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In response to my article “Teas with Something Extra,” a friend on either Twitter or Facebook (I can’t remember which) commented, “Hey, if you’re gonna add ‘stuff’ to your tea, why not throw in the kitchen sink?” So very true. Once you’ve loaded down a tea with so many pieces of fruit, or flower petals, or spices, your chances of tasting the tea are virtually nil. The Tea Association of Canada even recommended adding carbonated lemon-lime drink to your iced tea for some extra kick. While these things don’t suit my taste, I know there are some folks for whom these additions to their tea are a definite plus.
Some flavored teas have so much “stuff” in them!
Some people just plain don’t like the taste of tea yet drink it, trying to get the health benefits it is said to have and/or avoiding resorting to drinking things like colas (one tea vendor actually has a cola-flavored tea). They relish teas that are mainly fruit-flavored (lemon, strawberry, and blueberry are quite popular) or floral-flavored (jasmine and rose petals/buds being the most common). They also go for spiced teas (usually made with cinnamon, coriander, ginger, cardamom, and black pepper), teas with various herbs added (chamomile, hibiscus, and mint are rather popular), and teas flavored with oils (Earl Grey being the most common and containing oil of bergamot, vanilla is another one that is trendy).
Some of these flavored teas tend to go with the seasons. Pumpkin Spice Black Tea tends to be most popular in Autumn here in the U.S. — probably due to our Thanksgiving Holiday in late November but also since pumpkins are harvested in September and October. In Summer, teas flavored with lemon and mint are quite popular for their cooling and refreshing qualities. Fruits like raspberry and blueberry also sell well, especially in those bottled teas that are usually served chilled.
There are tea vendors, large and small, that work hard to come up with new combinations and convince you of how great they taste. They give their mixtures names that are memorable, descriptive, and sometimes downright silly (which can help make them memorable). So far as I know, though, know has a tea concoction named “Everything but the Kitchen Sink.” My guess is there’ll be one soon.
As for those of us who like our tea tasting like tea, there are a growing number of tea vendors devoted to just that. They source the finest teas from tea gardens near and wide because they know that some of us are not fond of all that “stuff” getting between us and our tea.
Isn’t variety wonderful?
See also:
Men’s Names and Tea
Tea Name Circus
A Bouquet in Your Teapot, Pt. I — Flowers in Your Tea
A Bouquet in Your Teapot, Pt. II — Herbals Made from Flowers
A Bouquet in Your Teapot, Pt. III — Teas with Floral Aroma and Flavor
All Flavored Teas Are Not Created Equal
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Options abound!
Whether you call them “flavored,” “scented,” “crafted,” or just plain “modified,” these teas offer you something extra. For almost as long as man has been drinking tea, he has been adding that additional touch. Some of these have come about by accident, but many are the result of dedicated tea professionals trying different combinations to entice your tastebuds.
Teas with Flavors Added
Fruits, herbs, and spices are all commonly-used flavorings. Lemon is a popular fruit to add to tea, whether hot or cold. Teas that are “pre-lemoned” are readily available, too. Some use lemon juice and others contain zest (finely grated rind). Apples, blueberries, cranberries, apricots, cherries, peaches, oranges, coconut, guavas, lichees, raspberries, and blackcurrants are just some of the other fruits used. Some tea vendors use oils with these flavorings in them while other vendors use actual pieces of fruits. As for herbs and spices, there’s mint, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cumin, vanilla, and cloves, to name a few. Let’s not forget caramel and chocolate, too!
Teas with Scents Added
Scented teas are usually florals. Jasmine teas have been around for centuries and are usually green teas. Lavender is also quite popular, both as a tisane and added to teas. French Blend contains both. Then, there is the smoky flavoring of Lapsang Souchong that comes from how the tea leaves are dried. Oil of bergamot is the secret to the scent of Earl Grey teas. While it comes from a fruit (bergamot is a type of citrus), it is so aromatic that it is more of a scent than a flavoring. Which reminds me that since taste and smell are so closely aligned, it hardly makes sense to divide flavored from scented teas.
