Tag: Dessert by Deb

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Dessert by Deb’s Lemon Sugar Cookie

Lemon Sugar Cookie by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea & Rooibos / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Lemon Sugar Cookie is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Lemon Sugar Cookie is a black tea and rooibos blend that came to me as part of my subscription box. This blend is a subscriber exclusive, hence the labeling of The Tea Society Club. I find the exclusivity of tea blends to be a really neat treat for being a member. The blend comes in a pale pink pouch with a familiar and colourful label.

Lemon Sugar Cookie consists of organic: black tea, fair trade rooibos, lemon peel, vanilla, Canadian maple, and brown sugar. When I ripped open the packaging, the first thing I noticed was the citrus notes. The lemon is really bright and inviting and honestly smells like fresh lemon zest. The maple notes and brown sugar are blending well together in terms of fragrance, and it reminds me of baking. I can smell the rooibos base more than the black tea, which is unfortunate for me because rooibos just isn’t my favourite ingredient (to drink straight up). The vanilla is something I find that kind of lingers in the background, but it’s definitely present!

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Lemon Sugar Cookie in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes, just going for middle of the road with the steeping time.

First Taste

Lemon Sugar Cookie steeps to nice golden orange. The aroma is a blend of lemon and vanilla. There’s some molasses notes that I find as well when smelling the tea. The flavour is interesting. I can taste the lemon, the sweetness from the brown sugar and maple notes, and I can taste the rooibos. It does have that medicinal quality that I don’t particularly like when it comes to rooibos, but the sweetness from the Canadian maple and brown sugar do a lot to overcome that it and to hide it, so I’m not offended by the flavour of the rooibos (who knew?). The blend steeps really smoothly, and I find that the vanilla notes really pop at the tail end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Lemon Sugar Cookie once, adding an additional 30 seconds for the second steep with the same leaves. I found that rooibos base was really flavour forward, so if you’re a fan of rooibos, I would continue steeping the leaves knowing that a lot of the sweetness is gone. If you’re not a fan of rooibos, I’d stick to just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Lemon Sugar Cookie. I found the flavour of the initial steep to be great – I found lemon, molasses-notes, a creamy quality from the vanilla, and enough sweetness to off-set the medicinal notes from rooibos. The blend of ingredients was really great to make me think of a lemon cookie and I think it’s a great representation of the name in the ingredients. I would have liked the black tea base to be more forward and easier to find in the flavour, but the brown sugar and Canadian maple do a great job of hiding things with that high level of sweetness (which I greatly enjoyed!).

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Dessert by Deb’s Marmalade Thumbprints

Marmalade Thumbprints by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

I received Marmalade Thumbprints as part of my Dessert by Deb subscription box, but this one is not subscriber exclusive! Marmalade Thumbprints comes in a soft pink metallic pouch with a colouful label on the front. The packaging is sealed and resealable. This green tea blend is part of the Cakes & Treats Celebration collection, and is one of many blends.

The aroma of Marmalade Thumbprints is delightfully full of citrus aromas – it’s really bright and fresh smelling and reminds me a lot of summer. You can clearly see the green tea and the orange slices in it. Marmalade Thumbprints consists of green tea, orange peel, oranges, Canadian maple, and brown sugar. The green tea base is lovely to look at, and all of the ingredients are organic.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Marmalade Thumbprints in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Marmalade Thumbprints for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Marmalade Thumbprints steeps to a lovely light shade of sunshine yellow. There’s a strong citrus/orange aroma from the tea itself. The flavour is sweet, it is orange-forward. I found that the brown sugar is noticeable in the steeped tea, lending that sweetness to the tea and it really evokes the feeling of baked goods with having that brown sugar be present. This green tea blend did great being steeped at 200°F (93°C) with zero bitterness and being pleasantly smooth.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Marmalade Thumbprints twice, I found that the best steep was honestly the first one because the brown sugar flavour was gone after the initial steep. Which, to be fair, means you taste more of the green tea base… but I kind of fell in love with the brown sugar notes with the citrus flavours.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Marmalade Thumbprints. I really enjoyed how intentional the ingredients were in this blend in creating a feeling of citrus and warm baked goods, I love the addition of brown sugar for that and just how strong the citrus notes are from dry leaf to steeped tea. It makes for a pleasant cup of tea. I’m not disappointed that the green tea wasn’t as obvious, because the warmth from the orange and brown sugar more than makes up for it. I enjoyed this both hot and cooled down – I think it’d be great as an iced tea because the existing orange flavour would really lend itself well to that.

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Dessert by Deb’s Butterscotch Jam Bars

Butterscotch Jam Bars by Dessert by Deb
Rooibos / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Butterscotch Jam Bars is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Butterscotch Jam Bars is a rooibos blend that came in one of my subscription boxes, and it is a subscriber exclusive. This rooibos blend comes in a gold sealed, resealable pouch, with a colourful label across the front. I’m personally keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t smell or taste the rooibos because it’s not one of my favourite ingredients – I tend to find that rooibos reminds me of a medicinal flavour.

Butterscotch Jam Bars has a beautiful aroma to it – I can smell brown sugar, maple, raisins and vanilla. Surprise, I can’t smell the rooibos base at all. The brown sugar and vanilla notes make me think of a cake or pastry, which is nice and quite fitting considering the name of the blend is Butterscotch Jam Bars.

Butterscotch Jam Bars consists of organic: fair trade rooibos, vanilla, Canadian maple, elderberries, currants, raisins, hibiscus, brown sugar, honey bush, and cinnamon.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Butterscotch Jam Bars in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I followed the recommended steeping temperature and did an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Butterscotch Jam Bars steeps to a nice orange colour with a bit of a pinkish hue to it, which I credit to the hibiscus, of course. There’s the aroma of vanilla and brown sugar, with hints of raisins in the background. I found the blend to be nicely sweet, with that brown sugar and maple in the mix. It definitely tastes like a dessert, and that it should be more of a guilty pleasure that it is given the flavour of the blend. It tastes like a cake, which is really scrumptious. The big bonus (for me!) is that I can’t taste the rooibos base itself, all I taste is vanilla, raisins, brown sugar, and the hint of maple in the background.

I really don’t think that it needs a sweetener, but if you do choose to add something, I would go with brown sugar or maple syrup to play up some of the flavours that exist in the blend.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Butterscotch Jam Bars, but found that the second steep was more rooibos and less dessert-like. Which means, if you’re a fan of rooibos, then steeping again is a great way to go.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Butterscotch Jam Bars. I really appreciated the care into developing the flavours that shone through in the initial steep. The use of brown sugar and maple with the blend of elderberries, currants, and raisins, really helped to create the flavour of a baked good. The initial steep was definitely preferred by me over the resteep because I’m not a fan of rooibos. For those who do love rooibos though, I think you’ll get more enjoyment from resteeping it.

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