Each and every year, tea enthusiasts take a look at their tea stashes/cupboards and decide to take an earnest attempt at sipping down the tea that they currently own for a variety of reasons. This year, I’m joining in on this venture for a different reason- I want to dedicate more time to myself. 2020 was a hard year on my family. Between one of our son’s being diagnosed with cancer to losing a beloved member of our family to an extremely hectic and challenging political cycle (my 9-5) to everything in between which includes basically being a “single parent” for a good chunk of the year while my hubby took care of our son, Parker while he was getting treatment at St Judes. For so many, 2020 will always be an exhausting and stressful year. But, it is time to now look at 2021 and make new habits and choices to set the year off right.
One the new habits I am truly striving to establish for myself is literally time for myself. I am very fortunate to have been working from home for a few years now but with the kiddos also being home and remote learning, that tea time that I always really enjoyed fell by the way side. And I have too many delightful tea goodies to have that happen. So I have literally set up time each day on my calendar to take a moment, pop onto Steepster, log my teas, see tea lovelies everyone is enjoying all while enjoying a cuppa myself. If you aren’t familiar with Steepster, I highly encourage you to check it out. Steepster is a great place to log your tea tasting notes while engaging with other like minded tea friends. A lovely environment that I am thrilled to be engaged with once again.
To start 2021 off right, my Black Friday Friday Afternoon tea order finally arrived on 1/3 so I thought these would be a nice treat to ring in the new year. I mainly ordered a variety of black flavored teas but my mystery sampler was also included in this order so there were various tea samples to dig into as well.
#1 Sipdown:
I’m No Prize was the first sample I grabbed. This blend is black tea, ginger root, star anise, rose, jasmine blend with cinnamon flavoring. I’ve been seeing a lot of rose flavored chai blends lately and the idea of mingling floral and spiced flavors was incredibly intriguing. Brewed up with water at 212F and steeped for 3 minutes, this tea was a joy. You could literally pick out each flavor on its own and they all worked together nicely. Pops of ginger, star anise, and cinnamon worked wonderfully well with the rose and jasmine.
I was able to get a few infusions out of the sample serving and enjoyed every sip. Really lovely blend and one I could see re-ordering more of in a heart beat.
#2 Sipdown:
Butterfly Blend was the second sample that grabbed my attention. A black tea blend with honey, strawberry, orange peel and lemongrass. When I first opened the sample- the first thought that came to mind was how much this tea smelled like a strawberry candy. I was eager to enjoy this one so I prepped up my water at 212F and again allowed the tea to steep for 3 minutes. Sadly, I think my taste buds are changing and this blend was too sweet for me. The first sip – my taste buds were super happy. Super sweet honeyed strawberries was what I was getting. However, after a few more sips, it was like I needed a bit of something else to round out that sweetness, possibly even a bit more black tea. The blend itself is beautiful to look at but just doesn’t seem to be the right tea for me.
#3 Sipdown:
Courtesan’s Blend was the last of the three samples I enjoyed during my tea time sipdown. I will be honest, I’ve received this blend a few different times in my mystery samplers from Friday Afternoon and I have never really enjoyed the blend. But again, looking at the ingredients I should. Oolong, clove, cinnamon, and vanilla flavoring. All sounds delightful. When you first open the sample pack as well, the blend smells delightful. To my dismay, those aromas (for me) did not translate into any noticeable flavors until the very end of each sip if not the after taste. Then I could pick up the oolong, clove, and cinnamon notes. If the flavors were more pronounced, I have a feeling I would be in love with this blend. But after trying this blend so many times, I think this one just isn’t for me.
All in all, not a bad little tea party (that spanned a few hours might I add). The winner for me is I’m No Prize which is already on my list to re-order the next time I order from Friday Afternoon.
Let us know if you have any tea related goals for 2021. We’d love to hear them!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Where to Buy: Friday Afternoon
Moscato Oolong/Tea By C
Tea By C or Tea By Claire saved me this afternoon. Let me explain. My current company is going through a lot of structure change and reorgs which equals lots of meetings to go over all of these changes. Not knowing which tea I wanted to try, I thought I would grab one of our recent samples for SororiTea Sisters and Moscato Oolong was what I grabbed.
