Sipdown #4 on my sipdown/tea time journey for 2021 and what a sad sipdown it is.
52Teas is a beloved tea company to many tea enthusiasts. However, the both awesome and sad part about 52Teas is each of the teas are a limited edition in their own way and typically if you fall in love with a blend- you have to ration yourself or your tea loving heart might be broken. Reason is- 52Teas literally blends up a tea a week throughout the year so there is always new and fun teas to try but on the flip side- restocking on a blend that you adore doesn’t always happen.
That is why this is a sad sipdown. This blend may actually be my favorite 52Teas blend ever edging out Graveyard Mist ever so slightly, more than likely due to my new love of black teas. This blend literally has it all- a little sweet, a little spice, and a little sass. And no matter how you brew this gem, the flavors are always spot on.
Today for my “me tea time”, I prepped up water at 212F and allowed the tea to steep between 3-4 minutes and cool for a moment or two. This tea is just such oh sooo good.. The black tea notes hang in the background while the orange, dates and ginger mingle together in perfect harmony. There is a sweetness that I think is supposed to be the cake part but I’m getting more vanillaish notes than anything else. I paired this tea with a stroopwaffle and was truly enjoying my me moment today.
I’ve enjoyed several tea pots of this lovely and sadly, this is the last of this blend in my stash. I do spy with my little eye another cake blend currently available on 52Teas so I might just try that one out but if you ever hear of a reblend for this one, I encourage you to check it out. . .or maybe I don’t. . .more for me (haha).
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This blend is no longer available but click below for blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose Water Shortbread from A Quarter To Tea. . .
When I saw the name of this tea, I was immediately intrigued. I’ve never seen rosewater shortbread before and, in fact, I didn’t even know that it was a “thing”. To be honest I find it very creative and now I need to find a recipe for this shortbread! Especially after trying the tea because this flavor combo is heavenly!
First off when smelling the dry leaf of this white tea blend, I could instantly smell cookies. Once steeped, that cookie smell stays. There is a hint of that floral rose, but it isn’t overpowering and I think that the vanilla cookie flavor is more dominant. There is also a hint of cinnamon sugar. When it comes to the taste, the white tea is very sweet and fluffy and it compliments the cookie, vanilla, rose, and cinnamon notes. I feel like this is a really well done and realistic tea and it would be a great dessert replacement tea. If you are craving cookies but can’t have any because you’re on a diet, this will totally satiate your craving! It is a delicious blend that is best enjoyed hot on a cool summer evening! A must try from A Quarter to Tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Sweetly floral white tea with vanilla, butter and a touch of cinnamon.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose Water Shortbread from A Quarter To Tea. . . .
If I am being honest, this is probably the tea in April’s tea box that I was least excited about. I blame the Rose Water for that. When I think Rose Water, I think of sickly sweet desserts like baklava and gulab jamun. I don’t mean any offense as I know these are loved by many but they just aren’t for me and I thought the same might be said for this tea. Add to that the fact that I don’t really love white teas and you might get my hesitation here.
However, this tea came in the monthly box which means someone took the time to carefully craft this tea, testing it and perfecting it until they felt it was worthy enough to be sold. When a friend once commented at a restaurant how weird a dish on the menu sounded and questioned why anyone would eat it, my father said that chefs don’t just put things on their menus willy nilly but rather they partake in trial and error until they think they came up with something that is worth serving in their restaurant and if nothing else, it is worth a try. That stuck with me and I think about it whenever I’m at a restaurant but also I think that applies here. So even though these aren’t flavors I love, I know that Lauren at A Quarter to Tea would not be sending a tea she didn’t think was awesomely delicious so the least I could do is give it a taste.
Lucky for me I had enough sense not to try and pass this along without sampling it because as soon as I cut open the package I knew I was in for a treat. The smell of the dry leaf just filled the air!
This is one tasty, TASTY tea!! It’s like a rich and buttery graham cracker or maybe a shortbread with a slight cinnamon sugar glaze. Sweet but no where near sickly. Just smooth. Sugary. Baked goods. Deliciousness. It took me by surprise but now that I have tried it, I can say with confidence I will be having this again.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Sweetly floral white tea with vanilla, butter and a touch of cinnamon.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fresh Baked Sugar Cookies Tea #SimpsonandVail
I have never done a tea swap, until now. I am so glad I found out about the world of tea swapping. It is so awesome! I just got a bunch of tea while clearing out my own cabinet a little bit. How can you go wrong with free tea?
The first I decided to try was my tea swap buddy’s favorite, and it is called Almond Sugar Cookie. It is a black tea blend by Simpson and Vail. I have never had a tea from Simpson and Vail before and was excited to try it out. I love cookies and I love almond! I was hoping for genuine flavor here and boy did I get that, and more.
This tea smells exactly like fresh baked sugar cookies. Seriously it does! And it does it without tasting artificial. I steeped this blend with near-boiling water for about 5 minutes. The black tea was smooth and mellow, not astringent or bitter. The smooth, malty flavor of the black tea accented the cookie flavor very well. The almond here was not overpowering and it was not overly sweet, artificial, or cherry-like. We have all had that almond flavored tea that tastes like cherries because of how sweet the almond flavoring the company used was. I don’t like teas like that. Rest assured, Simpson and Vail really hit the nail on the head here. I am absolutely in love!
I really cant say enough about this tea. It was so realistic to fresh baked sugar cookies speckled with crunchy almonds. I will definitely be ordering from this company and am excited to try out their other teas. I was perusing their website a bit and saw that their prices are very reasonable, too. I would recommend you check them out.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
Heavenly! That’s the best word to describe this black tea blend. You’ll think you’re in a bakery when you open the bag and the aroma of nutty goodness wafts out. The brewed tea is divine – with no calories!
Ingredients: Black teas, almonds, flavoring and safflower blossoms. Contains Tree Nuts.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pineapple Angel Food Cake White Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
All Organic ingredients: White Peony, Pineapple Pieces, Vanilla Bean and Natural Flavors
This particular blend is sold out. Learn what white teas are available here.
Taster’s Review:
Sipdown! Gotta love a sipdown. Sipdowns make me happy and sad. Happy that I’ve enjoyed a tea to the point that I’ve finished it. Sad because if that tea is from 52Teas it means that more than likely that tea is one you can’t get again.
I believe I reviewed this tea on my blog CuppaGeek, but I don’t believe I did here. So I thought with the summer finally upon us, this would be a great tea to try both hot and iced for these upcoming summer months, allowing me to sipdown a tea from my always growing tea stash.
With a tea named Pineapple Angel Food Cake White Tea, there are high expectations of a lush white tea with icing notes and that tropical pineapple feel. A hard goal to hit when it comes to tea, but one that 52Teas did amazingly well!
First I tried the tea hot. Prepped with water at 165F and allowed to steep for about 5 minutes and then allowed to cool for about 3. I took a sip and the flavors exploded. They captured the title of this tea perfectly. Lush notes of a decadent angel food cake with a vanilla icing and pineapple topping. The white tea provides a silky like feel that gives a unique dessert taste. The flavors are subtle but not so much that you can’t pick them out. They mingle together very well and make me sad that I have sipped this tea down. This is a tea that I should have bought a bigger pouch of.
Then after loving the tea as hot, I tried the tea as iced. I have to say this tea sings as a hot tea but as an iced tea it is pretty tasty as well. You still get all of those same notes but the pineapple flavors seem to be a bit sharper. The cake and vanilla notes were my favorite part when I tried the tea hot. Still, absolutely delicious and I have already drank two tall tumblers full and I’m going for a third.
Another wonderful offering from 52Teas. They really do dessert teas justice!
