293 Tasting Notes
Our Tea of the Week for May 8, 2023! I was inspired to create this tea based off a cocktail recipe called the “Blood Orange Pineapple Rum cocktail”. That’s a bit too wordy & precise for my liking – let’s face it, it’s not as cute or clever as Fuzzy Navel or Harvey Wallbanger. There’s absolutely nothing cute or clever about “Blood Orange Pineapple Rum Cocktail.” I thought for a while about calling it the BOP Cocktail – but that just sounded – ugh.
So, lacking a cute or clever cocktail name for this delicious concoction, I decided to simply call it Cute & Clever Cocktail. Bonus: The name Cute & Clever Cocktail fits better on the space on the pouch labels than does Blood Orange Pineapple Rum Cocktail.
Anyway – you might be asking why did I even go with this combination if I didn’t have a name for it? Answer: I wanted something delicious with rum, pineapple and blood orange.
You might also be asking why I’m going on like this. Answer: I don’t know.
What I do know is that I love this tea. I cold-brewed it overnight and I’m in love with it. It’s fruity & I love the way the pineapple & blood orange work together. The rum essence (alcohol free) is not particularly strong, I didn’t want it too strong because I wanted the pineapple & blood orange to be the main focus – but it’s strong enough that I can taste it.
It’s really good. I can’t recommend cold-brew enough for this tea – so very refreshing.
This was the tea of the week for the first week of May, and I’ve already almost finished my personal stash of this tea. Yes, it’s that good. I love the way the bold flavor of the Assam works with the smooth sweetness of the coconut & vanilla. It’s a good wake-up kind of tea – it’s got the strength I’m looking for in a wake-me-up tea but it’s also pleasantly sweet and creamy.
Currently sipping this tea – I crafted this as the April 17 tea of the week. When I crafted it, I was inspired by spring. When I think of spring – I think of hummingbirds, because my gramma used to have several little hummingbird feeders out – and as soon as the jacaranda trees started to bloom, she would start filling the feeders and we’d watch the hungry hummingbirds devour the magical liquid she’d put in the feeders – in the area that she lived (Garden Grove, CA) they would empty three feeders in 24 hours! Gramma’s magic would bring all the hummingbirds to the yard.
I’ve never actually tried a hummingbird cake (at least, not to my recollection) but I like the idea of a pineapple, coconut and pecan cake. It sounds delicious. So, I decided to try to create something like that in tea form. Since honeybush has a natural nuttiness and slight spicy tone to it, I thought it would make the perfect base – then I added pineapple & coconut & some nut-free pecan essence, plus some allspice & freshly shaved nutmeg to give it a pleasant spiced note.
It all comes together rather nicely. I didn’t try to turn this into a “cake” creation, but rather, something inspired by the idea of a hummingbird cake, with some of the featured flavors of the cake also featured in this blend (like pineapple, coconut & pecan). I cold-brewed a jar of it and it makes a really tasty iced tea. Compared to the hot tea version, I think that the cold brew has a stronger nutty & spicy flavor with hints of the fruit mingling in the background. As a hot tea, I notice more of the fruit. Both ways are delicious – although, I might prefer this one hot better than iced.
Currently Sipping: Yum! This one is probably my favorite from May’s teas (although, Ginger Cola is one of my all-time favorites, so there’s that) It came out exactly the way I wanted it to.
The black teas in this blend are Yunnan and Columbian, blended with lemon & orange peel. This has a rich, sweet, fruity, bready flavor that is so tasty! I love it!
currently sipping! This was one of our tea blends from April.
Last night, I stashed this in the fridge for a cold brew – and it’s perfect for cold-brewing (I also like it hot brewed and then chilled) The young hyson is smooth, sweet and refreshing. it provides a nice base for the red berry flavors.
sweet, a little tart and a perfect refresher for the hot days ahead.
This was one of our blends from April. It turned out so much better than I ever imagined it would. Sweet, slightly nutty (from the toasty notes of the genmaicha) and silky smooth – it actually tastes like liquid toffee! I’m going to be sad when I run out of this tea!
I’m glad to have Steepster back – and I’m glad that I have this tea back in my cupboard (if only for a short while because this tea ends up disappearing way too fast!)
This was the featured reblend last month. Yum! sweet, creamy with lots of banana flavor & a pleasantly creamy coconut-y note.
This blend was crafted in March 2023 as part of the Reblend Month selections. It was inspired by Frank’s blend Lemon-AID. I had originally planned on crafting Lemon-AID, but when I got to the studio, I didn’t have enough of the herbs to create Lemon-AID – so I added Marshmallow Leaf & Root – and created Lemon Dream Herbal Tisane!
This tea also has a name that is extremely similar to another blend (aka Lemon Dreams Chamomile/Rooibos). I guess after having over 900 different blends, this company is bound to have a similar name? Yeah, I guess I’ll go with that excuse.
Anyway – sorry about it – I hope it doesn’t cause too much confusion.
Now, about this tisane! It is SO GOOD! It’s one of my favorite herbal tisanes I’ve ever crafted – granted, I don’t usually make an herbal tisane, usually, I use either rooibos, green rooibos or honeybush in my blends – which, technically, I guess these are actually herbs – so what I’m trying to say is that usually, I go with one of these herbs as a base for my herbal blends, this is an exception to that, as it is all lemony & marshmallow-y herbs – no rooibos or honeybush!
This is lightly lemon-y with a sweet, fluffy, marshmallow-y note. It’s not a tart lemon, but more of a sweeter lemon, evoking thoughts of a fluffy lemon curd. Imagine marshmallows marbled with lemon curd. Sweet, creamy & so good!
Another reblend from last month (March 2023) and another one I was really excited for because this is the first time I’m reblending this tea. I originally blended it back in 2016 (I think it was 2016 but I’m too lazy to look up at the moment) and I loved it back then and I think I love it even more now. Not sure if it’s just nostalgia or if this blend just turned out better this time around – but it’s really good. I love the way the smoked quality of the tea base melds with the coconut to produce a kind of caramelized coconut flavor.
I made a full pot of this tea today, enough for 3 cups of tea – the first two were served straight up for my s/o and myself, and the third cup, I turned into a latte using the last of the milk cap that I had stored in the fridge – and while this is good served without any additions, it makes a fantastic latte! A definite DO TRY if you like lattes!
