Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Description:
A wonderfully bold and smooth organic tea blend of dark oolong and maple, a perfect pairing. While the oolong is bold, full-bodied, and lightly smoked, the maple is light, aromatic, and sweet. The combination of the two flavors results in a well-balanced, featured favorite maple tea blend.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve been drinking quite a lot of Oolong recently, and some of it has really challenged my assumptions about the variety. I thought for a long time, for example, that I didn’t like Oolong at all. Then I realised that mostly what I don’t like are dark or roasted oolongs, but lately I’m even beginning to wonder whether that’s true. Mostly because of teas like this one! The dry leaf smells good – just like opening a fresh packet of brown sugar. It’s a mild toffee, molasses-like scent. Sweet and delicious. The leaf is fairly thick and wiry, with red safflowers. So pretty! I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The resulting liquor is a bright golden brown, the scent heavily vanilla.
All of this gave me very high expectations, but I’m pleased to say that the taste more than lived up to them. This is a truly delicious tea. While drinking it, I almost completely forgot it was an Oolong because the flavour is so strong and accurate. The initial sip is hard to describe. It’s like taking a spoonful of brown sugar and letting it sit on your tongue – there are notes of toffee and vanilla, with a deeper, richer, molasses flavour running underneath. The mid sip is beautifully buttery and smooth, and reminds me a little of toffee popcorn. The flavour lingers long in the aftertaste, fading slowly and gradually into a fudgey, sweet, sugary ghost. I think this is as close to drinking brown sugar as it’s possible to get, and obviously so much healthier! I can hardly taste the base tea at all, which is a good thing in my book when it comes to flavoured teas. I want to be convinced by the flavours I’m drinking, and on this occasion I really, really am.
I think it’s easy to tell that I loved this one. I’d drink it again and again if I could – and I’d unhesitatingly choose it as a desert island tea if it ever came to that. It’s desserty decadence — pure deliciousness in a cup!
Pumpkin Brownie Honeybush Blend from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
I think this one might just speak for itself. Caffeine-free honeybush, cacao nibs and marigold petals with organic pumpkin and fudge brownie flavors. This is a big cup of delicious!
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t remember ever tasting a pumpkin brownie before, and I’m pretty sure that if I had tasted a pumpkin brownie before, I would remember it! So, for the purposes of this review, I’m going to just have to imagine what a pumpkin brownie would taste like.
And while I’ve never tried pumpkin brownies, something I have tried (and I LOVE!) are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. When autumn arrives, something I’m always keeping a look out for at my grocery store bakery are those cookies … and I’m happy to say that this reminds me a lot of those yummy treats!
But getting back to the subject of pumpkin brownies, I think I’m going to have to find a recipe for pumpkin brownies too. This might just have to be the Thanksgiving dessert for this year’s Thanksgiving. Because … yeah. Pumpkin … Brownie. Do I need to say any more?
And if my pumpkin brownies wind up tasting anything like this yummy tisane, I think it might even be something that is requested more often than on Thanksgiving. This is YUM!
The honeybush base is a nice choice for these flavors, because it has a naturally sweet, nutty taste that goes really well with a fudge brownie flavor. It adds some depth to the brownie notes. And I like the way the honeyed flavor works with the pumpkin too.
This is a sweet dessert-like tea, but I like that even though it’s inspired by something that is really rich and sweet, it isn’t an overly sweet cup of tea. It satisfies the sweet tooth without overwhelming it. There is a balance, ad the pumpkin, while it is a sweeter vegetable, it adds an element of savory to the cup so that it’s not cloying.
The pumpkin is sweet but not too sweet, and adds a compelling contrast to the cacao flavor, and I really love the way pumpkin and chocolate taste together. There’s a good amount of chocolate flavor, a good amount of pumpkin, and I can still taste the nutty flavors of the honeybush too.
YUM!
White Tea Brownies from Sanctuary T
Product Information:
Where to Buy: Sanctuary T
Company Description:
If you are in need of a chocolate fix that complements your nice cup of tea, snatch a bag of these decadent, tea-inspired brownies. Loaded with white tea, valhrona chocolate, and bits of walnuts, these brownies are a rich complement to a cup of tea. Each package comes with 3 large, rich brownies!
Taster’s Review:
I have a confession to make. I am currently working on my second order of these brownies. I had only planned on ordering one order of them – just to try them – because, even though I thought they’d be good, I figured they couldn’t be as good as my fresh, made from scratch, home-baked brownies.
WRONG! These brownies easily blow my brownies out of the water. In fact, they are the best brownies I’ve ever eaten in my life! And, once upon a time, I worked for a famous cookie/brownie vendor in the mall, back when that vendor still made the cookie and brownie batches fresh instead of from frozen dough. These brownies are even better than those!
So… needless to say, once my package was empty, I ordered another one, PRONTO!
The flavor is rich and fudge-y and make the perfect tea-time snack. Maybe not for “High Tea”… because these brownieshave an ooey-gooey factor to them. It came as a bit of a surprise the first time I tried them. I mean, you kind of expect that you’ll be licking chocolate off your fingers with a home-baked brownie, but not something you bought off the internet. With these brownies, prepare for chocolate-y fingertips!
That being said, these brownies are a better “alone tea time” treat. Pour yourself a cup of tea (I really recommend Carnival Tea with these brownies) and devour!
The brownies are filled with chocolate chips, walnuts and I think I may have even encountered a bit of caramel in my first batch. In this batch, I haven’t found any caramel yet, BUT… I can taste the white tea a bit better in this batch than in the first.
Yes, it’s true, the white tea does get a little lost in this explosion of chocolate flavor. That being said, it is doubtful that someone would actually miss the tea after tasting these decadent delights. In the first batch, I could tell there was something else there… but it wasn’t a distinct white tea taste. With this batch, though, I can definitely taste white tea.
If you haven’t done so yet, check out the Sanctuary T website. While you’re there, be sure to join their mailing list, and you’ll receive a coupon code worth 10% off on your first purchase!