I got in a sample order from Trader Nick’s this afternoon; I’ve seen them pop up more than a handful of times on instagram from various tea friends and I was really fascinated by their Disney themeing – plus many of the blends sounded quite delicious too!
This was including as a free sample within that order and, as it’s something I actually heavily debated ordering myself, it’s a pretty perfect choice! At first the idea of a red hot cinnamon candy tea seemed really strange and out of place for a character like Tinkerbell – especially in more modern depictions of her as more friendly and helpful. I’m looking at you, animated Tinkerbell movie and doll franchise! But, as a reflection of her temperamental spirit within the original animated movie, it’s actually pretty spot on and a refreshing interpretation!
The tea itself is fine. It definitely has that red hot style of cinnamon flavouring (aided by the candies in the blend) but it’s not actually as intense and sickly sweet as I expected it to be. The black tea is pretty full bodied and has a touch of astringency to it, though the flavour is relatively muted aside from some maltiness – I feel like it helps dilute the potency of the cinnamon some. What I do wish is that the chili was more prominent. I didn’t really taste it, but a couple steeps I just slightly felt it.
What’s possibly more interesting is that there’s a sort of doughy baked-good quality to the finish, so what’s happening as I drink this (especially as it cools) is that it feels like a cross between a cinnamon bun/pastry and cinnamon candies – and I sort of like this happy middleground!
Would I buy this again? Likely not, it’s not a profile I feel like I’m missing in my stash or that I’m heavily drawn to typically – but it’s nice and I would definitely recommend it to people looking for a less intense cinnamon tea. Plus I’m very happy I tried it.
