Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast Flavored Black Tea

I have to say, this tastes EXACTLY like buttered cinnamon raisin toast. It is truly delicious. I can see now that we are going to have to reblend it. We have it out as our tea of the day today at our brick and mortar shop, Zoomdweebie’s and everyone is LOVING it. Best comment so far: "Gnarly! That really tastes like buttered cinnamon raisin toast! How did you do that?"

LittleMewBrew order came today!

The smell is… off-putting to me. Smells like grape medicine. I don’t wanna take the syrup!

I added sugar and cream out of fear. Lots of it.

It tastes like medicine. I’m sorry! I want to love it! I’ve enjoyed these teas so much! I must have been grape traumatized as a child.

Dry this tea looks like assam and I can see the pieces of cinnamon and raisins. I also smell the black tea with cinnamon and abit of raisin. After steeped I can pretty much smell the tea the same way. And I can taste the black tea with some cinnamon and abit of raisin also. I think this tea is pretty good.
Ps. anyone willing to trade for abit of florence from harney and sons?

So what’d I think?

Well firstly the brewed aroma reminds me of leaf litter, but that’s not to say it’s unpleasant .. It’s ‘earthy’, maybe even a little ‘moldy’ to my nose .. And it does taste predominantly like (light smokey) burnt toast to me, though the Cinnamon/Nutmeg/Baking Spice comes through loud and clear too .. The butter is more subtle, yet still but obvious .. Raisins, hmm I dunno? But like everyone else has said the combined blend really does taste exactly like it sounds!

This was another sample I got off Rachel and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to try it without investing in a whole pouch as I’m not sure it’s ‘my cup of tea’ .. And to put that in perspective Cinnamon Raisin bread/toast isn’t something I would eat either ..

That said I’m on my third cup, and will happily have a fourth just to finish it off :)

edited to add I think I prefer this more as it cools off ..

The first time I heard about this blend, I really didn’t think it was for me. However, as the number of satisfied tea drinkers around here grew, I knew that I had to at least try it. Especially if it really nailed the taste of Cinnamon Raisin Toast with Butter.

The smell out of the pouch is overwhelmingly of cinnamon with a hint of a buttery scent. Hmm…toasty, cinnamon, raisin, and a hint of butter. The butter aspect is more in the texture than the flavor, but you can still taste it. Yep, this tea really nails that particular flavor. It is complex and beautifully balanced. I’m very pleasantly surprised by this one! This is very promising – I haven’t had anything from 52teas that I didn’t really like. I’m already contemplating my next order.

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 3 cups filtered boiling water (1 cast iron teapot full)
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Raisin bran cereal, sweet raisins
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon and tea
Flavor: black tea, smoky, astringent
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: tea
Liquor: translucent light reddish-brown

I started with 3 minutes, it was too weak, went and kept sipping, the tea was not yet bitter at 7 and I think it could have steeped longer.

The tea smells very much like cinnamon and tea. I was not getting toast (or was the smoky flavor supposed to represent crispy toast?) or butter.

The raisins was only present in the dry leaf smell.

To test the quality of a steeped golden raisin I took some of my golden raisins from the cupboard and steeped them a few minutes, very grape. So apparently the tea doesn’t have enough raisins for my liking.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this tea, it’s smooth and not bitter and really just fine. But I have done something wrong or it’s too subtle for me.

Next steep I will try adding sugar, cream separately and together while tossing in extra raisins. It may end up getting a higher rating once I fiddle with the preparation, it has potential.

I am interested to get MilitaJim’s thoughts on it – he’s out celebrating St. Patty’s Day. Bobbie agrees with my tea that smells like cinnamon assessment.

Post-Steep Additives: none

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/52teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-buttered.html

Opened the packet and smelled butter! I expected more of a cinnamon smell, but then, I make cinnamon toast very heavy on the cinnamon. Brewed it up, and this time the smell was raisins. I added just a touch of sweetener. (I also add sugar to cinnamon toast…) The taste was interesting. I tasted the butter and the raisins when I sipped, but the toast and cinnamon came through with the aftertaste. I liked it.

Thanks to the amazing Kittena for a sample of Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast (BCRT)!

I got lots of samples to try out, yay! That’ll keep me busy drinking tea and not eating snacks! But out of my pile, this tea screamed at me – I think it was me writing down all the suggested steep times for the samples and I saw the picture of that buttery piece of toast and was all “YUMMMM”!

DRY: slightly sweet? Wasn’t much of a strong smell for me.

STEEPED: Reddy brown colour, zingy cinnamon scent.

TASTE: black tea base, a blast of cinnamony spice and aftertaste of raisin. The more I drink, the more raisiny BCRT gets. Slight bitterness.
Sweetened with plain rock sugar, I find the butteryness comes out but the cinnamon blast goes down. I think if I get more of this tea, I’d use less sweetener.

COMMENTS: Very yummy! I am the bitter tea police, but the slight bitterness worked well here, brought out the raisin, if that makes any sense. And Mmmm buttery teas! I’m a sucker for buttery or creamy!

Wow..! This was an unexpected hit! The overall effect is definitely right on – I think I like this better than the real thing (I don’t love raisins in my bread due to the texture). My favorite part is the subtle toasted flavor combined with the sweetness of the cinnamon and raisin. I can’t really taste the raisin flavor by itself, but I think it does come through in the finished effect. Love it!

