Blueberry Muffin from Davids Tea

by Mary

On a whim, I picked this herbal blend up from DT during our annual pre-Christmas pilgrimage to Chicago this past weekend. I’ve been craving more interesting herbals lately to sip in the afternoon and evenings (because mama loves her black tea, but caffeine does not reciprocate the love past 3 PM, friends), and this one fit the bill.

On first sniff, it smells… like a blueberry muffin? I get the cakey crumb of a warm muffin here, with whiffs of vanilla and berry. YUM. Let’s get this one a-brewin’, shall we? This tea is practically all chunk and no leaf (which is no surprise, as a tisane), but I can see how it will go by quickly with this much heft to it. That said, it’s a beautiful mix with visible fruit and even veg pieces– looks like some carrot and even beetroot for that beautiful bright pink we’ve all come to know and love!

Upon sipping, I’m torn. I definitely get the blueberry muffin notes that I sniffed pre-brew, but it’s almost overwhelmingly overpowered by (you guessed it) hibiscus tartness. I’m not a hibiscus hater across the board, but this one took a lovely, creamy cup and turned it on its head. I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit disappointed. A second steep and the tartness has gone, but as is fairly typical with most herbals, the creaminess and nuance of flavor from the first steep is gone with it. It’s a decent re-steep, but not perfect. I’m not giving up on this one yet, because while the flavor didn’t perfectly match the scent, it was an enjoyable cuppa. Perhaps as a coconut milk latte, or with a shorter steep time I’d find the cup I know is in there somewhere. In the meantime, David– maybe call this one a blueberry tart instead of a muffin next go-around, mmmk?

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Davids Tea
Description

With apple, raisins, carrot and blueberries, this tea is the breakfast of champions.

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 DAVIDsTEA, Fruit/Herbal Tisane

Limoncello from The NecessiTeas. . .A Hand Blended Treat!

by SuperStarling

Calling all fans of citrus, vanilla, and sugar! Come on, come all, to this lemon-meringue delight! So sweet that if it weren’t a tea, your teeth would fall out and your waistline would be DESTROYED!

Of COURSE the kids are invited to this tea! It’s DECAF! They won’t be springing around on their beds while you’re trying to sleep, ma’m. No, SIREE.

You! You back there! You say you don’t have a sweet tooth? Keep going, you monster. I can’t imagine what your life is like.

Don’t know what lemon-meringue is? How about lemonade, the sugary kind they make by hand at county fairs? Or how about those lemon lollipops they hand out at the doctor’s office? Lemon Starburst? You know you like that!

Even Starling’s picky dad likes this tea! He even went so far as to add sugar to it, which I don’t recommend doing at first, folks. Try before you sugar. You will probably find that the tea suffices on its own. Gotta hang onto those chompers. You never know when you’ll need ’em!

Thanks for coming to the tea circus, ladies and gentlemen! Enjoy your day.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal/Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description

The Italian dessert drink has made its way into a tea. Imagine lemon meringue teasing your taste buds, while sweetly melting in your mouth with a blend of vanilla and brown sugars. The lemony brightness shines through with lemongrass and a sprinkling of golden marigold petals, all topping a green rooibos tea.

Your tea is hand packaged in an airtight tin at no additional charge.

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 Green Rooibos, The NecessiTeas

Firebird Chai by Wendigo

by Sensiblyscript

While sniffing this tea before steeping (what? Don’t tell me I’m the only one who does this) I can definitely pick up a big whiff of ginger in the dry leaves. The leaves are better-looking than average for chai; they also have more of a presence in the blend (as far as fragrance and so on) than some do. I also observed lots of chunks of other stuff (spices?) in there with the tea leaves. The curls of dried ginger were the most noticeable of these. (And also were quite impressive. Don’t most chais just have minced ginger or something? These curls were really cool-looking.)

