There’s something about strawberry shortcake that makes me think of summer, or at least makes me think of flowery tea parties. Maybe it’s just the fact that strawberries are at their height in the summer, or the fact that strawberry shortcake is often served with everyone getting their own little cake on a doily or saucer. Either way, drinking Strawberry Shortcake tea from the Necessiteas felt like the right thing to do on a beautiful summer day.
This tea smells decadent even in the dry leaf, with lots of strawberry and vanilla fragrance. The scent is supremely sweet, almost like strawberry Starburst candies. The blend brews up gold in color, and continues to be berry-sweet and incredibly fragrant.
In taste, the most forward tastes are strawberries and cream, with a bit of the earthy white tea to balance all the dessert-flavors. There are yellow cake notes at the back of each sip, reminding me of birthday cake ice cream. These cake flavors combine with the white tea, bringing an almost buttery, savory feel to the tea that gets creamier as the brew cools.
Three things go into strawberry shortcake: berries, cake, and cream, and this blend has all three essential elements in tea form. This is a must-try blend for any dessert-tea fans, or for any fun summery, strawberry occasions in your schedule.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description: Angel food cake perfectly combines with a light layer of sweet cream and juicy strawberries to create this guilt-free dessert. Enjoy hot or poured over ice.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hot Chocolate from The NecessiTeas. . .
Every so often I like to make tea packages for my friends. I go through a bunch of my teas and try to share samples of teas they might not otherwise come across themselves. Oftentimes that means I share my NecessiTea teas because NecessiTeas does not offer sample sizes so I have a lot to share and it allows my friends the opportunity to try the teas before they commit to a larger amount.
While packaging this Hot Chocolate tea to share, my mouth began to water at the smell of the dry leaf. I figured there was no better time to give it a try than when I already had the tin out and the teaspoon in hand. So, I got the kettle started and brewed this up both as a plain teas and as a concentrated version topped up with some vanilla almond milk to make a latte.
I was all prepared to get to drinking and blogging…and then food delivery arrived 20 minutes early. So by the time I got to trying the tea, I was completely stuffed from my meal, and the teas had cooled more than I intended. I only mention this because that may or may not have played a role in how I tasted the tea and I wanted to be completely transparent.
The plain tea was very murky, which was to be expected from all the various ingredients in the dry leaf including black tea, apples, cocoa beans, chocolate, barley, yogurt, freeze dried marshmallows, natural and organic flavors. The mouthfeel was surprisingly smooth for such a murky blend but the flavor was lighter than I hoped it would be. The chocolate flavor was present though it was more like cacao than a smooth milk/dark chocolate meaning it was an earthier flavor. The barley blended with that earthiness and gave it a more grainy flavor. Like chocolate cereal…in water. The smell really had me excited but this is weaker and less silky than I would have expected or hoped for from a Hot Chocolate tea.
The vanilla almond milk latte just latched on to that grain flavor from the barley and combined it with the nuttiness of the milk to give this an even earthier vibe than the plain tea. It almost tastes like unsweetened oatmeal. The chocolate is completely drowned out and honestly, it is a little bit chalky. I blame the almond milk more than the tea though because I haven’t had much success using it in lattes. Basically I am pretending like this didn’t happen because it just was not good.
All in all, the smell of this tea is amazing but a little misleading. It seems like it should be rich and creamy but I found this had a much lighter/weak flavor than one would expect. It has so many amazing ingredients and yet I didn’t get much of them. I wanted more from the marshmallow. More from the yogurt. Those flavors would have helped as they would have contributed some much needed sweetness and creaminess into this blend.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
What’s not to love about hot chocolate? It’s hot, sweet and chocolate-y goodness never does me wrong! The best part is licking the creamy marshmallows that have turned into a thick frothy cream! And that’s where my idea for this tea blend came about.. I combined flavorful black tea with cocoa beans, decadent chocolate, a touch of vanilla and topped it with mini marshmallows.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
My Peeps from The NecessiTeas. . . . . .
