Category: Review

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Dessert by Deb’s Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake

Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake came as part of the bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb.

First Impressions

Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake is definitely a name of a tea blend that invokes a certain imagery. Perhaps angel food cake baked in a bundt pan, with a blueberry lavender glaze across the top, with a healthy slice onto a plate with a cup of tea on the side. Definitely a London Fog in a cup, because why not? Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake comes in a matte metallic pouch that’s sealed, resealable. The label across the front is a beautiful, polka dotted label that’s fun like the rest of Dessert by Deb’s labelling.

Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake is part of Dessert by Deb’s Garden Tea Party Collection. Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake consists of organic: black tea, elderberries, currants, hibiscus, Canadian maple, lavender, vanilla, and freeze-dried blueberries. The aroma is strongly that of the lavender, with blueberries strongly in the background. Look at how beautiful it is! With the lavender and maple throughout.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes.

First Taste

Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake steeps to a beautiful golden orange. Surprisingly not pink, since there is hibiscus in it. The aroma is strongly lavender and berries, while the flavour of Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake is strongly that of the lavender, with hints of berries throughout (thanks to the elderberries and blueberries). The vanilla certainly plays a good role in the Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake blend, and makes it taste all the more like a dessert tea. Dessert by Deb recommends trying Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake as a tea latte (with milk), and it does do well with some frothed milk! It ups the decadence factor to this black tea blend.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake and found that it was lacking in the berries and vanilla flavour. I would recommend steeping Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake. This black tea blend has a beautiful lavender flavour, with a nice berry flavour throughout that mingles well with the vanilla that’s in it. I would recommend Blueberry Lavender Angel Food Cake both plainly steeped and with some frothed milk, because having a tea latte is always the height of decadence when you have the time to make it a bit extra special. There’s just something about taking the extra step that allows for feeling a bit more luxurious.

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DavidsTea’s Silver Bell Oolong

Silver Bell Oolong by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea, White Tea, & Green Tea / Flavoured
$12.98 for 50g

First Impressions

One of the reasons that Silver Bell Oolong made its way into my online shopping cart because the reviews compared it to a previous blend (Monk’s Blend). This obviously meant that I needed to give it a try. But when I first unboxed the order, I was subjected to this label. I’m not sure who decided teal was easy to read on a medium shade of blue, but it isn’t (at all). Silver Bell Oolong comes in a sealed, resealable pouch.

Silver Bell Oolong consists of: white tea, milk oolong with natural milk flavouring, and jasmine green tea pearls. It’s a beautiful blend, and has a great aroma to it. I can smell the jasmine and milk from the milk oolong. Silver Bell Oolong is really pretty to look at and admire the different leaves. Silver Bell Oolong has identical ingredients as Monk’s Blend (a retired blend), with a slight change in price  ($12.98 versus $11.50), but comes with a different name that makes me think that it’s a holiday or seasonal tea (so keep that in mind if you’re wanting to get some).

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Silver Bell Oolong in 90°C (195°F) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to follow the temperature recommendation, and did an initial steep of Silver Bell Oolong for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Silver Bell Oolong steeps to a beautiful yellow colour. There’s a strong aroma of jasmine and milk. Silver Bell Oolong has a smooth liquor. I find that the flavour is floral, milky, and grassy. Silver Bell Oolong has a certain level of creaminess to it, that I would attribute to the milk oolong. It has a nice mouthfeel to it, with zero astringency or bitterness.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Silver Bell Oolong two times (three steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I find that the flavour stayed fairly consistent to the initial steep, with the milky flavour waning as I resteeped the leaves. It is quite tasty though.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Silver Bell Oolong. I still find this oolong, white tea, and green tea blend to be tasty. It has a great mouthfeel, flavour profile, and resteeps decently well. I think that Silver Bell Oolong coming back is nice for fans of the original Monk’s Blend, and I think it’s very similiar (if not identical?) to the original blend. I wish I still had some in my tea stash so I could do a taste comparison between the two. I would highly recommend resteeping this blend because it does hold up to resteeping, and Silver Bell Oolong has a great flavour. The creaminess of Silver Bell Oolong would lend itself well to being paired with a meal or dessert.

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Dessert by Deb’s Peach Crumble Cake

Peach Crumble Cake by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea & Rooibos / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

Peach Crumble Cake came as part of the bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb.

First Impressions

Opening my bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb and finding a shiny gold pouch with a tea called Peach Crumble Cake sets a certain level of expectation in my mind. Peaches, cake, baked goods. The packaging itself is a shiny metallic gold in a resealable pouch, with a clear window across the front where you can see the dry leaf of this organic tea sample.

The Peach Crumble Cake tea looks beautiful, and has a strong peach aroma to the point that I don’t really smell the rest of the ingredients. I do smell hints of rooibos in the background, but the peach lies in the foreground. Peach Crumble Cake consists of certified organic: black tea, natural peach essence, peaches, cinnamon, Canadian maple, rooibos, brown sugar, and calendula petals. It certainly makes for a beautiful tea with the pops of bright yellow throughout.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Peach Crumble Cake in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes.

First Taste

Peach Crumble Cake steeps to a deep golden orange. I did use a stainless steel infuser basket, and some little bits got through the fine holes (so use a fillable tea infusing bag if you wish to avoid that). There’s a strong peach aroma to it, with hints of cinnamon and rooibos in the background. The tea has a thickened mouthfeel to it, with the flavours of peach, cinnamon, and rooibos. I don’t get a lot of the black tea blend, and wish that the sugar was stronger in it – I definitely would have appreciated a stronger brown sugar and maple flavour in the profile over the rooibos in the blend (then again, full disclaimer: I am not a fan of rooibos). I do love the level of peach in this, because it does make for a nice blend that I wasn’t expecting.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Peach Crumble Cake and found that the tea was more black tea (with some astringent notes) and rooibos (medicinal) notes than peach. I would recommend Peach Crumble Cake for the initial steep, especially if you prefer that peach flavour over rooibos.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Peach Crumble Cake. It has a great initial steep with the strong peach flavour, and I think adding some brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla extract would make for a nice cup of tea by adding a larger punch of flavour to make it taste more like it came out of a bakery. Turning Peach Crumble Cake into a tea latte would certainly up the delightfulness of the tea; but I’m not a fan of the rooibos (unfortunately).

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