Country Chai Spice from The Cozy Leaf. . . .

by MrsPremise

Country Chai Spice from The Cozy Leaf already made me feel warm and relaxed just from the name.  Makes me think of being under a quilt out at a cabin, maybe beside a warm fire. Beyond the name, this tea had a surprisingly pleasant long list of spices in its ingredients list.  Cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, I expect, but not all chai teas comes with cloves and anise, and the never seem to come with fennel. What a lovely change of pace.

Brewed, this is a sweeter chai, thanks to a hearty serving of anise and cinnamon.  The anise isn’t strong enough to make this a black jelly bean chai, but it does add its token throat-soothing, candy-like properties.

Much to my surprise, the ginger and clove take a back seat in this tea, subtle enough that you might miss them if you’re not paying attention.  The fennel and cardamom are gentle and earthy, and add a much needed almost-savory pairing to the anise and cinnamon.

Just when I’ve thought that I’ve tried every chai tea I can think of, I find something new.   I look forward to getting cozy with another cup of Country Chai Spice from the Cozy Leaf sometime soon.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Cozy Leaf
Description:

Full-bodied black tea chai made with real chai spices of rich cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, and sweet anise and clove for a healthy and delicious treat.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

MrsPremise

Growing up, I drank herbal teas like fresh ginger tea during New England's harsh winters and iced blueberry tea during its humid summers. Over time, I was tempted into trying a wider variety of loose leaf teas by the fandom-themed blends available online. I have since gone on to design my own blends, and I greatly enjoy drafting up flavor ideas and drawing tea labels. When I'm not thinking about tea I can be found reading novels and comic books, playing video games, or watching movies; my favorite genres being history, humor, sci-fi, and fantasy. Generally, I prefer bold teas: spicy chais, rich black teas, even smoky lapsang souchong on occasion. But I have also dabbled in herbal rooibos, flavored oolongs, and traditional matcha. I'm glad to be expanding my palette by tasting and reviewing new teas and blends. Find me on Steepster: http://steepster.com/A2shedsjackson Fandom blends: http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/list.html?userId=292149

This post was posted in Black Tea, Chai, Cozy Leaf

Tea Party Sonnet in honor of William Shakespeare black tea blend from Simpson and Vail

by TeaRax

 

TEA-ming up with Tiny Salutations again for your reading pleasure with this sonnet:

Harken back to a faire of the 16th century
With “William Shakespeare’s black tea blend”
In each cup a wistful reverie
And a moment for your soul to mend.

It’s rosy liquid, by any other name,
Would it smell as sweet?
Inspiration my mouth doth claim
In framing Sonnets in my seat.

Intense floral aromas enhance
The Bard’s many tales
Of tragedy, comedy, and romance
Such a tea of Simpson and Vail’s.

Made of lavender and rose
And fresh plucked rosemary
A delight to eyes, mouth, and nose
As good a tea as potpourri!

The flavor is smooth
The rose aftertaste BOLD
A pleasant scent in truth
The color a rich chocolate gold.

This tea we doth surely keep.
Huzzah for a second steep!

Here’s the scoop!

Loose Leaf:   Black tea Blend

Where to Buy:  Simpson and Vail

Description:  Gardens, herbs, and flowers appear in many of Shakespeare’s plays and oftentimes play a critical role in his stories. Our William Shakespeare tea blend is a combination of a few of the many herbs he references: lavender, roses, rosemary. The wit and playfulness of his verse means that Shakespeare’s plays can still be enjoyed today, ideally with a warm cup of tea.

This black tea and floral blend brews to an amber cup with a sweet, floral taste. The slightly earthy and woody notes are rounded out with the citrus taste of bergamot and sweet rose petals.

Certified Kosher

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

TeaRax

My favorite tea is always changing, like a typical Gemini. When I was a teenager, my native Washington Starbucks coffee was forbidden, but I occasionally snuck in a chai latte, so black teas have been my go-to morning drink when I feel feisty. As an adult, I spent 3+ years living in China and Japan where I learned about green, white, oolong, and pu'er teas origins. I was even prescribed traditional medicinal teas while I was there and that's a taste you don't soon forget! But it didn't scare me away from herbals - I really like cold brewing rooibos and tisanes now because I can share them with my toddler. I am back in school to become a geologist, and these science textbooks can be difficult to get through without a strong cuppa. When I'm not studying, I love pairing my teas with my BFFL and salted caramel macarons, or having existential chats with my dad.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Simpson & Vail

Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong by A Quarter to Tea

by Sensiblyscript
Steeping at 190 degrees for 4.5 minutes as recommended, I prepared this tea with one tablespoon of leaves and around 10 ounces of water.

