Market Spice

When I have a bad day, I reach for something herbal usually. Not really sure why, since perhaps a cup of rich dessert tea might be classified as more comforting, or even a really nice oolong. However, herbal is what I want when I’m not feeling my best, and I just happened to have one in my samples from LiberTEAS.

I was a bit worried about the hibiscus: I can handle some tart but it’s easy to overwhelm a blend. This is nicely balanced though, tart and a bit sour at the beginning of the sip from the hibiscus & rosehip, then minty and citrusy at the end. I’ve been pleased with the herbal blends I’ve tried from Marketspice so far and this one is no exception, though I think I’d like it a bit heavier on the mint and a tad less hibiscus—but that’s probably because I just really like peppermint.

Sipdown! 800.

Definitely catching more of the buttery/rummy notes in this last cup than I did a few weeks ago. Yum! Not a tea I’d likely pick up again, but perfectly enjoyable to drink. The flavour is a bit muted, but I’m quite certain that it’s age-related.

Sadly, I think this one has lost some flavour. Also, I think it’s suffering from being drank in the company of the oh-so-delicious Vanilla Comoro. Oh well. I rated it pretty highly previously, so it must taste good when fresh!

Missy & Dylan sent along a sample of this one so I could compare it to DavidsTea’s Buttered Rum, which I got around to doing last night. Thanks guys!

The aroma is malty and rummy, with a hint of butteriness mixed in. The flavour is very much a malty tea, but I can definitely taste the alcohol flavour with a hint of sweetness. There’s clearly less flavour than in Buttered Rum – after drinking it, this one just tastes like a malty tea. The base tea here is far superior though. Although I can drink this easily without adding milk and sugar, I suspect they’d amp it up a little. Also, it reminds me of 52teas Pot O’ Gold from earlier in the night… similar base tea, maybe?

Second infusion (96C/5min): Not a lot of flavour; it is now mostly just a weak, malty black tea with a bit of rummy sweetness.

Oh crap. I can make this by microwaving the milk for four minutes instead of standing at the stove for twenty. At least it’s delicious, but my milk intake is probably about to skyrocket.
(everything says to make it with skim milk, but I have 1%, and it’s damn fine. I’ve always thought skim milk was weird. I’d love to try this with whole milk some time.)

I just about don’t drink flavored teas. But this and Twinings’ loose-leaf earl grey are I supposed my guilty pleasures. I don’t even like cinnamon, but I love this.
I only make it with milk, however (and then make a liter and drink all of it and feel gross), so I can sort of pretend it’s just really tasty milk and not flavored tea. I purchased this after having Blackflower and Co’s Signature Chai, which seems like it’s more or less the same sort of thing. Both with that rich-in-oil sheen on the leaves, and those little bits of orange. I’d also heard of it all over, but never realized that it was from right here in Seattle (I live nearby).
If you almost-but-don’t-quite like this tea with water, I strongly recommend making it with milk. 1tbsp/8oz of milk. Mmmm.
You will, however, want to daub off the little sheet of warm-milk-stuff/oils. It comes off in one piece, though, and is also sort of neat and weird.
It just tastes all warm and snuggly.

Backlog:

My final backlog from yesterday. I finished off the last of this tea last night. I like that this is tangy, but not so hibiscus-y as you might imagine, the tangy notes are well balanced – not just HIBISCUS but also citrus-y. I love the way that this is all so nicely balanced: peppermint isn’t overwhelming, it is tart yet sweet and just very mellow for a tisane of this nature. Definitely one that is worth a try.

Another herbal that I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would. Sweet, tangy, and a cool crisp mint undertone that really freshens things up. Soothing and enjoyable.

Missy and Dylan THANK YOU! This tea was SO SO enjoyable last night! I had some both hot and cold – both excellent! This may make it to my perm stash even! Its not like the most complex tea in the world but the flavor is spot on, its not scummy with oils floating on top, its quite natural in its flavors. No astringency, no bitterness, smooth, and soothing. Thanks also for being quite generous with the sample! This should get me by until I can place an order with market spice, which will be my first time with them.

Second tea of the morning…. (SRP #19)

I picked up a few individual bags of this with my Market Spice order a while ago. I think I was anticipating a future order from there since their signature tea held quite a bit of promise for me, so this was a way to sample this tea without ordering the 4 oz minimum. I know I would shop at Market Spice if it was someplace close that I could visit, but the amount of the shipping with the fact that I was not truly taken with the teas I ordered means it was probably my last order with them. Their service is great, though. I did have an order mistake that was promptly corrected, and they do respond to email very quickly. It may be a great place for others to order, but I need a little more than great service to keep me coming back and, like I mentioned before, the tea I ordered just did not wow me.

This tea is a great one for the fruity and sweet tea lovers out there. I honestly get Welch’s Grape Soda from this. How fun this would be for kids! I still taste tea, but the grape-ish flavor is pretty strong. I am certain if I had encountered this tea in the beginning of my tea journey, it would have been a favorite. The tea base is smooth with not a hint of bitterness, and it is tasty. I do have to give them props for this. What a fun tea!

Bag in a mug method….yep, just 8 oz. boiling water for 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

So, now that my tastebuds are well and truly back in order, Missy wanted me to give this another drink and see how I liked it.

The pear flavor still tastes very artificial and chemical, it has like a soapy taste to it. As the tea cools, this background soapy note also fades away. This could make a very, very tasty iced tea… but I would have a hard time recommending it hot. It’s just very off-putting.

Missy says it tastes great though. I could just be picky!

This feels like a bad breakup. “It’s not you, it’s me…”

Second tea for the night, and second time I just kind of cock my head to the side and go “hrmm… this… something not right…”

I think I’m going to stop this review here and assume I need some time to get my house in order, so to speak.

Nummy nummy. With the hot weather approaching, Missy is on an iced tea making kick, and this is one of the teas that got the frozen treatment.

I’ve had a fairly large number of iced chai in my life, and this is the first I’ve ever had without milk. It was an interesting experience to have a non-milked iced chai. Good, quite pleasant actually. Seems like it might be missing a little bit though, I think I really am going to miss the creaminess of a chai latte if I decide to drink this less adulterated (not like I can’t just pour it from the pitcher into a glass of milk, after all).

I’m fairly sure this is going to be one of the teas that we keep on hand pretty much at all times. Good hot, good iced, extremely reasonably priced. All around a clear winner.

This is a fantastic but simple masala chai. In my head, the basics are cinnamon (cassia), cardamom, and a little clove. Ginger is a good addition, but not absolutely necessary. This tea covers the basics, is very flavorful, and holds up to at least one good resteeping. Though, we only tend to brew the first steeping for about two minutes (and by we, I mean Missy).

A few years ago, when working on our new payment system, I got to sit down several times for tea with a man named Amarjit. Brilliant man, excellent system designer, very entertaining conversationalist.

Anyway. Had Chai Tea with him one day. He told me to stop repeating myself.

snicker

He had the good graces to explain to me that Chai is actually the word for Tea, not the spices themselves (masala). It was fairly amusing. Now I feel like I’m in on a joke, when ever I see something/someone/somewhere offering Chai Tea. MarketSpice calls it Indian tea. Two points for not repeating themselves :).

I’ll probably find other teas that might edge out this one, but I’ll probably keep it around for blending. We blend it with Serendipitea’s Colonille (vanilla), and it..is…SUPERB!

This, iced, is quite possibly one of the most enjoyable things in the world, ever. It’s pretty much ruined all other iced tea for me. It is so good. So, so good.

Ah mint, such a glorious thing. Anyone have a favorite mint tea?

In all honesty I can’t give this a proper tasting note right now. I’m still fighting this darn cold, and mint is one of the few things that hasn’t shapeshifted into some unholy flavor combination from the dark bad place.

I’ve drank this a few times before, and it’s a very solid mint green tea. I’m always very impressed with the flavorings that they use on their teas. This mint tea also holds up to resteeping better than, say, their Orange Sickle (sic).

I’ll give both of those teas a proper tasting note when I have proper taste.

I decided to try this iced and it was an awesome idea. I think I prefer it iced to hot. I still get the creamy vanilla and orange flavors. However, I feel the iced tea helps the association with the popsicles I used to eat. That association is the reason I was interested in this tea in the first place. I’ll have to remember to get more of this next summer.

This smells just like orange creamsicles. It also happens to taste like them too. Score! Very interesting that I can’t taste the tea much.Mostly I taste the orange and the cream.

I looked in my Indian Tea tin and it’s low. Oh noes! I decided I should try it iced. It’s excellent iced. I brewed 12 perfect teaspoons in a pot with 32 ounces of water. I then filled my pitcher with ice. Pour brew over ice and voila!

Cinnamon, cardamom and clove are all present in the iced version. Since they are balanced rather well no one flavor takes center stage here. I’m not sure what they use as a base tea. It’s strong enough to show up but maintains a secondary presence to the spices.

I tend to think of those spices to be used in the cooler months, but this is rather good as an iced tea. It’s refreshing in a different way than mint or lemon. I’ll have to try this again some time soon when it’s warmer outside.

Best part of waking up are spices in your cup! Yum Yum.

I really like the balance of this blend. The tea is a pleasant addition to the cinnamon, clove and cardamom. I can’t say that any one flavor is more evident than the others.

An excellent cup to wake up to.

This tea smells much like it tastes.

Pear is the dominant flavor here. I like the cinnamon and clove together. I’m not sure what star anise tastes like but I think it may contribute to the sweetness. Although I notice they have stevia in here.

I like it. I wonder if will be good iced as well. Time will tell.

Missy was sleeping, so I had to steep this pot all by myself!

This is easily my favorite tea, roughly ever. It has such an amazing smell, the cinnamon fills the room. Plus the orange taste just makes it perfect. I see so many versions of this Cinnamon-Orange tea labelled as a ‘Christmas’ tea. It doesn’t taste Christmas-y though, it’s definitely a year round flavor.

At the recommendation of Teresa Souza, I ordered a batch of Söderblandning from the Tea Center of Stockholm because of my love of Cinnamon-Orange flavor. I’m not sure if it will be a replacement to MarketSpice, more likely a close cousin companion.

It’s left me with a bunch of silly inter-cultural exchange questions though. Let’s just say that my curiousity about the domestic and international shipping customs of Sweden is a little bit of a surprise. Though I have to say their customer service is a clear winner… had an answer to my email within something like 30 minutes.

So yes. Cinnamon-Orange good. MarketSpice good. Impatience bad. This is all true.