When steeping, I used a couple of generous spoonfuls for my latte mug and hot water that I poured out just after boiling. I may have been a bit over-lavish with the leaves compared to what the steeping instructions said, but I was feeling like drinking a strong chai. I steeped it four minutes before removing the leaves. The rehydrated pods (I think that’s the cardamom?) and curls of ginger were much more obvious in the tea leaves now. The brewed tea turned out a strongish darkish brown (but not the darkest ever).
Now that the finished product is in hand, I can actually smell the black tea along with the spices. This isn’t always the case with chai, so I appreciated it. Ginger seems the predominant spice (rather than cinnamon) upon first sip. Each sip has a sweet, smooth taste (despite not having any sugar in it yet) and a warming effect.
Certainly it’s exotic as well as pleasant and comforting, with all that ginger and cardamom, and manages to carve a unique flavor profile for itself rather than just being a run-of-the-mill “chai” flavor. I’m unsure where the sweetness is coming from–surely not the ginger or the cinnamon– but I suppose it could be from the black tea itself if it’s as high-quality as it seems.
Overall I’d say this tea is lively, warming, and full and rich without  being cliche. It offers a bright flavor palette that’s not too spicy to enjoy. It’s great with milk and sugar too; they “muffle” the spices a bit, as expected, and enhance the richness of the black tea flavor.

 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Wendigo Tea
wendigo-teaDescription

FireBird

I, the glorious FireBird, am an imposing beast with the exotic complexity to guide you through a wild adventure of savory, sweet, spicy, and back again. Brace yourself if you think you are ready to experience the wonder of FireBird. I am a Spicy Masala Chai that leaves scorched remnants of other Chai teas far below my ferocious wings.
I am born of the meanest Indian Estate black tea available, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, black pepper & all spice. Where other Chai teas expect you to add milk and heaps of sweetener to balance the bitter taste of inferior ingredients, I stand alone as a unique masterpiece.
My elevated nature is most notable from the refusal of being satisfied with anything but the very best and strongest tasting Premium Indian Estate Tea available. This compliments the spices and will not dare be buried under them, but earthy decadence soaring ahead for the lingering trail of spice and flavor following on your pallet.
Feel the Burn. Love the taste.

 

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Wendigo Tea Co

Glazed Donut from 52Teas

by Mary

My fiancé (a donut aficionado) was ecstatic to see this tea in my review pile– so much so that we set out to brew this one together one Saturday morning while we lazed around the house.

As much as we’d like them to be, actual donuts aren’t as frequent in our breakfast rotation, but this tea seemed like the perfect weekend cup to fill that glazed, cake-y void.

First things first– the dry leaf smells INCREDIBLE. Like vanilla sugar icing, straight out of the tub. The cake-like notes are a bit more subtle here, but the creamy vanilla was strong in this one. Upon brewing, we got a beautifully smooth, golden-brown cup with some of those same wisps of flavor in each sip.

A splash of cream really brought out that donut-esque creaminess, and while we didn’t have any pastries on hand to dunk, I bet this tea would be the perfect vehicle to do so. Overall, a great Saturday morning treat.

Not overtly sweet, and not abundantly-donut-y, but creamy and smooth, the perfect companion cup to a relaxing, weekend morning!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:  No Longer Available

See what unique teas are available from 52Teas 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 52Teas, Black Tea

Warming from Balcony Teas

by Mary

Up in the Midwest, we’ve recently swapped from unseasonably warm days to the kind of bone-chilling, rainy autumn weather that makes me want to take up residence under my coziest blanket for the next five months and not move a muscle.

warmingOne particular grey and soggy Sunday, I was forced out of my blanket fort and into the world– and let’s be real, I wasn’t too happy about it. Digging through my teas to choose one to take with me (if I had to face the real, soggy world, of course I was going to do it with tea in hand), this cozy, herbal blend from Balcony Tea looked like just what I was searching for.

Warming is a perfectly-spiced herbal with notes of ginger, lemon verbena, lemon balm, orange blossom & peel, and aromatic cinnamon. Right out of the gate, the leaves in the pyramid bag jumped out to me– this may be a pre-bagged tea, but full leaves are visible, along with slices of orange peel and what I suspect might even be little nubs of ginger. The verdict?

It was the perfect blend to warm me up on a chilly day! No sweetener needed, the ginger and lemon is bright and upfront, with a nice herbal balance on the finish to round it out. I truly felt the warmth in my bones as I ventured into the cold. The encroaching winter might not be quite so intolerable with this tea in your mug!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Balcony Teas

Description

Escape long rainy days on our “Warming Balcony” with sun-kissed citrus flavour and a hint of spice.

Ingredients:
Ginger – Spicy and warming; traditionally used to help circulation and ease stomach issues. Lemon Balm – To help you feel relaxed and refreshed. Lemon Verbena – Bursting with lemon flavour. Cinnamon – Naturally sweet and comforting. Orange peel – Beautifully aromatic with a true Mediterranean feel. Orange blossom – Deliciously fragrant with delicate floral honeyed notes.

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 Balcony Tea, Fruit/Herbal Tisane