North Pole Estate

FINALLY I’m reviewing this tea, CrowKettle! It’s been a long time coming.

And I like it.

It’s mostly nutmeg to me, and I’m doing many shorter steeps with my wee teapot.

It good. I’m kinda sad it’s taken me so long to get to this, but yum. :)

I am always quite cautious about teas when they list cinnamon in their flavorings. For me, like cumin, it overpowers all other spices that are present, and leaves subtlety to waste. I was hesitant when choosing this tea for my Tippy’s order, but I saw the star anise and the nutmeg in their photo and I thought it worth the gamble….I’m a sucker for nutmeg.

The dry leaf is extraordinarily fragrant when the packet is opened. From that first sniff it is apparent that this is not your average “chai” blend. When spices are blended with skill, it should be difficult to pick out the individual components of the blend. Such is the case with North Pole Estate.

In the cup, this is a very smooth tea with a satin quality to the sip. The spice blend does not overpower the quality tea ~ it does what it is intended to do by enhancing the richness of the keemun and assam. There are fleeting moments where a single spice in the blend (particularly the star anise and nutmeg) gently takes the lead, but then it recedes into the blend again with grace and deliciousness. The cinnamon is NOT mowing everything down in it’s path. The clove is delicate and supporting of all the flavors in the cup. I have remained intrigued from the first sip to the last sip….. and that, for me, makes a glorious cup of tea. Completely and utterly enjoyed. Thank you Tippy’s.

I am finally all moved into the new place, and the old place is cleaned and the keys turned in! Hardly anything is unpacked yet, but I unearthed the tea pot and two cups, and my box of tea. The packet of this tea was the one on the top, so I grabbed it for my morning cup. It’s a bit nippy out there today, so this one is perfect. Warming, mellow, and cozy. I’m back to the day job, with boxes piled around me like the walls of a maze. It’s going to be a while before I’m unpacked and completely settled, but I’ll be alright. I have access to my tea.

This tea smelled so yummy in the bag…like chocolate chai! When I brewed this at work with a splash of half and half and a bit of sugar, I tasted a smorgasbord of flavors. Spices…cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, but more of a baked quality, not too spicy, which is awesome! I also detected a hint of orange and overall, it was caramel and vanilla sweet. Mmmm!

At home this morning, I brewed it up with a splash of almond milk, but it turned out spicier. I think this tea does better with a stronger milk presence, and as Tippy’s has suggested, this would probably be awesome as a latte. It brings out the cookie quality. :)

I had a short, shallow moment of dread when I discovered the milk of yesterday was gone today (note: always check for this factor before steeping spice teas). Luckily, this tea seems pretty awesome without it.

This one’s quite wintery: gingerbread cookie spices, nuts, a versatile fruitiness that is one moment hot apple cider the next chocolate and orange rind, and maybe even a touch of smoke.

I’ll have to pick up some of Tippy’s keemun and assam to see how much they cultivate those delicious fruity dessert flavours- and there are so many flavours, but they work!

I’m finally getting to try my Tippy’s Tea samples! After they spent 2 weeks in sub-zero temperatures in my mailbox while I was on vacation. :( Sorry, tea! They’re packaged well, so I’m hoping that means they will still be ok.

This one is interesting because the dry tea has such a strong, spicy scent (cinnamon! cloves!) that it’s a bit surprising when the brewed tea has just a subtle spiciness. I like it though. You can still taste the tea part of the tea. :) I think I’m tasting the assam more than the keemun, but either way it’s a decent malty base that blends well with the spices. It definitely tastes Christmas-y. :)

I added a bit of sugar to the 2nd half of my cup, and it’s good sweetened too. Weirdly, that seems to be bringing out a citrusy flavour for me – orange, maybe? I don’t have any drinkable milk in the house (what with just getting back from vacation) but I think next time I’m going to brew this strong and add milk and a bit more sugar, try it that way.

Just got done from shovelling snow with my son and my sister, oh Canada sometimes I ask myself why I left my native Ireland and all that rain! My wife being the wonderful human being that she is had made a pot of North pole estate tea, as a latte. I think I prefer to drink this tea in this manner, the milk and small amount of sugar really highlight the spiciness, whilst the sugar mutes the astringency of the assam ever so slightly. The malty keemun adds a milk-chocolate element when combined with sugar. As my wife just said “it tastes like liquid cookie.” And I agree.

I’m sipping on this tea now. I just received a package of samples from Tippy’s today, and this is the first that I’ve tried.

This tea benefits from a few minutes cool time (just as all flavored teas do, I think). The spices are gentle. This isn’t chai-like.

At first, I was a little disappointed that the flavors were so subtle, but then I started thinking about it. North Pole Estate Tea. Estate tea. The teas generally take on the flavors from the areas in which their grown. That’s how those flavors get absorbed into the leaves.

In the North Pole, I’d imagine the scent of spice, gingerbread and chocolate fill the air and get absorbed into the tea that is grown there. (Yeah, I know that tea doesn’t really grow there.)

This is a strong black tea with notes of cinnamon, a gentle touch of clove, hints of chocolate and cookies. Ginger. All the sweetness of the North Pole (Although some peppermint might be appropriate for it too, but, I don’t know how well peppermint would work with these other flavors.)

It’s really quite tasty.

Merry Christmas! This is one of the many teas I got in Tippy’s Sampler Pack. I tried this one first because of it’s festive name. Drinking an Estate tea from the North Pole? Genius. The dry leaf smells like raspberry fudge. I get a hint of spice that takes me on to the first sip. It’s not so much raspberry fudge that I get on the fist couple sips, but more of a tart spiced cider. The base tea is really good too. It’s strong and malty, with molasses notes. It complements the flavorings so well.
I made a nice pot to share with everyone while we opened presents. It lasted through three steeping before losing any of it’s cheery character. Thanks Tippy’s tea!