Orange Cookies Tea from Kent & Sussex Tea Co.

by Mary

A few quick questions for you guys:

1. Is there anything more delightful than cookies dunked in tea? I think not.

2. Is there anything more delightful than tea that tastes like cookies-dunked-in-tea? NOPE.

3. Am I boring you with my incessant questioning? Wait. Don’t answer that.

If you could tell from my aforementioned poll-taking, this tea is delightful. Truly. The dry leaf smells like a confection straight from The Great British Baking Show (can you tell what I’ve been Netflix-bingeing lately?), and brewed, it’s even more delightful. This tea reminds me of a citrus chai, but with a warm, buttery-cookie element that really takes it to the next level. Often citrus and spice can be fairly one-note, lacking that depth of flavor that really heightens the tea drinking experience, but not this cuppa.

With a little milk and maple syrup, it’s the perfect level of decadence that levels up a traditional breakfast tea without overdoing it on the saccharine-sweet. I’d pair this one with some orange spiced scones. Or a cinnamon tea cake. Or some orange-glazed shortbread. Mmm. Either way, the dunkability on this tea is unmatched.

Get Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood over here, I think we’ve got a showstopper!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Co.
Description

Orange Cookies Flavoured Black Tea! A super new spicy loose leaf Tea. Combining pieces of Sweet Cinnamon Spicy Cardamoms Cloves and Fruity Pepper with lovely chunks of Sweet Apple pieces. A wonderful concoction with the scent of juicy Spanish Oranges. Orange Cookies Black Tea Ingredients: Black Tea, Apple pieces, Cinnamon bits, Coriander, Flavouring, Cardamom pods, Orange slices, Pink Pepper and Cloves.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Mary

Hi there! I'm Mary, a 27-year-old mental health professional living with my fiancé and our quirky kitten in the Midwest! I've loved tea for as long as I can remember-- in fact, I have vivid memory of being four or five in a tea shop and being mesmerized by all the tea flavors and proclaiming that I "was going to be kind of adult who drank tea, not coffee." A stint living (and tea-drinking my way through) London and twenty-some years later, I'm still channeling that sassy four-year-old and loving my tea habit. When I'm not sipping a cuppa, you'll find me reading, doing yoga, traveling, exploring my own city, planning our wedding and experimenting with different healthful and healing foods in my kitchen.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Kent & Sussex Tea Co

Enjoying A Pumpkin Tea. . . .Out of Season! #bluebirdteaco.

by SuperStarling

There is literally no “wrong” time of year for pumpkin spice. I will never let such trivialities come in the way of a delicious taste or a review thereof.

Feel free to pat me on the back for journalistic integrity. I boogey to the beat of my own drummer.

Go ahead. Incorporate this into your own life. Drink tea “out of season.” Wear white after labor day. Wear black in the summer. Have visible panty lines. Go to a water park in the winter. Celebrate Halloween with a Gothy holiday tree. Adopt a squirrel and wear it as a hat.

Just kidding. I was checking to see if you were paying attention.

This tea totally nails the buttery, creamy, slightly-spicy nature of pumpkin pie. There’s even a caramel note that I am going to declare as “crust.”

The sweet night be a little bit too strong for it to taste exactly like pumpkin pie, but the tea does still retain that spirit.The tea’s flavor has the warmth of a chai with additional sweet milky smoothness, even consumed black. (I drink almost all teas black.) There’s that playful spicy moxie here that I typically associate with chai.

This tea isn’t available at the moment because, well… it’s out of season. That’s really the only downside of reviewing things “whenever” — things disappear! But that’s all right: keep an eye on Bluebird. Those spunky kids are always releasing new goodies, and one like this might be in their fall lineup!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description

This tea is not available right now but click below to see the new teas they have to offer.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Black Tea, Bluebird Tea Co

Jasmine Pecan Shortbread from A Quarter To Tea. . . .

by Sophia

Jasmine Pecan Shortbread by A Quarter to Tea- Doesn’t this sound so interesting? I love pecans. I put pecans in my shortbread. Yes, I make shortbread and yes it is absolutely incredible shortbread. I put pecans in it to add that crunch and my other half and I go nuts (no pun intended) over it. But, my shortbread is laden with butter. A Quarter to Tea’s “shortbread”, though? Not so much. What better way to get my cravings in than with this? I have been so excited to try this blend and I think today is the perfect day to do so.

