Cranberry Creme Black Tea

My work secret Santa got me the golden branches glass teacup from Davids so I thought what better way to christen my festive new mug than with my festive sample of this tea courtesy of Kittenna. Thank you Kittenna!!

Anyways, when I saw creme, I was immediately intrigued. Add to that the bright whole cranberries and you have me sold. Except, if I’m being honest, this is not what I hoped for. I am finding it a touch bland. The base is smooth enough and I could consider that the creme but given the two giant cranberries in my cup, I just anticipated much more flavor. I didn’t have this stored in the best conditions so it could just be me but as it is, I am finding this quite unrepresentative of the 52 Teas flavors I know and love. Oh well. Still fun to try :)

Thank you again Kittenna!!

Once I saw that this tea had whole cranberries in it, I went gimme and added it to the cart. Moar cranberries!

The ingredients for this include black tea, vanilla pieces, freeze-dried cranberries, and cinnamon chips. And yup, the dry leaf delivers; the spoonful that I took a huge cranberry inside it.

The dry tea smells sweet but muted: although I can smell the fruitiness of the cranberry and the sweetness of the vanilla and cinnamon, it doesn’t have the vibrant bounce I expected. The smell was a cross between cough syrup (unfortunate, I know) and those Campino fruit-and-cream candies.

Luckily, the tea seemed more promising after brewing it up. I took 1.5 teaspoons, let it steep in just-boiled water for 3 minutes, let it sit for 10 minutes to cool, added some agave nectar, and was greeted with a tall dark cup of gorgeousness:

I smelled cranberry juice and vanilla, but underneath all of that, like a big beautiful mattress of deliciousness, was CHOCOLATE. It smelled like dark chocolate covered cranberries!

And it TASTED like dark chocolate coverered cranberries too! The base tea comes through rich and thick, like dark chocolate, and the vanilla pieces here give it an amazing depth and fullness of flavour; this tea has such a thick, full mouthfeel that I felt like a chipmunk with big, fat, pinchy cheeks crammed with tea.

Seriously. Chocolate covered cranberries. I was not expecting that.

Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2016/03/another-52teas-roundup/

A tasty cup, maybe a little astringent. This might be representative of the cranberries, though I don’t specifically taste cranberry. It’s a general fruitiness. James hates cranberries, but I made him a cup of this tea and he enjoyed it.

Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have given it to him if it tasted like liquid cranberry. :D

My taster bag is quickly disappearing and I’m kicking myself for not purchasing a large bag (or several large bags, truthfully) when I had the chance. The tea isn’t as creamy as I was hoping for. In fact it’s more vanilla than it is cream, but I can forgive that because the cranberry flavor is on point – very natural, slightly sweet and moderately tart. The spice is, thankfully, barely there. It just highlights the cranberry flavor and makes this tea feel very autumnal. I’ve been really enjoying this tea hot which is rare for me. Apart from breakfast teas, I tend to only drink black teas iced unless they’re prepared as lattes. This might be one of my favorite teas featuring the cranberry.

Shake, shake, shake. I reach into the bag with my teaspoon to spoon the leaf into my steeper and somehow I managed to drop and fling the very last cranberry somewhere. I looked everywhere and that cranberry just would not be found. How very sad.

I love this tea. Everything about it works for me. Nice degree of tartness. Just the barest hint of cinnamon. A dash of cream.

Yes, this favourite is rapidly disappearing.

Just the right one for my 100th note.

There are only 2 of us that own this tea? Really? This is AWESOME! Creamy, tart cranberry, slightly sweet, a base that supports the tea, and no astringency. I am not usually a black tea fruit fan, but something about this one made me pick it up and I am really glad I did. If you need another taster to add to your cart throw this one in. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Adventageddon Day 13 – Tea 1/4

We’re powering writing tasting notes tonight since I just got back from our office holiday party like maybe ten minutes ago and now I am rushed to complete everything before midnight…

Anyway – it’s the first day of the 52Teas countdown now that I’ve gone through all the Tea Thoughts days and I was super excited to see this one. I see that I’ve rated it a bit more conservatively (maybe I’ll go back and read those tasting notes after my advent recap for the day), but it’s one of those blends that, while I maybe wasn’t immediately head over heals for it, I remember quite fondly. I think I’ve actually suggested it for the advent before too, and it never quite makes the final list. So it was an awesome surprise!

I feel like, having just read Cameron’s tasting note, this is also one of those teas that really highlights how different people percieve flavour since I get so much sweet, jammy cranberry from this blend with a hint of cream – not so much in the cinnamon department. I mean, it’s there but I find it really subtle compared to the rest. It was lovely overall though – especially as my first tea of the day and enjoyed while reading through my friend Taniya’s poetry book this morning!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0z38OLuPeM/?igshid=YzZhZTZiNWI3Nw==

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yDvB7MMBBs