This sample is a SURPRISE SAMPLE from Handmade Tea, a tea-subscription company! I love blind-box subscription companies. What’s going to come? NO ONE KNOWS. It’s like Christmas EVERY. MONTH.
Handmade Tea is run by a fella named Caleb, who I think I’d like in person. He looks like a very intelligent lumberjack. In addition to mixing, he hires artists he thinks would go well with the blends. A self-professed foodie, he thinks society’s “only a few short years away from tea pairing becoming very common.”
This blurb made me realize — I would love to be a tea sommelier. I kind of already do this with my coworkers. “How are you feeling? Would you like a cup of tea? What are you in the mood for? Fruity? Flowery? Spicy? Sweet? Caffeinated? Let’s narrow it down. Here. I’ll steep it for you. I know how much to use and how long to steep it.” Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a know-it-all, but isn’t that PRECISELY what a sommelier is?
This Spiced Coffee tea is great for the mornings. It’s black and, by what I can tell from taste and how hard my heart’s pounding, a little bit of maté. (ZING, FAM.) There are also some spices and real coffee beans.
“Oh yes,” I whispered when I looked at the bag in which the Sororitea Sisters shipped this to me. “I am going to have a HEART ATTACK.”
There is nothing like a cardiovascular incident to begin a morning.
Despite the ingredients, this is a pretty mellow taste. Swishing the tea around in my mouth yielded a mellow maté flavor. (I pray maté is in this. If it’s not, I’m going to die of humiliation.) Swallowing yielded up the spices and coffee.
It’s a good brew. It’s the kind of brew an intelligent lumberjack like Caleb would make. Thanks for the morning kick, pal!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Handmade Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below to learn more about Handmade Tea’s monthly plans.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Spiced Coffee From Handmade Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Start A New Subscription: Handmade Tea
Tea Description:
Spiced Coffee from Handmade Tea begins with a smooth and silky Chinese black tea as the base. The base tea has sweet vanilla-like notes. Costa Rican coffee beans are blended into the base adding rich coffee flavor without being overwhelming. Lastly, cinnamon chips are blended in for a warm and spicy flavor. Together these flavors work quite well together. The vanilla notes from the base tea plays nicely with the cinnamon and the bold coffee notes balance things out a bit.
Taster’s Review:
Spiced Coffee from Handmade Tea has been sitting in my stash for sometime. I know shame on me but coffee flavored teas are not my cuppa. I’ve tried several in the past and most of them are just meh.
Now let’s put some perspective on this tea. I’m a coffee drinker in the mornings. I start every morning off with 2 cups of coffee then I switch to tea for the rest of the day. So I like the taste of coffee, but I don’t exactly like the idea of mixing coffee and tea together. Those profiles to me really don’t match.
Which is why the fact that I loved this tea so much completely surprised me. This tea is the perfect combination of rich coffee notes followed by a brisk tea malty flavor sweetened by subtle vanilla cinnamon notes. A treat to say the least. The flavors are gentle and bold but on point each sip.
I don’t always like the flavors that I receive from my monthly subscription from Handmade Tea. To be honest, I’ve cancelled my subscription once, but I found that I really missed receiving a uniquely different tea each month. This is just one of the wonderful examples you can expect when you subscribe!
