Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal Black Tea

Once again, a tea that I have opted to drink multiple times before writing about. Oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfast foods. My expectations were super high, so in order to have my expectations influence the tasting note over my actual perception of the tea, waiting on it seemed to be the best idea. I have had this tea with breakfast for the past few weeks and finally feel like I can write about it objectively.

The leaves are decently large and have oatmeal flakes mixed in with them. It looks like a tea lovers trailmix of sorts… The scent is very subtle. If I am not thinking directly of oatmeal and maple it just smells of black tea that is generically sweet.

Steeped the brew is dark brown and full smelling. It is a rich black tea. The black tea flavor (“assamish”) shines through pleasantly. There is a tenuous maple flavor that is in the end of every sip, adding to the sweetness of it. I found it more evident when sweetened. Also, perhaps my favorite part of this tea, is that it has a “texture” to it. It feels thick and rich, almost like the texture of a tomato soup. Of course, the texture is an illusion, the tea is not actually thickset. I think it is the flavor that makes your mouth think twice about what it is feeling/tasting.

I really enjoy this tea. It is one of the most interesting “feeling” teas that I have had in a while. It is a perfect hardy tea to have with breakfast. My only peeve is that it could use more maple and perhaps a touch of cinnamon. But all in all, I am a happy tea sipper!

On a side note, today is vacation in Ecuador! Hooray!!! Tea, boyfriend, doggy day!!!! : )

This is one of the teas we got in that evil grab bag promotion. I think Frank is out to get us! It is such a conundrum to see all those interesting teas and know there is a good chance that one bag is it.

For me, maple and brown sugar are present in equal portions. The oatmeal comes in right after and seems to add some texture to the tea. It’s quite interesting. This comes from some one who refuses to eat cooked oatmeal. It just looks gross. Dry/raw I can eat it by the handful. The tea feels bold or robust, like some thing I would drink if I wanted a wake up tea. I feel like I’m having dressed up oatmeal with a cup of tea. I’m glad we got a grab bag this was an interesting experience.

Today I was hit with tea tragedy! Before I get into the gritty details, this sample is from LiberTEAS though I have a sneaking suspicion it was sent to me by someone else as well. Swap confusion! Anyway, I only have enough for 2 cups of this, which is important to my tragic tale.

So, I left some leaves in my IngenuiTEA for a few days… I’ve been drinking only iced/bagged tea and totally forgot about them. It smelled really gross and though I rinsed it multiple times with boiling water the funky smell was not leaving. I don’t like to use soap on any of my tea ware, but I kind of had to in this situation. I used a teeny bit and rinsed it for 10 solid minutes, getting every corner. There was no soap left, I was sure of it! It didn’t even smell faintly of soap! I was wrong, horribly horribly wrong.

I poured the water over the leaves for this tea and SOAP BUBBLES. I panicked and skimmed them off the top, hoping for the best. But alas, soapy tea. It’s actually almost drinkable, and I think it’s honestly a mental block more than a taste issue because you can’t taste soap. But I know it’s there! A shame, since this tea smells divine and in the sip I took there was a lot of maple and brown sugar flavor. I only have one try left with this blend, hopefully it works out better next time.

I got this in the recent grab bag special.

This is a really neat tea with the oatmeal in the blend. Something so unique. The black base I find to be a little bit sharp, but it gives a good kick.

Upon the first few sips, I didn’t get much taste for some reason. As I continued sipping, the maple and brown sugar started to appear with the oatmeal in the last part of the sip and the aftertaste.

Somehow, this does feel like “it sticks to your ribs” like in the description, almost like if fills you up. I am glad that I like this because I have a whole bag!

Uhhhhm. Hmmm. This is different! Not what I was expecting, but I can certainly see how this tea lends itself to “oatmeal”.
Bare, I was not a huge fan at all. At three minutes my cup was very light and fresh tasting, with a mellow serving of spice on the side. Not exactly reminiscent of the 52teas black base I’ve come to know.
Milk and a dash of sugar really helped it along though, making it more oatmeal like. I’ll bet this lost some flavouring in transit, because while I can see where it’s going, there is something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Also, it grew a tiny bit on me as the cup cooled, or perhaps that’s as I drank it? initially I was considering a 67 rating…

Thank you Kittenna for a sample of this tea. I’m going to have to go with overly unimpressed. Now, there was some discussion as to whether this loses it’s flavour quickly and i hope that’s the case for the sake of this tea. This is pretty much a sweet cup of water. Ah well, at least I was able to try this lol

Surprisingly, almost a lack of aroma with this one; I expected it to be along the lines of Pancake Breakfast. I feel like I’m getting that same smooth mouthfeel as with Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, but the maple is much more hidden. I’m only really catching a bit of flavour at the end of the sip, and it’s just kind of sweet-ish, so maybe more on the brown sugar spectrum than maple syrup. There is pretty much no astringency here though, which is lovely, so this is pretty nice to drink regardless. Definitely not a purchase though.

Thanks CHAroma!

I was going to hold off on trying this today, since it’s getting late and I think I’ve had enough black tea for the day, but, in honor of 52Teas and their newly announced tea of the week, I decided to go ahead and brew this one.

This is really quite tasty. The maple is strong and I like that! The brown sugar adds a deep, molasses-y kind of taste to it that accents the maple well. The oat flavor takes a little getting used to for me, for no other reason than I’m not used to having oatmeal flavored tea. But, somehow, this all works.

I’m going to hold off on my rating until tomorrow, as I want to try it again to collect my thoughts. Today’s been a bit weird.

