LiberTEAs’ Tomato, Basil & Black Pepper

I can really taste the black pepper today! Perfect with polenta & veg and tomato sauce for lunch.

As I have been sorting through my tea stash (it’s quite an undertaking, let me tell you), I have been coming across some teas that I stashed away because I knew I wouldn’t have the opportunity to order them again, among them was this … which is one of my favorite teas from 52Teas (in the top three… probably the top 2, second only to the French Vanilla Assam) It’s so yummy. Savory and wonderful, like a nourishing bowl of homemade tomato soup (not that nasty stuff that comes in a can) … only better, because it is also tea. It’s like combining two of my favorite comfort foods in one. Now… if somehow chocolate would go well with this, then I’d be in tea heaven.

And even though it has been a while since I’ve had this, it still tastes wonderful. I do need to try this with the bacon flavored tea, which means I’m probably going to have to buy more of the bacon flavored tea… and I think that I should also try it with the jalapeno tea just for fun.

LOVE

This is quite peppery today, and I can pick up a hint of smoke and the basil, but am missing out on the tomato, as I think I did last time. It’s probably because there wasn’t a chunk of sundried tomato – I should have added one in. Definitely a savoury blend, though!

oh man i love this…except my brain thinks this is soup. not tea. thank you kittenna! really…this is super tasty delicious! It’s a savoury tea and though kittenna didn’t get much tomato, i for sure am. The black pepper adds a certain spiciness that i love. I can taste both the pepper and basil in this one. YUM! so glad i got to try this one out!

Wow – a huge thanks to LiberTEAS for instigating a swap with me!
Not only did she send me an amazing package, she was awesome enough to send me a sample of the famous blend!!! Thank you !

The flavour is over the top. I only used 1.5 teaspoons and a pinch of seasoning salt, steeped for 3 minutes and I’m in love.

Some reviews have mentioned that you have to be in the right mood for a tea like this. I think I would agree – but luckily for me, I was in the perfect mood! I had a suuuper sweet lunch and breakfast and was craving something salty and savoury. This seriously did the trick.

The strongest flavour I’m getting is basil, with the sweetness of the sundried tomatoes and then finally the black pepper kick at the end. It’s subtle but definitely there.

My favorite part about this tea is that it tastes like tea~! It’s blended perfectly, the black base with the hint of smokiness from the lapsang souchong (it really is the perfect amount) is so satisfying.

Thank you LiberTEAs for letting me try this seriously one of a kind tea! I’m a fan. :)

(Also, this tea will be the very first review to christen my blog! ee!)

Decided to play w/ this a bit and add 1/8tsp each dried oregano and garlic powder and have it w/ my lunch (Left over buffalo chicken pizza I added pineapple and corn to dipped in tetziki sauce w/ a pear and a salad w/ cucumber, carrot, cranberries, and shreadded coconut w/ Italian dressing.)

Now this looks like tomato soup! While pale, it’s red and slightly opaque. Smells like tomato soup too!

OHMYWOW! This is so good! The oregano and garlic really beat the lapsang into submition to the point where it’s pretty much hiding. It does make the tomatoes taste as if they’re fire roasted instead of stewed though. For a person who hates tomato juice and exceptionally watery pasta sauces, I’m shocked I love this so much. This cuppa absolutely gets a 100 in my book.

A salsa flavored tea would be good! Tomato, black and red pepper, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic… maybe a version w/ a bit of watermelon and mango (the type of salsa I like on my fish tacos).

One thing I love: tomatoes. One thing I don’t: most black teas. Here is how good this tea is: I got mine in the mail, made myself a cup, and was not even halfway through it before I got back on 52teas.com and ordered the very last package of the stuff. Each ingredient stands out – smoky, sun-dried tomatoes, the flat intrigue of basil, the spicy purr of black pepper. One of the most creative and marvelous-tasting cups of tea I’ve ever experienced. Bravo, Frank.

So I’ve alluded to my living situation before, I think, but basically in Fecember, my brother and I left my mom’s house and moved in with my sister. I was at school half the week and then corona happened so I’ve been at home with my sister for 6 weeks while my brother and brother-in-law have been going to work. So that’s 4 adults between the ages of 28 and 31 living together. One is pregnant and all of us are not thin so we can eat. So menu planning is essential to make sure we actually have enough food in the house. Initially we used to only plan dinners from Monday-Friday but then weekends and lunch time we’d sort of just be lost or trying to hobble things together so we started planning for lunches and dinners on Monday-Saturday and we assume leftovers will get us over Sunday.

While some lunches are just us cooking extra of our dinners to have for the next day, some days we plan specific meals. Those are typically on the days my brother is home for lunch since he can be weird about leftovers and he eats a lot. Today’s meal was literal BLTs with no bread (except for my brother who wanted bread and mayo), mostly because my sister’s pregnancy craving is bacon and she needs to be low carb.

So I broke out this tea to add a little extra tomato to the meal. This is one I won and I really didn’t know what to expect. I think I always work myself up for these out of the box blends and then I’m always surprised by how normal a flavor it is. Like this was drinkable and like something I’ve had before. I get basil in the smell and a touch of drying that sometimes comes with fresh herbs. Tomato adds a little sweetness and then the black pepper adds a touch of spice.

It’s not a bad tea. It’s just not what I look for when I have tea. For that reason, the rest of this is going into my swap box.

I am such a fan of this one, which explains why I have been hoarding it. The flavour, thankfully, is holding quite nicely despite its age. I love the savouriness of tomato, herb, and black pepper of the blend. Beautiful, especially on such chilly days. I hope to see this pass my way again. (Though it is also possible that I have a wee bit more stashed away somewhere—gah!)

And it is a sip down!

Sipdown 71
(11 of 2019)

Additional notes: Can finally post a note after a day of 404 errors. This is the saddest sipdown. It was one of my favorite traveling teabox finds of all time because personally I would never go out of my way to buy a tomato tea ( I hate tomatoes like Mastress Alita hates bananas but apparently not quite to that level, because I tried this), but I’m totally fine with finding odd blends in a teabox that I might not usually reach for. I got these few teaspoons to last quite a while! This was fantastic every time I steeped it up. Maybe it’s the smaller last dregs of the pouch that made a difference but this was so wonderfully flavorful and pizza pizza pizza. I didn’t want this tea to last past this summer, so into the steeping basket it went. I’m glad it was enjoyable to the last drop. A perfect blend I would love to see again!
2020 Sipdowns: 69