The high-quality oolong leaves swell and uncurl while steeping–something I always find fascinating (in addition to comforting because I know it means I’m about to drink some excellent tea!)

Once the steeping gets going it smells strongly of chocolate and cherry, which I take as a good sign! Actually it smells almost overwhelmingly of cherry while steeping, but after steeping that abates somewhat. The cherry flavor still hits your nose first but as you keep inhaling you can dig down and find the grounding, comforting chocolate smell too. It’s rounder and creamier. and the oolong lends butteriness and a floral note to the scent.

First sip: The butteriness from the oolong and the sharper floral, also from the oolong, and the fruity cherry notes hit all at once. The chocolate flavor seems to have melded with (and mostly been superseded by) the oolong butteriness. The chocolate itself is more of an aftertaste now. And yet sometimes you can detect it mingled with one of the other flavors.
Color: the tea is dark, but brown-tinted. Mahogany, perhaps; not really chocolate-colored though.

 

With milk: the cherry and the creamy oolong flavor come to the front along with a green-tea flavor (possibly from the houjicha?), the combination of which really reminds me of a matcha latte (not a bad thing at all). It’s not too astringent this way and not at all bitter.
A Quarter to Tea has come up with a great flavored blend here, and the company has great values too; not only do they use vegan ingredients but they also avoid using gluten, and try to avoid using potential allergens as well. While this blend is fun and satisfying, chocolate is not necessarily the dominant flavor here, so it’s important to be aware of that and enjoy this tea for itself rather than feeling like you’ve been tricked into drinking a not-chocolatey-enough tea. <3

 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Oolong
Where to Buy:  A Quarter To Tea
Description

Roasty enough to appease the coffee lover in you! The blend of hojicha and oolong makes a robust, coffee like base without the jitters. Mellowed out with chicory, chocolate, and cherries.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in A Quarter To Tea, Oolong

Marshmallow Assam from 52Teas. . . .

by VariaTEA

Marshmallow. Assam. So simple but so good.

I had this when it was made by the original 52 Teas and voted constantly for it to be reblended as part of the new 52 Teas’ 12 Days of Christmas promotion. It’s that good.

The assam is bright and malty. Perfect to wake you up but it refrains from being astringent thanks to the soft fluffiness of the marshmallow.

Marshmallow flavor is what takes over here. It is sweet and gooey and great. Plus, the outer layer of real marshmallows are a little crisp as opposed to the gooey center and somehow this drink even captures that crispness of the outer shell. It is one of the most accurate depictions in tea that I have come across and I have tried A LOT of marshmallow teas.

Unfortunately this is out of stock right now but if this is reblended, it is one I certainly recommend picking up. Until then, I will be hoarding my stash.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea

Atlantis Found. . .An Adagio Teas Custom Blend From Our Own TeaEqualsBliss. . . . .

by SuperStarling

My television often displays shows about Earth’s mysterious past. Ancient Aliens, Curse of Oak Island, What On Earth, Mythbusters, Finding Bigfoot, and Hunting Hitler have all graced our screen.

My husband cannot get enough of unsolved peculiarities. We’ll be eating a meal and he’ll be like “did you know that the skull fragment the KGB presented as evidence of Hitler’s death was tested? And it’s FEMALE?” or “have you ever seen pictures of the circles in South America where nothing grows — and NO ONE KNOWS WHY? THE SOIL IS FINE” or “did you know the sphinx was probably a dog, not a lion?”

So when I got a tea called “Atlantis FOUND!”, I was pretty psyched. Finally: one of those historical enigmas has been SOLVED.

CROSS ONE OFF THE LIST.

This is a very tasty chocolate-vanilla-fruit tea. It’s punchy fruit — blueberry and raspberry — in an ocean of what tastes like milk-chocolate. In summary, a very nice dessert tea.

I sometimes wish that Adagio’s default black tea had a little more oomph, but that doesn’t disrupt this tea very much because the other flavors are so strong. The meh-nature of the black tea can be canceled out somewhat by adding a little bit of vanilla almond milk (or whatever your choice of add-in might be).

I’m going to make up a batch of this and keep it in my insulated bottle as I hike through the tundra looking for the elusive Yeti. I think he’d dig it.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea (Flavored)
Where to Buy:  Adagio Teas
Description

Atlantis FOUND! All Black Flavors Blend – Blueberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Adagio Teas, Black Tea