293 Tasting Notes
It’s nearing the end of a busy day for me and I decided to unwind with a cup of white tea. I love this blend that I crafted for February. Lots of coconut flavor with notes of cake. It tastes a lot like – well – coconut cake. And white tea. It’s really quite creamy and luscious. A lovely dessert-y tea.
OK, so those of you who pay attention to my posts in the forum and/or my posts on facebook – you’re probably aware that I crafted the teas for Amoda Tea’s subscription box for December. This is one of those teas – and I’m finally adding it to our website (for a limited time – only while supplies last).
This is really yummy. It starts with a yunnan base (Golden Monkey & Yunnan Imperial – both are organic!) and to that I added oranges, cacao nibs & shells and some allspice for just a hint of warmth. I really love this blend. Super yummy!
This tea was our 8th Tea of Christmas for 2019. A fairly simple recipe: Wintergreen essence, vanilla extract & spearmint leaves with a lovely green TieGuanYin. I had originally obtained this TieGuanYin to reblend the Maple Cheesecake TieGuanYin. However, after I tasted the TieGuanYin on its own as well as another Oolong I ordered at the same time (Qilan), I determined that the Qilan would taste better with the Maple Cheesecake flavors so I did a slight alteration to the Maple Cheesecake recipe which left me with some TieGuanYin that I didn’t have plans for – so I created this recipe to include in our 12 Teas of Christmas box.
I love the way it all turned out. The Maple Cheesecake Oolong is really good with the Qilan Oolong (I think I prefer it with the Qilan – it has a darker, roasted flavor that just works better with the maple notes) & this tastes simply amazing: it’s sweet, it’s creamy & there’s just enough crisp mint to it to give it a lovely winter-y kind of flavor.
I found myself wondering why I didn’t keep more of this tea to myself – but then, I remembered that I have a whole tea studio filled with tea.
Taking a tea break – and I grabbed this tea because it happened to be handy. Even though I just blended this one only a couple of months ago, I guess with all the hustle and craziness of the holidays (I did, after all, blend 33 teas in a matter of 3 months) I had forgotten just how yummy this is! The tart of the raspberry offers a really nice contrast to the sweetness of the marshmallow. A really nice pick-me-up.
I was crazy busy before New Year’s Eve doing my level best to get December’s Teas out before that day – which I’m happy to say that I did manage to do, but not with much time to spare. It seems like every time I get close to getting caught up, I end up having to tweak a tea or something and it throws me behind schedule again. I’ve come to realize that it’s probably going to be a never ending process because I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my teas (or so I’ve been told).
Anyway, those same people who tell me that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my teas have also ordered me on a bit of a vacay so that I can catch my breath. Tonight, I’m back at it full-time – so I decided that i needed a pot of tea to get things going. This is the tea that I grabbed.
I am really in love with this tea. It came out just the way I wanted it to. A really great passion fruit flavor, just enough cayenne to add a bit of warming to it without being too spicy – and the cacao is just enough to add a pleasant touch of chocolate without interfering with the passion fruit. It reminds me a lot of the donut that inspired it – except that this has a bit more chocolate flavor to it because with the donuts, you just get the cacao nibs – and because they aren’t infused into the flavor and serve as “sprinkles” to the donut, you don’t get a strong chocolate flavor – instead, you get some chocolate-y notes with some texture that actually nicely contrasts the cake-y donut.
But since I have yet to discover how to make a tea crunchy and still smooth and sippable, you just kinda have to imagine the crunchy texture of cacao nibs with this tea. Or I guess you could nibble on some cacao nibs while you drink this tea. But you really SHOULD drink this tea because it’s totally yummmm!
I hope whatever bit of vacation you had was lovely!
It was really just a few days that I was “ordered” to take off because I had a very busy October through December … so basically, a few days off that I took at home so I was still responding to correspondence and such, I just wasn’t allowed to go to my tea studio to work. But, I think it was beneficial, because I was able to go in there last night with a clear head so that was definitely nice.
I figured it wasn’t a VACATION vacation, but hope it was nice anyway. :D
Thanks – it was! I love what I do, but when you have so many deadlines coming up all so close together as I did in that three month period – it got a bit stressful. So, I was glad to take a breather for a few days.
So, my countdown is all messed up by now and at this point, since it’s Christmas day, it’s a bit unnecessary. So a big thank you to all those who kept up with the countdown! :) This is the Eleventh tea in the 12 Teas of Christmas box, and I just grabbed this one because I was looking for a caffeinated pick-me-up after the holiday dinner and dessert and this was the first one I grabbed.
Not that I’m complaining – I’m loving this. I love bergamot and since I do love it, I can usually handle a strong bergamot flavor but I also like this where the bergamot is subdued because of the vanilla notes and the cake-y flavors. Very tasty and a nice way to regroup after the holiday happenings.
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and that you’re staying warm and cozy with a hot cuppa!
On the Eighth day of Christmas . . . this is one of my faves, so I am happy that it won the votes to be in this year’s box. Bold black teas, sweet blackberries, tasty pastry notes. The note of warm cinnamon. It’s all there. Yummy!
I know that I’m all mixed up with the days here … but … On the fourth day of Christmas. . . I held off on drinking this until it was later as I tend to prefer tisanes when it’s later in the day, but my days have been so hectic that I haven’t been taking the time to sit back and enjoy a tisane in the evening.
So I’m glad to be taking that moment now. This is so good – I think that I forget just how good it is until I actually start sipping it – the stretches in between when I’m not drinking it – I forget just how good it is. I love this – it’s best when iced because soda is meant to be enjoyed when it’s cold (I prefer a hot brew and then chilling it rather than a cold-brew though) but I also love it when it’s still hot, like I’m drinking it now.
The cranberry is nice, there’s a pleasant tartness to this but the sweeter “soda” notes give it a sweetness to soften the edge of the tart berry. A really nice combination.
On the sixth day of Chrisrmas . . . this is another new blend for our 12 Teas of Christmas. As I mention on my blog, what I envisioned with this tea is a cinnamon cupcake topped with a green tinted vanilla buttercream frosting topped with a raspberry. The raspberry isn’t supposed to be a strong flavor, just an accent on top of a sweet, cinnamon-y, vanilla-y, cake-y kind of taste. I really love the way this one turned out.
On the 5th Day of Christmas . . . I’m a little behind as I haven’t yet posted my review for the 4th day of Christmas – but it kind of works out for me since that tea is a caffeine free selection and I’m really in need of some caffeine now – then in a bit, I’ll write a note for the 4th tea. A little backward, of course – but it works for me.
Anyway, this tea! I was happy this tea earned the votes to be reblended because a) I’ve gotten so many requests for it to be reblended; and b) I love it.
Big Blueberry flavor, hints of danish and a touch of smooth, creamy cream cheese. YUM!
