Treacle Sponge

Sipdown!

This tea has a cloying aroma and has ingredients that make me doubt life (chinese sencha? With cinnamon AND cocoa?). Yet I bought a sample pouch anyways because I’m apparently a masochist.

I didn’t love it during most of our time together. I thought it would work iced but it somehow became more cloying in a licorice-like way. Something must have changed with age (or me) though because the last few cups were enjoyable! Sweet, syrupy faux-honey & butterscotch, with notes of cinnamon, aniseed, candied fruit, and… chinese sencha.

Yeah, I don’t love it to bits – those ingredients are on my “nope” list – but it still is an awfully creative blend.

Sipdown! (23 | 297)

This came in the B&B subscription last month, and it’s just not a favorite for me.

Oddly, the dry leaf smells like passionfruit curd somehow? Even though there’s nothing remotely fruity mentioned in the description or ingredients. No idea what’s going on with my nose there…

Steeped up, it tastes a bit cakey, lightly custardy with a butterscotch finish. But then there’s the anise, which kind of takes over and makes everything taste like licorice. I actually like licorice, but I don’t really understand it here… Seems like a treacle sponge is a steamed pudding with treacle and custard, so doesn’t seem like licorice comes into play.

Oh well. It certainly doesn’t taste like passionfruit curd, ha ha! :P

This sample is also thanks to Mastress Alita. I didn’t remember if I’d eaten treacle before, but once I tasted this tea, I realized that I must have because this flavor is very familiar! This tea is so sweet, and it has a cakey flavor as well. I need to remember to drink green tea while it’s still warm though, because with this and many other green teas, as they sit there, the flavor seems to get a bit strange. Maybe that’s just me. But anyway, when I was drinking the first half of this warm a few hours ago, it was quite nice. I don’t enjoy treacle enough that I would seek out more treacle teas, but it was fun for sure.

This came from Tea-Sipper, I bought some of this in her stash sale a few months ago along with some other goodies.

Not loving this one, maybe I need to play around with it some more. I don’t get any of the tasting notes that other’s have mentioned. There was a lot of safflower in my strainer. I wonder if that is what I’m tasting so much of. I get notes of anise, but am missing the cake aspect. The Cinnamon and cocoa shell comes through faintly and more so in the last few sips. For a Sencha it’s not very buttery. Maybe I didn’t store this properly. I’m not sure what treacle is supposed to taste like but I get the impression it’s supposed to be quite sweet which isn’t the case in this cup. I hope I have some better luck with this one in the future.

157/365

The fifth of Bluebird’s Tea Election candidates. As an aside, there was something odd about this tea’s profile when I tried to add my note earlier. It looked different, and clicking “review” just took me back to the Steepster home page. I faffed around for a while, since the records for other teas looked fine and seemed to be working. I finally got this far by clicking “edit tea info” and then saving. Not sure what happened there…

Anyway, the tea. I made this one up as a latte using Bluebird’s recipe. It’s the first time I’ve made a green tea latte, so that was kinda exciting! I used 300ml of 80 degree water and 100ml of milk, plus 1/2 tsp each of honey and vanilla essence. I was a little worried about bitterness from brewing at double strength, but it actually turned out fine.

I get the treacle aspect of this one, although it needs to cool a bit before that really comes through. Initially, it’s very smooth, sweet and buttery, but little more than that. Once I found the treacle flavour, though, it was all plain sailing. I should probably say at this point that what I can really taste here is golden syrup; this tea reminds me most of those microwave puddings I had as a child, only minus the sponge. Treacle to me is the black, molasses-y stuff, and that’s not what I can taste here. I don’t think it’s what Bluebird intended me to taste, either, so I think I’m on the right lines.

The sponge is the only aspect that’s slightly lacking. I suppose the buttery flavour approaches that territory, but for me it falls slightly short of actually tasting like sponge. I’m more than happy with the syrup, though; that’s spot-on. I can’t even imagine what’s creating that flavour, because the ingredients seem fairly innocuous in and of themselves. Bluebird magic, clearly!

I like this one, but I still don’t think it’s my favourite of the six. I’ll give it a couple more tries before I make my final decision, though.

What is a treacle sponge? It’s apparently a pudding, but when I first opened the tin, it smelled like a delicious cookie. I wonder if there’s a good way to make sugar cookies and flavor them with this tea.

Anyway, it tastes like delicious cookies, and I also like it with a little vanilla almond milk. I drank it hot. I wish it were part of Bluebird’s permanent collection, but at least I bought a nice 0.15 kg tin of it. My friend recommended it to me, and thanks for that!

New month, new sipdown prompts!

It is with a sad heart that I pulled this tea out and stuck it over in the “Sipdown Corner” because it is one of my favorite Bird & Blend teas, but I haven’t seen them reblend it since the days they were still called Bluebird Tea Co. (which is still on the packaging). I may never see it again, once it is gone… but it isn’t getting any younger, so I know I should just bit the bullet and sip it down while it still has flavor. I’m using it for the prompt “a caramel tea” (though it could also fit "tea from a British company, but I undoubtedly have other too-old B&B teas that I should get through…)

The smell of this tea, both in the leaf and brewed, is intoxicating. I may have never had Treacle Sponge, but the pastry-like aroma that is a little buttery, a little caramelly, a little almondy, and a little cherry is so nice. Like gmathis’ Chocolate Orange cup this morning, this is a tea that leaves the empty cup still smelling like magic.

The brewed flavor is sweet, a bit of a buttery backbone with a caramel/vanilla flavor, and a hint of nuttiness and fruitiness. It is better after it has cooled; too warm, the base sencha is a little overly vegetal. That calms down and the sweetness shines once the cup cools down.

I will enjoy this bag for its final days!

So over here in America, I have no idea what a Treacle Sponge should taste like, but this is a pretty delicious tea. This sure is sweet and if there is butter involved in the dessert, a buttery sencha green base is perfect. I’m not sure how the cocoa shells, cinnamon and aniseed came into the blend… they are a lovely idea for the blend but I think I was mostly tasting the flavoring on the green tea. There is a TON of flavor here, even on the second steep. And I haven’t tasted this flavor with any other tea before. So I’m not sure I had to use 1 1/2 teaspoons to create such a tasty cup.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 30 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Treacle Sponge is the smell of nostalgia! Anyone else remember those sticky toffee puddings that came in a tin? That’s what this tea smells like to me! I remember my mom would make them with custard, as an after-dinner treat. For anyone who didn’t get this wonderful experience as a child, you can now experience it in liquid form. It shouldn’t be a surprise that this tea smells sweet, cakey and treacle-y. And the flavour? A punch of vanilla, slight green tea notes and a lingering cake-like finish. It smells great and tastes great, but it also looks beautiful. It’s like a mini firework of tea. It actually turned out to be my favourite of the collection.

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