Day 5!
The 12 Teas of Christmas has had a nice variety of tea types and flavors so far, so I am never bored with the flavors in store for me. Today is a green tea with fruity, creamy tones: Blackberry Custard Tart Green. There nice purple dried blackberries in the dry leaf and plenty of juicy dark fruit scent in the bag.
Brewed, the creamy, vanilla pudding flavor of the custard comes through more strongly, adding a smooth mouthfeel alongside all the delectable dessert tastes. I appreciate that green tea was used as the base for this blend to give the blackberry and cream more room to shine. A black tea might have taken over with its own tartness and tannins. The green tea adds a gentle vegetal note that compliments the berries, and a bit of nuttiness that feels like the fruit tart cookie crust.
This is a nice blend for midway through your day, when you want something with a little pep but not too sweet or caffeinated. It is bright but decadent and the perfect way to treat yourself during the busy holiday season.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
One afternoon as I was perusing through my Pinterest feed, I found a recipe for Blackberry Custard. It looked exceptionally good and whenever I see a dessert recipe that looks exceptionally good, I immediately think about how I’d translate that recipe to a tea flavor. Yep, I’m kind of nerdy like that. So I thought … hmmm, blackberry custard sounds like a winning idea for a tea. Then I remembered that there was already a Blackberries & Cream Shou Mei so how different could a blackberry custard really be?
So, I thought, what if it had a delightfully buttery pastry crust? Well, then it would be a Blackberry Custard Tart.
So that’s what inspired me to make this with my green tea base (a blend of organic Chun Mee and organic Gunpowder). I added blackberry, custard and pastry flavors. Then I tossed in some of those big, beautiful freeze-dried blackberries. This is really good!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Blackberry Maple Waffle from The NecessiTeas. . . .
About ten years ago, I bought a package of loose-leaf black maple tea from a lovely tea house in California. The first time I tried it, with the usual milk and sugar, I had it with French Toast for breakfast. I felt like I was drinking a cup of maple syrup. Yikes! This may have caused me to shy away from maple flavored tea for a time – or at least to consider serving it with something more savory.
Flash forward to May 2017 when I received my first order from The NecessiTEAS. I ordered a variety of their creative flavors, which arrived in very nice tins. Among my selections was Blackberry Maple Waffle Tea. When I opened the can, I was delighted by the cuteness of the tiny dried blackberries in the tea. I made a pot for breakfast (savory scrambled eggs this time), and was very impressed with the flavor of the tea. Besides the real blackberries, the black tea contains bits of waffle cones – and maple, of course. There is a really nice balance of each flavor. The sweeter flavors blend well with the boldness of the black tea. The berries give it a tangy kick. It is delicious with milk and sugar, and also refreshing as an iced tea.
This well-done blend has quickly become a staple in my tea cabinet. And it pairs well with savories AND sweets!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Why wait until breakfast time to enjoy the flavors of hot buttery waffles, topped with sweet maple syrup, and warm blackberry compote! Add some rock sugar and splash of milk to this brew to enjoy the steamy hot homemade flavor of juicy, ripe berries topping thick fluffy waffles, without the calories!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pomegranate Wild Berry Black Tea from Teavery
Let’s talk about Pomegranate Wild Berry Black Tea from Teavery, shall we? WHY am I so excited about this tea? Well, first and foremost because Pomegranate Wild Berry Black Tea from Teavery does NOT contain hibiscus! Woot! This flavored black tea contains Organic Black Tea, Organic Black Raspberry Leaf, Organic Calendula, Organic Corn Flowers, Blueberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry Flavorings. NO HIBISCUS! Yippie!
If you could see me right now I am doing a crazy little dance but you will just have to take my word for it!
The smell of the dry ingredients is very wine-like and I would say that is a PLUS. Once infused I could smell the black tea with the berry flavors. The infusion color is a medium brown. The flavor is really quite something! Pomegranate Wild Berry Black Tea from Teavery has a medium black tea strength paired with a tarty pom and various berry flavors all playing together well! The floral notes play more of a part on to the aftertaste more than anything.
Pomegranate Wild Berry Black Tea from Teavery is a WINNER. It’s YUMMY hot or cold. It’s tart but not too tart and berry but not too berry. Plus you can still taste the black tea base! Two thumbs up for this one!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Teavery
Description:
High Notes Of Blueberry, Raspberry, And Blackberry With Undertones Of Pomegranate. All Infused With A Classic Black Tea.
