I adore vanilla. A good vanilla is one of my favorite flavors. Vanilla flavored tea is always assured to make me happy. Rather than focus on one tea today, I'm going to talk about my favorite go-to vanilla teas.
Harney & Sons' Vanilla Comoro (https://www.harney.com/vanilla-comoro.html) is a decaffeinated vanilla black tea. It's a great after-dinner tea. The decaffeination process doesn't destroy the quality of the tea. It has a strong vanilla scent that puts me in mind of butter cookies, but a lighter vanilla flavor once brewed. It's smooth and silky, good both hot and iced.
Republic of Tea's Vanilla Almond Black (http://www.republicoftea.com/vanilla-almond-black-tea/p/V00582/) has a far less heavy hand with the vanilla scent and flavor. The vanilla and almond are both background notes behind the tea. This is a vanilla-flavored tea for people who generally don't like flavored teas. I also like Republic of Tea's blacks because they don't get bitter if you happen to get called away and can't pull the tea bag out in time.
Mighty Leaf's Vanilla Bean (http://www.mightyleaf.com/tea-pouches_flavored-black-tea/vanilla-bean-black-tea-pouches/) falls in between the strong flavor of Harney & Sons and the very light flavor of Republic of Tea. The vanilla aroma is of medium strength and there's more distinct vanilla smoothness in the taste and mouth feel. Mighty Leaf's tea pouches allow for larger tea leaves in the bags, enhancing the black tea taste. I believe that the Vanilla Bean is available in both regular and decaf.
Twinings French Vanilla Chai (http://www.twiningsusashop.com/french-vanilla-chai.html) is a perfectly serviceable chai with strong vanilla notes.
Twinings Camomiles, Honey and Vanilla (http://www.twiningsusashop.com/camomile-honey-vanilla.html) is a gentle and soothing blend which nicely balances the vanilla and honey notes without overwhelming the camomile.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Tea tasting: Adagio's White Cucumber
With Adagio's offering $2 samples, I decided to break out of my tea comfort zone a bit and try its White Cucumber tea. (https://www.adagio.com/white/white_cucumber.html). Here's how the website describes it:
"Stay cool with this refreshing, spa-inspired blend of cucumber and premium Chinese white tea. Vegetal aroma (think cucumber appetizers at a middle eastern restaurant), with a pleasantly dry, green melon finish. Excellent over ice, this unexpected pairing will leave you relaxed and centered; a lot more convenient than placing cucumber slices on your eyelids."
Unfortunately, this is a tea FAIL. While we're not talking diner Tetley, White Cucumber is definitely not something I'll be drinking voluntarily once the sample runs out. I will experiment with the last of the sample size to get rid of it. Or possibly just kiss those $2 goodbye.
That "vegetal aroma" touted by the website is akin to the unspeakable stench created when one opens a bag of salad left at the bottom of the crisper for far too long. I opened the package and nearly dumped the whole thing in sheer self-defense. Fortunately, the tea does not taste anything like that awful stink.
The tea also doesn't taste much like good white tea. It tastes like cucumber water. While cucumber water is refreshing to drink iced during the hell of a steamy August, I recommend against drinking it hot while the country is in the grips of a Polar Vortex. I don't get tea or melon flavor out of this mixture at all.
In the interests of science I'm going to brew it again and try it iced, and possibly with sweetener, although I can't image that putting sugar on cucumbers will taste good. Tea shouldn't put me in mind of how much I want ranch dressing, but that's all that the White Cucumber brew accomplishes.
"Stay cool with this refreshing, spa-inspired blend of cucumber and premium Chinese white tea. Vegetal aroma (think cucumber appetizers at a middle eastern restaurant), with a pleasantly dry, green melon finish. Excellent over ice, this unexpected pairing will leave you relaxed and centered; a lot more convenient than placing cucumber slices on your eyelids."
Unfortunately, this is a tea FAIL. While we're not talking diner Tetley, White Cucumber is definitely not something I'll be drinking voluntarily once the sample runs out. I will experiment with the last of the sample size to get rid of it. Or possibly just kiss those $2 goodbye.
That "vegetal aroma" touted by the website is akin to the unspeakable stench created when one opens a bag of salad left at the bottom of the crisper for far too long. I opened the package and nearly dumped the whole thing in sheer self-defense. Fortunately, the tea does not taste anything like that awful stink.
The tea also doesn't taste much like good white tea. It tastes like cucumber water. While cucumber water is refreshing to drink iced during the hell of a steamy August, I recommend against drinking it hot while the country is in the grips of a Polar Vortex. I don't get tea or melon flavor out of this mixture at all.
In the interests of science I'm going to brew it again and try it iced, and possibly with sweetener, although I can't image that putting sugar on cucumbers will taste good. Tea shouldn't put me in mind of how much I want ranch dressing, but that's all that the White Cucumber brew accomplishes.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Tea experiments: Teavana's White Chocolate Peppermint + Crushed Candy Canes
With Polarvortexmaggedon settling in here on the East Coast, the folks here at Mt. Mackyntoich were in dire need of warm, soothing tea. As an experiment, I made a pot of Teavana's White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos (previously reviewed on this blog at http://alysteaparty.blogspot.com/2013/12/tea-tasting-teavana-white-chocolate.html). I then crushed leftover candy canes into our mugs and poured the tea over them. I used about half of a large size candy cane for myself, and a whole candy cane for +Robert Peterson , who likes his tea much much sweeter than I do.
It worked splendidly. The candy cane emphasized the peppermint aspect of the tea without losing the white chocolate undertone. The whole drink was made richer, like a fine minty-sweet dessert.
It worked splendidly. The candy cane emphasized the peppermint aspect of the tea without losing the white chocolate undertone. The whole drink was made richer, like a fine minty-sweet dessert.
