Classic Apple Pie

Backlog from yesterday.

This is fall in a cup. It’s been one of my go to teas lately is so consistently good with a bit of milk and sugar. Did 3 tsp. leaf to 14 oz. of water/half and half and it was strong and spicy, the way I like it. The apple is surprisingly sweet and not astringent and the most prevalent spice is cinnamon but that’s what gives it a real pie crust note so I’m not complaining.

At the rate I’m drinking through it I imagine I’ll be decupboarding it very soon. :(

I was apparently not paying any attention, as when I was scooping out this tea I said “raisins!”
Turns out that its currants, not raisins. Still yummy. I am not familer with apple pie, so my question is, are currants frequently an ingredient in apple pie?
As usual, a tosty and tasty cup.

The weather was a little cooler this morning than it has been over the past little while, so I figured I’d go through my Fall try me box to see what tea delights were to be found. And delighted I was! This tastes exactly how an Apple pie tea should taste. The spices are present and complementary, with the apple taste more at the forefront with the black tea base right behind. I think this is going to knock David’s Tea “Big Apple” from my favorite apple tea spot (although that tea has been slowly slipping down my rankings with the more tea I try – there are just so many tasty options out there that seem to be a better value). I think I need to explore Apple teas a little more, it seems that there may be plenty of gems out there that I have yet to discover.

I used my typical black tea method, of heating the water until it is hot, not boiling (I was able to blow on it and sip it slowly right after it had brewed). The tea may have come out a little lighter than I intended because I may have poured it right at the 3 minute mark…o.k. I’ll admit it! The tea smelled so darn good and I was thirsty so I had a classic case of tea impatience…impateaence, if you will.

The resteep was also lovely. I did notice a touch of bitterness as the tea cooled, but it was still good. The bitterness was almost like the taste I associate with accidentally biting into an apple seed when eating an apple…a little distracting, but it still doesn’t ruin the experience for me as a whole. I have a bit of leaf remaining, so I hope I’ll be able to consistently get such good results from this tea. So far it looks like it’s a candidate for my reorder list.

Another tea to leave my cupboard today. Reading my previous steeping notes I saw I drank this tea for the first time whilst playing Bioshock Infinite and now I finish it as I play The Last Remnant. Perhaps I crave apple when I game?

So long Apple pie.

I was called into work on Tuesday early in the day because of the storm rolling through Atlanta. I am not exaggerating when it was like Walking Dead out there. It took me 7.5 hours to go 30 miles. The hospital has kept us on an emergency staffing plan where we are not allowed to leave because there is no one to replace us. So, I’ve been living at work since Tuesday.. but I am finally home!

One of the things I really, truly missed besides basics like a bed (I’ve been resting on a couch between patient assignments), is my tea! I only scrounged up two old bags of Bigelow green and some unsweetened Lipton one morning before hitting the couch. So today I am going straight to comfort and am sipping apple pie tea. Mostly because I couldn’t remember the steep times and whatnot for Laoshan Black and I was too lazy/tired to look them up initially. But still, this one is warm and soothing. And now I may actually go to bed. A real bed! With a mattress and everything!

i had this love hate relationship with DavidsTea’s Apple Pie tea – I had one cup out of a 50g bag that tasted right. After that.. not so great. I’m hoping this Della Terra Teas Apple pie will work!

DRY LEAF: lots of chunks of apple! My kitchen smells like coffee, there was a huge incident last night involving an exploding french press. Finally my roommates disgusting coffee making skills caught up to them (they use 50% coffee, and top the press up with hot water to make this pure black sludge)

STEEPED: Nice apple pie smell, crust and spices in all!

TASTE: The spices in this are spot on – I finally noticed a trend in Della Terra doing really good in the spice department. Natural apple flavor comes out, but more of a fresh apple on some sips to me. Pie crust after taste. The black tea is present and adds some good depth. The black tea also is not bitter.
I think this tea could use a bit of rock sugar, but I’m too lazy to go downstairs to get some, plus my legs are sore from brazilian jiu jitsu. Aww screw it, I need to take out my laundry anyways..
Sweetened, the apple comes out more and I think I like both ways. So if you are the type who adds sweetener, this tea is good!

COMMENTS: Much better than DavidsTeas! The spices are perfect and the tea is yummy pushing me to drink more.
I’ve had Della Terra’s Candy Apple tea and this Apple Pie tea is much better with the flavoring and lack of apple skin taste.

evil plans? I’m thinking back to I think Starbucks had an apple cider that was caramel sauce and whipped cream on it. Apple Pie tea latte with whipped cream and caramel? MUUUAHAHHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Out of all the Dellaterra blends I ordered on Black Friday, this one decidedly smells the most delicious, both before and after steeping. I let it steep for about three and a half minutes, and that may have been my undoing, because there was a tartness to this tea that kind of ruined it for me. You wouldn’t ever guess it by the way this tea smells, however, because it smells so completely like an apple pie—complete with almond, cinnamon, spices, and crisp apple. I also wonder if it being on a black base is a little odd, although like I said before, it could have been the slight oversteep that yielded the bitterness, and not the black base.

Ah, I’ve had two teas in a row that I’m not a fan of, and I think I’ll stop for the evening. We’ll start afresh tomorrow morning! I’ve not yet given up on this tea though, because so help me god I want the flavour of the smell!

2013-06-28
first of all, i thought i’d never see this tea again! thank you Anna!
second, why the hell did David’s Tea stop selling Santa’s Secret. i think selling Santa tea in the middle of the summer is a GREAT idea! also it was my only good excuse i had to place a David’s order. so now i don’t even know what.
third, the comment below about The Pu’erh Collection was an awful awful idea. they were gross and no one should buy David’s Tea Puerhs cuz there are SO MANY better puerhs out there. i actually spend time worrying that people will taste them and think that that is what puerhs are like and will be scarred for their tea tasting life.

2013-01-25
good bye Classic Apple. it was memorable!
sweet warm apple awesomeness.
tear.

unrelated, ….

omg DavidsTea now has something called The Pu’erh Collection?!?
i’m so on board! i wanted to try them all so bad cuz i love Chocolate Orange, and was gonna maybe start with the Cinnamon Heart one but A.) i have too much tea to even let myself buy samples really but B.) now i don’t have to choose and can just get them all so in a way i am being good by ordering it instead of say, potentially ordering each tea individually. right? i mean kinda?
anways, rad.

oh, also Joe Biden is on campus today. but not for a public event. so really he’s just here to be kinda bad-ass and shut down lots of streets to traffic. yo joe!

Oh yum! So excited my first ever order from della terra came in today. This was the first I tried so good. You get a great ripe apple flavor. Tastes just like apple pie this will definitly be a repurchase once I run out.

Here’s my review/comparison: http://steepster.com/cavocorax/posts/199140