Crafted Teas
The kind of teas I’ve usually seen in this category are blooming teas. Nimble-fingered and well-trained tea workers take tea leaves and “sew” them together with flower petals into a ball or mushroom shape. These are show teas that are best steeped in glass teapots so you can watch the changing display. White, green, and even oolong teas are used, and jasmine, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, lavender, osmanthus, and lily are some of the flowers used.
Modified Teas
In a broad sense, all of the above count as modified teas. Come to think of it, “modified” can apply to all teas, since they are modified by being harvested, withered, dried, oxidized, fermented, steamed, baked, pressed into cakes, etc. In the narrower sense, though, “modified” usually refers to teas that are compressed, ground, or made into extract granules. Pu-erhs are certainly in this category, since the majority of them are pressed into large cakes, tuo-chas (small cakes that look like tiny bird nests), etc. (loose pu-erhs are becoming more popular, however, since they can be bought by the pouch or tin in smaller quantities than those large cakes). Then, there’s matcha which is ground to a fine powder. And don’t forget the abundance of bottled teas.
Are your eyeballs spinning yet? Sorry, but the world of tea is rife with complexity. Just have a nice cuppa tea and maybe a bit of fresh fruit to get your senses straight again!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Lilies at tea time seem perfect this time of year, since their fragrance fills the Spring time air.
Tea cup flower pot planter water lily pad saucer
Lilies are some of the most symbolic of flowers, next to roses. They are used in wedding bouquets and are associated with certain wedding anniversaries (Calla Lilies are for the 6th wedding anniversary and Day Lilies are for the 20th wedding anniversary). There are Easter Lilies (Lilium longiflorum) that symbolize hope, life, innocence and virtue, and those Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) symbolize sympathy, resurrection, faith, purity, and youth, while Lilies of the Field symbolize providing for people’s needs. Then there are Peruvian lilies that represent friendship and devotion, Pink Stargazer lilies that represent immense wealth and prosperity, and White Stargazer lilies that represent peace and purity. In ancientGreece lilies were the “hubba hubba” flower and were associated by ancient Egyptians with fertility, while inChina they were used as a lucky charm. Plus, there was an old folktale that said if a pregnant woman, when presented with a lily and a rose, would choose the lily, she would have a boy (hey, it’s just what I’ve heard — not supported by statistical evidence).
In addition to all this symbolism and being in bouquets, lilies are often used as decoration in vases on the tea table, and lily petals have been part of tea time as part of the steeping fun. They are sewn into “flowering teas” tea balls along with full tea leaves (these teas unfold in the hot water, looking like a bloom emerging).
Flowering Tea - 3 Flower Burst - Green Tea
Jasmine is often part of the combination of tea leaves and flower petals, like this gorgeous version from the Fujian Province in China:
Flowering Jasmine and Lily
Lilies are also featured on teawares. One example is this bone china set (also available in separate pieces) that can really add a Spring time touch to your table. Plus, Royal Albert has a lily of the valley design.
Lily of the Valley Fine Bone China Set
There is even a tisane (which the vendor calls a “lily tea” but that is also known as “Jin Zhen Cai,” “Browns Lily,” “Lily Bulb,” and “Bai He”) made solely of lily petals. It is said to have a variety of healthful properties, such as moistening the lungs and alleviating coughs, calming your nerves, and firming the skin so that wrinkles are reduced. A 2- or 3-minute infusion in water heated to 194°F (90°C) will produce a tisane with a refreshing, sweet, and smooth taste.
Don’t miss The Calla Lily Victorian Tea Room inAurora,Illinois (a suburb ofChicago). They serve a variety of teas (but none saying that they include lily petals) along with a full menu of traditional foods for tea time (sadly, they misuse the term “high tea,” which is usually a full meal with a meat dish).
In the arts, lilies have had a number of notable roles. Artist Georgia O’Keefe featured them in several well-known paintings. In the movie “Stage Door” Katharine Hepburn is supposed to carry a bunch of Calla Lilies onstage while conveying sadness over a marriage that is ending. And then there is the great actor Sidney Poitier who starred in “Lilies of the Field.”
