Tea and Absinthe's TARDIS 10 tea

A lovely friend sent me a number of samples, including today's TARDIS 10 black tea from Tea and Absinthe, a geeky tea company.  "TARDIS 10" is, of course, a reference to Doctor Who and specifically to the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant.

TARDIS 10 is a blend of black tea flavored with coconut and banana.  I was dubious about banana in tea, but you know what?  It really really works.  It shouldn't work.  But it does, it really does.  I drank it iced because it's dreadfully hot out in NJ right now, and I think it's probably best iced instead of hot.   The coconut is the strongest flavor element, followed by the tea flavors, with the banana lurking in the background waving insouciantly.   It's like a black tea daiquiri and I mean that in the best way possible.

I'd be careful with over-steeping this one.  Two to 2.5 minutes was enough, even for icing.  More than that and the tea notes are likely to get a little bitter.

I imagine this tea would work really well sweetened.  I'm going to try it tomorrow with the amber sugar so that I get the brown sugar/molasses notes.  I also imagine that this iced tea would work astoundingly well with rum, but someone else will have to try that experiment.

Addendum:  Yep, amber sugar works amazingly well, and I don't even like sweet tea most of the time.  I imagine Sugar in the Raw would get the same flavor.

Tiesta Tea's Passion Berry Jolt

A new tea company to me, another fruity black tea to try for making iced tea.  Tiesta Tea's Passion Berry Jolt is a black tea base with maté added for the "jolt" plus pieces of raspberry, pineapple and passion fruit.   It's darn okay.   It does, however, pack sufficient punch that a pot (3.5 glasses of iced tea) gets me through a 12-hour work day.  So that's a thing.

This tea needs a right proper steep to get enough flavor to hold up to icing.  Unless it's steeped for 4-5 minutes, it's largely flavorless.

The flavor is good enough.  It's generically fruity, without distinct tones of any particular fruit.  If I squint, I can get the pineapple and/or passion fruit.  This tea isn't bad, it's simply missing something that would make it really excellent. I won't go out of my way to buy it again.

Ahmad Tea's Mango Magic Black

In the summer, I like fruity black teas to use for making iced tea.  I'm very very pleased with Ahmad Tea's Mango Magic black tea for this purpose.   The underlying black tea is good quality.  It doesn't go bitter when I get interrupted by work and end up over-steeping it.  The Ahmad Teas website says it's a Kenyan black.  I've heard a lot of good things about Kenyan teas and need to try more of them.

The mango flavor is wielded with a medium hand.  It's not too sweet but it is strong enough to come out in the aroma of the brew even after it's iced.  Flavorwise, it definitely stands up to icing.  I can taste both the tea flavors and the mango flavors distinctly.  It's a summery and delightful drink, particularly welcome on gray, muggy rainy days like today. 

I haven't tried the tea hot yet.  It might be a little overly fruity side for drinking as hot tea.

Guest Review: Adagio's Honeybush Blueberry Pancake Tea

A great guest review from my good friend Karen V.

I happened to see this highlighted on Adagio's website the last time I was restocking my collection of Alys' teas (my namesake chai remains the only thing with dried coconut in it that I actually like). In a momentary departure from rationality, I bought 3oz. This... is a lot of tea. But, I really like blueberry pancakes, and for some reason it sounded really appealing at the time, even though I am not a fan of maple syrup-flavoring (real syrup is fine, but any other form factor is not).

"Staying in? Pajamas on? We have just the tea for you! Juicy blueberries and the yummy taste of maple syrup blended with our naturally sweet Honeybush tea make for a delicious anytime breakfast treat. Settle in and binge watch - Honeybush Blueberry Pancake tea has you covered! (Herbal Tea | No caffeine)"

It arrived, and I looked at the size of the bag and thought, "I really hope I like this..." Then I opened the bag, and... what is that smell? It's sort of like burnt maple syrup, not in a caramelized way, but in a charred-to-a-crisp sorta way. This is not promising. It does not smell any better on subsequent sniffs.

But! I will try anything once, and it was unlikely to cause me lasting harm. Besides, we all know that some teas smell and taste very differently. So, I waited until I just kind of wanted a cup of tea, not when I *needed* one, because if it was awful I didn't want to hesitate to dump it down the sink.

I wish I could provide an entertaining description of a spit-take, but the tea is actually quite drinkable. It tastes absolutely nothing like a blueberry pancake, with or without syrup. It doesn't really taste like rooibos, either. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but despite a good foundation in advanced math, I still can't tell you what that whole taste is. I can't pick out any descriptive words, other than "satisfying." It's drinkable, and moreover it is voluntarily drinkable. I've drunk several cups by now, and I like it. I just don't have any idea what I'm tasting. It's rather the same whether milk is added or not. I haven't tried sweetener -- it hasn't seemed to need it, and I'm a little worried it might highlight some syrupy notes. 

So, a solid 7/10. I'll drink the whole bag, and I might even consider getting it again. Usually I go for chai-flavorings in my rooibos, and this one has a totally different flavor profile.