Cookies N’ Cream Tea from Still Water Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Still Water Tea

Tea Description:

Scrumptuous flavours of maple, honey, cream and chocolate take your cookie experience to the next level!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is a tea that benefits greatly from waiting a couple of minutes after brewing to allow the tea to cool slightly before you start drinking it.  The first couple of sips – while still piping hot – tasted a bit off, almost artificial.  But now that the tea has cooled just slightly – it’s still hot, but not fresh from the teapot hot! – it is much tastier.

This is an interesting combination of flavors.  It is a very sweet tea, but then again, with a name like Cookies N’ Cream, you know what you’re getting yourself in for, right?  You kind of expect it to be sweet.  And if the name doesn’t convince you, reading the description:  “maple, honey, cream and chocolate …”  yeah, that should do it.  This is a sweet, decadent dessert tea.

The sip starts out with a hint of chocolate, and the chocolate flavor develops over the course of the sip.  The honey notes weave their way in and out of the sip, and the cream is more of an undercurrent of flavor … off in the background, providing a pleasing creamy note all the while.  The maple was a little difficult to detect at first, but by mid-cup it is almost as strong as the chocolate flavor.

The black tea is in there too, although it is a mellower flavor.  It provides a pleasing backdrop, however, it does seem a little outdone by the strength of the flavors.  On the plus side, though, there is only a mild astringency so it doesn’t interfere with the enjoyment of the flavors.

Overall, it’s a very pleasant cup of tea.  Makes a nice latte, too!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, 52Teas Sent to Me …

by liberteas

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the SororiTea Sisters!

These twelve days – well, really, this whole year! – has flown by.

I suppose I could get sappy and wistfully reminisce about the year that has past.  Or perhaps I could get optimistic about the new year about to start.  But why?  This blog is about tea, not about life’s big questions and/or answers.  To me, the question and answer all begin with tea!

I have been eagerly awaiting today because it would be the day to unveil the BIG surprise… the tea that was specially made for the 12th day!  So without delay, let’s just get right into it, shall we?

MILK & COOKIES FLAVORED BLACK TEA

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Product Description: 

Note:  There isn’t a description available at the moment, so I will instead list the ingredients as shown on the label.

Ingredients:  Black teas, organic cacao nibs, natural flavors

Taster’s Review:

When I first opened the package, I could smell chocolate.  This brought a huge smile to my face.  Then I read the label … Milk & Cookies?  Wow!  This sounds interesting!

I mean, no need to put out milk and cookies for Santa anymore, right?  Just put out Milk & Cookies flavored tea!

My first sip, I felt it was missing something.  So, I reached for some turbinado sugar and added a pinch.  This helped, but it still didn’t taste like Milk and Cookies to me.  It tasted like black tea with notes of chocolate.

Then, I let it cool a bit.  Not completely cool, of course, but, just enough to where it’s drinkable.  Now the flavors are beginning to pop!  I definitely taste the cookies aspect of this, I can taste the pastry with hints of butter and I can taste the chocolate.  I don’t taste much “milk” in this though… and I needed a splash of milk to not actually add a creamy element, but, I found that it brought out that creaminess.

I am finding that black tea blend that 52Teas uses is a bit harsh with these particular flavors.  This might be better with a good, malty Assam, as the malty tones of the Assam would amplify the Milk & Cookies aspect a bit, I think.

Overall, it’s not a bad cup of tea.  But, it certainly is not my favorite from 52Teas and it is a bit of a let down for me, because I had hoped for something amazing like last year’s Gingerbread Chai.  (Yeah, I know, I’ve mentioned it a few times in the course of this 12 Days series, but, I liked it!)

And even though I’m not overly impressed with this offering, I was very happy to be able to revisit the other teas offered in this 12 Days collection, and I look forward to another great year of tea with 52Teas.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea