Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
To celebrate Mardi Gras this year, we’ve developed a blend reminiscent of a gorgeous King Cake. Hints of vanilla cream and cinnamon make for a truly delectable cup that’ll take you away to beautiful N’awlins.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Tasty! I don’t know that I’m necessarily tasting “cake” from this King Cake Cuppa Black Tea from Cuppa Crew Tea Company, but, it’s still darned tasty!
The cinnamon note is what comes through strongest here, although, I wouldn’t say that it’s a STRONG cinnamon-y tea. The cinnamon is a well-defined flavor without tasting of cinnamon candy (no red-hots here). This is more like the cinnamon taste you might get if you were to bite into a snicker-doodle cookie. Warm, sweet, true cinnamon taste. (Or, if you really want to get technical about it – true cassia taste.)
The vanilla offers a smooth creamy taste that compliments the cinnamon very well. The two together work very harmoniously … the vanilla softens the cinnamon, and the cinnamon keeps the vanilla cream from tasting too sweet or cloying.
The black tea base is not particularly strong here, but it does offer a pleasantly brisk background of flavor for the notes of cinnamon and vanilla cream. I think that if the black tea were perhaps a blend with Assam and possibly a Fujian black tea … this might taste a lot more like cake … or at the very least, like the aforementioned snicker-doodle cookie!
Regardless, this is a very tasty blend … one that I wouldn’t mind drinking again.
Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee from Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Skip the “real” bubbly and go with this gorgeous tea instead!
We start with our Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling – the “champagne” of teas – and add a touch of wild strawberries and whipped cream for a cuppa that’s fantastic hot or cold and with or without cream and sugar. You’ll love figuring out which way of prepping it you like best!
A perfect tea to enjoy with (or in spite of) that special someone….
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee from Cuppa Crew Tea Company is simply perfection, divine, delicious, creamy, strawberry, goodness!
Cuppa crew may not have the largest list of teas yet, as they are still building their site and tea collection, however what I have tried form them thus far have all been stellar!
I love a really well done strawberry tea. Before this cup, I had two stash staples of strawberry tea. Now I have three! I also love a really good champagne inspired tea. I always have one or two of those in my stash as well. Usually I run into champagne and strawberry blends featuring white tea, but this one is with a lovely Darjeeling black base. First of all, Darjeeling, YES PLEASE! Second of all, who said I can’t have champagne in the morning? Well, Cuppa Crew understands my needs! A wonderful black base of really fine Darjeeling, with a creamy soft strawberry flavor and that sparkling like essence of champagne. I am in heaven!
This tea is everything I want in my strawberry tea and my champagne tea. The funny thing is I never really knew I wanted a creamy champagne tea before this cup! Its like having an iced Italian champagne soda with delightful and quite flavorful strawberries.
There is not one bit of astringency, no bitterness, and I even over steeped my first cup! The strawberry flavor is not tart but rather quite sweet and juicy. It tastes like creamer has already been added and a touch of sugar, but not too much as this is not a cloying cup.
It is sweet all on its own and does not need any added sugar, or creamer, or anything. All I have to do now is roll out of bed, stick some tea in my strainer, add boiling water, and I am good to go. However I could see this tea making you want to stay in bed just a little longer, dreaming of laying on rose petals with a handsome man or pretty lady next to you. Its a romantic flavored tea and PERFECT for Valentine’s day which is fast approaching!
Right now, Cuppa Crew has a sale going on as well and you better believe I am grabbing some more of this up RIGHT NOW!
See ya, gotta go get in on that deal!
Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up from Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Cuppa Crew Tea Company
Tea Description:
Top’o’the’mornin’ our pasty Irish butts. If you need a kick with a kick to start your day (or wake you up after lunch), here’s your tea, good ma’am or sir.
We start with our hearty Irish Breakfast blend and add a drop of the craythur — Irish Cream (cream + Irish whiskey). The resulting cuppa is bold, creamy, sweet, and just reminiscent of a fine Irish whiskey. Feel the burn (in a fabulous way)! Uisce beatha (“water of life”), indeed.
The name of the blend is borrowed from an old Irish street ballad by the name of, “Finnegan’s Wake,” embedded below. We thought it appropriate!
Ingredients: Black Tea, Blackberry Leaves, Cornflower, Sunflower, Calendula Petals, Natural Flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up from Cuppa Crew Tea Company tastes like a good merlot in my opinion. There is not a thing wrong with that! It’s no surprise it is after all an Irish inspired blend and since I have Irish blood in me I think I am politically clearned to say the Irish do love their alcohol although not necessarily wine. Okay now if I have not offended everyone I will continue. Alright so maybe my Irish blood is not thick enough for a stout whisky and perhaps this is spot on for Irish Whisky but to me I keep tasting that wine note, although I am far more partial to wine than whiskey. I hope my ancestors are not turning over in their graves.
The creamy element to this tea is lovely. Its not too creamy that you feel like your drinking something heavy or cloying but it does evoke that Irish Cream flavor quite well.
I do not usually do this but I did add some sugar and a splash of milk half way through the cup as it is recommended by Cuppa Crew even though the tea was rockin without it!
Sure I do think the sugar and milk, only a splash, do help highlight some of the notes in the tea, especially the more savory notes of calendula, a wonderful healing herb, but I believe I may prefer this one just as is, why mess with something that is good on its own? Still it is nice that we have choices and its great both ways!
The dry leaf is pretty with sprinkles of purple, and gold color from the calendula, and cornflower, and it has a lovely aroma. The steeped leaf expands to at least twice its size. A note on the leaf from Cuppa Crew:
We use only orthodox tea leaves in both our standard Irish Breakfast and in Tim Finnegan’s Wake-Up, so the texture of the leaves is beautiful and consistent. We also like the somewhat mellower flavor of the full leaf versus a CTC blend.
The folks at Cuppa Crew are awesome people with in my opinion a good sense of humor and good nature. I enjoy reading their web site and blog with the quirky sense of humor and antidotes.
Check them out and give a nod to a new and upcoming tea company!
As for last notes on this tea … I have never had a tea like it! Truly unique and original! Kudos Cuppa Crew!