Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
A sweet cinnamon confection with just enough spice to pack a punch, but not enough to send you to the emergency room. We threw four different types of cinnamon bark into this thing, just so you know we mean business. Assam black tea for a a little maltiness coupled with Keemun black tea for a little smokiness, and, well, you have yourself some Red Hot Cinnamon Spice!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After reading the ingredient list of this Red Hot Cinnamon Spice Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company, I was excited to try it. Yeah, it has hibiscus in it and as you know, I’m not a fan of hibiscus, but what impressed me is that the base of this black tea is a blend of Assam and Keemun! With most of the Red Hot type of black teas that I’ve tried in the past, the tea company uses Ceylon. I like that M&K’s is adventurous enough to try something different!
I brewed this in my Kati Tumbler. I put a heaping scoop of the loose leaf tea in the basket of the tumbler and poured in 12 ounces of boiling water. I let it steep for 3 minutes.
I’m enjoying this. This isn’t exactly what I think of when I think “Red Hot Cinnamon” – there are quite a few teas out there that taste like liquefied red hot cinnamon candies. This isn’t like that.
Oh, sure, it’s got a strong, spicy, cinnamon-y kick to it. But it tastes like pure, real cinnamon, not like the candy. And I like that. Sure, I enjoy those spicy-sweet confectionery-type teas too, but it goes back to what I said in the first paragraph, I like that M&K’s is adventurous to try something different. They’re celebrating the true, spicy flavor of cinnamon here rather than going the candy-like route.
The black tea is strong! The Assam adds a bold, malty flavor and the Keemun adds just a hint of smoke to the cup that accentuates the cinnamon in a pleasing way. The black tea is robust, earthy and has a moderate astringency.
The hibiscus actually works quite well in this blend, I think that the tartness of the herb helps to offer contrast to the spicy cinnamon. It isn’t a heavy hibiscus flavor, in fact, I really have to focus to actually taste the hibiscus. There’s just enough in there to offset some of the spice but not so much that I taste an obvious hibiscus note.
Mostly, what I taste here is cinnamon. Not surprising, right? I like that I am tasting true cinnamon flavor. This doesn’t have an artificial or candy flavor. It tastes like the kind of cinnamon I might grab off my pantry shelf and sprinkle in my oatmeal. (I do combine two different time of cassia for my cinnamon blend … this tea blend uses four types of cinnamon, they got me beat!) The clove gives a background warmth to the cup and complements the cinnamon, and I like that the clove isn’t too aggressive here. I like that this tea is a celebration of cinnamon!
A really tasty blend, I’m glad I had this opportunity to try it!
Mint Chamomile Rooibus Blend from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Our Mint Chamomile tea will put a smile on your face regardless of the day you are having. Brew a cup of this floral, sweet and soothing tea and enjoy a wonderfully fresh finish of this beautiful cup of tea.
Chamomile Flowers, Roobius Tea, Peppermint Leaves, Natural Vanilla Flavor
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
What a happy day! I was so thrilled to find a box from Simple Loose Leaf in my mailbox today! So happy, in fact, that I decided to go against my “usual” approach when it comes to teas and I grabbed the tea I would normally ‘put off’ trying: this Mint Chamomile Rooibus Blend!
Tonight seems the perfect night for such a blend too. I’m up a little later than usual and I’m not really feeling all that sleepy yet. I’m hopeful that the chamomile in this tisane will help inspire a sense of calm and relaxation so that I can start thinking about catching some Zzz’s.
To brew this tisane, I grabbed my Kati tumbler and measured a heaping bamboo scoop into the basket. Then I poured 12 ounces of 195°F water into the tumbler and let it steep for 8 minutes.
I’ve come to realize that I’d really rather not steep chamomile blends in my Breville One Touch. The chamomile is a bit more ‘resistant’ to being removed from any infuser basket, and while I do scrub out my infuser basket in between every tea that I brew in my Breville One Touch, chamomile proves to be rather challenging to scrub out of the basket. I find it easier to clean the Kati Tumbler infuser basket than it is to clean the basket of the tea maker!
Even though I am often quick to say that I’m not crazy about chamomile or rooibos, I’m really enjoying this! I think it’s the combination of the peppermint and the vanilla flavor that I’m liking. The soft, creamy notes of the vanilla soften the crisper edges of the peppermint just enough so that the herb isn’t as invigorating as it often is. I’m not getting that exhilarating feeling after sipping this. The mint is cool and sweet and the vanilla adds a softness to it that is quite nice.
The rooibos adds a little bit of nutty flavor and a touch of honey-like (that honeyed flavor coming not just from the rooibos but also the chamomile) sweetness to the cup. I like that while the rooibos doesn’t present a strong flavor to this tea, what I can taste of the rooibos is a pleasant contribution to the overall cup. That is to say that it plays well with the other flavors!
Of the four ingredients of this tea, the chamomile is the one that I taste least. As I already mentioned, I do taste a light ‘honey-like’ flavor from it, but I’m not tasting much else from it. Maybe a hint of ‘chamomile apple taste’ every now and then, but it’s very obscure.
But I don’t mind that at all. I’m not big on chamomile, as I said, but I do like the flavors of mint and vanilla and since those are the two strongest flavors of this cup, I’m quite happy with what I’m tasting.
This is a soothing, comforting cuppa – relaxing? Yes. A really nice bedtime drink.
This tea came in this month’s Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op Membership box, along with four other teas. This program is great for someone who likes to taste before they commit to a large quantity of tea – the five tea packages were sample sized, just enough to have several cups of tea to decide if you like it enough to buy more and when you do buy more, you get a discount on full-sized purchases! This Co-Op program is a win-win!