Thank you Momo for sending a sample of this one in your sale a while ago. I recently discovered that maple & brown sugar oatmeal is DELICIOUS and has much less sugar than I assumed it would… less than half of the typical yogurt even. I knew I had this tea waiting to be tried, so a few days later, here goes. Sadly, I would never after a billion guesses think this is maple & brown sugar oatmeal. Maybe it is because my samples have been in tiny sample bags all in one bigger ziplock bag… maybe they have melded together. There is a sweetness to the tea, but that is about it. No maple, no brown sugar, no oatmeal. I brewed it for three/four minutes, not really boiling, so I don’t think I oversteeped. Maybe it should have been boiling. I really wish the instructions would be listed on the steepster descriptions, or at least on the 52Teas bag, since the picture is almost always on steepster and sometimes I can read it from the picture. Overall, this is a good tea, but not if you’re judging it from the description. I’d say this is the least accurate flavor profile in a 52Teas blend that I’ve tried.

Oh Frank, you are a wiz with teas. This tea is so tasty. The maple, brown sugar, and oatmeal are all well represented. I did however add just a pinch of sugar to this cup to bring out the sweetness. I just felt it needed to be a nip sweeter. I really enjoyed this tea – thanks LiberTEAS!

1 tablespoon for 375 ml

The brewed tea has a nice balance of black tea, maple and oatmeal aromas. There is a smooth baked goods quality to the smell that I attribute to oats. Hint of chocolatey-ness in the aroma that may be the result of me letting this sit too closely to chocolate-themed tea.

Flavour is extremely mild. There is only a hint of the smoothness from the aroma near the end of the sip. Almost metallic flavour in the middle of the sip which hints to some other flavours that may have been lost in the transit of this tea. Slight astringency (almost sharp bitterness) near the end of the sip from the black tea. Only the slightest hint of sweetness. Hint of roasted taste near the end of the sip.

Rating: 34

Thanks Kittenna for letting me try this!

I am trying to convince myself not to buy the new tea of the week because I just ordered so much tea but teas based on breakfast foods I love are my weakness. Like this, though I had a monthly plan up until it sadly became March.

I don’t know why I took a week to try this, considering my love for maple syrup. This is better than oatmeal, and I really love oatmeal! Of course, tea compared to oatmeal is far smoother, which is the perfect way to describe this – smooth and sweet.

The maple and brown sugar flavors are pretty equal for me, I get maple then brown sugar without one overpowering the other. The oat flavor is in the aftertaste. This is fantastically done. I may have to have another cup since it just powered me to write a good 3/4 of a page of my paper without me procrastinating (which I guess I am now but you know what, I’m on page 3 of 8 so I deserve it).

I’m so excited to try this tea!! I suggested a flavor combination to Frank recently (maple pecan granola), and this is pretty close to that! Plus, I love maple and brown sugar oatmeal. It’s my favorite kind of oatmeal, and almost the only kind I eat.

I do have to say though, I’m not sure the picture on the package is adequate for this blend. It looks kind of…unappetizing. But this is uncharacteristic for 52teas. Usually Frank’s pictures are mouthwatering and make me go over my allotted tea budget. But clearly, the picture made little difference in my decision to buy it.

Anyway, the dry leaves smell really good! It’s hard to describe why, but I’ll try. It smells very similar to the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie blend, but minus the raisin. So, what’s left? This wonderful oatmeal, black tea, sugary sweet fragrance.

The funny thing is the brewed tea has a completely different aroma! It still smells amazing, but so different. I think the black tea itself is more pronounced now and masks that overwhelming sweetness. I can still make out faint traces of oat, but it’s softer now. As for the maple? I didn’t forget. I just can’t find much of it in the aroma. Hopefully, it will be there in the taste.

Mmmmm, the taste is wonderful! There’s none of that tannic bitterness common to black teas sans additions. I’m not sure how much it matches the description, but it tastes wonderful regardless! It’s not nearly as sweet as the aroma makes it out to be.

I added a tiny bit of unsweetened almond milk and a little brown sugar too. It’s still very good. I think I like it about the same with or without additions. Unfortunately, I’m still missing that maple syrup aspect. I wish that were significantly stronger. But like I said, it’s a delicious tea nonetheless! So, if you happen to not like maple and brown sugar oatmeal, give this blend a try anyway! You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 500ml at 195°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Sweet maple, smokey tea
Steeped Tea Smell: maple, toasty black tea
Flavor: sweet black tea, hints of maple, end of sip is a bit oaty, slightly gritty mouthfeel
Body: Full
Aftertaste: astringent
Liquor: translucent dark brown-orange

The maple seems to mask or overpower the brown sugar, perhaps if I add some sugar? Overall a nice sweet (without additives) black wake up tea.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2012/02/52teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-maple-and.html

This tastes just like oatmeal with brown sugar and maple to me, which is a food I really like. I prepared it first hot and thought it tasted like a slightly flavored astringent black tea. Then I prepared it as a pitcher of iced tea. I did not add any sweeteners or other additives. As iced tea it is creamy and sweet with a slight and pleasing astringency. The brown sugar is more prevalent to me than the maple flavoring. The oat flavoring is present in the aftertaste, which is sweet and lingers. I have really enjoyed my first cup of this iced.

So I got this tea yesterday. And I think I’ve had it three times and am having the fourth cup now.

This tea has a wonderful fullness to it, that I just love. A lot of teas seem to brush your tongue and then be gone the second you swallow. This tea stays with you and keeps you happy while you enjoy the whole cup. That’s not to say that the flavor is overwhelming or too strong, it is in fact the opposite. But rather it is an extremely fulfilling cup.

I love the warmth and presence this tea has!