Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
To celebrate Mardi Gras this year, we’ve developed a blend reminiscent of a gorgeous King Cake. Hints of vanilla cream and cinnamon make for a truly delectable cup that’ll take you away to beautiful N’awlins.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Tasty! I don’t know that I’m necessarily tasting “cake” from this King Cake Cuppa Black Tea from Cuppa Crew Tea Company, but, it’s still darned tasty!
The cinnamon note is what comes through strongest here, although, I wouldn’t say that it’s a STRONG cinnamon-y tea. The cinnamon is a well-defined flavor without tasting of cinnamon candy (no red-hots here). This is more like the cinnamon taste you might get if you were to bite into a snicker-doodle cookie. Warm, sweet, true cinnamon taste. (Or, if you really want to get technical about it – true cassia taste.)
The vanilla offers a smooth creamy taste that compliments the cinnamon very well. The two together work very harmoniously … the vanilla softens the cinnamon, and the cinnamon keeps the vanilla cream from tasting too sweet or cloying.
The black tea base is not particularly strong here, but it does offer a pleasantly brisk background of flavor for the notes of cinnamon and vanilla cream. I think that if the black tea were perhaps a blend with Assam and possibly a Fujian black tea … this might taste a lot more like cake … or at the very least, like the aforementioned snicker-doodle cookie!
Regardless, this is a very tasty blend … one that I wouldn’t mind drinking again.
Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee Black Tea Blend from Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Skip the “real” bubbly and go with this gorgeous tea instead!
We start with our Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling – the “champagne” of teas – and add a touch of wild strawberries and whipped cream for a cuppa that’s fantastic hot or cold and with or without cream and sugar. You’ll love figuring out which way of prepping it you like best!
A perfect tea to enjoy with (or in spite of) that special someone….
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a tea I’ve been wanting to try since I read my SororiTea Sister Azzrian’s review of it, because it sounded so incredibly yummy! And my sister was so lovely to send me a sampling of the tea. Thanks, Azzrian!
This Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee Black Tea Blend from Cuppa Crew Tea Company is different from just about every other strawberry tea that I’ve tasted (and I’ve tasted quite a few). And the most notable difference between this tea and other strawberry flavored offerings out there is that the black tea base used for this blend is a Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling!
The Darjeeling gives this tea a lighter body than the typical Ceylon or other black tea leaf would, and this lighter quality lends a very lively, “bubbly” kind of character to the cup. The Darjeeling is a tad on the astringent side, so I would recommend brewing this tea at a slightly lower temperature (I usually go with 195°F for a black Darjeeling), and brewing it for 2 – 2 1/2 minutes. This will keep it from becoming too astringent. The tea still has a dry quality to it, similar to what you might experience when drinking a dry wine. (Note: I also find that this tea benefits from a minute or two of cooling time so that the flavors can develop)
And the tea does have a wine-like quality to it (hints of muscatel!) and I find that this is very complementary to the strawberry notes. The strawberry is delightfully sweet and offers hints of tartness to it too. There is a creamy undertone to the cup as well, and this adds to the sweetness.
A very lovely and unique strawberry flavored tea. I really enjoyed this one.
Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up Black Tea Blend from Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Top’o’the’mornin’ our pasty Irish butts. If you need a kick with a kick to start your day (or wake you up after lunch), here’s your tea, good ma’am or sir.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up Black Tea Blend from Cuppa Crew Tea Company is JUST what I needed today to get myself motivated! It’s just one of those days, you know, when I’d rather stay curled up in bed … but I have stuff I need to get done. I knew I needed something that would energize me and that’s just what this tea has done for me.
The black tea base is a BOLD black tea base – I suspect that there is some Assam in this because I can taste malty tones and that rich flavor that I normally associate with Assam. It has a good, strong, invigorating flavor and provides a solid taste for the background to support the flavors of Irish cream.
The creaminess melds nicely with the malt notes, and I can taste notes that taste very whiskey-like. I like that while these flavors are strong and distinguished, they do not mask the flavor of the tea – this tea is about the tea first, and the flavors second!
The tea has a fair amount of astringency to it, it is a drying astringency that I notice right at the tail. The palate feels clean after the sip, and there are hints of sweetness in the aftertaste.
This is definitely a great tea to help start the day off right. I tried it straight first, and it was good – but there was a certain EDGE to it that I wanted to soften just a bit so I added about half a teaspoon of turbinado sugar and this brought out the sweet, creamy notes as well as softened that aforementioned edge. A splash of milk or cream accentuates the creaminess, but, I found this to have a pleasant creaminess without the addition of dairy.
This is the first tea I’ve tried from this company, and it’s a good one! I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it.