Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Kally Tea
Tea Description:
Nilgiri region black tea, blended with cinnamon chips, to give it a nice spicy bite. But we didn’t stop there, give it a plum flavor to add a depth of fruitiness as well as safflowers to balance it all into a comforting aroma and there you have Kally Tea’s presentation of “Plum Spice”.
Ingredients: Black Tea, Cinnamon Chips, Safflowers, Cinnamon and Plum Flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This tea reminds me of the holidays!
It smells amazing. The cinnamon is very strong in the aroma, it smells warm and cozy! The plum comes through – although a bit more gently than the cinnamon notes – providing a sweet yet spicy, fruity fragrance that is absolutely enchanting.
The flavor is a bit surprising. After smelling all the cinnamon and fruit notes, I wasn’t expecting the first flavor to hit my palate to be that of Nilgiri tea! That’s not a bad thing though – not at all. After all, I’m drinking TEA … not fruit punch. I’m happy to be tasting the tea, and I’m thrilled that Kally Tea focused on the tea in this blend, and less on the flavors.
I mean, sure, the flavors are important, because if I wasn’t wanting to taste plum and spice, I wouldn’t have selected the flavor, right? I would have just purchased pure Nilgiri tea. And the flavors are there! The point I was just trying to make is that the tea is the main focus in this blend, and that is just how it should be!
After the rich, bold flavor of Nilgiri touches the palate (malty, slightly earthy), I notice the sweet, caramel-y undertones of the Nilgiri, and the delicious spicy-sweet cinnamon. The cinnamon is a spicy/sweet type of cinnamon, but it isn’t an overpowering flavor, so it doesn’t overwhelm the palate with spice. It is warm, comforting and delicious.
The plum comes through as a sweet-tart kind of plum taste. The plum notes hit the palate at about mid-sip, weaving their way in and out until the aftertaste, where the plum notes are strongest. I taste PLUM now. YUM!
This blend is nicely balanced with its sweetness and spice, and well-rounded flavor of the Nilgiri. Very enjoyable. I find it’s better to allow this one to cool slightly, as the flavors begin to pop about three or four minutes after I poured the cup. This one is also quite delicious iced!
Organic Plum Oolong from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
The combination of succulent Asian plums, tart schizandra berries, rosehips, hibiscus and select oolong tea leaves create a blend that is a delight for the senses! The pink-hued infusion of our organic Plum Oolong is pleasantly tart with a wonderful fruity aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I saw the name of this tea, I wanted to try it. I love plums! But then, I read the ingredients … why hibiscus? Why? Now that I’ve brewed it, I understand why the hibiscus was included, it definitely adds a plum-like color and nectar-like texture to the cup. And it does – together with the schizandra berries – add a little bit of tartness to the cup which provides an interesting contrast to the sweetness of the plum flavor.
The combination of flavors to this cup create a very strong fruity essence that is, indeed, very plum like. I find it to be somewhat like a plum cider or warm plum nectar.
The Oolong tea is a little lost in this, though. Yes, I can taste it, but I find myself really needing to focus on the sip to get a strong Oolong taste. The plum flavor is more significant, as is the schizandra berry flavor, and these two fruits are pretty tasty together.
At the same time, I do find myself thinking that this tea could benefit from a little more Oolong leaf, and even a touch of cinnamon might be nice. This isn’t my favorite tea from Arbor Teas, but it is one that is certainly worth trying. It’s good, just not my favorite, you know? I like the dimension to this cup, it has a pleasing texture and a nice sweet-tart kind of taste to it, and these aspects make for a very enjoyable tea experience.
Kotobuki from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
A Taiwanese Oolong tea, lightly flavoured by French Mirabelle plums and garlanded with rose, marigold, and mallow petals. Sweet and fruity taste. Kotobuki is Japanese for celebrations.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lupicia is one of my favorite tea companies, and one of the reasons why is because every month they send out a newsletter to their customers featuring a sample of their tea of the month. Kotobuki was the tea of the month for January, and it is one that I’ve been wanting to try for some time now.
What I’m liking best about this particular blend is that while it is a flavored Oolong, the Oolong tea is the dominant flavor of the cup. It tastes sweet and creamy, with a light touch of butter and a vegetal note. It has a floral background that highlights the rose in this blend, and the natural fruit-like flavors of the Oolong accent the plum flavoring nicely.
The plum is sweet and has a juicy taste to it. Toward the tail of the sip, I notice the faintest note of tartness … much like that twang of tartness that hits the palate when just after I’ve bitten into a fresh, ripe plum. The tartness disappears almost as quickly as it appears, but, it seems to lend a sense of authentic flavor to the cup.
This one gets two thumbs up from me. I like it!
Sugar Plum Cinnamon Spice from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Our Sugar Plum Cinnamon Spice tea has a rounded sweet plum flavor fused with a blast of cinnamon spice!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Several years ago, I tried my very first sugar plum. It was a delicious confection that I found in an old time candy shop, reminding me vaguely of the sweet jelly candies that are covered in sugar … only tasting of plum instead of orange or lemon. Only a few days ago, I had learned that maybe that sugar plum I tasted back then wasn’t actually a real sugar plum, at least, not a traditional sugar plum. So, I’m back to the point I was before … I’ve never actually tried a sugar plum.
So, I can’t tell you from experience that this tea does or does not taste like sugar plums. But what I can tell you is that it is YUMMY!
The black tea base is a delicious black tea, fairly strong … I’d actually describe it as brisk. It isn’t an overpowering flavor but it manages to make its presence known along with the other flavors without attempting to overwhelm them. It tastes smooth, it isn’t bitter, and it has a moderate amount of astringency to it. A very pleasant black tea providing a solid background of flavor.
The cinnamon is really interesting in this cup, because even though it would appear to be the strongest note in the cup, it isn’t really what I would consider a strong cinnamon flavor. Yes, it’s there, it’s gently spiced, but, it isn’t a powerful amount of spice. It’s more like the flavor of cinnamon you might experience from cinnamon-sugar toast: sweet yet warm, and quite delicious.
I think it is the way that the cinnamon mingles with the plum in this particular tea that makes it so interesting. The plum is sweet, but it doesn’t taste like a fresh plum. It doesn’t taste like a dried plum (or prune). It tastes… actually, it kind of tastes like the candy that I told you about at the start of this review – what I believed at the time to be a sugar plum. It has a fruit candy-like taste to it rather than a fresh fruit or even a dried fruit flavor. There is also a distinct tangy note that lingers in the aftertaste that is definitely plum flavor … it tastes quite a bit like my gramma’s homemade plum jam. Delicious!
What I like best about this particular tea – aside from the memories of my gramma’s delicious plum jam – is that it is incredibly warm and inviting. I found myself shivering a bit this morning, as the temperature has dropped … and this is the tea I reached for. It warmed me from the inside out. This tea is a very comforting experience, like happy moments from childhood warming my very soul.
Iced Tea Series from 52Teas, Part 4: Plum Flavored Black Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
About This Iced Tea Series:
Here are FIVE unique iced tea blends we’ve created from high quality Nilgiri CTC teas. These are uber fine teas, so they are not as pretty as our whole leaf teas, but they steep up a bold, rich, flavorful iced tea. We’ve packaged them in one ounce pouches, which is just enough for one gallon of iced tea (more if you re-steep) so you can just rip them open, dump them out and steep. No measuring required!
Taster’s Review:
I guess I was thirsty today. I brewed a half gallon of this tea last night, and it is already almost gone at about 3:30 pm in the afternoon. I guess the fact that its really yummy has a little something to do with that too!
The more I drink this, the more I am appreciating the flavor of it. The first couple of glasses, I don’t think I really noticed how good it tasted, I think I was just really thirsty! But now, as I write this, I am noticing that the plum flavor is really nicely blended here – it doesn’t dominate the tea, but, it comes through strongly enough to be tasted, and is especially enjoyable in the aftertaste. The aftertaste is similar to what I’d experience if I had just eaten a fresh, juicy plum. It is sweet with just the right level of tartness, and it tastes so authentic that I can almost feel the pulpy texture on my tongue!
The black tea dominates the flavor profile, and it is delicious. It has a strong, brisk flavor that is clean and lightly astringent. It has a nice sweet undertone to it, and it unites almost seamlessly with the plum notes. A very uniform flavor that is very refreshing and delicious.
I do hope that 52Teas makes another iced tea series. I have said in the past that I hope it’s a green tea series, but, I would also be quite content with another black tea series – this one has been very satisfying. Thirst-quenching!