Day 5!
The 12 Teas of Christmas has had a nice variety of tea types and flavors so far, so I am never bored with the flavors in store for me. Today is a green tea with fruity, creamy tones: Blackberry Custard Tart Green. There nice purple dried blackberries in the dry leaf and plenty of juicy dark fruit scent in the bag.
Brewed, the creamy, vanilla pudding flavor of the custard comes through more strongly, adding a smooth mouthfeel alongside all the delectable dessert tastes. I appreciate that green tea was used as the base for this blend to give the blackberry and cream more room to shine. A black tea might have taken over with its own tartness and tannins. The green tea adds a gentle vegetal note that compliments the berries, and a bit of nuttiness that feels like the fruit tart cookie crust.
This is a nice blend for midway through your day, when you want something with a little pep but not too sweet or caffeinated. It is bright but decadent and the perfect way to treat yourself during the busy holiday season.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
One afternoon as I was perusing through my Pinterest feed, I found a recipe for Blackberry Custard. It looked exceptionally good and whenever I see a dessert recipe that looks exceptionally good, I immediately think about how I’d translate that recipe to a tea flavor. Yep, I’m kind of nerdy like that. So I thought … hmmm, blackberry custard sounds like a winning idea for a tea. Then I remembered that there was already a Blackberries & Cream Shou Mei so how different could a blackberry custard really be?
So, I thought, what if it had a delightfully buttery pastry crust? Well, then it would be a Blackberry Custard Tart.
So that’s what inspired me to make this with my green tea base (a blend of organic Chun Mee and organic Gunpowder). I added blackberry, custard and pastry flavors. Then I tossed in some of those big, beautiful freeze-dried blackberries. This is really good!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Banana Pudding Flavored Genmaicha from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I know how much you loved our Banana Pudding black tea, so I decided maybe we should try it with a genmaicha, and let me tell you, the toasted rice element of the genmaicha combined with the sweet sencha green tea takes our banana pudding flavor recipe to a whole new level of yummmmmm.
Like with the black tea version of Banana Pudding, we’ve added freeze-dried bananas, coconut and organic flavors. I think this one is going to be very popular. Can’t wait to hear what you guys think of it.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I usually like to do my reviews of the 52Teas in order from when they were released, but I skipped over this one. I’m not sure exactly why, except that I forgot that I had this tea in my stash. Usually when I brew a 52Teas tea for a review, I go to the website and see which tea I should review next. But I sort of skipped over this one because I thought, Banana Pudding? Oh, I already reviewed it. The tea I was thinking about was the Banana Pudding Black Tea. I forgot that Frank (the chief Zoomdweebie from 52Teas) had more recently created a Banana Pudding Genmaicha!
Then I realized as I was going through my tea stash that I had this tea just waiting for me to review it!
And YUM! This is good.
I think I might like this one even better than the black tea version, if for no other reason than the delicious, roasty-toasty flavor of the Genmaicha seems to add something nice to the banana flavor. It’s sort of like a banana flavored rice pudding with delicious, toasty vanilla wafer cookies. Mmm!
The sip starts out with a sweet banana-y flavor with a subtle grassy note from the green tea. There is a light, buttery note that accentuates the “wafer cookie” like flavor. Then I taste the toasty notes of the roasted brown rice, and this adds a sweet, nutty dimension to the cup that melds beautifully with the banana and the creamy vanilla notes. As the sip nears the finish, I pick up on more of the sweet, “baked” notes of the wafer cookie.
It’s a really delightful combination of banana and vanilla custard-y flavors, nutty tones, buttery notes with just a hint of grassy/vegetal notes from the green tea. The flavors all work together very well. A really tasty flavored genmaicha!
Two thumbs up for this one!
Traditional Plum Pudding Flavored Oolong Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
This tea follows a more traditional form of plum pudding. Plum pudding is cake-like treat that is soaked with liquor, spiced and contains dried fruits and citrus peels. This plum tea has notes of rum, spice, brown sugar, orange peel, and a slight hint of custard. We went very light on the spice and orange peel but added it for a touch of depth and authenticity. This delicious plum, rum, and a touch of spice tea utilizes our Nilgiri Frost Oolong for a weighty body and a hint of sweetness. While tasty on its own, this tea pops with a tiny amount of brown crystal sugar.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy! This Traditional Plum Pudding Flavored Oolong Tea from Butiki Teas is really a festive treat.
I can’t say that I’ve ever tasted plum pudding, but, I can taste each of the elements that is promised in the description above. I taste the plum and the rum notes, and there is this smooth creaminess to it that is very custard-like. It is sweet and gently spiced in such a way that it tastes very holiday-ish. And the subtle notes of orange brighten the cup.
The base tea used here is Butiki Teas’ Nilgiri Frost Oolong, and because of the natural citrus and bourbon notes, I think that it was an ideal choice for this blend. It melds seamlessly with the flavors, accentuating them to bring out the most from those flavors.
