Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Yum’

I think that one of the best things that ever happened to Earl Grey tea was meeting the vanilla bean.  It must have been movie magic.  I can see it now…

INT: A Parisian Salon.

Various teas and flavorings lounge about, chatting, discussing worldly matters and current gossip.  VANILLA sits in the corner, alone, draped across a chaise longue.   She is long, lean and highly sweetly scented.

The camera pans to the door where EARL GREY, a dark, swarthy yet citrus scented tea enters.  He scans the room until his eyes fall on VANILLA.  He beelines to her, drops to one knee, grabs her hand, and looks deeply into her eyes while kissing her hand.

EARL GREY (huskily): ‘Allo.  I find myself inexplicibly drawn to you.  I feel we could make amazing brews together.

VANILLA: (swoons)

Music swells.

….and scene.  Only problem is that just like movie magic, there are frequent copycats that just don’t have the verve and je ne sais qua of the original.  I’ve had varied luck with the different Earl Grey de la Cremes out there on the market.

Luckily, Distinctly Tea has got a pretty good version of this classic couple.  The black tea base of ceylon and assam is sturdy and the flavoring agents blend beautifuly.  The vanilla is creamy, and the bergamot avoids the trap of tasting like perfume.  Highly scented, highly flavorful.  Lovely tea.  I reccomend it.

Yum.

You can purchase the Earl Grey de la Crème directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

These teabags are adorable; little bendy strings with the leaf, the pyramid shape leaving room for the leaves to dance, the packaging.  They’re highly engineered and very cute.

However, it’s what’s inside that counts, and as a chai, it didn’t really stand out.  Chai should be bold and brave and spicy.  This is a delicate chai.  A demure chai.  Not quite a wall-flower chai, but definitely not the belle of the ball.  Nice to drink, but not something I’d actively seek out.

What I found that I really liked using this tea for was making cocktails with it.  I originally got this idea from a class I took at a local tea shop.  They had gotten the Tea Forte tea cocktails set in, and this is a modification of one of those recipes.  This is a LOVELY decadent drink, to replace dessert when you feel like laying about and being pampered.

1 Bombay Chai Tea Pyramid
Double shot of Whipped Cream flavored vodka (can be done with regular vodka, but this adds an extra dimension of yum)
ice
simple syrup
whole milk (or half and half if you feel REALLY decadent)

Take the bombay chai tea pyramid and put in a small cup.  Pour the vodka in, let sit approx. 5-8 minutes. Remove tea pyramid. Take a large juice or highball glass, fill with ice.  Pour in steeped vodka.  Then add at least 2 tbsp of simple syrup, more if you like things sweet (you can adjust after finishing the drink).  Fill the glass with milk.  Taste, adjust the sweetness with more simple syrup as needed.  Then enjoy.

The tea pyramid can be resteeped two to three times for more drinks.  (For you, or your friends - if you want to share.)  It’s amazingly yummy.  Completely decadent.  Lovely.

You can purchase the Bombay Chai directly from the Tea Forte website.

I’m easily confused.  Especially when two conflicting rules butt up against each other.  So blends of black and green tea *definitely* confuse me.  Do I brew at high temps or low?  Risk scalding the green to get the black to brew up fully?  Or should you brew at the low temperature and risk a weak cuppa?

This meant playing with the parameters and seeing what worked best.  The lower temperature brew resulted in a more fruity/floral brew while the higher temperature brought out the tea more.  Both were flavorful cups that had some lovely fruity overtones.   My favorite was the lower temperature brew.  It had more floral and fruit notes and was definitely NOT a weak cup.  Either way, it was a lovely, light brown cup that was enjoyable to drink.

Nice, flavorful, and fruity. Yum.

You can purchase the 1001 Nights directly from the TeaFrog website.

Wonderfully aromatic! Sometimes pear flavored tea will smell fruity but not specifically pear. This one definitely is PEAR. And cream. The aroma carries through to the brew. Looking at the ingredient list, I was suprised to see fennel seed – I don’t tend to mentally connect fennel and pear flavors, but on my first sip I was sold. You don’t taste fennel, but rather a lovely blend of pear flavors and tea flavors. Very nice!

This tea deserves sitting on a veranda with a friend, talking and sipping. Very comforting, very yummy. I tried this both hot and iced, and while I prefer hot, I bet this would be lovely sweetened and iced on a summer day. Yum.

You can purchase the Pear Cream Supreme directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

I’ve been working on this review for a month.

Or more specifically, I’ve been trying to start writing this review for over a month, but never get as far as getting anything written down. I’ll open the tin, smell the tea, get my brewing tools ready, and be excited to drink. This excitement will last until I actually start sipping the tea. Then I keep delaying in writing, because I keep thinking that this boring brew can’t be right. So I tinker with the parameters, and try again, or get bored and wander off. Either way, the review isn’t getting written.

The leaf has an awesome scent; peaches blending perfectly with the black and green tea. Brewed, its got a good color, and a nice aroma. But I keep sipping, and when I do, part of my brain is still waiting for yum to come. I tried longer and shorter steeps, a variety of water temperatures and sweetening the liquor. Even still, I wanted more fruit, more flavor and more oomph from this tea. Those with more delicate palates may apprecaite this tea more than I. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for a more robust drink.

You can purchase the Geisha Beauty directly from the Sanctuary T website.