Tea tasting: Adagio's Almond Oolong
The flavor of almonds is not to everyone's taste. But if you are a fan of marzipan or almond cookies (which I am), then Adagio's Almond Oolong (http://www.adagio.com/oolong/almond_oolong.html) is a delight.
Opening the package yields an overwhelming scent of sweet almond, like opening a package of good marzipan. The aroma of the brewed tea is subtler and lighter, fortunately, because even loving almond I don't think I'd be able to drink something as almondy as the scent of the raw tea.
Oolongs are full-bodied teas with an interesting array of flavor notes of their own depending on the exact preparation. The almond flavoring and the oolong work well together; a less assertive tea would be overwhelmed. The almond heightens the sweeter tones of the oolong and adds a smoothness after the initial tang of the tea.
I don't like what sweetener does to this tea; it unbalances the flavors. I tried sweetening it both with honey and Sugar in the Raw (http://www.intheraw.com/products/sugar-in-the-raw/), but neither did anything good to the taste.
I also definitely think this tea is best hot. It's a soothing, gentle flavor mix that wants warmth.
Drinking this tea makes me want to go into the kitchen and bake either sugar or almond cookies.
Opening the package yields an overwhelming scent of sweet almond, like opening a package of good marzipan. The aroma of the brewed tea is subtler and lighter, fortunately, because even loving almond I don't think I'd be able to drink something as almondy as the scent of the raw tea.
Oolongs are full-bodied teas with an interesting array of flavor notes of their own depending on the exact preparation. The almond flavoring and the oolong work well together; a less assertive tea would be overwhelmed. The almond heightens the sweeter tones of the oolong and adds a smoothness after the initial tang of the tea.
I don't like what sweetener does to this tea; it unbalances the flavors. I tried sweetening it both with honey and Sugar in the Raw (http://www.intheraw.com/products/sugar-in-the-raw/), but neither did anything good to the taste.
I also definitely think this tea is best hot. It's a soothing, gentle flavor mix that wants warmth.
Drinking this tea makes me want to go into the kitchen and bake either sugar or almond cookies.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Guest review: Strawberry Lychee black tea
Today's guest review is from +Jody Livingston
"I was given a box of Strawberry Lychee tropical black tea from Hawaiian Islands Tea Company by the author of this blog. It's quite nice.
The nose is stronger than the taste, which is good, since it is quite strong with a very prominent strawberry note and a more subtle lychee fragrance. The tea, once made is more subdued. I took it with a teaspoon of local honey. It has a clean mouth feel with a soft taste of strawberry hitting first. The lychee taste sneaks in after and lingers a bit. But is is the taste of the tea that is primary, and it's not a sharp tea, more of a comfortable evening tea.
Overall it's not as fruity as I expected it to be, but I think it benefits from that. The tea itself is the star."
"I was given a box of Strawberry Lychee tropical black tea from Hawaiian Islands Tea Company by the author of this blog. It's quite nice.
The nose is stronger than the taste, which is good, since it is quite strong with a very prominent strawberry note and a more subtle lychee fragrance. The tea, once made is more subdued. I took it with a teaspoon of local honey. It has a clean mouth feel with a soft taste of strawberry hitting first. The lychee taste sneaks in after and lingers a bit. But is is the taste of the tea that is primary, and it's not a sharp tea, more of a comfortable evening tea.
Overall it's not as fruity as I expected it to be, but I think it benefits from that. The tea itself is the star."
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Bad tea chronicles
On the way home from an SCA event last night, a group of us stopped at a diner in New Paltz, NY. This diner had been selected more or less by throwing a pin at a map, so I wasn't expecting much.
Even those very low expectations were crushed and mangled utterly by the cups of hot tea we were served. I have been far too spoiled by drinking nothing but good tea for the last several months. Mere off-the-shelf Tetley tea was just nasty. Above and beyond the bitter bite of cheap orange pekoe, it had a nasty back-taste that reminded me a bit of coffee grounds.
On the other hands, the fried zucchini was excellent.
Even those very low expectations were crushed and mangled utterly by the cups of hot tea we were served. I have been far too spoiled by drinking nothing but good tea for the last several months. Mere off-the-shelf Tetley tea was just nasty. Above and beyond the bitter bite of cheap orange pekoe, it had a nasty back-taste that reminded me a bit of coffee grounds.
On the other hands, the fried zucchini was excellent.
Tea tasting: Adagio's Casablanca Twist
Adagio's website describes its Casablanca Twist (https://www.adagio.com/green/casablanca_twist.html) thusly: "An interesting twist on classic Moroccan Mint tea, which traditionally combines Gunpowder green tea from China with fresh mint. We kept the latter, and replaced the smoky notes of Gunpowder with the muscatel highlights of a Darjeeling from India. The result is very a refreshing cup, with bold, cool minty notes, smooth and relaxing texture and flavor. Very intriguing cup."
The website description is spot on. The mingling of the mint with the Darjeeling is an excellent pairing, producing a refreshing taste that goes down easily. There's the vagueness hint of natural sweetness underlying the taste of the mint and the Darjeeling.
Adding honey doesn't do much for the flavor. Too much honey overwhelms the clean, bright tones of the mint. The flavor doesn't seem strong enough to be good over ice; and given the current weather in these parts I'm not likely to try it iced any time soon.
The website description is spot on. The mingling of the mint with the Darjeeling is an excellent pairing, producing a refreshing taste that goes down easily. There's the vagueness hint of natural sweetness underlying the taste of the mint and the Darjeeling.
Adding honey doesn't do much for the flavor. Too much honey overwhelms the clean, bright tones of the mint. The flavor doesn't seem strong enough to be good over ice; and given the current weather in these parts I'm not likely to try it iced any time soon.
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