I steeped this blend for four minutes with hot water. I used half of a sample bag in my 12oz mug. Once steeped I could smell sweet jasmine, the vegetal green tea, cookies, and the nutty pecans. The smell was very realistic! My first thought when I tasted it is that I could taste the green tea, which I love. I love green tea so I don’t mind when it’s flavor is strong. I think that the second part I tasted was the floral jasmine followed by nutty pecans and finished with slight sweet cookie and vanilla flavor just at the very end. I’m actually really digging this blend, wow. It is good! I’m sipping on it as I write this and the more I drink the more I can taste pecan shortbread freckled with jasmine. The aroma of sweet vanilla and jasmine is definitely there as well, and that, coupled with the taste of pecan cookies, makes for a very happy “me”.

You got to try this one, people! Yeah, i’m probably going to be ordering more. YUM! I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, A Quarter to Tea is just plain winning.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green Tea
Where to Buy:  A Quarter To Tea
Description

Lovely vanilla, butter and pecans flavors with a jasmine background. Definitely try more than one steep — the more steeps, the more the jasmine comes to play!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in A Quarter To Tea, Green Tea

Fresh Baked Sugar Cookies Tea #SimpsonandVail

by Sophia

I have never done a tea swap, until now. I am so glad I found out about the world of tea swapping. It is so awesome! I just got a bunch of tea while clearing out my own cabinet a little bit. How can you go wrong with free tea?

The first I decided to try was my tea swap buddy’s favorite, and it is called Almond Sugar Cookie. It is a black tea blend by Simpson and Vail. I have never had a tea from Simpson and Vail before and was excited to try it out. I love cookies and I love almond! I was hoping for genuine flavor here and boy did I get that, and more.

This tea smells exactly like fresh baked sugar cookies. Seriously it does! And it does it without tasting artificial. I steeped this blend with near-boiling water for about 5 minutes. The black tea was smooth and mellow, not astringent or bitter. The smooth, malty flavor of the black tea accented the cookie flavor very well. The almond here was not overpowering and it was not overly sweet, artificial, or cherry-like. We have all had that almond flavored tea that tastes like cherries because of how sweet the almond flavoring the company used was. I don’t like teas like that. Rest assured, Simpson and Vail really hit the nail on the head here. I am absolutely in love!

I really cant say enough about this tea. It was so realistic to fresh baked sugar cookies speckled with crunchy almonds. I will definitely be ordering from this company and am excited to try out their other teas. I was perusing their website a bit and saw that their prices are very reasonable, too. I would recommend you check them out.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Simpson and Vail
Description

Heavenly! That’s the best word to describe this black tea blend. You’ll think you’re in a bakery when you open the bag and the aroma of nutty goodness wafts out. The brewed tea is divine – with no calories!

Ingredients: Black teas, almonds, flavoring and safflower blossoms. Contains Tree Nuts.

Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in Black Tea, Simpson & Vail

Chocolate Banana Flavored Tea? We’re Listening. . . . #52Teas

by Sophia

There is definitely no mistaking that I don’t love banana- banana bread, banana tea, banana pancakes, banana smoothies. I just love bananas! I actually made chocolate covered bananas the other day. I dipped them in milk chocolate and covered them with crumbled graham crackers, crushed peanuts, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut. They were really really good. Sometimes I don’t always have the time to freeze, coat, and roll out chocolate covered bananas. Naturally, tea would be the next best option! You can always rely on 52 Teas for creativity and I know Anne (the mad tea artist at 52 Teas) is a huge fan of banana tea, so I had high expectations for this one.

My expectations were certainly met! This tea was a honey bush blend. I definitely prefer honey bush to rooibos, any day. It does still have a nice nuttiness to it though, just isn’t as woodsy or earthy. The nuttiness of the honey bush almost gave the illusion that this was more of a chocolate covered banana rolled-in-pecans tea. Either way, its delicious. The chocolate adds a creamy component and of course- the taste of chocolate! And who doesn’t like chocolate? The banana flavor is present but not overpowering or artificial. It is quite delicious and realistic!

I would definitely recommend this blend. I know not everyone is a fan of banana flavor, but even if you’re not I would suggest you try this. It is really good. A great after-dinner treat!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

This blend is longer available but click below for blends that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Honeybush