Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Top’o’the’mornin’ our pasty Irish butts. If you need a kick with a kick to start your day (or wake you up after lunch), here’s your tea, good ma’am or sir.
We start with our hearty Irish Breakfast blend and add a drop of the craythur — Irish Cream (cream + Irish whiskey). The resulting cuppa is bold, creamy, sweet, and just reminiscent of a fine Irish whiskey. Feel the burn (in a fabulous way)! Uisce beatha (“water of life”), indeed.
The name of the blend is borrowed from an old Irish street ballad by the name of, “Finnegan’s Wake,” embedded below. We thought it appropriate!
Ingredients: Black Tea, Blackberry Leaves, Cornflower, Sunflower, Calendula Petals, Natural Flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up from Cuppa Crew Tea Company tastes like a good merlot in my opinion. There is not a thing wrong with that! It’s no surprise it is after all an Irish inspired blend and since I have Irish blood in me I think I am politically clearned to say the Irish do love their alcohol although not necessarily wine. Okay now if I have not offended everyone I will continue. Alright so maybe my Irish blood is not thick enough for a stout whisky and perhaps this is spot on for Irish Whisky but to me I keep tasting that wine note, although I am far more partial to wine than whiskey. I hope my ancestors are not turning over in their graves.
The creamy element to this tea is lovely. Its not too creamy that you feel like your drinking something heavy or cloying but it does evoke that Irish Cream flavor quite well.
I do not usually do this but I did add some sugar and a splash of milk half way through the cup as it is recommended by Cuppa Crew even though the tea was rockin without it!
Sure I do think the sugar and milk, only a splash, do help highlight some of the notes in the tea, especially the more savory notes of calendula, a wonderful healing herb, but I believe I may prefer this one just as is, why mess with something that is good on its own? Still it is nice that we have choices and its great both ways!
The dry leaf is pretty with sprinkles of purple, and gold color from the calendula, and cornflower, and it has a lovely aroma. The steeped leaf expands to at least twice its size. A note on the leaf from Cuppa Crew:
We use only orthodox tea leaves in both our standard Irish Breakfast and in Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up, so the texture of the leaves is beautiful and consistent. We also like the somewhat mellower flavor of the full leaf versus a CTC blend.
The folks at Cuppa Crew are awesome people with in my opinion a good sense of humor and good nature. I enjoy reading their web site and blog with the quirky sense of humor and antidotes.
Check them out and give a nod to a new and upcoming tea company!
As for last notes on this tea … I have never had a tea like it! Truly unique and original! Kudos Cuppa Crew!
