Tag: Black Tea

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Nittoh Tea’s Royal Milk Tea

Royal Milk Tea by Nittoh Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.99 for 140g (10 x 14g sachets)

First Impressions

Always one to look for new tea to try, I found this at a local grocery store and knew that I had to try it. After all, milk tea is one of my favourite ways to enjoy tea (check out my recipe for Hong Kong-Style Milk Tea if you want to DIY this and control the amount of sugar in your milk tea). The packaging is bright, with strawberries all over, and came with ten sachets.

Each sachet is bright red, and has 14g of powder in it. Royal Milk Tea consists of: sugar, skimmed milk powder, dextrin, palm oil, black tea extract, whole milk powder, butter oil, milk protein, strawberry powder, black tea, salt, artificial flavour, lactic acid, and soy lecithin. The aroma of the Royal Milk Tea powder when I opened it reminded me very faintly of strawberry – otherwise it didn’t have much of an aroma.

Preparation

Nittoh Tea recommends preparing Royal Milk Tea with hot water. I opted to use 100°C (212°F) water to mix, but the packaging does say to use 120mL of water per one sachet.

First Taste

Royal Milk Tea mixes up well, to a pale brown of milk tea. The aroma is strawberry, black tea, and milk. The flavour itself is sweet, strawberry, with black tea in the background. The strawberry flavour is strong, and the sweetness is almost too much. I think I would choose to water it down even further instead of only using 120mL of water because it’s just so sweet when prepared as suggested. Interestingly enough, each sachet is 14g, but each sachet consists of 9g of sugar! So probably not the most ideal of prepared tea mixes.

A Second Cup?

As Royal Milk Tea is a tea mix, there were no second steeps or preparations with the same tea.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Nittoh Tea’s Royal Milk Tea was just okay. The strawberry flavour was surprisingly good, and didn’t taste as artificial as I was initially expecting. The sweetness though was something that I could have done without – I find it very sweet compared to the milk tea that I make for myself from scratch. I do think the strawberry flavour works really well with the black tea base, and it’s a convenient option for those who want milk tea on-the-go. I will likely end up taking the rest of the sachets to work to drink when I have the opportunity, but I don’t think it’ll be an at-home staple.

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DavidsTea’s Christmas Morning Blend

Christmas Morning Blend by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Just one more day until the big day – but the house has been ready for a while now! Last year’s Christmas was certainly different – with video calls and opening presents on camera, having dropped off presents in advance to make sure everyone had things to open the morning-of. It’s a bit different this year, and perhaps more normal… ish. And what is the better way to to enjoy time with family and opening presents and enjoying a nice breakfast than a nice cup of tea.

Obviously if a tea company comes out with a tea blend called Christmas Morning Blend, I’ll need to give it a try… and consider having it for Christmas Day morning. It has a bright vanilla aroma and smells really inviting in that regard. Christmas Morning Blend consists of: black tea, natural vanilla flavouring, white cornflower blossoms, and vanilla. It has a beautiful appearance and a lovely aroma – the white cornflower petals are beautiful.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Christmas Morning Blend in 200°F (95°C) water for 3 to 5 minutes.

First Taste

Christmas Morning Blend steeps to a deep orange, with a strong vanilla aroma to it.  The flavour of the tea itself is earthy, vanilla, with just a touch of astringency at the tail end of each sip. It lacks sweetness, that I would have appreciated. There’s just something about Christmas Morning Blend that reminds me a bit of a breakfast tea, just with vanilla mingled throughout.

I opted to add some sweetener to it (a plain simple syrup), and added some frothed milk. Christmas Morning Blend holds up well to being a tea latte, and the addition of milk really makes it creamy and mellows out the astringency from the black tea base in a good way.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Christmas Morning Blend, but found that the vanilla flavours were lacking. I would recommend Christmas Morning blend for just the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Christmas Morning Blend. While I liked it as a straight tea, I loved it as a tea latte. It’s definitely a gentle black tea that is begging to be make into a tea latte; the vanilla notes are delicious and just adding the frothed milk allows for a creamy, tasty tea. I am looking forward to offering Christmas Morning Blend tomorrow with the family brunch.

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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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