Tag: Black Tea

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DavidsTea’s Roasted Chestnut

Roasted Chestnut by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Coming to me in a bright pink pouch with red chestnut illustrations, Roasted Chestnut comes in a tea that came out as part of the holiday collection (and was also found as part of the 2021 tea advent calendar). I did try it then, but I had also purchased a pouch of this tea because I hadn’t checked the list of teas that came in the calendar.

Roasted Chestnut is a black tea blend, which comes with plenty of other ingredients. Roasted Chestnut consists of: black tea, apple, candied pineapple, brittle, brown sugar, natural flavouring, roasted chicory root, honeybush, chestnut, and stevia extract. The aroma is a mix of apple and brown sugar. I don’t really smell the chestnut, or the black tea base, although I can see the black tea in the blend. There’s a lot of the apple and pineapple throughout.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Roasted Chestnut in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Steeping Roasted Chestnut results in a deep brown tea. The aroma is sweet, lightly fruity. The flavour of Roasted Chestnut is primarily sweet lightly fruity, and I don’t get a lot of the roasted nuttiness that I had expected to find in the cup. It’s underwhelming compared to what I was hoping for based on the description of the tea blend, and the ingredients.

A Second Cup?

While I did attempt to resteep Roasted Chestnut, I found it underwhelming – even compared to the initial steep. I wouldn’t resteep Roasted Chestnut.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Roasted Chestnut. While I had high hopes for the black tea blend, based on the ingredients, I was underwhelmed and disappointed by the aroma of the tea, and also the way it steeped. It was just lacking in flavour, and was primarily just sweet (thanks to the dried and candied fruit). The lack of nuttiness was apparent with the initial steep, so it really didn’t remind me of roasted chestnuts at all.

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Teakan’s Red Plum Black

Red Plum Black by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Red Plum Black is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Red Plum Black makes up 15g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

As part of Teakan’s Volume 5, Red Plum Black came in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with a black and white label. This black tea comes from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, and was harvested in spring of 2021. The aroma of this black tea reminds me of plum, stone fruit, and then with a light amount of floral.

The leaves of Red Plum Black are short, wiry, twisted and in dark shades of brown with pops of gold in the tips. The fruity aroma is much stronger once the leaves are out of the bag, and it reminds me of candied plums – just a bit of the childhood coming back to the front of my mind.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Red Plum Black in 90°C (194°F) for 2 to 3 minutes if steeping western style or 95°C (203°F) for 45 seconds if steeping gongfu style.

I opted to do an initial steep of Red Plum Black in 90°C water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Red Plum Black steeps to a lovely golden orange colour with a crisp, stone fruit aroma. It is fragrant and inviting, with a nice fruity aroma that is quite inviting. The flavour of the tea is fruity with a surprisingly floral finish at the end of each sip. There’s a natural honeyed sweetness which is enjoyable, and it has a smooth mouthfeel. I find that there’s no maltiness, astringency or bitterness for the length of time I steeped Red Plum Black for.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Red Plum Black seven times (eight steeps total with the same leaves). I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour got more fruity and less floral with each steep, but started to weaken in amount of flavour after the third resteep. The sweetness lessens by the second resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Red Plum Black. It was a pleasant experience from start to finish – enjoying the aroma of the dry leave, tasting the tea for the first time, and then having all the resteeps of the same leaves. It’s lovely to experience the subtle changes in the flavour with each steep, and I truly enjoyed getting to sip this tea over the course of an afternoon. I think it would be a lovely traditional black tea to introduce someone to, who’s normally used to black tea blends.

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Dessert by Deb’s Sweet Snickerdoodles

Sweet Snickerdoodles by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

As part of my bimonthly tea subscription box from Dessert by Deb, Sweet Snickerdoodles was a tea sample. It came in a bright purple metallic pouch with a white and black label on the front. This blend consists of certified organic: black tea, vanilla, cinnamon, Canadian maple, honeybush, brown sugar, and calendula petals.

The aroma of Sweet Snickerdoodles is strongly of cinnamon, maple, brown sugar, and vanilla. It smells like baking and it’s so inviting that way! I love it when a blend that has a name of a dessert or baked good actually smells like baking – the vanilla and brown sugar really helps in that regard. Also, it’s just a really pretty blend to look at.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Sweet Snickerdoodles in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I did an initial steep of Sweet Snickerdoodles for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Sweet Snickerdoodles steeps to a golden orange, little bits of the tea blend escaped the stainless steel tea infuser that I had used. The aroma is a lot like the dry leaf – it smells like vanilla, maple, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The flavour mimics the aroma well – I can taste the warming quality of the cinnamon, it has a good amount of sweetness (from the maple and brown sugar), there’s the flavour of molasses from the brown sugar, and the vanilla rounds out the flavour profile very well. I find the black tea base is gently in the background, allowing all the flavours to shine.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Sweet Snickerdoodles, but found the the flavour wasn’t as good as the initial steep. I would recommend Sweet Snickerdoodles just for the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Sweet Snickerdoodles. I found that the flavour was pleasant, and while I’m not terrible familiar with snickerdoodles, it did remind me of a pastry. I think the blend of ingredients works well, because it reminds me a lot of a cinnamon roll – I love the inclusion of vanilla and brown sugar, it makes for a great dessert blend. I think if you’re to add some sweetener, brown sugar would be the best bet – and using some evaporated milk would help add some creaminess. It’d be a nice blend to have with afternoon tea.

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