I brewed it in freshly boiled water (~8-10 oz) for 3 minutes as suggested. I love loose leaf tea, but the pyramid sachets this tea comes in are super cute and convenient. It’s just one less step (putting the tea into the brew basket) but can make a big difference, especially if you’re in a hurry.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a Thyme tea before, so this was new and exciting to me. This tea doesn’t seem to have any other herbs/spices besides thyme (the ingredients are black tea, thyme, and vanilla) but the flavor is pretty strong and the vanilla gives it more depth and richness. It’s a nice medium-dark, transparent honey-brown when steeped and smells both Thymey and sweet.
First sip: There’s a bit of cognitive dissonance here because I’ve only ever had Thyme in savory dishes so my brain is expecting this tea to be savory rather than sweet. It is sweet, though. I can identify the tannic astringency of the tea base, along the sides of my tongue, while the Thymey bouquet invades my nose. The astringency transitions into a sweetness on the top and back of the tongue that somehow connects it to the flowery herbal fragrance, keeping the whole thing somewhat coherent. So although the black tea flavor is mostly subsumed and the astringent component is the only part of it that really sticks out to me, it still contributes to the overall taste profile.
I next added a bit of sugar (only a little, since it’s so sweet already), which helped the various flavors flow together even better. I then added milk, which worked out great. It made the tea taste warm and strengthening (I mean, it technically already tasted warm, but still) and helped my taste buds get over the funky “no really, this should be savory because it has thyme in it” idea. I think I like it best with milk, but then I usually do with chais and other strong black teas.
This is a very different sort of chai, with a Mediterranean rather than a South Asian inspiration, but I really enjoyed it and I think I could add it to my rotation with great success.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Balcony Teas
Description
This is what my papa called “a signature tea”: refreshing in summer and protective in winter. We love the distinctly herbaceous, yet sweet and comforting taste of this black tea.
Ingredients:
Black Tea – The finest Ceylon tea. Fortifying, yet refreshing.Wild Thyme – Our thyme is wild-harvested in the Mediterranean to ensure its intense aroma and taste. The Romans believed Thyme to be a mood enhancer. My family used to drink it whenever we were feeling under the weather.Vanilla Pieces & Flavour – Smooth, sweet and luxurious.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sensiblyscript’s Take on Lapsang Chai by Bluebird Tea Company. . . .
Steeping specs: One teaspoon at 212 degrees for 4 minutes in 1 cup of water.
This was an exciting idea for a tea. I’ve tried actual lapsang souchong once and couldn’t get through my mugful (maybe it was a bad idea to add milk, but I couldn’t stand it without milk either so I figured it couldn’t hurt anything). It’s not because I don’t like smoky flavors, either. I love smoked meat (I mean, BACON, right?), and I love campfires although it’s true I don’t eat them. But combining smoky tea with other strong spices that I know I like sounds like a very clever idea. I only wish I’d had it. In fact, I think I might have the rest of that sample packet of Lapsang somewhere; maybe I should go experiment with mixing it with various chais.
After steeping for four minutes I took a good whiff–it smells tantalizingly smoky. This could be either a good thing or a problem, as mentioned above. The color is amber-ish–on the light side for a chai, I think (and I do have the unfortunate tendency to judge my tea’s strength by its color! I’ve been known to waaaaay over-steep my tea just because it didn’t look dark enough to me). A few crumbs of leaf have escaped my basket, so maybe I’ll use the finer mesh next time I steep this. What’s really exciting is that although the smell is smoky, I can smell spices too! Cinnamon, ginger, and possibly clove, I think.
First taste: it’s definitely not tasting like liquid smoke here, which is good! The flavor combo is hard to describe, though. The smoky tang and the warmth from the spices hit me at approximately the same time with each sip, which means it really has a kick! It’s not a super spicy chai, though, so if you’re sensitive to spice that probably won’t be a problem (depending on just how sensitive you are, of course. Some people manage to complain of spiciness in foods that taste basically bland to me).
The smokiness combines especially well with the ginger notes for some reason. Does ginger have a smoky component normally? I don’t know. I just know that this tastes really, really good. The smoke lingers a bit after each sip, but like I said, it’s not overpowering.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description
We like to do things a bit differently at Bluebird. Our latest infusion is a thoughtful blend of Lapsang Souchong, malty Assam + aromatic masala chai spices. A BREWtiful blend of tea + culture alike!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cricket from Whispering Pines Tea Company. . . . .
Today I’m drinking tea to try to cut through the hazy, dizzy feeling from too many of my mother-in-law’s mimosas. My in-laws are a rowdy, touchy bunch that imbibes, as opposed to my silent, book-readng, tea-drinking clan. I’m not with my family today, so I have to channel them via tea.
This cup is a gentle white tea with flowery cinnamon notes. It’s like a summer morning in a flower-strewn prairie. The tea itself takes a backstage to the dainty main notes.
When I looked up this tea on the Whispering Pines site, the author talks about a cricket song dancing through a desert plain. I was super-hype that I’d come up with the “outside flowers-in-an-expanse” visual.
Were the Whispering Pines dude and I connected? Am I a psychic? Should I take up tarot reading or palmistry or numerology or astrology? Or maybe I could acquire a crystal ball? Where does one acquire a crystal ball? Ebay, as it turns out. It’s also possible to get pendulums, runes, and scrying stones.
I could become a full-fledged witch. I think both my families would be accepting. If they aren’t, they can throw back mimosas until they can handle it.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Whispering Pines Tea Company
Description
The summer air was dry and warm as I watched the sun set over the high deserts of Prescott, Arizona. I could see the monsoon rains forming in the distance and feel a chill in the air as the plants braced for what was to come. A soft breeze carried the aroma of desert sage, juniper, and mesquite across the open land. The manzanita painted crimson lines into the sandy ocean of a desert, perfectly matching the sunset. An owl flew across the darkening horizon and the lizards scurried into their places, decorated with wildflowers. The land was silent, for no creature was brave enough to stay out in this storm. As the storm rolled in and I turned to leave, I heard the soft chirp of a beautiful cricket. I smiled and wondered how such a seemingly small creature could fill the entire desert with just a simple song.
Cricket is a desert-inspired chai blend. The base is a sweet white tea with strong notes of sage, and it’s blended very delicately with safflower and elderberries. The final touch is adding our classic chai spice blend and to pull it all together, adding a small amount of rubbed sage. The finished blend is immensely sweet and delicate with smooth spice and warm sage notes. The aroma of desert berries and mesquite spice fill in the final pieces of the experience, creating a synthesis of flavors that can bring anyone to the high deserts.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
