Jelly and Ice Cream from Teapigs. . . . .

by MrsPremise

I recently tried a cheeky box set of tea samples from Teapigs, and their packaging and labels were so cute and irresistible.  One flavor that wasn’t available in the box set was a blend made in honor of the Teapigs 10th anniversary in 2016.  It was meant as a limited edition blend, but it made such a hit that you can still place fresh orders for the blend today.

Jelly and Ice Cream was such an unusual flavor name and profile, I just had to check it out.  This is an herbal blend, made with lots of fruit pieces and natural flavoring.  The dry leaf smells both fruity and nutty, almost like sugary cereal, and brings to mind sticking your nose into a box of Crunch Berries.  The blend brews up as a rich, amber-pink color and tastes much like its scent, only smoother and sweeter.  The great news is that even though the tea is pink, there’s no sour hibiscus petals, so fruity-tea lovers of the world can rejoice that this blend isn’t overpowered by hibiscus tartness.

The flavors are just balanced enough to give me a full taste of both the jam-like raspberries and strawberries, and the sweet-cake tones of vanilla, cream, and biscuits.  Despite the dessert-like name, there’s something bright and breakfast-oriented about this blend, like toast with jam, or fruity cereal in milk.  This blend entices me to make it part of my balanced breakfast! Besides, it makes me feel whimsical and like a kid eating dessert-first.

Not being British, I’m not sure if this tea is based on a type of dessert in real life, but no matter what side of the pond you’re on, it’s hard to argue against flavors like jelly and ice cream and cake.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Description:

In 2006 the Iphone didn’t exist, the Kardashians were not a (big) thing, nobody #HASHTAGGED anything, people asked directions, smoking in pubs happened, Lance Armstrong was liked, Desperate Housewives ruled our lives, Woolworth’s pick’n’mix ruled our kids lives, avocado’s were not cool and teapigs was launched. We celebrate 10 years of great quality tea with this blend of strawberry jelly & ice cream. Grab a mug and raise a Birthday toast to teapigs!

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 Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Teapigs

Celebrate from Urban Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Urban Tea

Company Description:

A festive, master blend of premium black tea, fruits, warm spices and garden flowers.  Celebrate produces an irresistible bold aroma and flavor that is seductive and satisfying.  One cup won’t be enough!  Try this hot or iced, it’s a winner any way you drink it!

Ingredients

  • Black tea, orange peel, rose petals, apple, almond, cornflower, cinnamon, papaya, peach, cranberry, rosehips, natural flavoring.
  • Origin: Sourced from the finest ingredients from India and the USA

Taster’s Review:

This is a very flavorful cup of tea.  It reminds me a bit of a hot & spicy cinnamon/orange tea, but with a delightful fruit-flavored twist.

The cinnamon dominates this cup, and it is on the warm side!  It’s a bit like those sweet-hot cinnamon hearts.  YUM!

Of the fruit flavors featured in this tea, the orange is the most prominent.  It adds a lovely sweetness to the cup, and the cinnamon accents it so well.  It’s very autumnal.  I can also taste the peach, apple and papaya flavors.  The cranberry is very faint, but I can taste a hint of the tartness from the cranberry in the finish.

The black tea base is not real strong in this blend, and I feel like the flavor of the black tea gets a little lost here.  The same is true for the almonds.  In fact, had I not read the ingredients, I wouldn’t have known that there were almonds in this blend.

That being said, this is still a very tasty blend, and one I would recommend to those that really enjoy those spicy cinnamon teas.  I really like this.  It does have a lot going on, but, I can’t really hold that against this tea because it is so fun and flavorful.

This tea is delicious hot or iced – and the flavors do change a little as the tea cools.   It becomes a little smoother and softer in taste, and this seems to awaken some of the black tea flavor.  Because it is such a “warm” tea (and by warm, I mean the spicy-hot kind of warm) – this tea is perfect now that the air grows cooler!  A fantastic tea for autumn!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea