Tag: Tastea Treats

Maple Black Tea by Tastea Treats
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 100g

I took part in a Secret Santa tea exchange on Instagram in December 2019. I received this tea as part of the gift from my Secret Santa, a review was not requested.

First Impressions

Maple Black Tea came in a shiny black sealed (and resealable!) pouch. The label on the front provided me with details of the tea blend. The tea leaves themselves are clearly black tea with bright yellow flower petals. There’s a sweet maple aroma to it, with a mingling of floral notes. The sweetness to it and notable maple notes makes Maple Black Tea really inviting to this Canadian tea lover.

This black tea blend consists of: black tea, calendula and sunflower petals, natural flavours (organic compliant), and real maple syrup. I think it’s important to note that there’s a huge difference between ‘syrup’ (e.g. “pancake syrup”) and real maple syrup (and even ‘imitation’ maple syrup). Just in terms of the complexity of flavours and the richness in maple flavour of the real liquid gold.

Preparation

Tastea Treats recommends steeping Maple Black Tea in freshly boiled water (100°C/212°F) for 3 to 7 minutes. I opted to fall into the middle at 5 minutes for my initial steep.

First Taste

Maple Black Tea steeps to a clear orange colour. I did note that some very tiny fragments made their way through my stainless steep infuser (for those who really do care about not ingesting tea leaves – I don’t know why – a filter bag would help you out with that). The texture of the tea is thick – it just has an obvious thicken mouthfeel to it, despite being quite smooth. There’s a nice sweetness to it – the maple flavour is pronounced, but it’s not as sweet as I was expecting. There’s a pleasant flavour to the black tea base that has mild astringency that reminds me of a breakfast tea blend – but not so much that I find it off-putting in the slightest.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Maple Black Tea, but found that the maple flavours were mostly gone by the second steep, but the black tea base is still pretty pleasant. I’d recommend resteeping if you enjoy a mostly straight black tea.

My Overall Impression

I liked Tastea Treats’s Maple Black Tea. I enjoyed the maple flavours, but was surprised at how it wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting. For those who are as much of a sweet tooth as I am, I would recommend sweetening with some (real) maple syrup, to amplify the maple flavour. I think this is definitely a nice dessert tea, and could pair well with afternoon tea or with a maple glaze donut.

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Chocolate Mint Black Tea by Tastea Treats
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 100g

I took part in a Secret Santa tea exchange on Instagram in December 2019. I received this tea as part of the gift from my Secret Santa, a review was not requested.

First Impressions

Chocolate Mint Black Tea comes in a sealed, resealable shiny black pouch. There’s a lovely colourful label on the front that tells me information about the tea (name, description, ingredients, and preparation tips). The tea itself has a really lovely smell – mint and chocolate and it reminds me a lot of candy (which is always a plus!). It’s a surprise to me that there isn’t any actual chocolate pieces in this blend since it smells so much like chocolate

The ingredients in Chocolate Mint Black Tea include: black tea, blackberry leaves, peppermint leave, and natural flavours. I don’t really smell blackberry, but I think that’s because the peppermint is such a strong ingredient in terms of aroma. Either way, the idea of a chocolate mint aroma without actual chocolate is interesting and entices me to try it out.

Preparation

Tastea Treats recommends steeping Chocolate Mint Black Tea in “freshly boiled water” (100°C/212°F) for 3 to 7 minutes. I opted for an initial steep of 5 minutes.

First Taste

Chocolate Mint Black Tea steeps to a golden orange colour. There’s a very lovely mint aroma to the steeped tea. The flavour of the tea is nice – there’s sweetness, minty flavour, and also chocolate notes without being overwhelmingly chocolate. I think it’s pleasant that chocolate isn’t an actual ingredient because chocolate pieces often leads to oils floating on top and more clean up is involved. That said, the mint is definitely stronger in flavour than the chocolate, which I think is fine. I would say that you probably wouldn’t need any sweetener since there’s a good amount of natural sweetness in the tea (but I would recommend an unflavoured sweetener if you opt to add some, so you don’t distract from the chocolate minty goodness).

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Chocolate Mint Black Tea. Unsurprisingly, the flavours weren’t quite there with the second steep –  I found that the mint was considerably less compared to the initial steep and the chocolate flavour was quite weak. The black tea base does come out in the second steep though, it reminds me a bit like a breakfast blend with some malty notes. So if you’re drinking this for the chocolate mint flavours, stick to the initial steep but if you’re also a fan of black teas then a second steep would do you some good.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tastea Treats’s Chocolate Mint Black Tea. I really enjoyed the aromas and the flavours from the initial steep. What really impressed me was the fact that chocolate isn’t an actual ingredient in the blend, which meant not having to wait for chocolate to melt and finding the oil slick floating on top of my tea. It makes for a very pleasant and smooth dessert tea. If you wanted to really push it over the top, I’d pair with some creamer or evaporated milk to add an extra layer of decadence and make it more dessert like.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.