Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Old Wilmington Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Ancient Polynesians used passion fruit as a tasty part of their rituals. We have made it easy to have a tasty ritual of your own! Passion fruit is artistically blended with premium Chinese oolong. It offers a mellow character, with hints of natural sweetness.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy!
This is a really good flavored Oolong. The passion fruit flavor is distinct, but it does not overpower the flavor of the Oolong. These two flavors mesh very well together.
The Oolong is a greener Oolong, and it has that sweet, creamy taste and texture to it. Almost buttery but not quite. That creaminess marries very nicely with the flavor of the passion fruit.
The result is a soft, silky tea that is sweet with a tropical fruit flair to it. A little different from the usual Oolong, but, that’s what I’m liking about it: it has that familiar Oolong flavor but with just enough passion fruit flavor and sweetness to make it just a little bit unusual.
As it is winter and I prefer my teas served hot in this weather, that’s how I enjoyed this tea, but I suspect it would make a really fantastic iced tea as well, so I think I shall save the rest that I have for the warmer weather that will be here soon (time does fly!) It is also pleasantly sweet (some might find it a bit too sweet, but I’ve a sweet tooth!) so it doesn’t need additions. Great just the way it is!
Cupcake from Old Wilmington Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Old Wilmington Tea Co.
Company Description:
Who can resist a cupcake? Treat yourself every day with our yummy blend of black tea, natural vanilla & caramel flavor with fun colorful sprinkles mixed in! A celebration in your teacup!
Taster’s Review:
This is definitely a celebration in a teacup!
Ahh… a cupcake! Is there any dessert that elicits more child-like delight than a cupcake? I – being of strong sweet tooth – love cupcakes. I’m sure that probably comes as no surprise to any of you who have read many of my reviews! But, I must admit, my love of cupcakes is somewhat of an obsession.
So when I found this tea as I was browsing Old Wilmington’s website, I knew I had to try it. Fortunately, Old Wilmington offers generously sized sample packages, super fast shipping, and very courteous service.
The black tea base used for this blend is very robust. Although Old Wilmington does not reveal what black tea they use for this tea, I suspect that it is a blend that contains Assam, if not made entirely of Assam. My reason for believing this is that this is a very strong, malty tasting tea and you just don’t really get that from an average, everyday Ceylon. Yes, occasionally you might find a Ceylon that can pack this kind of punch, but, it doesn’t happen often. Whatever the tea in this base, it brews to a very stout, delicious liquor.
I don’t know that what I’m tasting here in my cup actually tastes like a cupcake. I can taste a deliciously decadent caramel flavoring, as well as a creamy vanilla note. That creamy note is further enhanced by the addition of milk or cream, which I did add, to make it a latte. I tried it first without the milk, but I do think that it is much better with it. The milk gives it a real smooth, rich flavor that makes a very good cup quite extraordinary.
I strongly recommend to anyone who is trying this tea for the first time to experiment with your steeping time. I recommend starting out at just 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. The first time I brewed it, I brewed it for 3 minutes and quickly learned (within moments following my first sip) that this was too long. The tea can take on a slightly bitter taste when brewed too long… and nobody wants a bitter cupcake, am I right?
Despite an unsuccessful first attempt (well, it wasn’t really unsuccessful, it just was slightly bitter, but not undrinkable), I will say that this is one “cupcake” that is worth the effort of finding the right time for your perfect cup of tea. (I found that 2 1/2 minutes is just perfect for me) It is a delightful treat any time of day, a great way to indulge without consuming a lot of extra calories (let’s face it, cupcakes do taste good, but they aren’t particularly waistline friendly, are they?) Even adding just a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk to your cup to enhance the vanilla and caramel flavors only adds a fraction of the calories than consuming a cupcake.