Author: Michelle

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TWG Tea’s Magic Flute Tea

Magic Flute Tea by TWG Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
S$25.00 for 37.5g (15 sachets)

First Impressions

I received Magic Flute Tea as a birthday gift this past November from a friend. The tea comes in individually packaged sachets, inside of a cardboard ox. There’s a bit of a luxurious feeling to the packaging, if only because the inside of the box is gold. The tea itself comes in cotton tea bags, which are described as being 100% cotton and hand sewn – the cotton fabric reminds me of a cheese cloth, but with a much tighter weave to it.

The dry leaf of Magic Flute has a strong citrus aroma, but I can smell the black tea base with slightly fruity notes. I had a hard time finding listed ingredients. The tag on the tea bag states “black tea, citrus & fruits” while the box itself says “an extraordinary combination of rich tea and exotic red berries”. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that Magic Flute Tea consists of black tea, vanilla extract and berries (not sure which kind, but it does smell a bit like strawberries).

Preparation

TWG Tea recommends steeping Magic Flute Tea in 95°C (203°F) water for 2-3 minutes for a cup of tea and 3-4 minutes for a tea pot. My initial steep was for a tea cup, so I opted to steep for 2.5 minutes.

First Taste

Magic Flute Tea steeps to a lovely reddish brown. I found that the citrus aroma was strong in the steeped tea. The flavour of the black tea is lightly sweet, with some fruity/berry notes and a bit of citrus freshness. I can still taste the black tea base, which is nice – I found that it has a mild malty flavour to it which is pleasant, but I did find a slightly astringent aftertaste to it. I think it could be steeped for even less time (2 minutes or 90 seconds), and it would be less astringent. Otherwise, a little bit of cream and sugar wouldn’t hurt to help temper the astringency and brighten up the flavours of the “exotic” red berries (whatever they may be).

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Magic Flute Tea and found it didn’t resteep well – the tea was missing the sweetness and the citrus notes.

My Overall Impression

I liked TWG Tea’s Magic Flute Tea. It has the type of packaging that I would probably like to keep around when I’m offering tea to guests because it just has that higher end feel to it with the vintage-esque but gold packaging. The tea itself is nice, I think it would be a good candidate for afternoon tea and would do nicely with some cream and sugar. That said, I would highly recommend keeping the steep times short with this black tea to prevent it from getting astringent if you are drinking it straight.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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DavidsTea’s Organic Vanilla Chai

Organic Vanilla Chai by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.50 for 50g

First Impressions

Organic Vanilla Chai came up as listed on the DavidsTea website as an online exclusive, which of course meant that it somehow wound up in my shopping cart when I was putting in an order. Described as “warm vanilla comfort”, I was intrigued about the Organic Vanilla Chai because I really like vanilla and I also really like chai. There is something warming about a good cup of spiced chai and I really did have high hopes for it when I picked it.

Like most of the online tea offerings from DavidsTea, Organic Vanilla Chai came to me in a sealed (resealable) foil bag with a printed label that had all the information needed on it. If you’re familiar with some of the older label styles, you’ll notice some slight changes to it. The tea itself smells sweet, I can smell the cinnamon with licorice root with some mild vanilla undertones. I really do wish that the vanilla was stronger, especially given the name of the tea. I cannot smell the ginger, which is a bit of shame since that’s usually such a strong flavour.

