Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Apple & Fig Crumble by Tea Blendz

Sipdown! Thanks again to Sil for this tea :)

So, I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I managed to brew up three fig teas tonight. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if it’s because I read a tasting note earlier on Ovation’s Brown Sugar Fig blend, and so fig was stuck in my mind. (Alternately, it could be because I knew this tea was an instant sipdown, and I brought two other fig ones home from work today just by chance).

Anyways. I brewed this conservatively as a black; I saw there was rooibos but only just found out about the oolong, but luckily both work with black steeping parameters!

The aroma of the brewed tea is a bit figgy and sweet, and that’s really it. Flavourwise, I’m catching some spice (cloves, I think), atop a sweet-ish, figgy base. This is more pleasant than I was expecting, actually. It doesn’t really have any “crumble” flavours to me, just that spiced, fruity, figgy flavour, which I do wish was a bit stronger. The tea base is thankfully not astringent here; I wish I could pick up the oolong a bit more, but at least the rooibos isn’t poking through where it doesn’t belong!

This is definitely a tea that would appeal to those who love figs, as it’s a prominent flavour and not hidden by other ingredients, but it’s less interesting than I would have hoped.

Thanks again Sil!

ETA: Re-steep was not too bad, actually! I definitely prefer this tea over the other two fig ones I had. The re-steep was definitely spiced, and a bit figgy.

2013-03-13 04:17:37 -0400

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graceatblb 2013-03-13 15:51:08 -0400

Oooh fig. I’ve been searching for a good fig tea. This one sounds lovely.

Kittenna 2013-03-15 20:11:11 -0400

I’d recommend it as a fig tea! Not as a fig apple crumble tea, though.

Sil 2013-03-15 20:29:56 -0400

I have a bunch I can send some your way grace.

graceatblb 2013-03-16 02:08:50 -0400

The only fig tea I’ve ever tried is Apres Ski and it’s good once you can get past the smell of garbage.

Thanks! I would love to try some if you can. Would you like to swap?

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.