Cinnamon comes in two common forms when it comes to tea. There’s the natural, cinnamon-stick flavor, which is warm and spicy, and slightly floral, evoking the smell of baked-goods and breakfast.
And then there’s the cinnamon candy flavor, which is hot, hot, hot like flaming Fireball candies or like red cinnamon chewing gum. I like both kinds of cinnamon, natural and artificial, but I always find it helpful to know which kind of cinnamon I’m getting into before I take a sip.
Expecting one and tasting the other is not always a pleasant experience.
Let it be known: Hot Mama from Tea and Tins tastes like blazing cinnamon candy! Even double-sealed behind zip bags, I can smell the cinnamon in this tea buzzing into my nose when I walk by my tea shelf.
In the dry leaf or brewed, this tea tastes like Hot Tamale candies, warm in temperature and in sensation. As a fan of Hot Tamale and Fireball candies, I enjoy the saturated, artificial cinnamon taste of this tea and it feels marvelous down my dry throat on a cold winter day.
This is a perfect tea when you need something fierce and fiery. The cinnamon in this blend goes beyond the usual kick of chai spices. It’s so hot, it might rival some of the teas out there seasoned with hot chili spices.
Ay caramba!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea & Tins
Description:
Loose leaf black tea, super hot and spicy! For cinnamon lovers!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tomato Tornado from Stylin’ Blends. . . . .
Tomatoes? Yes, please! I have to say that was the REAL reason I was so stoked about trying this tea/tisane. The tisane I am referring to is Tomato Tornado from Stylin’ Blends. Ingredients include Tomato, Ginger, Beet pieces, Hibiscus, Cardamom, Black Pepper, White Pepper, Cinnamon, Clove, and Nutmeg.
Stylin’ Blends product description says…Yes the first ingredient is tomato. When we were told there was a blend that had tomato and ginger as well as spices we use in our chai blends, we were really intrigued. The name of this unique blend came from my mother who was in Kansas at the time. Since this is an herbal blend there is no caffeine!
Tomato, Beet, and Hibiscus are the flavors you taste first quickly followed by the chai spices. Each of these ingredients are on the more mellow side but when they are all together they work out incredibly well. There are nods to a tomato soup type flavor as well as those chai spices.
Tomato Tornado is not only a conversational tisanes it’s one the is good tasting and good for you! I really enjoy this tisane. I will say that I could taste the ginger more as it cooled naturally at room temperature and if you cold brew it. Two thumbs up from me on this one! Nicely done, Stylin’ Blends!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal Blend
Where to Buy: Stylin’ Tea Blends
Description
Yes the first ingredient is tomato. When we were told there was a blend that had tomato and ginger as well as spices we use in our chai blends, we were really intrigued. The name of this unique blend came from my mother who was in Kansas at the time. Since this is an herbal blend there is no caffeine!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mango Pineapple Habanero Black Tea from 52Teas. . . . .
I didn’t drink this sample for a while because the habanero struck fear into my heart. What if it was fiery? What if this made me cry? That’d make a funny post, but it wouldn’t make for a good life experience.
Luckily, the primary thing about this tea is the tropical fruit (mostly the pineapple). Pineapple is my favorite, so I’m all about it.
If you hadn’t told me about the habanero, I might have thought the tingling was schizophrenia. It sneaks up on you, getting more intense as you drink down. (Does it, like sink? Scientists?) The first time I drank this, I thought I was going crazy.
Or drinking the tea too hot.
Which I always do. I want to drink my tea the instant it comes out of the steeper. I do not want to wait. I want it in my face immediately. So I’m constantly singeing the roof of my mouth. Then probing the destroyed tissue with my tongue, thwarting the healing process.
You’d think this is a n00b move. Maybe I just started drinking tea, like, yesterday.
No. I have been hard-drinking tea (2+ cups a day on workdays) for at least a year. And I’m STILL tossing scalding water down my gullet like it ain’t no thang.
Maybe I secretly think I’m an X-Man (X-Woman?). Like I’ll mutate to accommodate heat. My mouth will, like, toughen up. It’ll culminate in my ability to drink lava. I could take my act on the road. Pay off my mortgage.
So anyway, this tea is delicious. Maybe, if your mouth is not severely damaged by your own stupidity, you’ll appreciate some tingling! It’s a fun feature for a tea to have.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
This tea is no longer available but check out the Mad Musings surrounding this tea here!
Be sure to check out 52Teas if you missed out on the 12 Teas of Christmas promo. Limited quantities of those teas will be available soon!
On the 4th Day of Christmas 52Teas Sent to Me (Spoilers)
Today is the 4th day of our countdown for the 52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas promotion. With the winter weather we are currently experiencing, I was excited to brew up a pot of this tea to share. But first we have to find out what tea we have today.
So scratch off today’s sticker and see what today’s tea is!
Coconut Flan Genmaicha
This is reblend from earlier in the year. I have to say that this wasn’t a favorite tea of mine when this first came out so I”m curious to see what the reblend is going to bring. So far each of the re blends have been spot on spectacular.
