Singing Dog Vanilla

Haven’t had this in a while now, as I had so many new teas to try. I’m liking it better than I remembered. I guess for me it doesn’t really stand up to being an everyday tea (as the base especially could be better) but it’s decent. I’m noticing more vanilla — perhaps I got a bit immunized to it drinking it day in and day out. Anyway, not a favorite, but a solid enough tea.

This tea is fine but not remarkable. I like New Mexico Tea Co.’s Vanilla better — the base and the vanilla are both smoother in that one, though, alas, I still wish their vanilla was stronger.

But on the bright side: got all my Black Friday tea shopping done! Now I just have to obsess over the tracking numbers till the boxes arrive :)

Got this in the mail today from Singing Dog Vanilla, a company that makes every vanilla thing you can think of (including vanilla salt!).
I can see little chipped up chunks of what I think is vanilla bean pod in the mix. I do smell vanilla in the dry tea, but it’s not particularly strong.
Steeped up, I taste some vanilla, but again, it’s on the light side, not really what I was expecting from a company that specializes in vanilla products.
The assam base is smooth and inoffensive. All in all, I will have no trouble getting this down, but it’s not the vanilla experience I was hoping for.
The vanilla tea quest continues!

OMGsrsly also sent along this one (#0!), and I thank you, but this is a big NOPE for me. I don’t even like sage that much to begin with, and one sip gave me an intense “bleh!” reaction. Could not take any more. Super bitter and super sagey. I even steeped it cooler and shorter than I normally would have because I looked at reviews here before and people said it could go bitter. I don’t even want to know what it would taste like at boiling and 3 minutes.

This actually made a really tasty cold brew. I don’t usually cold brew anything but fruit tisanes due to flavour preferences.

But this was great! A little herbal, some berry flavour, and the tea base was pretty darn tasty. I think there’s blackberry leaves in here, so it was sweet and not at all weirdly tannin-y or anything like that. It was missing the vanilla flavour, but I was OK with that because I enjoyed the sage and sweet berryness.

I don’t think I’d get more of this tea (I bought it on a whim!) but I’m really glad I decided to try it cold brewed instead of hot.

Not bad, but needs more sage. :)

It’s not quite what I was expecting, as the black tea is front-and-centre. Following it, I get some vanilla and sweetness from the blackberry leaves, and finally some sage.

I think I’d like it better with a little honey added, as the black base is somewhat astringent. And sage tea is better with honey anyways.

I’m glad I picked this up to try, but probably won’t get any more.

No 15 from Another Travelling Tea Box.

This is a fairly subtle flavored tea. I was expecting a fairly strong vanilla flavor, based on the company name, but for both the aroma and taste the various flavors were somewhat less obvious than the tea. They added complexity to the natural tea flavor without being dominant. This really worked for me: very harmonious.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it re-steeped very well, not just once but twice. Not only did the third steep still have good strength, but the balance of the different flavors was consistent.

There’s only about 6 grams left, but I took it out of the box. Sorry.

My cupboard currently lists 104 teas, 3 of which are actually teaware and don’t count. But it’s still more than I want so I am in sipdown mode! I’d like to get closer to 80.

I’d like to get closer to having 15-20 staple teas that I always “need” to have on hand, and maybe another 20-30 little sample sizes to play around with. That’s probably not ever going to heppen but…

SIPDOWN!

I tried brewing this again today, using a slightly lower temperature (195°F) and it has made all the difference in the world in the taste! The sage is not bitter now, only savory and distinctly sage, and this is a much tastier cup.

While measuring out this tea, I was surprised to see big pieces of the actual vanilla pod in the tea! Singing Dog Vanilla is a vanilla company that offers several vanilla products including a few teas, and it’s clear that they want the vanilla EXPERIENCED in this tea.

The vanilla is strong, sweet and absolutely creamy. I love how creamy it tastes and the texture of it too, it’s almost like I made a latte but with no milk! The black tea is also quite strong, and while the website does not indicate what type of tea it is – it only says “organic black tea” … as does the packaging … I suspect that this is an Assam because it is a sturdy, bold black tea with a hint of malt, and there is a fair amount of astringency to the cup as well, so I’m going with Assam … although I could be wrong. My taste buds tell me it’s an Assam, though.

The sage and blackberry are more of accent notes rather than strong flavors of the cup … although if the water is too hot, the sage becomes much more dominating, as I mentioned in my first tasting note of this tea. The blackberry becomes more obvious as I continue to sip, and now that I’m nearly finished with this cup, the blackberry is quite THERE … especially in the aftertaste. I have a delicious blackberry taste lingering on my palate and it’s quite lovely.

A very enjoyable tea. I think I may have to seek out more of the Singing Dog Vanilla products.

I found this tea while shopping at my local Whole Foods recently. I was intrigued because it was a company I’ve not heard of before, they were local, and organic.

This is really pretty good. I think I’m going to try it again tomorrow or the next day, though, before I get too in-depth with it (as in numeric rating and full-length review on SororiTea Sisters), because I brewed it with boiling water, and I generally have better luck brewing teas with herbs (and herbal teas) with a slightly lower temperature – just below boiling. I find that the sage tastes just a little bitter to me, and I think this could be remedied with a slightly lower temp. Otherwise, though, it’s pretty tasty.

A really good, strong vanilla presence, sage is the next flavor I notice, followed by hints of blackberry. The black tea is a strong, slightly astringent tea that provides a nice background. Good enough this time that I look forward to trying it the second time with the lower temp to see how it fairs.