Recently I ordered the “cheeky” sample set from Teapigs and got a small taste of a dozen of their teas. One of my favorites from the bunch was Apple & Cinnamon. When the weather gets cool, my apple and cinnamon consumption grows exponentially, (I mean, for breakfast I’m exclusively eating these apple pie overnight oats). And this tea is my new obsession for an herbal evening brew.
Apple & Cinnamon tea from Teapigs is fitting into my autumn menu perfectly. This herbal blend is all fruit and herbs, no rooibos or honeybush or decaf tea leaves. Lots of little yellow cubes of dry apples, sprigs of cinnamon, and blackberry leaves. The tea brews up a pale amber color, but is jam-packed with sweet, apple-pie flavors.
This tea does “apple spice” better than every limited edition snack-cakes or seasonal scented candles that are on the shelves this time of year. This brew is juicy and full of authentic, fresh apple flavors, with plenty of the spicy warmth of cinnamon sticks. My sample from Teapigs only included two tea bags so I’ll have to place an order for a big bag of loose leaf. I could see this tea being used as a healthier alternative to mulled apple cider, or used in baked goods to add a gentle apple spice infusion.
If you’re having trouble getting into the autumn season, brew a cup of this herbal tea and relax into your favorite sweater and get ready to watch the leaves change color. Don’t worry, this tea will keep you warm and comfy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Description:
Whether its in grandma’s pie, giant muffins or American pancakes nothing beats the flavour of sweet juicy apple with punchy cinnamon spice. It’s the perfect combination for a lovely fruity, punchy and spicy tea. Thanks go to the team at Olive and Bean, one of our lovely stockists in Newcastle who suggested this blend of apple and cinnamon.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cinnamon Apple Blossom from The Tea Can Company
In the fall and winter, I keep cinnamon sticks and whole cloves on hand for brewing hot apple cider. As much as I love the spicy, sweet fruit drink, the mulling process can be a bit slow and the cleanup, a bit sticky. When I don’t feel up to the whole hot apple cider shebang, I might just reach for a cup of Cinnamon Apple Blossom from the Tea Can Company instead.
This is a pure fruit and herb tisane, no rooibos or tea leaves included. This blend is wholly made up of apple and cinnamon pieces. Dry, this tea smells like cinnamon candies, the strong artificial cinnamon flavor like Hot Tamales. I let this blend steep long and hot, because I love my teas extra spicy, especially this time of year.
When this tea is brewed, the flaming cinnamon candy scent cools slightly, showing up strongest in the scent rather than the taste. The apple really gets a chance to shine in the hot brew, adding fresh fruit cider flavors to the tea. Despite the strong candy fragrance, this tea isn’t overly sweet, mostly filled out with natural, authentic apple flavor. Add a touch of honey if you want a sweeter experience. Mixed with cream and sweetener, this blend will taste like cinnamon apple pie and whipped cream.
It’s hard to go wrong with apple and cinnamon, and this blend is perfect for your fall festivities or to warm you up during the holidays.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: herbal
Where to Buy: Tea Can Company
Description: Crisp apple and warm cinnamon spice. This cinnamon and apple herbal blend combines the health benefits of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories into a delicious cup of tea. Naturally caffeine-free.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
The Holiday Season Approaches!
This isn’t a review but an advertisement (sorry guys!) No, we don’t usually advertise here on this site – this is an anomaly – but because one of the founding SororiTea Sisters is now the Mad Tea Artist behind 52Teas, she gets the privilege of deviating from the norm.
And 52Teas has a Holiday Pre-Sale going on right now on Kickstarter! This isn’t a typical “fundraising” Kickstarter campaign, instead, this is a chance for you to get some Christmas shopping done early while it helps us keep things just a little more organized by keeping our pre-sales separate from our day-to-day sales activity.
52Teas is offering 5 unique, limited edition teas for this promotion – these teas will be available only during the season and once they’re sold out, they won’t be reblended until next Christmas!
Here’s the specs on those five VITs (Very Important Teas):
- Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire – This is a special blend of black teas with a hint of Lapsang Souchong to give it that smoky touch that you’d experience from an open fire. Flavored with chestnut and caramel and just a hint of spice to give it that winter-y kind of appeal.
- Gingerbread Houjicha – I love the flavor of gingerbread and I think that the roasty-toasty, nutty flavor of houjicha would offer a delightful base to these flavors.
- Eggnog Chai – A Chai blend (black tea with a touch of honeybush) flavored with notes of custard-y eggnog with an extra dash of nutmeg to enliven the cup. This would make a great latte to serve Santa on Christmas Eve!