Truly a most versatile flower, for tea time and beyond!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The story of Hansel and Gretel is fairly widely known — a couple of urchins who nibble on a gingerbread house in the deep, dark forest, and almost end up as dinner for the witch who lives there. Fortunately, no such urchins exist in our house nor would they be so obtuse as to try to eat our gingerbread-looking tea-for-one set.
At least, I hope they wouldn’t.
Tea-for-one sets are wonderful mood setters for special tea moments all to yourself to enjoy a cuppa your favorite tea. This gingerbread set is no exception. I’m not sure how well it would steep and serve up tea were the cup, saucer, or teapot have a bite or two out of them. Of course, it depends on where and how big the bites are.
Steep steep steep!Ready to drink! I like my ginger tea with a bit of milk and sweetener. Ah!
A teapot designed to look like gingerbread seems quite appropriate for a flavored tea like one of these:
- Ginger Black Tea— This is a high grown (above 5,500 feet elevation) Ceylon black tea that is naturally flavored with fresh ginger root. The ginger flavor comes through and gives a real exotic character to the taste in the cup with no strange aftertaste.
Ginger naturally flavored black tea
- Vanilla Chai Tea — Another black tea (typically from Assam, India) that is flavored with not only ginger but also cinnamon, cloves, pepper, cardamom, and a bit of vanilla. A quick shake of the bag before spooning some out into the teapot is a good idea to assure a balanced mix of the various ingredients. I like it with a generous amount of milk and sweetener.
- Vanilla Cream naturally flavored black tea — Another high grown Ceylon black tea with rich vanilla that gives it a clean and creamy taste able to stand up to milk but that I find still needs some sweetener to enhance the vanilla-ness.
- Earl Grey Cream Tea — A long-time favorite with a twist. Black tea with oil of bergamot and a touch of cinnamon and vanilla combined with a bit of fresh cream create a wonderful flavor in the cup that is certainly worthy of my special gingerbread tea-for-one set.
- Cinnamon Sibu Loose Leaf Green Tea — Nothing wrong with green tea in a gingerbread teapot, especially when it is flavored with cinnamon and rose petals.
The only problem now is selecting one of these teas for my special cuppa and keeping a lookout for wandering urchins.
See also:
Tea-for-One Sets
Tea-for-Two Sets
Valentine’s Day Postscript — Tea-for-Two Sets Revisited
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Like this:
A Jasmine using the tipmost leaves of the tea bush
Jasmine teas fall into what the tea experts call “scented” teas. I just call them “flavored” teas, since items used to create the scents usually affect both aroma and flavor.
Whether you call it “flavored” or “scented,” jasmine tea has been around a long while, starting some time during the Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). The best grade is supposed to be from the Fujian Province, but versions are also available from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces.
Tea leaves are harvested in Spring and stored until the jasmine flowers are in bloom in early Summer. The flowers are then picked when the petals are tightly closed (usually in the early morning) and kept cool until night when they begin to open. It is at this time that the tea leaves and those little white flowers are combined and stored overnight while the tea gets infused with the scent of the blooms, a four-hour process that may get repeated as many as seven times.
Jasmine teas come in a bunch of forms, including:
- Pearls (full leaves hand-rolled into little pearl shapes), also called “tears”
- Needles (full leaves processed into long, thin shapes)
- Blooming (full leaves and often flower petals sewn together in a “bud” that opens up as it steeps like a flower blooming)
- Full leaf (often this is the two-leaves-and-a-bud picking from the very end of the tea bush branches)
- Broken leaf (leaves from further down on the branch or that have been machine harvested and processed either by hand or machine and possibly further broken)
- Fannings (machine processed tea leaves ground to smaller pieces but larger than dust)
- Dust (machine processed tea leaves ground down really fine for easier bagging and/or steeping and usually flavored with jasmine oil instead of real blooms)
- Compressed shapes such as hearts
Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea
Black, green, white, and oolong teas are all used as the tea base, although green tea is by far the most common. Expect to pay a bit more for the better quality jasmines from vendors with a good reputation like Golden Moon, Harrisons & Crosfield, and Harney & Sons.