Brewed this tea up with the parameters provided and in no time I was greeted with a yellow-green brew to enjoy. Poured myself a cuppa and sat down to write this review. Took my first sip and. . .
Notes of creamy lush coconut roll over my palate with a roasted toasted finish and a buttery rich feel. Each sip definitely provides a very decadent coconut flavor, so if you are a coconut fan, this tea has your name all over it!
I find that I’m liking this tea better than the original blend, but its not one of my favorites but that being said. . . 52Teas doesn’t create a bad tea. Just off of the heels of a few of the other blends, like Cranberry Soda Green Rooibos ( I completely devoured this one), this one just isn’t hit the mark for me.
I’m going to try this as a cold brew to see if the flavors pop more for me. I have a feeling this method will really make the this blend pop!
Here is the official description of this tea and the Mad Musings behind it. I write my reviews before reading the official tea description.
Coconut Flan Genmaicha!
Tea Description: As I mentioned above, I was happy to see this tea win a spot into our Christmas box this year. It’s always a joyful experience to see that one of my tea creations is so well received. It’s even more exciting when the tea that’s been so well received is one of my favorite teas because that means I get to drink more of it too!
My original description of this tea went like this:
For this Cinco de Mayo, I went with a favorite dessert inspiration: Flan! I love the stuff. But I wanted something MORE than just a caramelized custard – I wanted to go coconuts! Coconut Flan! (Seriously, how yum does that sound?)
For the base, I tossed around several ideas before I settled on my organic Matcha infused Genmaicha. I thought that the Matcha together with the toasted rice would lend a really nice nutty flavor to the cup – which I felt would complement the coconut as well as that hint of caramel that Flan is famous for and the Matcha would lend a creaminess to the cup to accentuate the custard.
This is totally yum! Matcha Infused Matcha blended with huge coconut flakes and the flavors of Flan. A perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!
And really, I didn’t stray from the original recipe, except that I added some vanilla bean because you can never go wrong with a little more vanilla in a flan, am I right? So other than the vanilla bean, I kept true to the recipe because this is one that I was happy with when I first crafted it, so I stuck with my recipe. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you did the first time it was offered!
organic ingredients: green teas, toasted and popped rice, unsweetened coconut flakes, vanilla bean and natural flavors.
I don’t know that I really need to add additional tasting notes this time around since I did already write out a whole blog post about this tea once already. However, I do taste test each and every tea that I blend – each and every time I blend it. I put a great deal of time and energy into every tea blend I craft (including reblends and in many cases, especially reblends!) and it’s important to me that each tea tastes great when it’s sent out to my customers. I want to feel confident when I package up your orders, I want the confidence that each tea I send you is the best possible product. I don’t just blend teas and put them into pouches and slap a label on the pouch. I care too much about tea – I love tea too much to do that. I spend a lot of time taste testing the samples sent to me by vendors to ensure that the teas I use as bases are of exceptional quality. I hunt down organic ingredients to use whenever I can find them. I blend the teas and then allow ample time to cure before I taste test the tea and then if it’s not right – if I’m not satisfied – then I tweak the blend a little bit until I am happy with the product. I do all of these things before I package up the teas into pouches and put the label on it. A lot goes into each and every pouch of tea that I produce.
I’m not saying all of this to boast. I’m stating it to explain why it is that I take the time to write out these blog posts for every tea. I put forth this effort to give each tea the time it deserves in a taste test so that when I go to package it up, I’m confident of the product.
So here it is – this tea before me is one of my favorite creations from earlier this year – Coconut Flan Genmaicha. I created it for the week of Cinco De Mayo. Oh, who am I kidding. Cinco De Mayo was just a great excuse for me to create a coconut flan blend! Ha! I love flan and I love coconut and what better way to celebrate both these flavors than with a Genmaicha tea? My organic Matcha infused Genmaicha base was a perfect choice for the flavors of coconut and flan because the genmaicha offers a naturally sweet, toasty flavor that enhanced the notes of caramel to the custard. The creaminess of the Matcha brought out the creamy custard notes and the silky flavor of the coconut.
And that’s exactly what I’m tasting right now as I sip on this. Sweet, warm caramel and smooth, vanilla-y custard beneath a forward note of silken coconut. Delicious!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but these teas are!
Glazed Donut from 52Teas
My fiancé (a donut aficionado) was ecstatic to see this tea in my review pile– so much so that we set out to brew this one together one Saturday morning while we lazed around the house.
As much as we’d like them to be, actual donuts aren’t as frequent in our breakfast rotation, but this tea seemed like the perfect weekend cup to fill that glazed, cake-y void.
First things first– the dry leaf smells INCREDIBLE. Like vanilla sugar icing, straight out of the tub. The cake-like notes are a bit more subtle here, but the creamy vanilla was strong in this one. Upon brewing, we got a beautifully smooth, golden-brown cup with some of those same wisps of flavor in each sip.
A splash of cream really brought out that donut-esque creaminess, and while we didn’t have any pastries on hand to dunk, I bet this tea would be the perfect vehicle to do so. Overall, a great Saturday morning treat.
Not overtly sweet, and not abundantly-donut-y, but creamy and smooth, the perfect companion cup to a relaxing, weekend morning!
