Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tea Description:
We thought long and hard about how to make a black tea as unique yet as strong as the Incan Empire and what we came up with was Tawantin Black Tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Tawantin Black Tea marks the last of the four teas from Inca Tea that are currently available. I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to try all four teas.
Dry, the aroma is very subtle, I can smell notes of “black tea” and also hints of corn. The brewed tea has a similarly soft fragrance, it smells very much the same as the dry leaf, although I think I smell less corn and more black tea now, but it’s still a rather subtle scent.
But there’s nothing subtle about the flavor! This is a robust black tea with plenty of GUSTO. This would make a great tea to reach for first thing in the morning because it’s got a real strong, energizing flavor to it.
The description on the Inca Tea website lists the ingredients as
INGREDIENTS: Finest 3 black tea leaves (2 or which are organic) and purple corn. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu, “four parts together.” In Quechua, the term Tawantin is a group of four things (tawa, meaning “four”, with the suffix -ntin which names a group) This blend is a robust combination of 3 quality black tea leaves and purple corn.
An interesting bit of information about the name “Tawantin.” Inca tea does not state what types of black tea is used here, but based on what I’m tasting, I would venture a guess that there is either Assam or Nilgiri (or possibly both?) in this blend because it has a rich, malty note to it. Based on the slight bitter note that I taste toward mid-sip, I would guess that it’s an Assam. The nice round character and slight wine-like notes suggest to me that there is either a Keemun or a Yunnan in the blend (or possibly both), or if not one of these two (or both), perhaps a Kenyan?
Again, that’s all guesses on my part. I’m not sure of the teas used. But it is a full-flavored, rich tasting blend of teas. There is a slight astringency toward the tail and I find that this astringency starts out light and develops to more of a “medium” astringency as I make my way to mid-cup.
The thing that makes this tea different from the rest of the black tea blends that I’ve tried, though, is not the blend of black teas but the addition of purple corn. The purple corn does not present a strong, obtrusive flavor to the cup, but I can taste hints of a grainy flavor to the cup. With the casual sip, my palate has a hard time picking up the notes, so this is a tea you want to slurp a little bit so that you’re aerating the liquid onto the palate. When I do this, I can pick up on those grain flavors and it’s a very satisfying flavor as it melds with the malty notes of the black tea. It becomes almost bread-like … like a hearty loaf of freshly baked bread. Nice!
Since I was unsure of the teas used in this blend, I brewed one pyramid sachet of tea in 8 ounces of 205°F (rather than going for the full boil) and steeped it for 3 minutes. I think next time, I’ll steep it for just 2 1/2 minutes at the same temperature and see if this minimizes the slight bitter note. The bitterness isn’t bad nor is it putting me off on the cup, but, I would rather it wasn’t there so next time I’ll tweak how I brewed it just a little to see if the results are better.
But as it is, I find this to be pleasant cup of tea. I like the richness of the black tea and I like the subtle flavor that the corn brings to the cup. This is unique enough to be fun and interesting to drink but not so unique that it becomes unfamiliar.
I look forward to seeing what else this new company – Inca Tea – will offer in the future. These four teas that I’ve tried thus far have been quite nice!
Mountain Of Mango Tisane from Inca Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Blend
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tea Description:
Mango has always been a favorite fruit of the founder so he decided to add a little twist to the original blend. Its a refreshing blend of mango, sweet herbs, and citrus.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said (many times!) before, I’m not always thrilled when it comes to trying fruit and/or herbal tisanes. But because I’ve come to realize that I need to lighten up on the caffeine intake later in the evening, I’ve begun to embrace the tisane even though I’d much rather partake of Camellia Sinensis. So, when I opened the pouch for this Mountain of Mango tisane, I wasn’t exactly excited about it.
But … wow! I can definitely smell the mango in the dry leaf. No other tea/tisane immediately comes to mind where I smelled such a strong, distinct mango aroma. All of the sudden, my dismay over trying yet another tisane disappeared and I got excited about trying this!
I steeped the silky pyramid sachet in 8 ounces of 195°F water for 6 minutes. The brewed tisane is a light ruby color (a good sign, it doesn’t look like there’s too much hibiscus in this!) and it offers a light fruity fragrance. The mango notes are less distinct than in the dry leaf, but they’re still there.