- Cranberry Orange Cider – A blend of red and green rooibos that’s been flavored with cranberry, orange and apple with a medley of holiday spices.
- Peppermint Marshmallow Melting in Hot Chocolate – For this blend, I chose a special black tea blend (crafted with teas from our friends at Verdant Tea) for the base that has a rich, natural cacao flavor with hints of malt. Peppermint, marshmallow and even more chocolate-y flavor to create a deliciously delightful cuppa.
YUM! So please take a moment to visit the 52Teas Kickstarter Holiday Pre-Sale and get some of that early Christmas shopping done early! The campaign closes on October 27th so your card won’t be charged until that date, and the teas will be shipped in plenty of time for gift giving!
Thanks for taking a moment to read this . . . now let’s get back to the reviews!
Spiced Apple Tisane from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
What does comfort mean to you? It might be a favourite sweater, an old family recipe or a perfect cup of tea. For us, it’s all about capturing warm and cozy flavours – like this sweet and spicy blend of apple, figs and chai spices. Laced with cinnamon and star anise, it brings back memories of apple picking, piping hot cider and fresh-from-the-oven pies. Basically, it’s like a hug in a cup. And whether you pair it with a good book or some great company, we guarantee it’s as comforting as it gets.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Spiced Apple was DAVIDsTEA’s September Tea of The Month though from the looks of it this tisane could seamlessly blend in with the Fall Collection. As it stands, every season is seems like DT finds a way to incorporate yet another new apple tea into the mix (this season Honeycrisp Apple). Personally, I feel like that’s a played out idea and each new one that they come up with excites me less and less. This season in particular feels especially saturated; but nonetheless here I am trying this newest tea regardless so I suppose I can’t complain too much.
Dry; this tisane smells more like those little cinnamon heart Valentine’s candies to me more than anything else – but I get apple too; it’s like some kind of mulled cider but heavy on the cinnamon. I wish I could smell the clove more. I can tell it’s gonna be sweet; star anise kind of instantly does that to tea. Now to try the hot brew.
Oh! Instant cinnamon hearts. Now that I’ve gone there mentally it’s hard to taste something else. With the level of anise-y sweetness and concentrated cinnamon (but not hot or dry cinnamon) you’d expect the liquor to look as bright, vibrant red as those little candies leave your tongue looking. I can taste clove, but it’s secondary to cinnamon and by quite a lot. The more I’m drinking, the more I taste the other components of the tea: apple, anise, and sort of a cardamom note too. I’m not really getting and distinctly fig tasting notes, and lowkey that’s what sold me on this tea in the first place.
I have to say, it started out alright but the flavour of both the ‘cinnamon hearts’ and apple cider really builds as my mug gets emptier and by the time I was on the last few sips I was already sick of this tea: it gets very cloyingly sweet despite having spicy elements working against that. I could never justify adding sweetener to this. I’m wondering how to best finish off the sample I got – currently I’m leaning towards cold brewing because that’s just what I do. My theory is that cold brewing would balance the flavours a little better.
Not bad, though. Certainly worth a try and worth taking the time to tweak it.
Soul Good Organic Oolong from Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Description:
A perfect cup of all natural apple cider to warm you up this autumn and winter.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The last couple of weeks have been crazy and the next week is going to be even more so – so it’s nice to have a tea like this Soul Good Organic Oolong from Tea Leaf Co. to help me collect myself and find a sense of calm. Tea is delightful like that – I love how I can sip it and it helps to de-stress me.
And what a delightful tea this is!
Even though it’s not autumn or winter – I am enjoying this cup of “apple cider” tea. It’s pleasantly sweet with a nice essence of apple and warm spices. And even though these flavors are prominent, they don’t overwhelm the sweet Oolong tea which appears to be a Tie Guan Yin based on the little green pellets of tea that I saw when I was measuring out the tea.
And the flavor and texture suggests a Tie Guan Yin tea to me. It’s sweet and has a soft, slightly creamy mouthfeel. There’s a light, buttery flavor to the tea that melds quite beautifully with the notes of apple and the spices.
The ginger is really nice – it’s warm and peppery without being too spicy. Generally when I think “apple cider,” I think of cinnamon flavor but I like that ginger is the star of this show – I’m really enjoying how nicely the apple and ginger taste together.
And the apple is wonderful here – it’s a strong flavor. My own experience with tea blending has taught me that apple can be a difficult flavor to nail but Tea Leaf Co. has nailed it here! It’s sweet and apple-y and authentic! This tastes very true-to-the-fruit!
A really lovely tea – and while it does have a very autumnal flavor to it, this is something I can see myself enjoying year round!