This tea traveled all the way from South Africa to join my tea stash in Toronto. Better than that? It arrived with two other Tea Merchant teas in tow: Cranberry and Strawberry Cream. They were all intriguing but my family unanimously determined that this was the best smelling of the three, an interesting decision given that everyone else in my family doesn’t like cherries. I, on the other hand, am a cherry fiend and couldn’t wait to dive in.
I have now had this tea a few times since it first arrived and I think I like it best cold brewed. There is a lot of hibiscus here and when prepared hot it can get rather tart. Cold brewing tames that hibby tartness and provides a chance for the other flavors to come through. That’s not to say it isn’t tart, because it is, but there is also sweetness here and the combination is reminiscent of cherry. Underneath everything, the currant acts as a foundation and though I am not entirely sure what elderberries taste like, this blend has a fairly juicy yet generic berry/cherry flavor that I am sure captures the taste of them.
If I am being totally honest, I do enjoy this tea and it makes for a flavorful juice-like drink but it is a bit of a disappointment in light of how good it smells. The scent is quite distinct but the flavor is far less specific. Plus, when you name a blend something like “Black Forest Cherry” it creates a certain expectation of baked goods and chocolate cake that is just not present here. So, as much as I do like this tea from time to time, it is not quite what I hoped it would be.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit Tea
Where to Buy: The Tea Merchant
Description
A rich cherry infusion to blow your taste buds away. Packed full of flavour, this blend of cherry, black currants and elderberries is simply wonderful.
Ingredients: Hibiscus, Currants, Grapes, Elderberries, Chopped Almonds, Natural Flavourants, Safflower, Cherry Pieces
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Chipotle Cream Honeybush Tea from A Quarter To Tea. . . .
Talk about being SURPRISED and HAPPY! From what I can see THIS Pumpkin Chipotle Cream Honeybush Tea from A Quarter To Tea appears to be VEGAN! Woot! I have been eyeballing some of their teas but they seem to contain dairy (butter) in most of them. This one doesn’t! YAY!
According to their website this contains: honeybush tea, cocoa nibs, apple pieces, rose hips, red peppercorn, pumpkin mini sprinkles (icing sugar (vegan), modified corn starch, corn starch, fractionated palm kernel oil, cellulose gum, soya lecithin, vanillin, polysorbate 60), cinnamon bark, orange peel, cloves, safflower, natural flavors.
I will say that the TASTE is comparable to a flavored Chai. So if you like Chai – Pumpkin Chipotle Cream Honeybush Tea from A Quarter To Tea – will probably be right up your alley!
The spices are nicely done. They are of medium strength but linger for quite a while. The cocoa nibs are subtle but important to the overall flavor. The vegan candies make this a bit on the sweet side. The vanilla flavors – of course give it a curved creamy edge.
It’s hard to believe this is ‘just a honeybush’. There flavors are so lovely you almost forget about what is being used for the base. This was a neat surprise and nicely done flavored tisane!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honebush
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Smoky and spicy with just a touch of lapsang, but ultimately sweet and pumpkin-y with plenty of custard notes. Definitely brings flavor to the tea party.
If you liked Smoky Sweet Potato Pie last year, you’ll definitely like this as well.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cider Spices Wassail Kit from Oliver Pluff & Company. . . . .
Today we have a little bit of a different review of sorts to share with you! Cider Spices Wassail Kit from Oliver Pluff & Company is what’s on tap!
One random weekend in the not-so distant past I grabbed 2 half gallons of local cider and stopped to visit my parents with Cider Spices Wassail Kit from Oliver Pluff and Company in the other hand. My mother and I were like the Swedish Chef and Beaker in the kitchen having FUN with this nifty tin of wholesome ingredients!
This Cider Spices Wassail Kit includes their 3 Muslin Spice Bags with Drawstrings, Cinnamon Sticks, Cut Ginger, Ground Nutmeg. It’s an Old English Recipe with Spice Bags and 3 ounces of Spices Brews 3 Gallons of spicy-cidery-goodness!
The directions on the tin for this Cider Spices Wassail Kit say – For a Gallon Brew: Fill a pot with 1 gallon of fresh apple cider, or ale, or mead. Fill spice bag with ⅓ cup of wassail spices. Add spices and ½ cup sugar, and simmer at low heat for 1-2 hours. Serve hot or chilled.
I’m a rebel. I don’t follow instructions well. So this is how I did it…I used 3/4 of a gallon of Cider and filled one of those little bags with 1/3 C of wassail spices. I did NOT add any sugar or sweetener. I brought to a boil and then simmered for 1 hour. I didn’t have as much time nor did I feel it needed to simmer any longer as I was sampling the flavor as I went along. My own personal opinion is that this was sweet enough and didn’t need the additional sugar or other sweetener of your choice but if you would like to add it I certainly won’t stop you! I started off with HOT mugs full and LOVE LOVE LOVED it!
Later in the day I drank a couple of these ICED and it was just as NICE! I also did a taste test of the cider straight-up prior to the aftermath of using the kit. You could certainly tell a difference! I have used other cider kits in the past where you can’t even taste a difference but THIS Cider Kit was AWESOME! The flavor was INTENSELY WONDERFUL!
The ginger was the ingredient that was upfront – for sure! Then you could taste the cinnamon. The nutmeg was a more mellow afterthought but still part of the mix of flavors that made it all tie-in nicely!
I’ve had teas and tisanes that used these 3 ingredients mixed in or stand alone and I think it would make a fantastic herbal infusion by itself, too! I know Nichole-aka CuppaGeek – a fellow Sororitea Sister – has been infusing teas and tisanes with her favorite adult beverages lately and I bet this would work well, too!
I can’t help but make another tea/tisane connection with this Wassail Kit to something memorable in my life. Years ago my husband and I went to a dinner theatre called The Canterbury Feast – a Station Dinner Theatre in Cambridge Springs, PA, and then a few years later when it moved to Erie, PA. It’s a Musical Comedy Stage Show that has been taking place for over 36 years! It’s a FUN time! Why this Wassail Kit made me think of it is because the show encourages audience participation! There are phrases you shout out, songs you sing along with, and sometimes they drag members of the audience up on stage! (One year – I was the ‘Keeper of the Salt’). The MOST memorable thing was a cast member would yell “Drink Hail” and you would yell back “Wassail!” So this was a fun experience for me on many levels…reliving fun times in the past while making new lasting memories with my mom this year while simmering the Cider Spices Wassail Kit from Oliver Pluff & Company.
I LOVE everything about this kit! It comes with everything you need and when you hit bottom and are all out of the spices you are able to keep the stylish tin (which I think my father has called dibs on!)
In closing…do I think this is a great product? Of course I do! How will I pay tribute to my LOVE of this kit? Well…I have one thing to YELL…DRINK HAIL…WASSAIL!!!!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: Oliver Pluff & Company
Description
History: Wassail (Middle English ‘wæs hæl’ – ‘be you healthy’) refers both to the salute ‘Waes Hail’ and to the drink of wassail, a hot mulled cider drunk as part of wassailing, an English ritual intended to ensure a good apple harvest the following year. Historically, the drink is a mulled cider, mulled beer, or mead, made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and topped with toast. A group then sings: “Old Apple tree, old apple tree, we’ve come to wassail thee, To bear and to bow apples enow, Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full, Barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs.”
Hand Blended and Packaged by Oliver Pluff & Co. in Charleston, South Carolina
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!