Sugar Plum Spice

Officially the last tea of the night; delicious! Kinda tired though (need me sleep for tomorrow’s shift) – so not much else to write on it, heh…

Backlog: I have just a couple bags left from the 2012 Christmas season. It’s always sad when I run out. I enjoyed one of these while watching my latest guilty pleasure, Amish Mafia. I find it hilarious – especially as someone who studies the “real” mafia. Anyway, this is a delightful cuppa, tastes like Christmas. Perfect for cold nights – and snowy afternoons. I may allow myself another one today when I get home from work, if there is snow again!

So I got an electric kettle and was curious how it could compare to the kettle on the stove here. It wasn’t much faster…which now makes me feel like it was kind of dumb to get because I have a gas stove at home. Then again, I can set the temperature so I guess that works. Or I can sit in bed and make tea. (I got the Cuisinart kettle because every year since I’ve moved out I seem to be expanding on Cuisinart things…immersion hand blender, food processor, griddler, and this year kettle. None of it has broken so I’ll stick with them!)

So because I was testing boiling water I thought I’d make something, and this seemed fitting. I used two bags because I was going to make a full mug, so roughly 12 oz of tea, and steeped it for only 3 minutes to make up for it.

This is totally undrinkable for me, it’s a nice plum flavor but it’s too sweet, and the aftertaste is not good. My mom was able to tolerate it for a few more sips than I could, so I tried diluting it, getting it more to the right level and while better, it still met the sink drain.

I will give it another chance, maybe 1 bag for the 12 oz and a 4 min steep, and see if that’s tolerable. Otherwise, onto the swapping sled it goes.

Backlogging. 7 days ago. Late Sunday night.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

I haven’t had this one in quite a while. I remember it being not really a fave but also liking it decently okay. Warm and spiced with a touch of fruity, it was a nice enough cup to drink late at night.

Why does this tea taste so sweet to me? Looking at the ingredient list I have no clue what might be causing it, but it’s almost like there’s a spoonful of sugar in the bag. Maybe the plum flavouring? Although I’d expect that to be a bit more tart.

Hm.

I forget who suggested this to me but I picked some up today and I am liking it…
I am a big fan of cinnamon and plum flavors together, I have the cinnamon plum tea by Rishi which I also like. This one is sweeter and a little lighter on the hibiscus and has some other things like roasted barley and chicory which bring it down to Earth a bit.

Lately I’ve been reflecting a lot on this tea drinking habit of mine and as much as I like trying a lot of different teas it still makes me cringe when I have to buy tea and tea bags that are all wrapped up in plastic and hermetically sealed like surgical instruments. Have we really become this precious? Tea used to get from China to Russia on the back of a camel and somehow the world managed to carry on.

So thanks to Celestial Seasonings for providing simple no frill teabags and cardboard boxes and keeping some waste out of the landfill. I am coming to the conclusion that I have to find more companies that reflect my values as a person. Or maybe I need to just go to local teashops and buy in bulk and bring in my own containers.

Perhaps I am getting a little nutty but it does help me to enjoy my tea when I’m not also obsessing over my contribution to the gigantic plastic gyre in the Pacific Ocean…. ;-)

Since I was opening the package to send some of this to Roswell Strange in a swap, I decided to brew myself a cup to try this one out. My thoughts? Well it definitely lives up to its name but in a very weird way. The start of the sip is all sugar and then you realize it is sugar plum. The end of the sip is all cinnamon. It almost seems like a different tea appeared in my cup part way through because there is a disconnect between the distinct flavors of the start and finish of the sip. At first, I didn’t like it but on subsequent sips I don’t mind it. Realistically though, I doubt I would reach for this all that often. And I definitely won’t drink all 20 bags but I might have a cup every now and then.

Maybe I should mention that I didn’t try this tea when it was very hot. It took me a while to package up the teas :)

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: boiling
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cinnamon, hibiscus
Steeped Tea Smell: floral, plum, cinnamon, generally sweet and spicy
Flavor: sweet, cinnamon
Body: Full
Aftertaste: cinnamon, hint of ginger
Liquor: barely translucent dark red-purple

Swap with Meghann M, Thank you!

Very festive, pretty yummy, the plum is weak and the cinnamon dominates. It has a sweetness to it, not sure what from, but I am glad I taste before sweetening.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/01/celestial-seasonings-teabag-herbal.html

So, I’m on my second pot of this, and I’m really not sure what to think. I taste spice, cinnamon mainly, but there’s a hint of cardamom as well. I also taste plum, and there’s just a hint of the hibiscus in the background. I think the fruit flavors would come out more with a longer steep, and I’m tempted to try a 10 minute steep on this, but at 5 minutes the spices are quite strong enough, thank you, and I really don’t want to find out how much stronger they could be. So I’ll hold off on giving a rating for now.

On side note, I think my sickness is coming back. Joy of joys, my nose has been running so much it’s ready for a half marathon.

I headed into work yesterday with two mugs of tea again. I was craving Candy Cane Lane, but forced myself to drink a different herbal…and I’m glad I did.

This has always been one of my favorites, for as long as I can remember. Every Christmas season I buy a box or two and savor it until it comes back around. I don’t know why I’m suddenly in the mood for Christmas teas, but here I am! This definitely disappeared far too quickly last night at work.

I should just invest in a thermos.