Tag: Black Tea

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Dessert by Deb’s Coconut Cream Pie Chai

Coconut Cream Pie Chai by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

Coconut Cream Pie Chai was one of those teas that when I first read the name of the tea out loud, I was impressed that I hadn’t mixed up the words. The name is on the longer side, but it really invokes an idea in my head of what it sound smell and taste like. I’m almost not a regular consume of coconut cream pie, so I’m not entirely too familiar with how it sound taste (fair warning!). But this black tea blend came to me as part of my Dessert by Deb subscription box, and I’m always of fan of trying new teas, so here we are.

Coconut Cream Pie Chai comes in a bright fuchsia metallic pouch that’s resealable – always a nice little bonus – with a clear front so you can see the tea blend inside. It has a nice mix of ingredients and consists of organic: black tea, coconut, toasted coconut, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and palm sugar. Coconut Cream Pie Chai primarily smells of toasted coconut to me, with hints of ginger throughout. I’m almost looking for some vanilla notes to really invoke the idea of a baked good.

Preparation

While there’s no steeping instructions on the packaging, it didn’t take me long to find them on the Dessert by Deb’s website product page for Coconut Cream Pie Chai. Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Coconut Cream Pie Chai in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 5 minutes.

First Taste

Coconut Cream Pie Chai steeps to a brownish-orange colour, with an oil slick that floats on the top. This comes from all the coconut found in the ingredients, as it naturally contains oils. The aroma of Coconut Cream Pie Chai lends towards being coconut, but the flavour isn’t as coconut forward as I was expecting. I get a lot of the ginger and cinnamon coupled with hints of the cardamom, and the warming quality of those spices, while the coconut is definitely forward in the fragrance of the steeped tea, it’s not very coconut heavy in the actual taste itself.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Coconut Cream Pie Chai, but found in lacking flavour compared to the initial steep. I would recommend Coconut Cream Pie Chai for just the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Dessert by Deb’s Coconut Cream Pie Chai was just okay. I think this blend had a lot of potential, but my expectations and reality just weren’t matching up. I think for those looking for a less spicy version of a chai will enjoy this blend because it does have the ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom flavours, especially in the initial steep. You do get the great warming quality of the spices, but I was hoping for more coconut-forward flavour, when compared to how the blend smells when dry and when steeped. Turning it into a tea latte would likely go a long way to making it taste more creamy and dessert-like, especially if you have some coconut milk on hand.

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Dessert by Deb’s Spiced Earl Grey Muffin

Spiced Earl Grey Muffin by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

I’m always a sucker for an Earl Grey-inspired or twist-on Earl Grey blend. It’s just one of my favourite classic blends, but that also means that I have high expectations when it comes to Earl Grey, which I do acknowledge is not always the most fair. Spiced Earl Grey Muffin is part of the Little Cottage Bakery Collection from Dessert by Deb, and I got it as part of my bi-monthly subscription box (that I pay for… #notsponsored). This blend came in a beautiful matte bronze bag – still loving that colour.

The black tea blend itself is gorgeous and has a very strong bergamot and lavender aroma which was what I really noticed straight off the bat when I first opened the packaging. There are hints of cardamom in the background and it’s all just really interesting. I’m used to Earl Grey with bergamot, as that’s the traditional additive to the black tea, and I’ve even had Earl Grey blends before that feature lavender, but the cardamom is interesting… and very intriguing. Spiced Earl Grey Muffin consists of organic: black tea, natural bergamot, vanilla, Canadian maple, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and lavender.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Spiced Earl Grey Muffin in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do a 5 minute initial steep with the recommend temperature water.

First Taste

Spiced Earl Grey Muffin steeps to a really nice deep orange colour. There is a strong lavender aroma, it’s even stronger than the bergamot. I On first sip, I find that I can definitely smell the bergamot and lavender, it has a nice level of creaminess from the vanilla and a good amount of sweet. There is a warming quality from this tea that I attribute to the ginger, and it kind of just lingers on the tongue a bit. It definitely gives me ‘chai’ vibes because of the hints of cinnamon and cardamom that I get from this tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Spiced Earl Grey Muffin once and found the flavour to be lacking in terms of the warming quality from the ginger and even the flavour of the lavender. I would recommend steeping Spiced Earl Grey Muffin just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Spiced Earl Grey Muffin. I found it really did live up to its name. The ginger and hints of cinnamon made me think of spice cake, while the bergamot and lavender made me think of Earl Grey – so it’s not so far off to just blend the two together and come up with a Spiced Earl Grey Muffin. I do wish that the vanilla had been added with a bit of a heavier hand, if only because I really enjoy the flavour of vanilla. I definitely think that this blend would do really well as a latte, as most black teas (and especially Earl Grey blends) do.

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Teakan’s Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling

Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 70g

Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling is one of five teas from Teakan’s Tea Exploration Kit (Volume 2) and makes up 15g of the 70g of looseleaf tea in this curated collection.

First Impressions

Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. The label is the minimalistic style that I’ve come to know and love from Teakan. I have to admit, I do appreciate the not-so-flashy packaging from time to time because it really allows for the tea to shine instead of me being overly impressed by something fancy. For those curious like I was, I did look up Margaret’s Hope, and it’s a tea estate in Darjeeling. The name comes from the original owner’s daughter, who passed away after a visit on her way back to England. Margaret’s Hope Tea Estate is also the location where the labourers of the West Bengal’s tea industry first organized in 1955 to protest against low wages and unfair working conditions.

Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling has some deep, dark brown leaves with some pops of cream mixed in. This straight black tea is from Darjeeling, West Bengal, India and is the 2nd flush (second harvest) of 2018. There’s something heavy about the aroma of the dry leaf – earthy, sweet, grassy. A perplexing and intriguing blend of aromas all around. The leaves are on the shorter side, a bit wiry with a light twist.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling in 85°F (185°F) for 2 to 3 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions and did an initial steep of 3 minutes.

First Taste

Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling steeps to a bright golden orange. The aroma of the tea is very similar to the dry leaf – more earthy and sweet than grassy, but the grassy aroma is in the background. The texture of this tea is nice – there’s a thickened mouthfeel to the tea that just allows everything to really coat the inside of your mouth. The flavour is pleasantly sweet, with a hint of astringency that rests with the grassy notes while the earthiness is more forward and really just tickles the taste buds throughout each sip. Just a pleasant to sip cup of tea.

I didn’t add anything to Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling as I felt that the flavour really stood well by itself. I do, however, feel like this would be an excellent tea to mix with some sweetener or cream, if you were so inclined.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling twice (three steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the initial steep was the most flavourful, but I didn’t have any issues with the slightly less flavour in the other two steeps. It was still very enjoyable cups of tea, so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend resteeping this black tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling. I felt like this black tea just made for a nice cup of tea. It has a pleasant mix of flavours that were all well balanced together and did a decent job with being resteeped. It has a nice texture to it and was just easy to drink with just enough of a punch of caffeine that I could see this easily being had in the wee hours of the morning when waking up before a day shift, or anyone who needs to pull an all-nighter for school.

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