No. 44, Bellocq Christmas

I gota sample of this when I was at Bellocq because I was unsure about it since it was based on a darjeeling. I’m glad I did because it’s quite delicious! The coppery bright taste of the darjeeling is tempered by the strength of the spices and the sweetness of the rose. The rose is definitely a hey lement to this blend. Without it the tea would have seemed muddy and dark. The vanilla in this is fantastic! I’m trying to pick out the spicesand I’m getting cinnamon, cardamon, and saffron? I could be wrong about the saffron.

This is definitely a warmth-bringing, cheerful tea! I might just grab up a little more for. Around the holidays.

Incredible notes of fresh cherries with chocolate and cinnamon. A definite winner!

Back from a whirlwind two night trip to NYC with some friends to see Sleep No More one last time before they close and I squeezed in a 90m side quest to Bellocq! I’ve been curious about their teas, but haven’t been anywhere that I could smell or taste them before buying. It looks like most of their selection is straight teas and the 25 blends they had included herbal. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t do less that 2oz bags of their teas, even thought they have the bulk caddies lining the shelves. If that was the case I would have bought a larger selection than the four I took home.

I’m on my second cup of this and it goes down easy and pleasantly! It has a mix of warm spices, anise being the dominant flavor. I think I get a little vanilla in the back of the sip. It reminds me of a Theodor tea… Oh La La perhaps? It is also heavy on the anise. If I don’t forget I have this, it’s likely to be drunk fairly quickly!

Thanks to Cameron for sending this one along!

The steeped scent is really lovely – like a freshly baked holiday baked good. The base mixes well with the flavours, but is a touch clove and anise-heavy, covering some other flavours that may have had a chance to balance the blend. The tea overall seems quite thick and malty. It is reminiscent of a baked good with just a bit too much spice.

Sipdown! (6 | 458)

Wow, this seems to be quite a polarizing tea! Much lower rating than I would expect and a couple of very unfavorable notes ha ha.

I happen to really enjoy it though. The anise is probably the strongest spice, maybe that’s why it’s not well-liked. But there’s some cardamom and clove as well, and a nice sweet warmth from the cinnamon. The Darjeeling base is delightfully bready but not too thick or heavy. It somehow ends up being a somewhat light tea despite all the spices.

Anyway, I quite like it. I probably won’t reorder it though, just because the price is somewhat high ($17 / 57g) and I don’t love it enough to justify that. National Parks Dept., however, is a different story… ;)

sample from crowkettle this one was just…not tasty. Not for the reasons i expected (ie the rose) but because of the weird spice combination. this is just not for me..kinda tastes like licking christmas potpourri…without the flowers? i dunno. very much not for me

Bellocq kindly gave me this sample when I purchased a tin of their breakfast blend last year. Yes, I know, last year, so maybe it’s a little past its prime. Still, this flavor is, well, weird. Not getting any black tea flavor, and the spices are unidentifiable. Vanilla? What vanilla? I think I’m getting a little anise flavor, and I hate anise, so, well, blech. The rose is not a floral note that I can appreciate. Also, I’m noting some tangy notes at the finish, and I hate tangy, too. So, this is not the tea for me. Too bad, since I think their breakfast blend is so superior.

Expected something entirely different. Maybe it has something to do with my tastebuds, can’t tell. But I don’t get neither cherries not chocolate here as was mentioned in previous review. I’m not even sure about cinnamon. What I get is cloves. Too much cloves for me. Not a bad tea, but I was expecting something like dessert tea and to me this isn’t it.