I’m REALLY glad that I tried this tea. I took my first few sips of the tea without any sweetener, and it’s really good like that, but, I found that the tea really came to life after I added a little bit of turbinado sugar to the cup. Delicious hot, but if you happen to walk away from the cup for little while and return to a cooled cup – its still yummy. This tea gets two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent Me This Tea!
Merry Christmas! I hope that you had as much fun as I did counting down the days until Christmas day with me. I’m very excited about today’s tea!
Figgy Pudding
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
Merry Christmas!!! You made it! Do you hear the 12 drummers drumming? Now open this up and sip away!
Whether you are having a festive get together like Ole Fezziwig, or spending the day at home with family … like the song says, O’ bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer!
Taster’s Review:
Few tea flavors out there get me as excited as when I find a fig flavored tea. I really love figs, and as I’ve reminisced at least once (probably more) here on this blog, they bring back some happy childhood memories for me. And while there are other fruits that I might enjoy more – like strawberries or peaches, for example – finding a good strawberry or peach flavored tea isn’t quite as challenging as finding a good fig flavored tea. They’re few and far between.
And this tea was well worth the wait as I counted down the teas of Christmas. This is delicious. The fig notes are prominent. From the moment I opened the pouch, I could smell the fig! And just now, as I walked into the kitchen to pour myself of the freshly brewed tea, the smell of warm figs filled my kitchen. YUM! My mouth started watering.
This Figgy Pudding Tea is really, really good. The fig flavor is strong and true to the fruit. It is sweet, just like biting into a fig … all that’s missing is the seedy texture of the inside of the fruit.
There is a slight creaminess to the background, not really a strong, pronounced “vanilla” or even “cream” flavor but more of just a slight creaminess to the cup that might be further enhanced with a drop or two of warm milk, but, I’d not want to risk losing some of this fig flavor!
The black tea is a even-toned base. I suspect it is most likely a Ceylon as it doesn’t have a strong or robust character. Instead, it’s brisk and slightly astringent. It’s not too strong-tasting a tea but I do pick up on slight notes of malt and the hints of fruity taste in the black tea play well to the sweetness of the fig.
Such a yummy Christmas gift from Della Terra Teas! Thank you!
Banana Pudding Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
You want to hear about pudding. Did you know that pudding was created using techniques for making Haggis and blood sausage? Eww. That’s not very appetizing…
Changing gears… Bananas are very yummy, what’s more, they are yellow and shaped funny.
Our Banana pudding flavored tea also has coconut, which some people dislike in pudding because pudding is supposed to be smooth and creamy and who wants shavings of coconut in there? But hey, it’s better in the tea. And I’m feeling a little loopy tonight and rushing to get this posted since it’s already late, but I think you’re all really going to enjoy this blend–mentions of Haggis and coconut aside.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I like bananas alright. I’m not a huge fan of bananas … but I don’t hate them. I usually have some bananas on hand, because I like to add them to my smoothies when I make them (at least a couple times a week), and my husband likes them. But I seldom just sit down and eat a banana.
But I do like banana flavored teas … especially if the banana flavored tea comes from 52Teas … because Frank (chief Zoomdweebie at 52Teas) seems to do banana flavored teas well. So, when he announced this Banana Pudding flavored black tea for the week of April 22, I was excited to try it. So excited that I’m actually going a bit out of order here (I do like to taste his teas in the order in which they are released!) There are like three other teas that I’m supposed to try before I try this Banana Pudding tea … but like I said, I was excited!
And I’m not disappointed! This is yummy! The banana flavor is strong, and I can taste the creaminess – with just a hint of vanilla-like flavor to it too! I can also taste the subtle note of butter to this … and this note seems to emerge as the tea cools slightly, so it’s worth the time to allow it to cool about three or four minutes before you take that first sip.
I can also taste the coconut … this is a very subtle taste, but when I offered my daughter a sip of the tea (she loves banana!) she noticed the coconut over the banana flavor. So some palates might pick up on the coconut notes more than the banana notes. My palate did not … for my palate, I get a good, strong banana note, a sweet creaminess that is pudding-like, at least in flavor … not in texture … which would be a little weird, don’t you think? I mean, think about it. A pudding textured tea. Weird. Maybe even a little gross. Fortunately, this is NOT gross or weird. OK, maybe it is a little weird to have a banana pudding flavored tea. But it tastes wonderful!
OK, so, less rambling and more tea talk.
The black tea is not overwhelmed amid all these strong flavors. I can taste it … although I can’t say that it is the strongest note of the cup, which is typically something I want from a flavored tea but this tastes so good that I can’t complain. I am really enjoying the way the flavor plays out here. I love the strong banana notes, the hint of coconut (and even how the creaminess of the coconut seems to enhance the soft, silky vanilla notes), and even the touch of buttery taste.
This is delicious hot (remember, let it cool for about four minutes and you’ll be rewarded with some buttery notes), and also tasty iced. I think I prefer it hot, served with a couple of Nilla Wafers … which helps bring out the cookie part of the pudding just a little bit.
Yum! Another tasty dessert tea from 52Teas.