Day 1 of the 12 teas of Christmas…
SURPRISE! Wasn’t expecting this! And then I looked up the date it was made and realized it was from November 2010 (but after the 2010 12 Teas of Christmas had already been finalized) I was hoping Frank would do it this way (why yes, I have given this too much thought) because otherwise a lot of teas could be excluded from the final list, if you only include teas from January – October.
Anyway, on to the tea! I’m trying to identify what the tea is before I look at the label, just to see if I can. When I first opened this pouch I could smell…fruity. But it also smelled familiar somehow. I eventually gave up and pulled the label out, and realized I was likely smelling the butter smell from other blends (Pancake breakfast, etc). Don’t know why the fruit essence came to mind, but it didn’t show up in the smell of the steeped tea.
I steeped up about 2 tsp. of this in my Breville (500 ml water) at the below parameters. The smell of the steeped liquor was BUTTER. Like in your face, without a doubt butter. During the sip the butter predominates, and in the aftertaste the popcorn makes itself known. I’m drinking this without additives (although I did try salt and some honey to bring out the flavors to the previous cup, but it hurt rather than helped in the end) and I think the taste is really accurate. It’s definitely a black tea, and the flavoring is in perfect balance with it.
I also have to admit I’m a little surprised at myself – I mean, I like savory teas, but I’ve never really gone for the idea of a savory flavored blend. I just assumed it would be not to my tastes. But it’s really, really good! And I came on to Steepster after it was produced last year so I would have never gotten a chance to taste this if I hadn’t gotten the sampler – so yay for new experiences!
