Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Product Description:
Popular all year round, this Chinese Hunan black tea combines the flavorings of Chocolate, Mint and Raspberry. A tea that truly satisfies your sweet tooth!
Taster’s Review:
I was tempted to save this tea review until it was closer to the holiday, but, I decided that I wanted to do it a little earlier, because not only is it a fantastic tea, it’s something that I think you should get NOW so that you have it for the holiday. This would be the perfect tea to serve to your holiday guests!
The scent alone is enough to make your taste buds do the happy dance. Dry, this aromatic tea gives off notes of mint, chocolate and berry. The combination of these three scents is brilliant. YUM! Brewed, the tea has a little less of the raspberry scent, and a little more of the chocolate. In fact, as I brewed this tea, my daughter had a couple of friends over, and they asked if I had baked chocolate muffins! Yeah… that’s what it smells like.
The flavor is more of a medley of these three flavors, as well as the distinctive flavor of the Chinese Hunan tea. The black tea tastes rich and bold. It is a more mildly-tempered kind of tea compared to, say, an Assam, which while it is quite bold and malty (and delicious in its own right), it can be a rather temperamental tea and become bitter quite easily. This Hunan is much more forgiving, and maintains its bold, rich flavor without easily becoming bitter.
And this is a good thing, since you want to infuse this a little longer than you would an Assam to extract the most flavor from the other ingredients as possible. As I said before, the flavor of this tea tends to be more like a medley, like a well-integrated blend of chocolate, raspberry and mint. Each of the flavors seem pretty even in terms of strength of flavor. This is neither too minty, nor too strongly raspberry, nor composed of too much chocolate (although, this chocoholic would argue that there is no such thing as too much chocolate.)
This is such a delightful blend … a fantastic blend to serve whilst decorating the holiday tree, or just enjoying the company of family and friends.
Sunset in Seattle from MarketSpice
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Product Description:
One of our sweetest and most popular herbal teas, Sunset in Seattle is a blend utilizing a myriad of herbs that are soothing and mellow. Ingredients: Rosehips, Vanilla, Chamomile, Spearmint, Raspberry, Lemon Grass, Hyssop and herbs. Contains no sugar and is caffeine free.
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever gotten a tea, and just put off trying it because you were uncertain of it? And when you finally get around to trying it, you love it and can’t help but wonder what took you so long to actually try it? Well, I am there now with this tea. I’ve had this tea for a little while now, but never tried it until tonight. And now that I’m trying it, I am kicking myself for not having tried it sooner! I am really enjoying it!
I guess it’s that herbal thing again. I am hesitant to try herbal teas because I worry that they’re going to taste… well, herbal-y. You know… medicinal. But, while this does have a herbaceous taste to it, I wouldn’t call it a medicinal-tasting tea.
This delicious blend of herbs has a very strong vanilla essence. The vanilla is creamy and sweet, while the other ingredients help to build a mild background. The spearmint is not strong, but the flavor is melding nicely with the vanilla tones. The raspberry provides a light, tangy berry taste in the background, while the lemongrass offers a hint of citrus-y undertones.
This is one of the nicest herbal teas that I’ve come across in a long time. It is a very soothing, calming tea… you don’t have to be here in the Pacific Northwest to enjoy a taste of our beautiful sunsets! All you need is a cup of this relaxing tisane.
Seattle Breakfast Blend From Perennial Tea Room
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: Perennial Tea Room
Product Description:
The Perennial Tea Room’s own breakfast blend
The best of the breakfast teas from India, China and Malaysia create a flavorful cup to start your day.
Taster’s Review:
When I first heard of this tea on Steepster, I knew I had to try it since I live in Washington State. Of course, Seattle is on the opposite side of the state (we’re practically in Portland, OR), but it is still a pride thing, you know? I have this desire to try teas that have been named to represent the Pacific Northwest.
And this tea is an excellent representative. Dry, it smells much like many black teas smell. Brewed, it presents itself as a strong, stout cup of tea with solid notes of earth.
But it is not so much how this tea smells. When it comes to breakfast blends, it is about taste and texture. This has that bake-y, biscuit-y kind of taste to it, like the warm crust from a freshly baked loaf of sourdough bread, although I am not getting as much of the that “chewy” kind of texture from this cup. It is there, but, just as it arrives, it seems to be washed over by an incredible smoothness. But that is not something to be disappointed over, because the smoothness is quite rewarding in its own right.
The flavor of this cup is so pleasant and quite unlike any blend I’ve ever encountered. It starts off with a brisk flavor that is immediately followed by a malty tone. A fruit note weaves its way in and out of the sip. The sweetness of this tea is more of an undertone, delivering a sweet note throughout the sip but it isn’t too overbearing. But its the aftertaste that grabs me as unique. It is sweet with a slightly nut-bread kind of taste. Very pleasant, indeed.
This is the kind of tea that inspires me to wake up and face the day! Just what you’d want from a breakfast blend!
Spicy Seattle Chai from MarketSpice
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Product Description:
Our spiciest chai, with plenty of Pepper, Ginger and Cardamom. Add milk and sugar to taste. Ingredients: Black tea, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Tellicherry Peppercorns, Ginger and Cloves.
Taster’s Review:
This chai is AWESOME!
As most of you probably know (because I’ve said it enough!) I am very discriminating when it comes to chai – because I truly believe that I created the best chai blend ever. However, that doesn’t mean that I cannot appreciate other chai blends, and this is definitely one for which I have tremendous appreciation!
It is SPICY! The pepper and ginger are prominent, and I can actually feel it hit my throat in the finish – like a spicy, peppery blanket that warms my palate, then radiates down my throat and warms my entire body right down to the tips of my toes!
In fact, after my initial sip, I had to check the MarketSpice website to see if this chai had chili pepper in it, because the heat from the pepper is that kind of heat. The website does not indicate that there is chili pepper of any kind in this – so I suspect that it is the rather fine grind of black Tellicherry peppercorns that brings the heat, as well as the ginger.
But, while the heat from these two ingredients is rather dominant, they do not overwhelm the palate so much that the other ingredients – cinnamon, cardamom and cloves – cannot be tasted. The flavor of the black tea is even quite present in the sip – it is rich and bold and offers a tasty base for these zesty spices.
I really like this chai. I have tried it several times now. The first time I tasted it, I drank it with no additions, the second time, with just a drizzle of honey. I found that the honey brought out some of the other spices very nicely and softened the edge from the tea, ginger and pepper just a little. For an extra special treat, try it with brown sugar – the molasses in the brown sugar will be delightful with this spicy chai!
The third time, I broke down and made myself a chai latte by steeping the tea extra strong (using a little extra leaf and a little less water) and adding honey and some warmed 2% milk and frothing it.
When served as a latte – the spices present themselves a little differently. It is still spicy, but the creaminess of the latte softens the spices and creates a warm, comforting cup that puts the coffee house chai lattes to shame! The chai latte was absolutely delightful and my favorite way of serving this, although I quite enjoyed the other preparations as well.
An excellent chai – perfect for those who like their chai on the spicy side!