According to Bird & Blend, Queen Victoria started the trend of adding a snack to mid-afternoon tea. WHAT A HUMANITARIAN. BLESS THAT WOMAN.
Apparently Vicky really liked sponge cake, so Bird & Blend re-created its vibe with this black blend featuring coconut, vanilla, & raspberry.
I don’t really eat sponge cake (I don’t think? DO I?), but I like whatever’s happening here, which is a lot like having a berry-flavored cupcake with cream cheese/vanilla icing. I’m definitely getting “berry”, “creamy,” and “confection” here. A soothing Ceylon tea serves as the blanket upon which these airy, sweet flavors rest. It’s basically holding the door open and saying “after YOU, ladies.”
I’m sipping this tea at the end of a hilariously rough day (spreadsheets were in play), and it’s making me feel so much better. It’s SO calming. It’s like when a parent or pal pets your hair.
“There there,” the tea whispers. “Enjoy this. You deserve the finest.”
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bird & Blend Tea Co.
Description
There is nothing better than a cuppa and cake (except perhaps a cake flavoured cuppa!) and did you know it was our good old queenie Victoria who invented the Vicky Sponge? Guess the name gives it away a bit! She loved taking afternoon tea with her home girls but decided they needed some extra nourishment to last until dinner. Cake it is then! We like your thinking QV!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Carrot Cupcake from David’s Tea. . .
I am trying this tea in front of an audience. I’m currently in the middle of a cabin with 15+ friends/kids, and everyone got excited when they sniffed this. I made several cups for everyone; I kept the last for myself.
Before I had a chance to even sip my cup, one of my friends slid up to me. “The tea you gave me is delicious,” he whispered.
“What did your kids think?” I asked. His three-year-old had sniffed the tea and kept following me around whispering “tea.”
“I haven’t given them any,” he said. “I’m keeping it all for myself.”
“That’s COLD,” I replied.
When I finally had a cup, I saw what he meant. This is a carrot/apple/spice mix with a bit of a cream/marzipan sweetness (as opposed to a powdery, shrill, hyper-sweet flavor). As I sipped, the spiciness increased. (Possibly the spices are heavier and sit further down in the mug?) I liked the flavor better back when it was sweeter at the beginning of the cup. I think that this would be sweeter and more consistent iced, and I think that’s what I’m going to try next.
Unlike my friend, I’d let my kids try this. I’d spread the joy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description
This decadently creamy rooibos blend tastes just like your favourite carrot dessert. You’ll love its natural carrot sweetness and the extra zing of warmth from cinnamon and ginger. Plus it’s caffeine and calorie-free, so you can sip it all day every day. Still not convinced? The rich cocoa shells and whipped cream will change your mind. Yeah, we knew you couldn’t resist…
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Coconut Cream Pie from David’s Tea. . .
David’s Tea’s site says that this tea makes a great dessert substitute. I say, uh, nice TRY, but we all know YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES on this one.
That said, this tea IS a sweet sensation. It’s got coconut, white chocolate, and oolong, my personal favorite. It tastes like a tropical morning. Enough kick in the oolong to scoot you along, but enough sweet to say “hey, it’s a sunny and fun day ahead.”
Despite living in Pennsylvania during January, I do momentarily feel — with this tea and my light box — that bikini weather is right around the corner.
Just let me pretend.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description
Rich, toasted coconut flakes and creamy white chocolate unite in this delectable oolong tea. Infused with all the flavours of a homemade coconut cream pie, this velvety oolong blend smells as delicious as it tastes. Who needs dessert when you’ve got this tea to satisfy your sweet tooth?
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 12
Day 12!
Wow! It’s finally here, Christmas morning! And the final tea of the 12 Teas of Christmas is Gingerbread Brûlée Black tea. It is a perfect choice for the grand finale: after all, what is more showy and celebratory than creme brûlée?
This black tea features fragrant and delicious pieces of candied ginger accompanied by festive gingerbread spices. The dry leaf smells like putting your nose in a tin of gingerbread cookies, dark, spicy, a little peppery, and plenty sweet.
Brewed, this tea is robust and flavorful, don’t let the dessert theme lull you into thinking this is a mild blend. The black tea base has plenty oomph to wake you up no matter how early your family is opening Christmas presents.
