Bonfire from Adagio Teas

by MrsPremise

Adagio Teas might be known for the fandom-inspired blends submitted by their users, but the tea company also offers their own seasonal blends.  One of my favorite flavors they have created is a fall blend called Bonfire.

This blend is mainly comprised of honeybush herbal tea, which brings the perfect caramel, woodsy notes to start as a baseline.  If you are wary of red rooibos teas, don’t worry about this blend, the honeybush is much more gentle and less medicinal than the rooibos. The honeybush is paired with just a smidge of smoky black lapsang souchong.  There is little enough lapsang souchong to keep the caffeine level low, and to not overwhelm you with its bacon-like scent. Truly, the smokiness is relaxed and minimal, if you are on the fence, give it a try. Personally, I’ve grown to like smoky teas, so I add an extra scoop of lapsang souchong to the Bonfire loose leaf to really pump up the robustness.

What takes this blend to the next level are all the other herbs and additions.  Apple pieces add some juicy sweetness and their trademark fall flavor. Aniseed and cacao nibs add some dessert tones to make this brew feel like a treat.  Orange peels and cloves bring their wintry spice combination, and red peppercorns add a pop of color and just a hint of cracked pepper flavor.

This tea is delicious on its own, but also goes well with lemon and honey, or could be a tasty starting point for a hot toddy.  The blend is not available all year round, so I always make sure to stock up and make it last.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Honeybush and Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas

Description:

Crisp autumn nights call for warmth and comfort and little can better provide them than an autumn bonfire. Behold our bonfire blend: Honeybush hazelnut and cocoa nibs relax and ground you, while a spice blend of aniseed, cinnamon, clove and orange peel offer cozy comfort and zest. Apples and rose hips add soft sweetness while lapsang and red peppercorn offer hints of smoke and the flickering spark of heat. A perfect tea for fireside enjoyment or downtime dreaming.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

MrsPremise

Growing up, I drank herbal teas like fresh ginger tea during New England's harsh winters and iced blueberry tea during its humid summers. Over time, I was tempted into trying a wider variety of loose leaf teas by the fandom-themed blends available online. I have since gone on to design my own blends, and I greatly enjoy drafting up flavor ideas and drawing tea labels. When I'm not thinking about tea I can be found reading novels and comic books, playing video games, or watching movies; my favorite genres being history, humor, sci-fi, and fantasy. Generally, I prefer bold teas: spicy chais, rich black teas, even smoky lapsang souchong on occasion. But I have also dabbled in herbal rooibos, flavored oolongs, and traditional matcha. I'm glad to be expanding my palette by tasting and reviewing new teas and blends. Find me on Steepster: http://steepster.com/A2shedsjackson Fandom blends: http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/list.html?userId=292149

This post was posted in Adagio Teas, Black Tea, Chai, Fruit/Herbal Tisane

Green Cinnamon Spice from Fava Tea

by MrsPremise

Holy hot tamale, Green Cinnamon Spice from Fava Tea is a sweet and fiery brew!  The description of the tea says there are three different types of cinnamon in this blend and you can feel the heat and herbal intensity from all three.

I believe Fava Tea also has a version of this blend with a black tea base.  I find the green tea base appealing. The cinnamon is so powerful on its own, you don’t need the astringency of a black tea to compete with it.  The green tea provides a suitable, subtle background to let the herbs and spices dance center stage.

Beyond the cinnamon, this tea features orange peels and cloves which pair seamlessly with the cinnamon and make the brew naturally full and sweet.  This tea is perfect for lovers of cinnamon candies, or for those who like an extra sensory experience with their tea. Drank hot, the cinnamon spice feels hot and tingly all the way down your throat, providing a comforting warming feeling from within.

I know there are lots of specialty tea brews that come out in the fall and winter, but this delicious brew is available year round.  It is the perfect heat to help with a stuffy nose or sore throat. It is the most intense cinnamon brew to accompany your season dessert, like apple pie.  Feel festive, berry, and bright with a cup of Green Cinnamon Spice.