This is pretty good. The mango isn’t as strong as I hoped for, but, it’s a clear and focused flavor. It is an obvious mango flavor. The apple offers subtle hints of sweetness but not a strong apple-y flavor. I think it’s probably present in this cup mostly to provide some sweet, juicy flavor to the cup without it adding too much to the flavor profile, and that’s what it seems to do here.
The ingredient list does not show any citrus-y ingredients that would provide the citrus that’s suggested in the above description, but I can taste a hint of tangy citrus toward the tail and this flavor lingers into the aftertaste. I’m not sure where this flavor is coming from unless it’s one of the “natural flavors.”
In the Peruvian Spiced Berry Tisane, I could taste the notes of purple corn, but I’m finding that flavor to be a little less distinct here. If I slurp the cup, I can pick up on a slight corn-like taste, but it’s much softer than in the Spiced Berry blend. I kind of liked that purple corn taste, it made that tisane significantly different from any other that I’ve tried, so I was kind of hoping for a little more purple corn flavor in this tisane as well.
That said, I really enjoyed this. The mango flavor is delicious and authentic and strong, and the hibiscus is not strong. Two big bonus points for these attributes. It’s a very tasty served hot, and it’s awesome iced!
Pick Me Up Peach White Tea Blend from Inca Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tea Description:
Being our first caffeinated blend we wanted it to embody a refreshing yet clean taste. Its a rejuvenating combination of white tea, lush peaches and sweet herbs.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah! Peaches! As soon as I tore into the pouch holding the pyramid sachet of this Pick Me Up Peach White Tea, the aroma of peach filled the room! The fragrance is very abundantly PEACH!
And the taste is also very abundantly peach. Sweet, luscious peach – which is perfect for this time of year when the peaches are in season. YUM! The peach flavor is sweet and true to the fruit. It doesn’t taste like an artificial or even a candied peach flavor.
But this blend also has hibiscus and rose hips in it, and it should come as no surprise to those of you who read this blog regularly that hibiscus is not my favorite herbal. I’m wishing that the hibiscus just wasn’t there. Yeah, it adds a hint of tartness which is a nice contrast to the sweet peach notes, and because of the hibiscus the brewed tea is a beautiful ruby color. And as long as it’s not steeped too long, it doesn’t have a syrupy consistency. (I steeped this for 4 minutes at 170°F.)
However, I do feel like the hibiscus and rose hips do interfere a bit with the delivery of the white tea flavor. It seems a little masked by everything else that’s going on in this blend. White tea is delicate, and these strong herbal flavors really shouldn’t be in a white tea blend.
I don’t taste much of the white tea. I taste a slight airy, earthy quality that is distinctly white tea, but because of the hibiscus, I’m missing some of the softer textures that I enjoy with a white tea. I’m also missing some of those sweet fruit notes that I believe would meld beautifully with the peach flavors.
The purple corn adds a slight “warm grain” sort of flavor that is quite appealing, and I am enjoying. The apple is not a strong note here, and I suspect it is part of this blend for it’s sweetness rather than to provide a strong apple-y flavor. And that’s what I’m getting from it.
Overall, this IS tasty, but I think it could be so much better without the hibiscus. I feel like the hibiscus overpowers the white tea. But I love the peach notes, and I like the purple corn. It’s a different kind of flavor that I’m not used to tasting in tea and I like it. It’s not an invasive flavor and I like how it complements the other flavors of this cup.
Kettle Corn Maté from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
If you could smell this through the internet, we would be sold out instantly. This is an amazing blend of roasted yerba maté, freeze-dried corn, marigold petals and organic flavors including popcorn and honey flavors. This is a seriously comforting cuppa. It’s all the goodness of kettle corn, but it won’t get stuck in your teeth. =)
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I was glad to read 52Teas’ announcement of their tea of the week for the week of July 14. Not because of the “Kettle Corn” part (although, that sounds amazing) but because of the Yerba Mate part. It’s been a while since 52Teas released a Yerba Mate blend (or a Guayusa blend!) so I was excited to try another Yerba Mate blend from them.
