I Dream of Macchiato Dream from Steeped Tea

by MrsPremise

I don’t discriminate when it comes to tea and coffee, I like them both, hot and iced, and I often find myself drinking one or the other depending on my mood.  I was very intrigued to try a rooibos tea with real coffee beans mixed in the dry leaf.  Visually, this blend is intriguing, with the fine red grains of rooibos mixed in with dark, roasted coffee beans and chunky cocoa shells.

The smell of this tea is amazing right from the start: there is the sharp, earthy, depth of roasted coffee beans, the sweet decadence of cocoa, and the bright vanilla nuttiness of the red rooibos.  Without even brewing a cup, this tea smells like a mocha dessert or java ice cream.

Brewed hot, the cocoa and coffee take over, completely masking the rooibos.  This can be a benefit– I’m not always in the mood for the particular taste of red rooibos, though its caffeine-free status is hard to beat.  The brewed tea has a smooth mouthfeel, warming and coating my throat, and the sweet flavors almost trick my tongue into thinking we’re having dessert instead of tea.
Even with the coffee beans, there’s not as much caffeine in this blend as other black teas or full-on coffee, so there is more flexibility as to when you can indulge in Macchiato Dream.  I’m not as ambitious as some SororiTea Sisters when it comes to building lattes, but I can already tell that this tea will be a winner when mixed with milk and sweetener.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Steeped Tea
Description:
Switch from coffee to tea. Bold caramel flavor with coffee beans.
Ingredients: Rooibos tea, cocoa bean bits, coffee beans, natural flavors.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

MrsPremise

Growing up, I drank herbal teas like fresh ginger tea during New England's harsh winters and iced blueberry tea during its humid summers. Over time, I was tempted into trying a wider variety of loose leaf teas by the fandom-themed blends available online. I have since gone on to design my own blends, and I greatly enjoy drafting up flavor ideas and drawing tea labels. When I'm not thinking about tea I can be found reading novels and comic books, playing video games, or watching movies; my favorite genres being history, humor, sci-fi, and fantasy. Generally, I prefer bold teas: spicy chais, rich black teas, even smoky lapsang souchong on occasion. But I have also dabbled in herbal rooibos, flavored oolongs, and traditional matcha. I'm glad to be expanding my palette by tasting and reviewing new teas and blends. Find me on Steepster: http://steepster.com/A2shedsjackson Fandom blends: http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/list.html?userId=292149

This post was posted in Rooibos, Steeped Tea

Spiced Coffee from Handmade Tea. . . . .

by SuperStarling

This sample is a SURPRISE SAMPLE from Handmade Tea, a tea-subscription company! I love blind-box subscription companies. What’s going to come? NO ONE KNOWS. It’s like Christmas EVERY. MONTH.

Handmade Tea is run by a fella named Caleb, who I think I’d like in person. He looks like a very intelligent lumberjack. In addition to mixing, he hires artists he thinks would go well with the blends. A self-professed foodie, he thinks society’s “only a few short years away from tea pairing becoming very common.”

This blurb made me realize — I would love to be a tea sommelier. I kind of already do this with my coworkers. “How are you feeling? Would you like a cup of tea? What are you in the mood for? Fruity? Flowery? Spicy? Sweet? Caffeinated? Let’s narrow it down. Here. I’ll steep it for you. I know how much to use and how long to steep it.” Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a know-it-all, but isn’t that PRECISELY what a sommelier is?

This Spiced Coffee tea is great for the mornings. It’s black and, by what I can tell from taste and how hard my heart’s pounding, a little bit of maté. (ZING, FAM.) There are also some spices and real coffee beans.

“Oh yes,” I whispered when I looked at the bag in which the Sororitea Sisters shipped this to me. “I am going to have a HEART ATTACK.”

There is nothing like a cardiovascular incident to begin a morning.

Despite the ingredients, this is a pretty mellow taste. Swishing the tea around in my mouth yielded a mellow maté flavor. (I pray maté is in this. If it’s not, I’m going to die of humiliation.) Swallowing yielded up the spices and coffee.

It’s a good brew. It’s the kind of brew an intelligent lumberjack like Caleb would make.  Thanks for the morning kick, pal!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Handmade Tea
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below to learn more about Handmade Tea’s monthly plans.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Black Tea, Handmade Tea Co.