This tea blend is a unique tea blend-oolong tea, dried grapes, and natural grape flavor. I’ve had other moscato flavored tea blends before but I can’t say I’ve ever had a blend where there were actual HUGE dried grapes.
Because I wasn’t sure exactly how long the meetings would go, I quickly grabbed my Libre Tea Infuser, threw a few scoops of the tea in, ice, and water. Dialed in for the meeting and started to take notes. A few minutes later I took my first sip.
And can I say, my tastebuds rejoiced. This tea is one delicious cold brew! The oolong has this subtle yet present smoky flavor and there is definitely a moscato/grapish taste throughout the entire sip. The flavors are bright and pop perfectly. At the end of each sip, there is also this touch of minerality that just adds to the pleasant experience of enjoying this tea.
As the meeting continued, so did my enjoyment of this tea. As I would sip down each tumbler full, I would add in additional water and enjoyed more of the cold brew delight.
After a few hours of doing this-I have to say, I’m extremely delighted with this tea. This tea really delivered a different and unique taste that I adored. I’m now really excited to see what other tea varieties Tea By C offers. Because after this particular tea, I’m hooked.
And to get you hooked, Tea By C has offered our readers a 15% discount with promo code: SORORITEA.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea By C
Description
Inspired by sweet Moscato wine, this oolong tea is blended with dried grapes to yield a young fruity flavor. This tea is a treat that will make anyone with a sweet tooth smack their lips and reach for seconds.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Gingerbread Latte/A Quarter To Tea
I only recently became a fan of gingerbread and I am a picky one. I like gingerbread just so and I like just enough ginger in food or drink to make it sparkle but not enough to bite!
I am happy to say that this blend is the good kind of gingerbread. I made it as a plain hot tea first in six ounces water with no sugar and it was very good and very flavorful with a steeping time of just over three minutes. Ginger is the main note, followed by cinnamon.
But it is called Gingerbread LATTE so even though I don’t usually add milk and sugar to my tea, I do like lattes – a LOT, even though I rarely drink them. So I heated six ounces of milk with two teaspoons of sugar, and then plopped the infuser basket in for four minutes.
The milk is now a creamy color with little specks of cinnamon and spice swirling in it. Ginger is still up front with cinnamon a close second. The taste and texture of this drink would totally satisfy me as a dessert, no cake or pie needed. The flavor lingers for a long time.
Another A+ for A Quarter To Tea.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for tea blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe has a warm and toasty roasted oolong base with added mango and almond essence. The darker oolong tea keeps the blend from getting too sweet, adding an almost savory nuttiness with each sip. The almond adds its trademark, almost-floral marzipan candy taste. The fruity mango adds a nice brightness to keep this blend uplifting and not too dense or cake-like.
I believe the name of this blend is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but even without the reference is it a cute name to have looking back at you from your tea cupboard on rainy days. With sunny mango, bakery sweet almond, and a mid-level of caffeine, this is a great tea for the afternoon slump or a mid-day tea party.
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe was a limited edition blend, that should cycle back around in their seasonal blends or as part of their subscription service. In the meantime, give Pick Me Up Oolong a try, with almond and maple flavors and a similar oolong tea base.
Or try another flavor of oolong tea. Plum Deluxe teas always have great flavor combinations, and include things like “love” and “gratitude” on their ingredients list, so you can’t help but feel good when you brew a cup of their tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
This tea is no longer available but click below for other options!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Coconut Cream Pie from David’s Tea. . .
David’s Tea’s site says that this tea makes a great dessert substitute. I say, uh, nice TRY, but we all know YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES on this one.
That said, this tea IS a sweet sensation. It’s got coconut, white chocolate, and oolong, my personal favorite. It tastes like a tropical morning. Enough kick in the oolong to scoot you along, but enough sweet to say “hey, it’s a sunny and fun day ahead.”
Despite living in Pennsylvania during January, I do momentarily feel — with this tea and my light box — that bikini weather is right around the corner.
Just let me pretend.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description
Rich, toasted coconut flakes and creamy white chocolate unite in this delectable oolong tea. Infused with all the flavours of a homemade coconut cream pie, this velvety oolong blend smells as delicious as it tastes. Who needs dessert when you’ve got this tea to satisfy your sweet tooth?