When it comes to Yerba Mate, I usually go with a slightly lower than boiling temperature – 195°F – and steep the leaves for 8 – 10 minutes. This time, I went with 8 minutes and I’m pleased with the results. Because Yerba Mate doesn’t have the tannins that Camellia Sinensis leaves have, you don’t have to worry about the cup becoming bitter from oversteeping, so take advantage of that and get as much flavor as you can out of this tea! It’s worth the effort!
Because this is yum!
When the cup is piping hot, this doesn’t really taste much like Kettle Corn, but as it cools (slightly – you still want the tea to be hot!) those flavors begin to develop.
At this point, I feel I should mention that my experience with Kettle Corn is limited to the few times that I’ve had it from the commercially packaged offerings that I can find in the grocery store which add up to probably fewer than a handful of times, and the once or twice that I’ve had the Kettle Corn varieties of microwave popcorn. I haven’t ever had Kettle Corn at a fair, then again, I don’t attend fairs. Not my kind of thing.
But from the Kettle Corn experiences I’ve had, this is very similar to what I remember. I can taste the sweetness of honey and the flavor of popcorn. A pinch of salt added to the cup will help to accentuate the “sweet and salty” aspect of the Kettle Corn experience, and this really helps the popcorn notes shine through as well as give the cup a really intriguing contrast of flavors (I absolutely LOVE the combination of salty and sweet).
The Yerba Mate is a good base for these flavors. It’s got that robust, roasty-toasty sort of flavor that ties in well with the popcorn notes. It adds warmth to the cup which enhances the whole experience and gives it a “freshly popped” popcorn type of taste.
After having tried this both hot and iced, I have to say that I prefer it hot. It’s alright iced, but the flavors become somewhat muted in the process. When served hot, the Kettle Corn flavors seem truer – as if someone had liquefied some Kettle Corn and added it to my cup of Yerba Mate. When cold, the flavors seem to all meld together and it’s difficult to discern what I’m actually tasting. It tastes more like a cup of caramel-y … something. It’s still good, but it doesn’t taste like the Kettle Corn Yerba Mate that the hot cup offers.
Tasty!
Peruvian Spiced Berry Tisane from Inca Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tea
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tisane Description:
This is our Original blend to characterize the true ancient Incan recipe.
INGREDIENTS: Hibiscus Petals, Elderberries, Currants, Purple Corn, Apple Pieces, Pineapple Pieces, Cinnamon, Cloves and Natural Flavors. This is the tea that the founder Ryan came across during his hike. Its is an enlivening herbal, fruit tea blend of purple corn, berries and spices.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t sure exactly what to think about this new tea made with purple corn! Weird, right? But, I decided that I had to give it a try. It was just weird enough. Not so weird that I’m put off by the thought of it, but weird enough that I’m really intrigued!
The aroma of the dry leaf is spicy and sweet. I can smell the cinnamon and cloves, and the sweet notes of pineapple and berries. I steeped the pyramid sachet for 6 minutes (I don’t usually go over 6 minutes with hibiscus blends because I don’t want the tisane to become too syrupy) in 195°F water.
The brewed liquid is a dark plum color (hibiscus!) and smells of spiced fruit. The cinnamon and cloves are still a dominant scent to this, but I like that it’s not overwhelmingly spicy. The fruit notes come through nicely, smelling a bit like a spiced berry compote.
Tasty! Really tasty!
This Peruvian Spiced Berry is the first of the teas created by Inca Tea. It’s their “original.” And it certainly is original, because as I said, I can’t recall ever encountering a tea that is made with purple corn. And Inca Tea’s original is a tasty offering! I am really enjoying the combination of berry flavors and spice.
I taste a bit of corn in this too! The corn adds more of a nutty, grainy sort of background note than a strong, obvious “corn” flavor. This ends up tasting a bit like a liquefied spiced berry cobbler – YUM!
Yes, there’s hibiscus and rosehips in this, and this would ordinarily make for a tart cup, but the warmth of the spices and the sweetness from the apple and pineapple soften those tart notes so that the tartness of these herbs does more to accentuate the berry flavors rather than stand out on their own. There’s still some tartness, but it’s a berry tart rather than a hibiscus tart that I’m tasting.
There is some texture to the cup too, but it’s not coming off as syrupy. It’s pleasantly thick without feeling as though my tongue is coated with hibiscus syrup.
I really enjoyed this – my first experience with Inca Tea! I will be trying more from them – and I’m looking forward to it!