Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
Black tea scented with an image of freshly baked caramel cookies. Best served with milk.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yes. You are reading the name of this tea correctly. Cookie. This tea smells just like a fresh baked sugar cookie with hints of caramel. I was sticking my nose in the pouch for about a minute straight because I couldn’t believe how much this really did smell like a cookie.
Lupicia is known for their delicious flavored teas especially their green ones. I had heard a lot of hype about this particular blend so I was excited to try it.
Brewed this up-212F-4 minutes. Let it cool for just a moment and took a sip. Yes, this does taste just like a fresh baked cookie. I would love to have tried this tea with just a splash of almond milk to see what other flavors will pop out. It is quite good on its own as well. The black tea is solid and is quite nice in the background and their are notes of maybe cinnamon and even almond thru each sip. Nicely done for a dessert tea. If you are in the market for a dessert tea to curb that 3pm sugar monster that you can’t avoid, try this one.
Saying all of this tho, I’m not a big cookie fan. I like them on occasion but I couldn’t see drinking this tea all the time just because I’d rather have a fruity flavor in my tea than the cookie flavor. What I would love to see is this tea made up into a latte which I might just do tonight when I get home. Now that could give me the wow factor I’ve been looking for.
Persimmon Gelato Rooibos from The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Description:
There is nothing better than sitting on the porch on a warm Spring day with a cup of creamy gelato. Imagine the taste of fresh, ripe persimmons in the gelato, just dancing around your taste buds!
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
…Persimmon Gelato?
…Persimmon Gelato!
That’s such a unique and fascinating flavour idea, and the minute I saw it on East Indie’s website I knew that I had to try it. For anyone who isn’t aware of East Indies Tea Company, they’ve got some really interesting and well executed flavoured blends. Their ‘specialty’ is probably dessert blends. Also, for people not aware they seem to be the supplier for most of, if not all of, Della Terra Tea’s blends – a company pretty well known for having wonderful flavoured dessert blends.
When I cracked open my sealed up package of this the smell was really overwhelming; I honestly have only had persimmons once or twice and I found that they tasted like a very sweet tomato, almost with an orange-y flavour. The aroma of the dry leaf certainly causes me to relive that experience; it’s intensely sweet and fruity with a strong citrusy scent that makes me think of really ripe mandarin oranges or perhaps very ripe mangoes. Visually, there’s lots of dried fruit (Persimmon? I wish there was an ingredients list for this blend) in the leaf as well as a multitude of little yogurt drop type things. All of this in conjunction had me very, very pumped to get this tea steeped up!
I gave this a nice, long steep to make sure I drew out as much flavor as I could and to also give the many yogurt drops time to fully melt. I was somewhat worried that when they did melt the liquor would either get a little oily or I’d get “yogurt scum” similar to what happens with melted chocolate chips but neither really happened and the liquor was very smooth and thick. The flavour was quite wonderful too; while I ultimately think the gelato aspect of the blend could have come across better, as it was basically just added creaminess from the yogurt drops, the persimmon was very well executed! Persimmons, simplified, are basically just very sweet tomatoes and that came through. I got that wonderful umami flavor that a tomato has that manages to linger all over your mouth, but also fruity notes that made me think of very, very ripe mango or either naval oranges or really ripe, in season mandarin oranges.
Anti-rooibos tea drinkers be warned though, while the flavor is strong and lively it doesn’t completely mask that rooibos base so expect to taste it alongside the lovely persimmon/citrus notes. But overall this is just a really wonderful, unique flavored rooibos and I’m extremely happy with it and definitely recommend trying it if you find yourself with the chance to.
Organic Buttered Rum from David’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Tea Description:
Hot buttered rum is so delicious we want it all day long. Unfortunately, most employers frown on workplace drunkenness, so we came up with this rich and creamy alternative. Toasted coconut and vanilla beans mingle with black tea in a caramelized caress of flavours. Decadent hot or iced, it also blends perfectly with dark rum, brown sugar and a dash of milk – so go ahead and indulge your inner pirate, off the clock. (MK Kosher).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Back in my newbie tea drinking days, I would stalk David’s Tea Web Special Page. I was seriously addicted to it. I couldn’t get enough of their teas and I swore their teas were the best ever.
