Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black Tea, Yerba Mate & Rooibos
Where to Buy: Inspired Leaf
Tea Description:
A little bit corny…a lot delicious!
Inspiration No. 7: It’s time to schedule a play date with your inner child.
Ingredients: Organic black tea, black tea, barley, caramel pieces, yerba mate, organic rooibos, corn, sea salt, popcorn, natural flavors Allergen Notice: Contains dairy and barley.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This tastes much better than I imagined it to … and I was pretty confident that I’d enjoy it before taking my first sip. I mean, while the idea of a Caramel Popcorn Flavored Black Tea sounds pretty wacky and wild, it also sounds like it could be absolutely wonderful! And this tea from Inspired Leaf is indeed wonderful!
The sip starts out sweet with hints of burnt sugar caramel. Shortly thereafter, I start to notice just a hint of salt to the taste – and I love the combination of salty and sweet! Mid-sip, I detect the rich, smooth black tea base that is accentuated with the toasty, earthy qualities of the yerba mate and the warm grain notes of the barley. By the end of the sip, I feel as though I’ve indulged in a decadent treat that’s a little bit salty, a little bit sweet, and so very tasty!
The base of this tea is a blend of black teas (the ingredient list says it’s an organic black tea and a black tea). If I had to guess, I’d say that there is an Assam in the blend, because I taste the characteristic richness of an Assam as well as notes of malt. The malty tones complement the caramel notes. The barley in this mix adds a hint of grain flavor that seems to give the overall cup a “corn” sort of taste.
There is also yerba mate and rooibos in this blend. I don’t taste a lot of contribution from the rooibos, and I’m not really sure why the rooibos has been added to the blend … but by the same token, I can’t say that this blend would taste the same without the rooibos. The yerba mate – now that I can taste. It’s not an overwhelmingly strong contribution to the overall cup, but, it does add a nice toasty flavor and an earthiness that really brings everything together in a nice way.
This tea gets two enthusiastic thumbs up from me – it’s got all the goodness of caramel popcorn – all that’s missing is the crunch and the hulls. (And really, I don’t miss the hulls!)
Yunnan Beauty from Mandala Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
One of our favorite oolong teas capable of many infusions.
This tea is a variation on a Taiwanese oolong named “Oriental Beauty”, utilizing large-leaf wild arbor Yunnan grown leaves. Nearly black leaves and silver tips impart a dark, sweet, wine-like flavor unto the water. Great no matter how you choose to brew it. This tea is quickly becoming a favorite in the tea thermos. It will keep well and develop new flavors over 2-3 years.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yunnan Beauty from Mandala Tea is a lovely sweet and aromatic oolong that looks much like a black tea in dry form.
The sweet aroma is present both in dry leaf and when steeped. There is a wonderful sweetness in the taste of this tea not quite honey but not quite molasses, more like sourgum. This lends to the tea being somewhat wine like in flavor, but not muscatel. If memory serves this tea is similar to a barley wine, but it has been years since I have sipped barely wine.
The flavor of this tea really coats your mouth leaving behind a long lasting delicious flavor and aroma that sticks in your nostrils. As you breath you can taste the tea even more.
At 6.00 per ounce, discounted to 21.60 if you purchase 4 ounces this tea is a steal for a high quality and totally unique oolong.
The tea has an interesting effect on the palate, in the front part of your mouth you will get a watery sensation but toward the back it is slightly drying. Not nearly as drying as some oolongs I have sipped but the drying effect is there. The watering mouth mixed with the drying in the back keeps you fully hydrated in between sips yet at the same time makes you just want another and another!
I really quite enjoy Mandala Tea’s Yunnan Beauty Oolong and am happy it is in my stash.
Sweet & Sassy SororiTea From Uniq Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Uniq Teas
Tea Description:
Sweet caramel notes are accented with a touch of spice and hint of almond. This is LiberTEAS blend.
Learn more about creating your own blend here.
You can order this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Not too long ago, we (the SororiTea Sisters) were contacted by Uniq Teas and invited to each create our own blend which we could then sample and review. Well, of course we took them up on it! It sounded like fun!
And it really is fun! The Uniq Teas website is so easy to use! You just create an account, then choose from their selection of 40 different Organic and Fair Trade teas to create a blend. You choose the teas, and you choose how much of each blend is used to come up with your own unique blend. Then, you name the tea, design the label, and you write the description. You even decide if you want the tea to be a public tea (available for everyone to purchase) or a private one.
It was a blast to put this blend together. It is a blend of black teas: Caramelicious, Black Chai, and Almond. I then chose the name Sweet & Sassy SororiTea because caramel and almond is sweet, and I thought that the spices would add a certain sassy attitude to the cup without coming off as being too spicy.
And I’m really happy with this! The black tea offers a strong background of flavor – it is rich, assertive and slightly astringent. I’m not experiencing any bitterness, but, I also think that this is a tea that you don’t want to over-infuse, because I think it could become bitter if it’s left to brew too long. I steeped this for 3 1/2 minutes and it came out just right.
And even though the black tea base is strong, it doesn’t overwhelm the flavors which I find to have just the balance I was looking for. The caramel comes through as the strongest flavor, and there are hints of almond in the background. The spices are loud and indeed sassy, but they aren’t overly spicy. It was my intention that even though a chai blend was being used as part of my tea blend, I didn’t really want it to come off as a chai. I wanted it to come off as a spiced caramel blend with a touch of almonds, and that’s just what I got! This blend is great served straight … but I like it even better as a latte as it helps to bring out the creamy notes of the caramel and the sweetness of the almonds.
I am definitely going to be returning to Uniq Teas in the future to create another blend … maybe a twist on Earl Grey next time!