What do you do when you have a box of forty teas to taste and review? You hope and pray that there are some caffeine free blends so you can do some of your tasting at night! And if you don’t like rooibos, you pray that there will be some HONEYBUSH BABY!
And hallelujah, my prayers were answered! I don’t think I have had a honeybush tea I didn’t like and this one looks absolutely adorable! Tiny freeze dried marshmallows, pink sugar crystals dotted here and there like sparkling gems, plus brown sugar sweeten this blend, but the main flavor shining through for me is the honeybush base.
Adorable doesn’t cut it by itself. The tea has to taste good, too, and this one tastes like a holiday with a touch of vanilla. We don’t usually add sugar to tea in this house so there was a moment of hesitation as we tried it. But even with three sources of sugar in the blend, the tea is not too sweet. There really isn’t enough of it to turn me off. We made a whole pot, we are drinking a whole pot, and I don’t have to worry about lying awake all night.
Three cheers for My Peeps! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Earl Grey Le Creme from The NecessiTeas. . . .
I know lots of people hate bergamot. They are easy to spot. They almost always refer to it as “blergamot.” You know who you are!
But lots of novice tea drinkers start with Earl Grey and its variations and consider it to be the pinnacle of fine English tea. It is often associated with crumpets and scones and clotted cream, with fine china and linen napkins and lofty classical music playing. Civilized and refined.
My opinion is somewhere in between. A good cup of Earl Grey is very relaxing to me. Citrus scents do seem to lift my spirits and make me smile, but if a cup of tea goes TOO lemon-y or sour, I am not a happy camper and the blerg gets tossed.
This Earl is essenced with bergamot, vanilla, and cream flavors, all on an organic black tea base. It is a very pretty tea with the blue cornflowers mixed in with the deep, rich looking tea leaves. It would be lovely to display on the table in a tea scoop, tea boat, or dainty cup.
Will it get tossed? Not on your life! It has a lovely, smooth, sweet flavor even with no sugar added, though if you like sugar in your tea, a little sprinkle would do no harm to this cup. The bergamot flavor is pretty mild, and the cream scent is right on top and very noticeable even while it is steeping. The vanilla adds sweetness and body.
And get this! I like the resteep even better! Woohoo!
Advertised as an afternoon tea, I definitely wouldn’t hesitate to have this for breakfast, as well. I think the only people who would object to that would be folks who like ultrastrength builder’s tea in the morning, but I can’t take that sort of manhandling in the a.m.
Though out of stock at the time of this writing, hopefully it will be back in stock soon. Otherwise, I might feel guilty about making you want some.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Our Earl Grey Le Creme is a forgiving indulgence essenced with bergamot, vanilla and cream. Go ahead, treat yourself!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Brulee from The NecessiTeas. . .
In Toronto, a cafe recently opened up that specializes in creme brulee, Craque Du Creme. This cafe has fifteen different creme brulee flavors. FIFTEEN!! They have flavors such as Ferrero Rocher, Vietnamese Coffee, White Chocolate Rose, London Fog, Lychee Vodka, and even vegan flavors like Blueberry Lavender Coconut and Mango Coconut. What they don’t have is a Pumpkin Brulee.
The mind behind the NecessiTeas may not have fifteen different creme brulee flavors (though with enough time, she may), but she does have this Pumpkin Brulee tea and for that I am thankful. Now that the leaves are turning colors, I think it is the perfect time to give this a try. I got to brewing, steeping this in 200 F water for 5 minutes.
One thing that stands out to me when I drink this tea is that there is a burnt quality that is a necessary component of capturing the brulee aspect of this tea. It is not a bad burnt but one akin to the caramelization on the sugary crust of a creme brulee. More than just the brulee, this has an awesome caramel pumpkin flavor. Sweet and creamy, with a ribbon of vanilla and a comforting dose of spice to make it perfect for those crisp fall evenings that will soon be upon us again.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is not currently available bu click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!