Fast forward several years, I still enjoy David’s Tea but I don’t obsesses over them like others do. More or less because there isn’t a store anywhere near me and I have to order about $50 to get free shipping. If one looks tasty to me, I’ll wait around and see what people say on Steepster and then might order it, but I seriously can’t remember the last time I ordered any teas from them. Anymore it seems I’m drinking teas that I find on Etsy.
Digging thru a box I received from a fellow Steepsterite, I noticed that this little guy was hanging out and I thought yes. I’m in the mood for some David’s Tea.
Brewed this flavored black tea up with water at 212F for about 4 minutes. I instantly could pick up the coconut aroma. Yum!
Took my first sip and this is pretty good. I’m actually surprised I like it as much as I do. The coconut is the flavor you really get from beginning to end. There is also a nice sweet vanilla flavor that mixes well with the coconut. I bet this would be an amazing tea iced or even cold brew where the vanilla could potentially really become the star. That would be amazing!
Overall, this wasn’t so bad but I can’t say that I’m dying to get my hands on more. If any would come my way, I would drink it without question. Just not sure it would be one I would reach for on a consistent basis or one I’d try to track down.
Glad I was able to try it!
The Full English from Twinings
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Twinings
Tea Description:
This tea is not available on the US Twinings website.
Learn more about Twinings Black Tea options for the US here
Taster’s Review:
I am on a quest. A quest to drink down some tea. My tea cupboard has gotten outrageously out of control. So I am now honor and duty bound to drink some up before this coming fall season when there will be pumpkin spice and apple pie teas tempting me to gobble and snatch them up!
The first one I grab is one that isn’t available in the US. This is something that I have always been confused about. Twinings has a US store and an international store. The international store has an amazing selection of teas that make me drool thinking about them. But alas,the same selection isn’t available on the US site. Eventually one of these days, I’ll order form the international store and deal with the higher shipper cost. For now, I’m happy I was able to try this one.
The Full English is a tea I believe I picked up from a Steepster member who was putting together some pretty amazing boxes from her travels. I couldn’t resist. I kept reading these amazing reviews from teas she had picked up from other Steepsterites and I wanted to be part of the club!
I say this with my head low but this is the first time I’ve even cracked into the box. I know! Shame on me. Like I said, my tea cupboard is getting out of control.
I brewed this up like a traditional black-212F-3 minutes and pulled the tea bag out. I didn’t want to leave this one in which turned out to be a good thing. At 3 minutes this tea was already turning bitter. The first few sips were just plain lovely black unadulterated black tea. Nothing fancy, just good. But as this starts to cool, the bitterness is swooping in.
For a tea at work, this one would do, but I would be afraid that I would constantly have an issue with the bitterness. This is definitely one you don’t want to forget about. I can just picture this one being lovely when at a tea party or enjoying a spot of milk in it along with a treat. Yum!
Moroccan Tea by Alokozay
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Alokozay
Tea Description:
Moroccan Tea is a perfect balance of Gunpowder Green Tea and dried Peppermint leaves, this stunning classic is refreshing, reviving and inspiring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Sometimes the teas that hit the spot are the simplest teas that you ignore in the back of your stash. I haven’t been ignoring this one per say but I don’t always drink tea bagged tea anymore. I seem to leave those as a last resort. For shame on me once again!
I have noticed this brand several times on Amazon but never really took a second look. For a Moroccan Tea this one isn’t too bad. The mint is strong and the green is tea is nice and refreshing. This tea didn’t provide any kind of wow factor that I usually look for.
Not sure I would love to own more of this but to try it, I’d say its decent. I just really enjoy some of the other tea companies versions of this tea like Tealated. Telated has a marvelous Moroccan Tea that is simply done but there is a bit more complexity to it with a roasted finish.
Like I said, I wouldn’t run right out and pick more of this up, but I definitely favor this bagged tea over others. I’m curious now about this brand and want to try some more. Looks like they have some interesting flavors on their site. I do have to say it is nice to have a reliable tea on hand for when guests are around or when you don’t want to mess with loose leaf tea. This one could fit that bill pretty well!