French Toast Tea. I’ve had a few. The ones I have tried I have adored. More than one of the French Toast flavored teas have been from 52 Teas whom I also adore. Today I want to tell you about Coconut French Toast with Cardamom Maple Syrup from 52 Teas.
The name in itself is a thinker. Coconut French Toast with Cardamom Maple Syrup. My dyslexic brain converted the name to Coconut French Toast Cardamom with Maple Syrup. Either would have worked, I suppose. But I guess the Maple Syrup was Cardamom Flavored and not necessarily the French Toast.
Regardless – this was wonderful. And it didn’t stay in my stash for long. Just a few short days, actually.
The black tea base was on the stronger side. There was a pretty spot-on liking to a French Toast flavor that is for sure. The Cardamom was present and pleasing. The Maple Syrup sweetness was subtle but true. The coconut added to the overall sweetness but also provided a separate and stand alone sweetness standing beside the sweetness of the Maple Syrup flavor. There is even a speck of cinnamon to top things off!
52 Teas has SURELY done it again with this wonderfully flavored black tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Say Aloha from Harlow Tea Co. . . . .
In theory, Spring is upon us. As the weather heats up, it is time to say goodbye to heavier winter teas and say hello or perhaps Aloha to lighter spring teas. So what is a lighter spring tea?
Well for me fruity greens come to mind. They are lighter in color and lighter in flavor. And Harlow’s Say Aloha with its strawberries and pineapple and other fruits sounds like a spring tea to me.
One misstep I think they took with this tea was using both a hojicha base and hibiscus. Both are such strong ingredients that they wrestle to take center stage, drowning out the fruity flavors in the process. Personally I think the hojicha base would have provided enough of a foundation to give this tea body and depth while allowing the other ingredients to play a bigger role.
As it is now, there is a roastiness from the green tea, a tartness from the hibiscus, and then a generic fruity sweetness from all the various fruits here. Plus, since candied fruit was used, the sweetness is strong, making for another contender in the wrestling match. These components are making war, when they should be blending harmoniously.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Harlow Tea Co.
Description
Houjicha green tea, hibiscus flower, myrtle leaf, strawberry leaf, dried strawberries, dried pineapple, dried plums, and cinnamon dried apples.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Frosted Carrot Cake Genmaicha from A Quarter To Tea. . . .
I really like carrot cake and I really like carrots in tea. I think they lend a natural sweetness and a bit of a vegetal flair that compliments a lot of blends very nicely. I have had a lot of luck with A Quarter to Tea’s blends lately. I am really in love with this company. They ship fast and they just do a fantastic job with the teas. You can tell a lot of care has been given to the blends and it really shows in the bright and rich flavors.
I only recently found out about genmaicha green tea. It is (usually) sencha green tea along with rice/popped rice. It gives the green tea a starchy and toasted taste. On its own its plain, in my opinion. However, flavored genmaicha is where it’s at. The toasted flavor of the popped rice accents a lot of different flavor combinations really, really well.
I was excited for the frosted carrot cake genmaicha. A little hesitant, though. Some companies tend to over-spice carrot cake blends. Sometimes its just too spicy for me. If you’ve read my other reviews you will know that I really don’t like stuff that’s spicy. Anyways, back to frosted carrot cake. Um, YUM! Yes, yes, I am in love with yet another tea from A Quarter to Tea. I swear I am drinking liquid carrot cake with a vanilla buttercream. The spices are not too strong and do not overpower that sweet and vegetal taste of the carrots, but they actually accent it well along with a subtle cake flavor. Then the flavor of a yummy vanilla frosting comes in at the end. Another win, people.
A Quarter to Tea is rocking this whole “tea blending” thing.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
A cup of well-spiced carrot cake accented with raisins and pineapple for sweetness and a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
VariaTea’s Thoughts on Alice in Wonderland from First Edition Tea Co. . . .
I love teas inspired by pop culture and media. Fandom teas are a thing of beauty because they can take flavors that may not be otherwise appealing and make them all the more interesting by naming them for a beloved book or tv show. This tea, for instance, is not one I would ever buy myself since I don’t usually love marzipan and I am indifferent to rose, but name it after a classic book like Alice and Wonderland and you got me signed up for a taste. Perhaps I am easily sold by a gimmick but somehow connecting teas to pop culture just makes the experience more exciting.
As far as the tea goes, the smell of marzipan in the dry leaf was incredibly powerful and had me worried that it would take over but in the brewed tea, it is quite balanced. Present and flavorful but not in-your-face. The rooibos imparts a bit of a medicinal taste while the black is almost smokey in flavor. It is a bit astringent but not terribly so, though I will say it gets more bitter as it cools so best to have this hot. The rose is a little more perfumey than I would like (probably since this cup has cooled quite a bit) but also candy-like in its sweetness which compliments the marzipan nicely.
All in all, this was an alright tea. Not my favorite though I did enjoy it more than I expected I would. Like I said, this is not the flavor profile I would normally pick for myself so at the end of the day I am probably not the target audience here. I will be passing this on for the other sisters to try though so hopefully this will be more to their tastes.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black/Rooibos
Where to Buy: First Edition Tea Co.
Description
It’s always tea time. Indulge with this sweet and floral blend of rooibos and black tea, filled with rose petals. A candy sweet blend that just says “Drink me!”
Ingredients: Rooibos, black tea, papaya, almond pieces, rosehip pieces, rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavours. CONTAINS NUTS!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bonfire in a Cup: Smoky Spice from 52Teas
As we endure the last cold nights of the season, it seemed the perfect time to brew up a cup of Smoky Spice from 52Teas. This blend combines two of my favorite cold-weather sensations: woodsmoke and cardamom. Nothing quite makes me feel as cozy and nostalgic as holding a hot cup of spicy tea, with the smell your neighbor’s wood stove on the wind.
Growing up in New England in a family with an Eastern European heritage, it seemed like we were always having winter bonfires and mulled cider or tea, celebrating some equinox or natural deity. These winter memories hit hard when I stuck my nose in the bag of these tea leaves, and I was caught up in the heat of the fire and the warmth of the spices.
52Teas does a great job with their smoky blends, the smoke is not too savory or bacon-like, just the perfect charcoal-nutty waft of roasting logs on the fire. The smoke is this blend is balanced, with a solid black tea base and a generous scoop of cardamom pods and vanilla beans, with no one flavor coming on too strong.
Drinking this tea is like sitting next to the fireplace and eating snappy spice cookies, or sipping on a spiced tea from your thermos out in the snow, watching a bonfire crackle away. I know I’ll be keeping an eye out for this blend when the weather turns again in the fall and you smell that first wisp of wood smoke on a crisp, cool day.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This tea actually began as my Masterpiece Chai. While I was blending the spices, I toasted my cumin and I think either the cumin was especially fresh (not a bad thing at all) or I used too much cumin (much more likely) but the resulting blend ended up tasting strongly of smoky cumin. So I decided to add some Lapsang Souchong to amplify the smoky notes and create a Smoky Spice blend. This is a chai with a pleasant smoky tone – it’s not overly smoky – which is fine with me because I’m not a huge fan of a strong smoky essence. This has just the right level of smoke with a pleasant spicy note that isn’t too spicy, and it’s a little sweet and a little savory. It’s really nice.
