A good friend surprised me with a box containing a Lupicia green rooibos blend and two sample sachets. I couldn’t wait to try them all! This was first pick.
A quick peek at google to find out whether it was a black or green tea so I could set the kettle to the proper temp told me it was cherry scented and I did not look any further. But it was a conundrum. Go ahead and make a fruity tea even though I was having waffles and maple syrup for breakfast, or rummage through my stash to find a plain black? My experience with Lupicia was that their fruity teas are SUPER fruity and it might all be too sweet together, but I decided I really wanted to try these sooner rather than later!
Then rats rats rats! I tasted the waffle before sipping the tea! I like to try a new tea unadulterated to get the full flavor. Nevermind, a few sips would clear the palate to give me the true taste.
And that’s where it got confusing.
Nice black tea base…yes, a hint of cherry but not super fruity, rather…..smokey? What is that? What is happening? Not smokey….SAVORY. And then…..warmth from a little spice starts to glow. Is that pepper? I don’t like peppery chai and this wasn’t offending me so what was it? Was the syrup messing with the true taste of the tea too much?
Here is where I had to stop everything and look up the tea to find out what was going on. The savory was coming from rosemary! And the spice was pink peppercorns, which I couldn’t see in the sachet at all but when I tore it open it was there. If there is going to pepper in my tea, I highly prefer pink peppercorn to any other kind.
This tea was a great pairing with the sweet syrup and waffles. The rosemary gave deep herbal notes and enhanced the black base while the pink peppercorns gave warmth and spice and a nice, lingering aftertaste that cut the sweetness of the food without the raw heat of black peppercorns. The cherry wasn’t cough syrup cherry or candy cough drop cherry, but a nice, realistic Japanese cherry that was not too sour.
This gets a thumbs up from me! In future I would buy it loose leaf so I could see those adorable bright pink/red peppercorns looking like tiny cherries!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Description
SAKURAMBO is A fresh, intriguing blend of black tea scented with juicy Japanese cherries, one of our best-selling flavored teas of all time. The tea is topped with crisp rosemary and pink peppercorns imitating the ripe fruit. Visually appealing, this tea will make a great gift. Try its delicious sister product, SAKURAMBO VERT, which is a green tea blend.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
(photo credit: Lupicia)
French Breakfast from Fava Tea. . .
Picture this: you’re sitting on the banks of the Seine, sipping a hot beverage and eating a buttery, flaky croissant. Gentle French music is playing in the background (from where? who knows!) and cute dudes in berets are slowly strolling past. Oh, and the world is also lightly sepia-toned and everything is in bloom, 24/7, 365.
This is what I picture breakfast in France to be like, friends. SO REALISTIC, I know.
Now, though my delusions are certainly of grandeur, this tea certainly isn’t very far off. Gently maple-y with subtle pastry notes and a beautiful sprinkling of cornflowers, this tea is hearty and bold while still being the tiniest bit floral and unassuming. Kind of like what I picture the French to be, in my most stereotype-y imagination. This brew is a nice counterbalance to its heartier European friends, English and Irish Breakfast respectively. And while I generally find teas from Fava to be a bit on the weaker side (unfortunately– I want to love this local-to-me company, but much of their offerings leave something to be desired), this brew is a bit stronger than others of theirs I’ve tried, and thus, it made it an easy choice to reach for in my morning-sip-down.
Now, if anyone wants to fund my ACTUAL, hypothetical trip to Paris, I’ll be over here in my daydreaming, sipping away.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Fava Tea
Description
A superior blend of vanilla, and sweet, smooth black tea. This blend is accompanied by tiny bits of pineapple and cherry to add a distinct flavorful sweetness and burst of character! An excellent choice anytime of the day that takes cream and sweetener well. French Breakfast Superior has been described as a cup of relaxation in a world of chaos. We hope you enjoy as much as we all do.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cerise Noire from Dammann Freres. . . .
I love black cherry. It is one of those flavors that just gets me. I blame my mom. When I was a little girl she used to go to an ice cream sale and pick up pints of ice cream to keep on hand. Among the haul was always Black Cherry Ice Cream and me and my mom would always sneak down in the middle of the night (aka 10 pm) and just eat it right out of the container. I got older and the fondness stuck so to this day I can’t resist black cherry or in the case of this tea, “Cerise Noire”.
French teas, such as this one, are best suited to a low and slow steeping so I brewed this for 4 minutes in 190F. The end result is surprisingly thick. Since its scented, the black tea comes through first, mild and smooth. Then comes the cherry flavoring which is subtle. French teas have a typical red fruits flavor and this tea has that, though it does lean more to cherry than anything else.
Since I had enough leaf, I decided to also brew this up as a chocolate milk latte. Chocolate and cherries are quite the pair so I figured how could this be bad. Unfortunately it isn’t great. The chocolate milk combined with with the black tea just makes for a dark flavor that is not really chocolate nor cherry nor tea. The combination is almost a bit bitter and quite heavy. I had high hopes but chocolate milk latte is not the way to go with this one.
As far as black cherry goes, there could be more. At least for my tastes. Though it does have the typical french tea flavor profile so if that is what your looking for and you’re a black cherry fan, this could be a tea for you.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Dammann Freres
Description
A blend of black teas perfumed with the delicious flavour of black cherry.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fava’s French Breakfast Superior Black Tea from Fava Tea. . . .
This uniquely flavored black tea features vanilla, pineapple, and cherry.
The dry leaf smells like it was doused with caramel and is is quite pretty with its pop of red and orange amid the black tea leaves. The liquid color is a clear, dark amber and the smell of caramel is strong with this one as well. Vanilla and caramel are the predominate flavors.
The pineapple and cherry flavors do not present themselves at all but instead seem to make the sweetness of the caramel flavor stand out.
The black base hides well but I do get hints here and there that make me wonder if the base is English Breakfast.
Oh aren’t we a sneaky tea?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Fava Tea
Description
A superior blend of vanilla, and sweet, smooth black tea. This blend is accompanied by tiny bits of pineapple and cherry to add a distinct flavorful sweetness and burst of character! An excellent choice anytime of the day that takes cream and sweetener well. French Breakfast Superior has been described as a cup of relaxation in a world of chaos. We hope you enjoy as much as we all do.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