My favorite jasmine is dragon tears (or pearls). For one thing, it’s easy to measure out the right amount. I just count the pearls (2-3 per 8 ounces of water) and toss them in a cup of hot water, watching them unfold as they steep. Blooming jasmines are alright, but I find they are more fun to watch than to drink and can often be overly strong on the jasmine. Which brings me to another issue…
The floral aroma of jasmines can be quite overwhelming to those of us with sensitive sniffers. While I enjoy the flavor, which is often much milder than the fragrance, I have to be careful not to inhale too deeply when preparing the tea so that my nose doesn’t go into overload mode. Of course, this also means that jasmine teas need to be stored properly, that is, in air tight containers away from your other teas, or you could end up with a whole cupboard or tea pantry full of jasmines, whether you intend it or not.
Jasmine tea is said to have numerous health benefits, including:
- destroys free radicals and helps to slow aging
- lowers the risks of developing cancer
- helps keep bad cholesterol levels down
- is effective for dysentery, influenza and cholera, and in preventing colds
- stimulates the body to burn calories which encourages weight-loss
- has a calming and soothing effect
Jasmine Blooms (Photo by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com)
Give jasmine tea a try and you could get a very pleasant surprise!
Disclaimer: This is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your physician for your particular needs.
See also:
Review — Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea
Jasmine Dragon Tears and Michael Williams’ “Trajan’s Arch” — Magical Realism and Real Magic
Review — Golden Moon Jasmine Pearls
Jasmine Tea Choices
The Tea Provinces of China, Part I
The Tea Provinces of China, Part II
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Like this:
Lapsang Souchong
Busy lives need fuel to get the day started out right. For tea devotees, no breakfast is complete without a brisk cuppa. “Gulper” teas are best, usually having a bigger caffeine punch and stronger flavor that goes well with many typical breakfast foods like waffles and eggs and bacon.
Awhile back I divided teas into two general categories: sippers and gulpers. Now, that’s not official, of course. If you take a course on tea, they will probably not mention this distinction. I, however, consider it fairly important. You need to know which teas are deserving of your extra time and attention, deserving of lingering sip by sip on your tongue so you can absorb and be aware of every bit of flavor and aroma. You also need to know of the teas that are robust and impact the interior of your mouth full tilt.
The word “breakfast” comes from “break the fast,” where “fast” refers to the time between your last meal of the previous day until your first meal of the current day. The foods that constitute this meal vary greatly across countries, cultures, and time. My father, raised on a farm during the Great Depression, had a pretty robust breakfast with fried eggs and ham, melon slices, toast with slatherings of butter and preserves, fried tomatoes, and sometimes a big bowl of oatmeal. Then, it was back out to the fields, the barn, the chicken coop, etc. During my years dating a man from India and even for many years afterwards, I would often reheat leftover curry for my breakfast with white rice or chapatti. In Germany, various breads from rye to pumpernickel to whole grain wheat and spreads like braunschweiger (liver wurst) and Nutella plus fresh fruits were typical day starters.
Some good “gulper” teas to start your day:
- Highlander Blend – 25 teabags pouch — Highlanders are hardy Scotsmen who live in the highlands of Scotland. The highlands are the mountainous areas. No, they are not immortals wielding swords and battling other immortals for “the quickening.” They do, however, know a tasty cuppa tea when they gulp it.
- Yorkshire Harrogate — This is the one that makes the scone mix jump out of the cupboard and beg to be baked so they can be enjoyed alongside this tea. Great for breakfast. Make extra ’cause you’re gonna wanna gulp it! (my review)
- Kenyan black teas — Rich and caramelly with a hefty dose of caffeine.