Blackberry Sangria Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our amazing organic Iyerpadi iced tea base blended with the organic flavors of blackberry, red wine, and citrus fruits. This will delight your palate and the palates of your guests. A great iced tea to share with your holiday guests.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s a tasty iced tea, but as someone who typically doesn’t get all that into alcoholic beverages, I’m not finding the flavor combination of fruit and red wine all that alluring. It’s just not my ideal flavor combination.
But it is tasty. The blackberry notes are very forward which I am enjoying, and I taste notes of red wine. I like that the red wine isn’t a particularly strong flavor, it reminds me a bit of the wine flavor you’d taste if you were drinking a wine cooler. Yeah, I used to drink those. They were pretty popular when I was younger. Boy, I just aged myself, didn’t I?
There’s also a background note of citrus. These flavors add more ‘tang’ than a real focused citrus-y flavor. A little bit of contrast to the sweet notes of blackberry.
The black tea is tasted among these other flavors, and I appreciate that as well. I can’t say that this is my favorite iced tea flavor, but I’m enjoying it. It’s refreshing and fruity and my palate finds it pleasing. But if I were to sit down and place another order, I don’t think that this would be one that I’d put into my shopping cart.
But Southern Boy Teas does have a lot of other teas that I’d put into my shopping cart (more than I’ll allow myself to buy! ha!) Have you checked out their Indiegogo campaign yet? They’re looking to take their brand to new heights with this campaign, so please consider contributing and helping them reach their goal!
Seven Seas Herbal Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Herbal
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf here.
Tisane Description:
This healthy and harmonious herbal tea blends peppermint, ginseng, cinnamon, echinacea, sarsaparilla, licorice, and organic South African rooibos. The cooling peppermint and warm cinnamon notes pair perfectly with the sweet, soothing finish provided by the other herbs. This special blend is an ideal and tasty way to stimulate your immune system.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op program here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said in the past, I’m not usually a big fan of ginseng, but this blend has enough going on that I barely notice that the ginseng is there! I’m too busy enjoying the contrast between crisp, cool peppermint and zesty cinnamon and snappy licorice to focus on the ginseng. The peppermint, cinnamon and licorice are the three strongest components of this cup.
This is a delightful tisane to sip on this cold winter’s night. The combination of cinnamon and licorice are warming me from the inside out, while the peppermint adds a refreshing element. As I said, I don’t taste much from the ginseng. I also don’t taste a lot from the rooibos or the echinacea.
At first, I had trouble locating the sarsaparilla in this, but if I slurp the sip, I do pick up on a light root beer-ish flavor in the distance, and it’s quite an interesting note to be tasting along with the cinnamon. Peppermint and licorice are both profiles that I’ve occasionally noticed in gourmet root beers, but not cinnamon. The cinnamon and sarsaparilla are quite intriguing and this combination is keeping me sipping.
This is a tisane that was a sample in my last box from Simple Loose Leaf (when they switched from the selection club to the co-op plan), and I held on to it for a while because … well, because it’s a tisane. That’s why. I have admitted before that I’m often skittish when it comes to tisanes and this just goes to show what I mean by that.
But I’m glad I finally decided to try it because I enjoyed this. It’s a wonderful medley of contrasts, and there’s a lot of health benefits in this too!
Candy Cane Tea from Naked Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea & Rooibos
Tea Information:
Organic! A fun tea inspired by the classic holiday candy. It’s not like drinking a candy cane though. It’s actually more on the softer side. Perfumed floral aroma, lightly minty, softly sweet with hints of raspberry.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
It’s also part of Amoda Tea’s Holiday Box!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
So, I got a nice surprise from Amoda! As their way of thanking me for not only subscribing but also for writing reviews of the teas that they send, they sent me the Holiday Box that I wished for when I received December’s subscription box! Amoda = my Santa Claus!
And this is the first tea that I’m trying from the Holiday Box.
And YUM! This is really good. It’s a bit different than you might expect if you taste this without reading the above description of the tea. The name Candy Cane is a very suggestive name and having tried several different “candy cane” teas over the years, I’ve kind of come to expect a tea called “Candy Cane” to taste a little bit like liquefied candy cane in tea.
But just as the description above states, this doesn’t taste like that. This has a minty taste (just like most candy canes!) but the mint is balanced with a sweet-tart raspberry flavor, hints of cinnamon and whispers of sweet jasmine and rose.
The base of this tea is a green tea and red rooibos base – very festive! I don’t taste a strong flavor from the rooibos, maybe a hint of nutty flavor but it’s slight. I taste the sweet green tea peeking through the mint, raspberry and cinnamon.
The mint is a combination of peppermint and spearmint, but even though we’ve got two mint types in this blend, the mint doesn’t overpower the cup. It’s minty without tasting too much like a swig of mouthwash. The warm cinnamon contrasts with the cool minty tones and gives this cup it’s holiday flavor.
The rose and jasmine are very subtle. There’s just a soft insinuation of flower in this – and it’s just enough to add a little bit of interest to the cup. If you take a sip of this and find yourself searching for the floral notes, slurp the sip. The aeration will bring those floral notes to life.
Raspberry is the one unexpected flavor of this cup, but I like that fruity sweetness and the hint of tart that melds with the cinnamon in the aftertaste.
This is definitely an unusual Candy Cane! (But let me tell you, if I found a candy cane that tasted like this, I’d be a big fan of it, because this is yummy!) It definitely has a ‘sweet treat’ kind of taste to it, but it isn’t the traditional Candy Cane. This is a new-and-improved Candy Cane, Naked Teas Galore style!