Organic Vanilla Chai consists of cinnamon, black tea, licorice root, ginger, vanilla with natural vanilla and cream flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Organic Vanilla Chai in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions for the initial steep and steeped Organic Vanilla Chai for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Vanilla Chai steeps to a reddish orange. The aroma of the spices in this chai blend become much more obvious once the tea is steeped. I found that the fragrance of the vanilla to be soft compared to the spices, which is to be expected. On first taste, I do notice that tea is just not as sweet as I was expecting. The dry leaf had a very sweet smell, while the steeped tea wasn’t very sweet. I can taste the spices – the cinnamon, licorice root and ginger are very obvious. I like that there’s the noticeable warming qualities from the cinnamon and the ginger, and the vanilla is a bit of an aftertaste since the spices are quite strong. I found that the tea overall had a pleasant creaminess to it that makes me think that it needs added cream.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Vanilla Chai twice, adding an extra 30 seconds per subsequent steep. I found the first resteep to be fairly close to the initial steep, while the second resteep barely had any spice flavour at all. I would say that Organic Vanilla Chai is good for just one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Organic Vanilla Chai. I think this black tea blend is a great candidate for a tea latte, and could really benefit from a touch of sweetener and cream to really accentuate the cream flavouring in the tea and to also boost the flavour of the vanilla. I found the flavour balance to be quite good, the initial steep was enjoyable for me. The one thing that I do wish is that the vanilla flavouring was a bit heavier handed, it’d be nice if the creamy notes from the vanilla was stronger and I think it would have definitely played off of the cinnamon or ginger really nicely to balance with the warming spices.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Creating the Ultimate Holiday Tea Latte

I have had colleagues describe me as being a little bit extra when I talked about the tea lattes I’ve made at home for myself. A couple weeks ago, one of my fellow nurses was making a cup of tea during night shift. Which led me to talk about what I made the last time I had that tea (spoiler alert: it was delicious and over the top). I’m all about making my tea lattes pretty and pretty tasty, and this guide for the Ultimate Holiday Tea Latte is really no exception to that rule.

The flavour that I’m all about during the holiday season is peppermint. It is a very winter/holiday flavour that I think a lot of people are familiar with. I love peppermint in my black tea blends, in my hot chocolate, and in candy cane form. There’s just something quintessential about peppermint and the winter holidays and that’s why it’s the basis for my Ultimate Holiday Tea Latte. This article is more of a guide or a how-to instead of a recipe.

Ingredients for this Ultimate Holiday Tea Latte include:

Black tea (either straight or blended with peppermint)
Sweetener of your choice
Milk or dairy-free alternative
Decorations (crushed candy canes, coloured sugar, sprinkles)

To start, make a cup of strong black tea – I use a bit more tea leaves than I would if I wasn’t planning to add milk to it. You can choose a plain black tea, or a black tea blend that already contains peppermint (either in dried leaf or extract/natural flavouring form) and then steep in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes.

If you’re using a straight black tea, you can add peppermint extract after the tea has steeped. A little goes a long way when it comes to extract, you’ll want to add 1 or 2 drops only. You can always add more extract if needed, but you can’t take away if you pour in half the bottle. Be like Scrooge when it comes to your peppermint extract and be stingy!

Add your sweetener, sweeten to taste and personal preference. I still have some peppermint flavoured agave at a big chain tea store, but you can use honey, sugar, agave syrup – pretty much anything your heart desires. You can read up on different types of sweeteners here. You can also flavour your agave or honey directly with peppermint extract if you’re going to be using it a lot (again, be like Scrooge when it comes to flavouring anything with extract!).

Froth up some milk. Use your preferred method – I use the mason jar method a lot because that’s the equipment that I have on hand. For a little bit of extra holiday cheer, you can opt to use eggnog or whipped cream. It’s a bit more calorie-heavy, but it is the holidays so why not indulge a little bit? Nobody is saying to drink it like this every day…. Or are they? (Side note: I was introduced to chai lattes made with eggnog this year and it is delicious and really tastes like the holidays in a cup, minus the fact that it’s missing peppermint.)

Top the frothed milk with crushed candy canes, coloured sugar, or sprinkles. This really helps set the mood, and make it all the more festive while really putting your tea latte at the top of its holiday game.

And if you’re feeling particularly generous, make a second cup to share. Happy holidays, tea friends!

If you happen to make an Ultimate Holiday Tea Latte that’s at the top of its holiday game, share it on Instagram and tag me so I can see! @onemoresteep #onemoresteep