I personally love kick-your-tastebuds strong chai flavors, but this tea made me realize that there is more than one way to have a tasty ginger tea. I really appreciate the caramelized black tea tones and I’m glad the ginger isn’t so hot that it drowns out the other flavors.
The molasses tones from the gingerbread are a perfect match for the crispy, burnt sugar flavors of the brûlée. There is just a perfect hint of heat from the candied ginger root, and the comforting warmth of other cookie spices. If you can’t bake a tray of gingerbread cookies, brew a pot of this tea instead and make your kitchen smell like the holidays.
Merry Chistmas!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This is a tea that I had planned out way back when I was still in the planning stages of taking over 52Teas – but kept putting off again and again. Why? I don’t know. But I sure am glad I finally blended this because WOW! It’s ah-ma-ZING!
I started out with a blend of black teas (Yunnan, Assam & Ceylon) and added ginger & candied ginger, a bit of cinnamon & cloves, some freshly shaved nutmeg as well as some creme brulee essence to complete the tea.
The cuppa starts out with strong gingerbread notes with mere hints of the creamy brulee. The ginger is definitely present in at the start, so there’s no mistaking that this is, indeed, a GINGERBREAD brulee. As I continue to sip, the custard-y notes of the creme brulee start to emerge and the flavors seem to come together and become more smooth with each sip. By the end of the cup, I find a very lovely balance of both creme brulee (and I even some of that bittersweet burnt sugar in there!) and gingerbread.
And of course, this is organic, VEGAN, gluten-free & allergen free!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 11-Spoilers!
Day 11!
Christmas Eve already: are you excited? The penultimate tea of the 12 Teas of Christmas is Caramel Monkey Bread Rooibos. Monkey Bread is known for its cinnamon sugar and bouncy yeast bread base. This tea has plenty of cinnamon scent as soon as you open the bag. But the cinnamon is sweet, not too hot or spicy, just the comforting warmth of a kitchen spice cabinet.
Brewed, the caramel notes come forward, enhanced by the natural toasted-sweet flavor of the rooibos. If I were blind folded, I might guess that this tea flavor was snickerdoodle, with all the cinnamon sugar goodness that I taste. There is that hint of caramel or caramelized sugar among all the spice. Is there such a thing as caramel- drizzled-snickerdoodles? If not, this tea is making me think that maybe there should be.
The great part about this blend is that it is a decaf rooibos base, so you can drink it before bed (or as you are setting out the cookies for Santa), and still get some sleep before Christmas morning. Well, as much sleep as you can with all the excitement and sugar plums dancing in your head!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Red Rooibos
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This is one of the final teas (tisanes) that Frank crafted during his time with 52Teas and I have a wee confession – I hadn’t tried it until a day or two before I blended this batch. I had the tea in my stash – but it was still sealed … never opened! At the time when I received this tea in my subscription package, I was preparing to take over 52Teas: testing samples from my wholesale sources, setting up the website and blending teas. I was so busy back then I was running around like a crazy woman with her hair on fire and to be honest, I really didn’t have time to sit back and enjoy a cuppa. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed most of the samples that I was sent by my wholesale sources, and I definitely was enjoying the teas that I was blending and then taste testing – but I didn’t have any time left to sit back and enjoy a cuppa that wasn’t directly related to taking over the operations of 52Teas.
So I stashed this tea away in my tea cupboard and – forgot about it! Yes, I forgot about this blend completely until someone mentioned that they’d like this tea to be reblended as part of this year’s 12 Teas of Christmas box. So a few weeks ago, I dug out that pouch and tried it out before I attempted to reblend it – so that I could get a fairly good idea of what I was going to do with this blend.
And as I sit here now, sipping on the results of that blending session, I must say that I’m a little bit impressed with myself. I often worry that I’m just not good enough to be a tea blender – but it’s times like now that I realize that I AM good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, I’m worthy of my self-appointed title of “Mad Tea Artist” because this is REALLY GOOD. It’s sweet, caramel-y, with a nice cinnamon note and a bread-y note that tastes a lot like … well, it tastes like freshly-baked monkey bread!