- Sylvakandy Estate Orange Pekoe tea — Can’t get enough of this tea, with its strong, full body. A 6-cupper potful at breakfast is one of those things whose anticipation is more effective than an alarm clock to rouse me from my night’s slumber. (my review)
- Indian spiced chai — Spiced tea with some milk and sweetener is quite exhilarating first thing in the morning. (my review)
- Lapsang Souchong China black tea — The smoky allure will wake up your tastebuds and make you fit to face whatever the day has in store. (my review)
- Young Pu-erh Tea — A bit of an unusual flavor for a U.S. style breakfast, but nevertheless a great option. You may even find yourself craving this earthy fragrance and flavor on a daily basis. (my review part I and part II)
- Assam Tea— Of course you don’t want to leave out a tea that serves as the basis of a number of chais and breakfast blends.
Indian Spiced Chai Tea
More options abound, but any of the above will go with your menu of choice for that first breaking of the fast that starts your day.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Flowering Tea - 3 Flower Burst - Green Tea
The last chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” has drifted off into the night air, the last balloon inscribed with “Happy New Year” has popped, the confetti has been swept up, and Dick Clark has been put back in cold storage for next year’s dropping of the big ball in Times Square. Time to close the door on the old year and start off the new year with a new tea!
“New” is a pretty relative term. For many people in their 30s, 20s, and teens, the music of The Beatles is “new” since they weren’t around when “Hard Days Night” and “8 Days a Week” were first performed to a large crowd of screaming adolescent females. To me, watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on cable TV is new, but not to my parents who grew up going on dates to the cinema to see this star couple glide gracefully through their routines. Thus it is for tea.
The New Year is a great excuse to shake things up a bit, so why not with tea? We tend to be creatures of habit, and thus can slide into ruts both in our lives in general and in such things as our tea enjoyment. So, we need to make the effort to pick something new.
Jasmine Delight Bubble Tea
A few options:
- 100 Monkeys White Tea — A nice way to take the plunge away from black and green teas into the wonderful world of white teas. This is a premium grade, loose leaf white tea from China, and a best-seller. Prepare with care, though. This tea needs water that is heated to about 170-185° F but a longer steeping time of 15 minutes is recommended to let the flavor fully develop.
- Bubble tea — A treat with its origins in Taiwan, where some of the world’s high-end green and oolong teas are grown. This beverage mixes tea, milk, and tapioca balls into something quite unique and very popular in many countries.
- Oolong Orange Blossom Estate tea — A “twofer” that’s great to get you to try oolong and also get a refreshing burst of fruity jasmine notes. Perfect for those who like jasmine but want to explore oolongs.
- Flowering Tea – 3 Flower Burst – Green Tea — A “threefer” not only by design but by effect. The dry tea “bud” contains lily, osmanthus, and jasmine blooms, and is tied together with steamed full leaves of Yunnan green tea. As it unfolds, you will see an impression of the Yunnan Province countryside in China, with its perfect climate for growing flowers. You get a full green taste with peach, lily and jasmine notes. Use boiling water and infuse about 5 minutes.
- Izu Matcha — Powdered green tea from Japan with a bright Spring green color and a rich planty aroma. Go all the way and prepare it in true Japanese fashion, complete with bamboo whisk.
The bottom line is to get out of your tea “comfort zone” and go for something completely new. Who knows, you could like that new flavor so much that it’ll become your new daily cuppa!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Nutcracker soldiers guard the cuppa!
Tea Name: Pomegranate Rosehip Black Tea
Tea Type: Black tea from Sri Lanka with pieces of pomegranate and real rosehips
Awhile back I swore off of flavored teas. For the most part, they were disappointing. Many used low-grade tea and then heavily flavored them. The tea was usually second or even third consideration, leading me to ask, “Why bother putting tea in the mix at all? Why not just throw in the fruits and flowers and nuts, etc., and call it a ‘tisane’?”
There are exceptions to everything.
The tea company started with a nice quality Ceylon black tea, one of my faves, and then added in real pieces of pomegranate and rosehips (a great source of Vitamin C). The aroma was a wonderful blend of that jammy smelling tea and a fruity tang from the pomegranate and rosehips. Hubby and I always take a few moments to enjoy the tea leaf fragrance before beginning the tasting.
The directions online say to use water brought to a rolling boil and steep 2-5 minutes. We did two steepings ― one for 3 minutes and the other for 4 minutes.
