98

It’s that time of year…got excited when I saw the holiday CS display at the co-op and picked some of this up to try. Opened up the box—got a heady whiff of gingery spices, something that smelled, somehow, like Asian food (maybe it’s the mix of the ginger and the barley?), and cookies. I was intrigued. I’ve had good spiced teas from Celestial Seasonings that smelled a little odd dry, so I continued on. While the tea was steeping, I scanned the comments on Steepster, and after doing so I was kind of prepared to not like this for all of the reasons people posted—weird barley taste, watery tasting, etc. Also, I tried an herbal this summer that was just plain roasted barley and was disgusted. (I may have to give it another try. That, or cook the barley.) I started to sip and was very very pleasantly surprised! This is a nice blend of spices, not overpowered by the taste of cinnamon red hots like some other spiced teas, has a very true gingerbread cookie aroma (just sniffed the empty mug…mmmm), and has a lingering sweetness that remains between sips. I can still taste it…and that quality is one of the most important to me in a tea—that I can taste it even when I’m not drinking it. This is a nice, light, sweetly spicy blend…a lovely holiday excursion in a cup.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec
heatherwassing

I pretty much ALWAYS sweeten this too much.
But I really enjoy it with a splash of milk and my daughter loves it.

SunnyinNY

Great tea! Love this flavor.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

heatherwassing

I pretty much ALWAYS sweeten this too much.
But I really enjoy it with a splash of milk and my daughter loves it.

SunnyinNY

Great tea! Love this flavor.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I’m a college tea drinker.
I cook feverishly.
I draw.
I make movies.
I knit.
Someday I wish to own chickens.

I love tea because of the complete sensory experience it offers me. Clock time fades away as I lean into my cup, watching the delicate cascades of steam waft up from the brew. Peace. Stillness. Feeling centered. It’s my meditation…

To give you a little background on my tea preferences (which will put my ratings into perspective)…

I love teas that are strong without bitterness and have earthy flavors to them, like rooibos or a really good black tea. (A few favorites in this category: Toffee Almond Supreme, Popped Rooibos, Oh Canada, Nutcracker Sweet.) Vanilla, cinnamon, and nutty are some of my favorite flavor notes. After about a year of warming up to greens, I absolutely love them—from the sweet, nutty, green-tea-ice-cream-like to the bold, grassy earthiness of Gunpowder Temple of Heaven. I also enjoy a nice white every once in a while. Fruity teas aren’t my favorite. I do have a few fruity teas that I love though, like TeaSource’s Green Tea with Pomegranate, Lemon Solstice, and Blueberry Fields.

I drink all of my teas unsweetened; if a tea needs sweetening, I usually don’t like it. A couple of notable exceptions: I sometimes sweeten straight green teas and matcha, and I drink my chai with soymilk (but no other sweetener). I sometimes like my black tea with a little dollop of soymilk.

Location

Northfield, MN

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer