Plum Deluxe

This was a lovely light tea to start off my wildly hectic day. The cinnamon and orange come through in a pleasant and subtle scent. I noticed more apple and orange in flavor, with just a hint of the cinnamon at the end. I’d be happy to drink more of this, but I don’t know that I need to buy more.

Plum Deluxe Advent, Day 5

This is Day 4 of the Plum Deluxe 2022 herbal advent calendar. It has a cute punny name, which is endearing. The smell is dead on for chestnut – very seasonal! The chestnut flavor is likewise on point, and it works well with the woody rooibos base. It actually reminds me a lot of GABA brown rice, in a good way. I would definitely recommend this for someone who likes chestnuts. It’s not a flavor I necessarily seek out for myself, though, so I’m fine with just having a sample size. 

ETA: My partner walked into the room asking whether I had brewed up a maple tea because that’s what the chestnut smell reminds him of, which gave me the idea to add a little bit of maple syrup to the brew! Canadians in the room, you probably could have told me this, but maple syrup makes everything delicious and this is no exception. I am much much happier with this cup now that the maple is balancing out the chestnuttiness. I tried using vanilla agave as a sweetener in the previous cup and it just didn’t yield the same kind of results – the flavors didn’t meld as seamlessly. Saved!

I love a smoky tea and was pleased that the smell and flavor live up to the fireside name. I tend to associate the flavor here with campfire; my partner leans more toward pipe tobacco. Either way, the smoke is dominant (even to the point where I don’t notice the rooibos!) and a little bit of something sweet stands out especially as it cools. I had some of this from the subscription that I just hadn’t gotten around to trying, and I’m very glad of that now.

Plum Deluxe Advent, Day 4

This is Day 3 of the Plum Deluxe 2022 herbal advent calendar. I’m feeling particularly sore today, so I was happy to see a ginger tea. I was even happier to realize that the ginger in here is genuinely good quality. It has that specific ginger zing you can only get from proper ginger, down to the slight burning-in-a-good-way on your lips. That ginger heat is complemented by sweetness from the apple in the blend. I got a delicious second steep out of it, too. I steeped for a really long time, though, so the flavor was very heavy on the ginger with only a little bit of gentle sweetness on the back end. Which is fine by me because I like ginger, but maybe not the best representation of everything this blend can do. I made the whole packet in a giant mug so I don’t have any left to play with, but I’d happily play around with this one some more in the future to see if I can tease out the other flavors. That delightful ginger really sells me.

After getting off to a rocky start with a blend I didn’t love for Day 1, the Plum Deluxe 2022 herbal advent calendar redeems itself with an utterly delicious blend for Day 2. The dry leaf and brewed tea smell exactly like a caramel snickerdoodle. I went for a 10-minute steep, just to get as much flavor as I could out of it (and having learned my lesson from Day 1). It worked really well. Drunk straight, the sweet caramel, hint of cinnamon, and cookie flavor are absolutely on point. As an oat milk latte, this is downright decadent. Would happily add this to a future order.

The hazelnut and cinnamon are working together here, and I’m definitely picking up a coffee cake from this tea. There is serious hazelnut flavor – it’s lingering at the back of my tongue between sips, and it’s absolutely the dominant scent. If this shows up on the website, I may need more!

Plum Deluxe Advent, Day 3

Another place where I came for fruit and just got tea.

In addition to the orange peel, they’ve listed orange essence (not an ingredient I could add), and yet I get absolutely 0 orange. I’m not sure I saw any orange peel in my bag, so perhaps that’s the problem. It’s a very generic black tea that I poured over ice for something a little more refreshing. Not bad, just not what it sounded like.

Plum Deluxe advent, day 2

Despite being a subscriber, I had no idea Plum Deluxe did an advent calendar until I started seeing reviews last year, so this was the other one I had to have.

This was a fun way to start. I love peach, and the peach here is done well, not too artificial, though it could have been a touch stronger. I noticed it more as I let the cup cool. The maple is more of a scent and aftertaste, and definitely mellows a lot with a cooler cup. I think that balances well – in a colder tea I’d prefer more peach, but the hot tea brings out more maple.

I can’t find this tea on their website or anything, so it may not be available, but if it were I’d go for more.

Plum Deluxe Advent Day 1

The company describes this tea as “A tasty twist on earl grey for any aspiring captain”

This is one of their better blends. I do taste the undertone of nuttiness, although I don’t really get an earl grey at all for some reason. Not sensing bergamot. I had this as a sampler and their samples are slightly small and for two cups. It may have been a freebie sent instead of a sampler ordered, but their samplers are generally a tsp or slightly under. Did this one in 4 oz boiling water for 5 minutes.

As it cools slightly, an almost maple nuttiness comes out stronger. Not bitter but almost inching towards bitters cousin

I would not call this an earl grey tea personally, but more of a warming, nutty, black tea.

Being sick is never fun. This one sounded like a good kick for the immune system. The taste isn’t great but I feel like it will help. It’s like my mom found out I was sick and mixed black tea with a bunch of other things together. Bitter citrus rind. Black tea astringency. Clarity from eucalyptus. But overall, not something I would drink any other time then when I’m sick. ^^;

Sipped this one down! I remember liking this blend more than I did. It didn’t give me the mint or cocoa I wanted. It was a little better as a latte but not something I’d repurchase.

The strongest flavor here is a quite tart lemon rind. After that, I taste some savory herbal flavors. It’s all a bit too savory for me, but it’s okay. There’s a slight spiciness from the ginger. I don’t order from Plum Deluxe anymore, so it was nice to try this in the TTB!

From the TTB. This has a nice, fresh lemon rind flavor. I think I’d prefer an herbal version, but it’s still pretty decent. It’s tart and refreshing cold. I don’t taste the black tea specifically. I feel like I taste a hint of other savory herbs in there, but it works.

An amazing dessert blend! I loved this blend it tasted just like my favorite biscuits: Kammie Dodgers. It’s cakey, full of raspberry flavor, and has a touch of cinnamon to wrap it all perfectly in a delicious bow. A new permanent addition to my stash I just have to wait for the holiday teas to come back so I can grab more.

I really enjoy this blend, it’s the perfect blend for a cool and crisp fall morning. It’s nutty, slightly spiced, and comforting with a gentle apple flavor. I especially loved this blend because it’s subtle on the spice, sometimes when blends are over spiced I get headaches so this was a nice balance for me. I’m definitely making this blend a staple in my stash.

Mindfulness. What does it mean to you? To be mindful of others? To be mindful of how we think / act can affect others / ourselves? Either way. This is an Earl Grey. For those of you who enjoy London Fog Lattes, you will really enjoy this blend. It has lots of creamy notes. Vanilla. Heavy Cream. Milk. And of course, all topped off with glorious bergamot citrusy goodness. The woody notes of the base tea come through nicely after the other notes pass over. Wet wood and dark mahagony.

Tea company says: “Pairs well with and a sweater and blanket”

They also have a Deluxe Pumpkin Spice Black Tea, which was in the database, but I added this one as it has different ingredients listed such as Allspice. Strangely, if you go to the Plum Deluxe website it lists this one, but one of the pictures is still of the ultimate bag. This company does switch their teas seasonally quite a bit and does some retire some on a semi-regular basis.

First, I’ll start with the positives. The flavouring is very good for the “seasoning” part. I don’t get pumpkin really but it may lend to the warmth. Cinnamon is there but not too spicy and not artificial. There is a small spice bite but not overwhelming for those who like the spice to be smooth in these blends. I also don’t detect any artificial sweetener in this blend.

Now for the bad side….the tea part is very weak. I have run into this with some of their blends. Honeybush Tea is listed as the first ingredient, so perhaps this is a milder tea, but then it lists “black tea”. The tea part disappears quite a bit other than the flavorings, similar to drinking autumn flavored tea water with a touch of tea. :/ If they put in a fuller, richer tea base, these blends would be much better.

Tea caption claims: “Sip when you need a sweet-n-spicy comfort tea”

Plum Deluxe has a lot of delightful, flavored bags of tea and a nifty sampler system. I did a three tea sampler today with three cups of similar teas from a tea sampler order. Brunch in Paris Black Tea, Comfort Blend Black Tea, and Rainy Day Puerh. All three are similar enough in ingredients and taste. Like many Plum Deluxe teas, despite the advertisement and the smell, the tastes are mellow and weaker for flavored teas.

The Rainy Day does not list clove like the Comfort Blend, but it’s almost there – perhaps in another ingredient. Comfort Blend used cinnamon chips for its natural cinnamon flavoring, and Rainy Day goes for the Sweet Cinnamon Bark and Sweet Cinnamon Extract instead. The taste is still not artificial and gives a bite without clove (clove would probably be overkill in this case, so likely a good thing.)

Like the other two, this has Orange, but it’s not astringent. Ginger Root is in all three but not noticeable. The others simply list “black tea”, while this one goes with the Puerh. Of the three, this is my favorite, but still not that memorable. It is not actually spicy unless you prefer mild spice. I would order this one again perhaps, but maybe not

One odd thing – when first sipping this, there is an almost artificial sweetener taste at first. Not sure what’s causing that, but guessing the cinnamon extract they use.

Tea caption claims: “Your best friend for a tranquil, revitalizing cuppa”

Plum Deluxe has a lot of delightful, flavored bags of tea and a nifty sampler system. I did a three tea sampler today with three cups of similar teas from a tea sampler order. Brunch in Paris Black Tea, Comfort Blend Black Tea, and Rainy Day Puerh. All three are similar enough in ingredients and taste. Like many Plum Deluxe teas, despite the advertisement and the smell, the tastes are mellow and weaker for flavored teas.

Comfort Blend has a golden glow and a fragrant orange smell. The cinnamon chips give you the natural flavor of cinnamon without artificial feel. There is a bite of clove in the throat as an after taste the first sip or two. Ginger is very behind the scenes. I love orange and ginger and cinnamon, and while this is soothing and comfortable, it’s so mild it stays tranquil only a short time before it gets a little dull.

Like Brunch in Paris, this has orange, but the Comfort Blend buries it a bit deeper.

Tea caption claims: “Transport yourself to a dreamy place in one sip”

Plum Deluxe has a lot of delightful, flavored bags of tea and a nifty sampler system. I did a three tea sampler today with three cups of similar teas from a tea sampler order. Brunch in Paris Black Tea, Comfort Blend Black Tea, and Rainy Day Puerh. All three are similar enough in ingredients and taste.

Like many Plum Deluxe teas, despite the advertisement and the smell, the tastes are mellow and weaker for flavored teas. Brunch in Paris was surprisingly the darkest of the three cups, with the other two being lighter and golden. I did the samples with 1/2 tsp in slightly less than 4 oz tea cups at 200 temperature and 4 minute steep, 1/2 tsp. sugar per cup.
Brunch is Paris comes across as calming, mellow, non-bitter, mild black tea with a touch of orange and a smidgen of honey memory. The cocoa nibs disappear. The flavor does not fully match the color nor the description. Brunch in Paris is drinkable, but not memorable. Fortunately the orange is there without the rind and this one doesn’t have an astringency pucker. It blends together well and naturally, just not strongly.