The first steeping was a beautiful reddish-brown color liquid with a pomegranate/jammy/tangy aroma. The flavor had a cocoa-like quality with plenty of pomegranate fruitiness but no bitterness. The second steeping was a lighter version but still quite satisfying. This is what a flavored tea should be like: great tea flavor balanced with the flavors of the items added to it.
While hubby and I still prefer straight teas (those without non-tea stuff added to them), we find this one an exception.
One final note: being the type who likes a bit of milk and sweetener in my black teas, flavored or not, I tried this one that way. Wonderful! The milk adds a rich texture, and the sweetener heightens the hit of the pomegranate and rosehips on the tongue.
Ready for that first fruity sip
Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Peppermint Oolong
I am amazed at where my tea journey takes me and several weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to trip to Adelaide and meet with like-minded tea folk. My tea journey stopped at a cross roads where I was invited to choose between flavoured teas or loose leaf tea with no flowers/herbs added. I’ve often tried flavoured teas and felt the experience equated to drinking out of my perfume bottle and so I tend to steer away from flavoured teas. However on this occasion, one flavoured tea jumped out from the tea menu: Peppermint oolong. Peppermint is an amazing herbal infusion and if you’re lucky to find one that is so minty, it needs its own cupboard space; it is a wonderful herb for settling the stomach and to aid digestion. Oolong is a wonderful category of tea from lightly oxidised to heavily roasted goodness. The two of them together I thought, fascinating. I had to try it out.
After sipping the tea, I often take a closer look at the leaves.
Peppermint Oolong Leaves
Despite the ratio of oolong to peppermint leaves, the peppermint still overpowered the aroma and flavour of the oolong, but it wasn’t a bad experience; at least it wasn’t like drinking perfume 
Lavender Oolong was the next flavoured tea I tried, recommended by a Twitter friend of mine. Lavender is an herbal infusion that has its own set of health benefits and smelling the tea took me to a wonderful memory. It reminded me of a walk I took with my husband once through a lavender garden in South Africa. Ahh the memories…but I digress. Back to the tea and tasting the tea was an equally pleasant experience as the floral aroma of the lavender really brought out the floral notes of the oolong.
Lavender Oolong
So there we have it. My re-acquaintance to flavoured teas was certainly a pleasant experience. What flavoured teas do you like and why?
See more of May King’s articles on the wonders of tea.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Tea Name: Chocolate Mint Flavored Black Tea
Tea Type: Flavored black tea
A perfect flavor combo that is a true seasonal favorite
This flavored tea is a classic. The vendor does not specify which black tea is used, but it is most likely Ceylon which pops up in many blended teas. It makes an excellent base for two flavors that most of the civilized world loves together: chocolate and peppermint. I have to say “most” because sadly peppermint is one of those substances that sees my tummy as some sort of battle zone. Hubby, though, can gobble it up all day with no ill effects, so he did the taste testing here.
Flavored teas offer flexibility. The longer you steep them, the stronger the flavoring is and the more it dominates the tea flavor, so you can adjust steeping time to suit your preference. Also, some can endure multiple steepings while others cannot. We went for the maximum steeping time the vendor recommended of 5 minutes in boiling water. Might as well go all out here.
I kept my distance but even so could still perceive the minty aroma. Hubby confirmed that the ruby colored liquid did indeed have a strong minty aroma as well as a minty flavor that lingered on the back of his tongue (not to mention helping his breathing). He stated that the chocolate flavor was not the sweet kind, more like the semi-sweet or even unsweetened kind of chocolate, and that neither it or the mint overwhelmed the tea flavor. A good balance all round.
Just for the heck of it, hubby tried a cuppa with milk and a bit of sweetener (we use an artificial kind most of the time). He said it was like chocolate mint ice cream in a cup and more balanced than when he drank the tea straight.
If you’re a fan of that chocolate and mint flavor combo, this is a good one for you, especially as a dessert tea to have instead of a calorie laden bowl of fat-filled ice cream.
Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.
See also:
Tea Can Keep You from Overindulging During the Holidays
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
