecessiTeas the ultimate sweet tooth tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea/Honeybush Blend
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description: A truly sublime black tea mix, this “island night” blend of real coconut and cocoa evokes the rich and calming beauty of an after hours exotic getaway. The undertones of honeybush tea, apples, and other natural flavors beautifully complement the chocolate and coconut, making this flavorful escape a full destination of deliciousness.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!