Today is finally the day! I have had so many new teas to try lately and because of a pesky cold I couldn’t taste any of them. However, the cold is finally (mostly gone) and I can taste tea once again!
Before I get to the taste of this particular tea, I want to talk about the adorable dry leaf. Falling Leaves is definitely accurate because the cute little leaf sprinkles among the rooibos leaves actually looks like an Autumn leaf pile. It is quite fun and makes me that much more excited to start sipping.
Speaking about exciting, the maple smell that fills the air as soon as the water hits those little leafy sprinkles is mouthwatering. Even the dry leaf has a great maple scent.
That maple does transfer to the taste of the tea as well, albeit not as strong as it is in scent. Unfortunately it gets slightly muddled among the sugar sweetness of the melted sprinkles. In addition, the rooibos base is adding a sort of honey-like flavor which is just adding yet another layer of sweet with a slight bit of wood lurking around the bottom of the sip. With that said, that woody component helps balance the other flavors and keep it from becoming cloying. It is smooth and dessert-like but I just find myself wanting a more concentrated maple flavor as opposed to the collection of sweets I am getting here. As a whole, it is coming off more generic than maple.
This is the same issue I had with the very similar blend, Oh Canada! by DAVIDsTEA. The two teas are very similar, though the DAVIDs tea had a stronger rooibos base from what I can recall. In light of this comparison, it would be interesting to see how this blend fares cold brewed which was my preferred method for prepping Oh Canada
All in all, this is by no means a bad blend just a little lackluster when compared to the decadent smell. However, if you are looking for a nice and gentle sweet tea, you will find it here.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fava Tea Company
Description
This an outstanding seasonal blend is a festive combination of rooibos tea and rich maple flavor! Colorful sprinkles add to the fun. Enjoy this on cool fall and winter evenings. It’ll warm you right up, and make you smile!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Maple Sugar from Fava Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Fava Tea Company
Tea Description:
A full body black tea with a round, full maple flavor. Sweet without being overly so with a full body black tea and red peppercorn this is one to try. Looking for something different? Try this one iced!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is another tea I received from a friend on Steepster.
The aroma of this tea when steeped is quite lovely and smells just like maple and sugar, very close to a true maple syrup aroma. I am thinking this easily could have been named maple syrup except it would not have been quite as accurate because while there is a syrup aroma and even slightly a syrup flavor Fava Tea Company really hit it square on the head by going with Sugar in the name instead.
The issue I have with it is that I am not tasting sugar so much as a sweetener other than sugar. Stevia perhaps. The company website does not list the exact ingredients so I can’t be positive and while as a type 1 diabetic I can absolutely appreciate not putting pure sugar into their blends, I still am missing that true pure sugar flavor here. Which is something I was hopeful for from the name of the tea. There is just something slightly chemical like about this tea and while many may not even notice it – it is a bit bothersome to me.
The base tea is nice, perhaps not the most stellar base tea that could be used, there is a slightly malty note although I think it could be even a bit more malty with this blend. And I am not really picking up on the peppercorn all that much. There is a very slight “bite” to the tea but I feel that it is coming more from the sweetener rather than the peppercorn and I do so love peppercorn in tea when done right.
This is not a bad tea by any means and I am finishing my cup and enjoying it but the joy scale levels off somewhere around 5 on a 1-10 scale – right in the middle.
I think this tea would greatly appeal to newer tea drinkers who are easing out of bagged tea stage and into loose leaf. It is by far better than the typical bagged teas I started out on. Another thing that is awesome about Fava Tea Company is their selection. It took me a while to find this tea on their site and it was not coming up in their search function – which is not a great thing – however in looking for this tea I was amazed at the number of teas they carry!
Now I do want to add that Fava Tea does recommend trying this iced and I did notice as the cup cooled that it was more palatable, more enjoyable, however I am not generally an iced tea drinker with exception of now and then in the summer time.
Regardless, this is a nice tea, hot or iced, its just not one that is personally going to make me run out and get more. It is however good enough that I will explore Fava Tea Company further – with all of their offerings I am sure they will have several I will throughly enjoy.