 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Fava Tea
Description:

This green tea contains THREE types of cinnamon, sweet cloves, and orange peel. There’s no added sweetener in this tea, but you’d swear there is! The natural sweetness of the cinnamon really shines through!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

MrsPremise

Growing up, I drank herbal teas like fresh ginger tea during New England's harsh winters and iced blueberry tea during its humid summers. Over time, I was tempted into trying a wider variety of loose leaf teas by the fandom-themed blends available online. I have since gone on to design my own blends, and I greatly enjoy drafting up flavor ideas and drawing tea labels. When I'm not thinking about tea I can be found reading novels and comic books, playing video games, or watching movies; my favorite genres being history, humor, sci-fi, and fantasy. Generally, I prefer bold teas: spicy chais, rich black teas, even smoky lapsang souchong on occasion. But I have also dabbled in herbal rooibos, flavored oolongs, and traditional matcha. I'm glad to be expanding my palette by tasting and reviewing new teas and blends. Find me on Steepster: http://steepster.com/A2shedsjackson Fandom blends: http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/list.html?userId=292149

This post was posted in Fava Tea Company, Green Tea, Uncategorized

Spiced Mulled Wine by Simpson and Vail. . . .

by Sensiblyscript
I steeped this tea for 3 minutes at approximately boiling temperature, with one teaspoon per cup of water.
Looking at the tea leaves I see bits of orange peel among them, as well as blue flower petals. This is a nicely scented blend, although it doesn’t really smell like what I imagined mulled wine would be like (I’ve never actually tried mulled wine though so maybe that’s why).  My first sniffs did detect a sort of depth that hinted at pu-erh, though, although it doesn’t actually have pu-erh in it.
It doesn’t look like pu-erh once steeped, either. It’s quite reddish, like a  blueberry or citrus/rosehip tea, but doesn’t smell acidic or berry-ish. (Reading through the ingredients I discovered that this is likely due to the beet root in the blend.)
First sip: Pleasant flavor, not super strong, and definitely not acidic. It doesn’t taste alcoholic either, but does have a sort of sweetness at the back of the throat. I can’t really taste the orange peel, although it may be lending a slight freshness to the blend (not really a detectable citrusness, though). The black tea base is obviously one that plays well with others; it’s not shoving floral or malty flavors to the front, but instead providing a comfortingly well-rounded sip that warms nicely.

 

From the way the back-of-mouth sweetness is behaving, I wondered if this tea has chamomile or mallow in it, so I checked the ingredients and there are malva blossoms! Yeah, I wondered what that meant too, but apparently they’re a type of mallow, so maybe that’s where the flavor came from (don’t quote me on that though).

 

The tea base is also a light one since the tea itself ended up clear but red, not brownish or dark. (So clear that I could easily see the bottom of the mug.)
I added milk next, which didn’t curdle thankfully but did turn the whole thing raspberries-and-cream pink. I like a lot this way too, despite the fact that it probably tastes nothing like mulled wine now. <3

Here’s the scoop!

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

Looking for a winter concoction without the alcohol? Then, this brew is for you! The blend produces a reddish cup with a sweet fragrant aroma and taste. The tannic taste is reminiscent of red wine and it is perfectly complemented by the light spice taste and the earthy undertones.

Ingredients: black teas, orange peel, beet root, spiced mulled wine flavoring and malva blossoms.

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, Simpson & Vail

Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea by New Mexico Tea Company

by Sensiblyscript

I steeped 1 tsp of this tea for 5 minutes in one cup of 212 degree water.

First of all, this tea isn’t kidding when it says “hot.” (Currently I’m able to smell the cinnamon flavor through the bag even though I double-bagged it, which means it has about the same strength as lapsang souchong). You can clearly see, when measuring it out, that there’s tons of cinnamon in the tea leaves. The ingredients list says it has natural and artificial flavorings too in addition to the three types of cinnamon–I didn’t know three types of cinnamon existed, did you? But apparently they do.

I don’t expect the black tea flavor to come through much at all at this point (it’s probably mainly there for caffeination purposes.)

