Yours truly spent entirely too much time playing my favorite board game today, Summoner Wars! Ben and I play it constantly, so much so that we developed an RPG style plot around it and use the game itself to have the epic battles. Today we were play testing a rules variation to have one ‘boss style’ Summoner with a super deck against two Summoners, after some tweaking we got it to work, meaning tomorrow is a boss fight for our heroes. Will they save the world or die horribly? I guess it all depends on how good my tactics are.
Today’s tea is secretly a cookie in disguise, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie by Della Terra Tea is a blend of Black Tea, Vanilla and Brown Sugar Flavoring, Cinnamon, Raisins, and Oatmeal. I have a real love-hate relationship with Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, actually it is mainly with raisins, I love their taste but hate the texture, so when I get a cookie that tastes wonderful but has raisins I just cringe. So of course I had to try a tea that is all about tasting a cookie and not actually eating it. The aroma is spot on, it smells just like an oatmeal raisin cookie! It is sweet, spicy, malty, raisiny (totally a word now), and of course has the grainy quality of oatmeal. The cinnamon is a little stronger than the particular cookies I grew up with, but I have had some that smell as strongly of cinnamon as this tea does, so difference in recipe I suppose.
Once the tea has been brewed, my tea area starts to smell like a bakery. The aroma of the wet leaves is powerfully sweet and cinnamon heavy with underlying notes of raisin. I am really enjoying how much the leaves smell like cookies, I feel like a kid waiting for a batch to come out of the oven (and then picking off the raisins as soon as they cool). The liquid is very sweet, blending the aromas of vanilla and brown sugar with a touch of raisins and a potent kick of cinnamon.
The taste is quite sweet! No need for added sugar with this tea, it is much like the cookies it was named after and comes pre-sweetened. The taste is a blend of vanilla and cinnamon with a hint of brown sugar, the taste reminds me more of a snickerdoodle than an oatmeal raisin cookie. The aftertaste, however, does bring in that touch of raisin that makes it more like its namesake. As the tea cools the taste becomes sweeter and you can detect the faintest hint of oatmeal. This tea is not a bad substitute if you are craving a sweet cookie treat and just either don’t have them around or you just don’t actually feel like eating.
For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/della-terra-teas-oatmeal-raisin-cookie.html
Flavors: Cinnamon, Raisins, Vanilla