Ingredients
Organic Black Tea, Organic Black Raspberry Leaf, Organic Calendula, Organic Corn Flowers, Blueberry, Blackberry, And Raspberry Flavorings
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Revel Berry Yerba Mate from Guayaki
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: Guayaki
Tea Description:
Revel Berry has a delicious raspberry and blackberry flavor. It’s easy drinking and clean tasting, and not too sweet.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
For those who don’t know, I work in a grocery store. It’s not uncommon for us to start carrying different, less common drinks but it is uncommon for them to be tea-related so when we picked up some of this brand’s flavors of iced/canned Yerba Mate I got really excited! I knew I’d seen at least one of this brand’s products reviewed on Steepster so I took the plunge and a bought a can of each flavor to try out.
I don’t know what I expected when I tried this one, maybe a little more yerba mate flavour? But this threw me off a little bit; it definitely tastes distinctly of raspberry and even has a tinge of sharper tartness however I can’t taste anything specifically blackberry flavoured. If anything, I almost want to say there’s more of a blueberry flavor present. Regardless, this does seem pretty watered down and I’m missing any distinctly earthy notes from the yerba mate – which is kind of the best part of mate other than the caffeine. I absolutely appreciate that this is not overly sweet though!
I don’t know if I’d personally buy this one again because I know I enjoy a stronger Yerba Mate flavour but I do look forward to trying the other two flavours I picked up and I’m all for the idea of this if it gets a more “mainstream” consumer experiencing Yerba Mate – which I know it’s been doing at work since some my coworkers have taken to drinking this during break instead of other popular and more “conventional” energy drinks. Plus, the convenience of it being canned it always a plus.
Pomegranate Burst™ Green Tea from Good Earth
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Good Earth online or Wherever Good Earth Teas are sold.
Tea Description:
Sure we all have responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean we have to settle into a routine. Break things up with the tingling intensity of Pomegranate Burst™. Blended with the goodness of green tea and the unexpected tart flavors of pomegranate and cherry, one sip will be enough to shake up an ordinary day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this Pomegranate Burst™ Green Tea from Good Earth without knowing the ingredients in the tea – only knowing it’s a flavored green tea. So, I brewed it the way I’d brew any other bagged green tea: using 8 ounces of hot water (170°F) and steeping for 2 minutes.
After I finished steeping the tea, I noticed the color – it’s a vivid ruby color, just like the color of a pomegranate aril. This communicated “hibiscus” to me. And after my first sip, yep … there’s hibiscus in this. Ugh. That first sip told me something else: there’s stevia in this too. Double Ugh. And it’s not even the natural leaf from the herb “stevia” it’s steviol glycosides which is the chemical compound of stevia. And I can taste that chemical taste from it too. Triple UGH!
Served hot, this just isn’t my cup of tea. I taste to much hibiscus and stevia and a syrupy cherry flavor (read: cherry flavored cough syrup) for me to derive much enjoyment out of drinking it. I do taste pomegranate and hints of raspberry. Those flavors might be nice if my palate wasn’t overwhelmed by the flavor of hibiscus, chemical tasting stevia and cough syrup.
No green tea flavor to speak of here. Just none.
Not one to want to give up on a tea so quickly, I decided to cold-brew a few bags in my half gallon pitcher, hoping that the cold brew might soften the overpowering flavors that I experienced with the hot steep. I used 5 tea bags for 2 quarts of water and stashed it in the fridge for about 8 hours.
As an iced tea, this is a little bit better but not much. The cherry flavor is not quite as cough syrupy as when it’s brewed hot but it still has that cough medicine taste. The chemical stevia notes are a little less apparent although I can still taste it. To offset the flavor of the stevia somewhat and try to make the sweet taste more natural, I added some agave to it and this addition helped make the drink more palatable.
On the positive side: I do like that I taste the pomegranate and the raspberry and these two fruits have a pleasant fruity flavor. The hibiscus is also less apparent as an iced tea. This tastes a lot more like a fruit drink than a tea though.
I think it’s fair to say that this was not a win for me. It wasn’t horrible but I find it difficult to move past that artificial taste of the stevia. It really ruins this drink for me.