It smells very spicy and strong as it steeps, too. After steeping I note that it has a very dark brown, fittingly cinnamon-ish color. It’s nearly opaque and has bits of dissolved cinnamon in it. Kind of like spiced cider. It also has a faintly sweet cider-ish smell, but of coursewithout the apple factor. (It does have clove and orange peel though, so that’s probably why it’s reminding me of cider.)

First sip: yes, it’s quite sweet and quite spicy. And no, I don’t really taste the black tea at all. There is a slight bit of astringency, but I’m not sure if it’s from the black tea or from the cinnamon. There’s a depth to the cinnamon flavor, which is probably caused by the blending of several types of cinnamon and cinnamon flavorings to create a more complex cinnamon blend rather than one that hits you all in a wave. It’s very effective, too. It’s like a tour of cinnamon.

With milk (no sugar needed as it’s already sweet): it’s creamier, of course, but the milk doesn’t really bring out the tea flavor the way it usually does with spicy teas (though maybe there’s a hint). The excellently warming, invigorating cinnamon flavor isn’t quelled by the milk either, though perhaps a bit tamed.

Overall I like this tea very much both with milk and without. I’d recommend trying it both ways to see which strikes your fancy the most.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  New Mexico Tea Company
Description

.This blend brews very sweet even though no sugar is added. A cinnamon lover’s dream come true. A combination of hearty Chinese and Indian black tea and invigorating cinnamon.
Many cinnamon teas have a watery aftertaste due to the use of low grade teas. The black tea here has the stamina to last through the whole tasting process

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, New Mexico Tea Company

Spiced Mulled Wine Tea from Simpson & Vail

by teaequalsbliss

When you can’t drink wine at work why not drink Spiced Mulled Wine Tea from Simpson & Vail?  I have various tea stashes all over the place – at home, at work, in my car, – in my purse!   I’m not sure where to keep this one!  Either at home or at work – most likely!  This specific tea is pretty amazing but for several additional reasons for it just being a tea!  It’s a wine inspired tea!

Spiced Mulled Wine Tea from Simpson & Vail infuses to a beaming burgundy color that is really quite impressive!  Special nod to the Beet Root ingredient that makes the color possible!  The orange peel contributes to the fruity-citrus-tart flavor combo and it’s wonderful!  I’m LOVING that this is a black tea base with a color like this WITHOUT the use of hibiscus!  Oddly, the flavor is VERY MUCH wine-like!  And with very few ingredients!

The aroma and the taste of this Spiced Mulled Wine Tea from Simpson & Vail are great!  I LOVE everything about this tea and cannot express that enough!  I’ve already had a hot cup of Spiced Mulled Wine Tea from Simpson & Vail as well as a cold cup of Spiced Mulled Wine Tea from Simpson & Vail!  Delightful!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail

BannerNewFont670Description:

Looking for a winter concoction without the alcohol? Then, this brew is for you! The blend produces a reddish cup with a sweet fragrant aroma and taste. The tannic taste is reminiscent of red wine and it is perfectly complemented by the light spice taste and the earthy undertones.

Ingredients: black teas, orange peel, beet root, spiced mulled wine flavoring and malva blossoms.

Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

teaequalsbliss

Co-Founder/Co-Creator of Sororitea Sisters at Sororitea Sisters Jennifer (TeaEqualsBliss) is in her upper 30s and lives in the eastern snowbelt area of the US with her husband, 3 dogs, and cat (however the number of furkids can change at anytime as she LOVES providing a forever home for many shelter animals. Her several interests include music, movies, veganism, sports, traveling, collecting Baseball Cards and Unicorns, Radio, Computers, Crafting, and of course…TEA. She started drinking tea at the tender age of 3 thanks to her Grandmother and her love for tea has gotten stronger with each year! In addition to being a co-founder/co-creator of Sororitea Sisters - her main site is MyBlissfulJourney.com. Find out more about Jennifer on MyBlissfulJourney.com.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Simpson & Vail