I really want to like this one. But… so far it’s not doing it for me. I’m so sad about it. It’s ok, but I am not getting much flavor from it. It’s a nice black tea with something. I don’t taste butter, I don’t taste toast, I might taste something slightly raisiny, and maybe there is a touch of cinnamon. Is it possible that the re-blend is not as good??

Maybe my mistake is that I actually had buttered cinnamon raisin toast last week from freshly homemade cinnamon swirl raisin bread? The flavors are fresh in my head.

The dried leaves smell like pez (in case you don’t know what I am talking about – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pez). And I am getting the pez flavor in the finish when I am drinking it.

Update – it’s definitely better with some soy creamer, but the flavor profile didn’t really change much.

Update 2 – .. and down the drain. Bleah. Can’t finish it.

It sounded like an odd flavor, but what the heck. And the shipping was very speedy! I opened the envelope and the scent was coming through the bag… I drooled. It smelled EXACTLY like buttered cinnamon raisin toast! I have no idea how they did that, but it’s amazing.

Put a wee bit in a T-sac and used my Chinese cup with the lid to keep all that lovely scented tea steam in… I am in love with this tea. The tea base itself is an incredibly smooth and mellow black tea that brews a dark chocolatey-liquor quickly. I let the sips sit in my mouth before slowly swallowing so I can enjoy the hint of cinnamon, the over-note of the raisins (both of which you can actually see in the bag), and the totally yummy hints of butter all the way through. This beat things like hot buttered rum or apple cider by MILES. I really find myself feeling all comfy and warm with this tea. Bravo, gentlemen, I can’t wait to try something else by this line. In a few days. After I’ve gotten all I can out of this pouch.

(NOTE: second steeping of the same T-Sac for a few minutes longer equalled another great cup of pretty close to the same strength. I may try a third this time.)

I am not going to rate this tea because I absolutely hate raisins and I feel I can not give this tea a fair rating due to the raisins. This was part of the 12 Teas of Christmas Sampler I am glad I had the chance to try a small amount of it and think it would be great for someone who likes cinnamon raisin toast.

The concept of this tea really weirded me out at first. I tend toward the purer, non-flavoured teas, so to try something this extremely abnormal is definitely new.
I steeped it exactly as the directions on the site directed.
The smell is reminiscent of burned raisins…not a good sign as I do not like my toast crisped. Then I pick up hints of cinnamon.
The taste was hard to describe. I guess it kind of tastes like buttered cinnamon raisin toast…kind of…
It is not bad by any means, but I was a bit disappointed. The aftertaste hits the mark better than when one is drinking the tea.

I just opened my bag of this tea and I’m already on my second cup. There’s all sorts of interesting alchemy happening in there.

Opening the bag, you’re first hit with smoke and cinnamon. The smokiness quickly dissipates and you have a pleasantly scented cinnamon tea. Keeping my nose in the bag, I next picked up on the raisin and, I have no idea how they do it, there is a very subtle note of toast! There’s something else too. There’s a slight heaviness, for lack of something more descriptive, that my brain translated to “butter.” If I was unaware of the tea’s name, however, I’d never make this connection in a million years. Visually, this is a really appealing tea.

In the prepared tea, the cinnamon wins out on each sip but it’s not overpowering. You get an occasional tart fruitiness from the raisin and everything else just hangs out in the backgroud to support the main characters.

I tried adding a touch of sweetener on the second steep to see if I could bring out more of the raisin. I used agave and its maltiness actually enhanced the toast flavor and brightened the fruit as well. The second cup is as far as I would push this tea. There are too many subtle flavors that would be washed out after this point.

To strain a metaphor, there was “magic” in this cup. It’s a really odd combination but it simply works.

Tried this one again this morning. BLECH! I don’t know if the tea went back or something… but this cuppa was just short of awful. I guess even geniuses like Frank can have a dud sometime. Or maybe it was sitting around too long before Little Mew Brew sold it to me? Buyer beware if that’s the case! I hate to waste tea but I don’t even think I’d want to swap this one. BLECH! Wish I could get a refund!

Hm. This is pretty good, but not amazing. I get hints of butter and cinnamon and I can see where the smoky tea is going. I don’t get much raisin, but maybe a hint of sweetness. It’s tasty and interesting and I love the concept, but I suppose I wouldn’t say I get cinnamon raisin toast from it. I actually get the buttered cinnamon raisin toast a lot more from the scent than from the taste. I will have to try it again, maybe brewed stronger, as it would be nice to get a cinnamon toast fix without having to eat the bread! Yum.

Ok, I don’t have a Valentine, I got myself the Valentine sampler for myself, that’s ok, right? Actually, I got two of them! I started off with this tea. I’ve been wanting a way to try 52 teas, but not buy the entire 2 oz bag. So this deal was perfect! This sampler should stay, since it’s a great way to try teas without forking for a whole pack! Now I see why others say this place could hurt your bank account.

I love my chardonnays buttery. And I love the buttery tea of certain green and oolong teas. But this tea has the actual taste of butter! Love it! I can’t eat bread anymore, but this tea allows me to still have it in a way. 52teas is my answer for my gluten cravings, yay!

I made it was cream and sugar, but was great naked, too. I love the small hint of toastiness. Raisin was nicely there, and I am not always a fan of raisins. I would of liked more cinnamon, but I’ll probably add more when I brew it next. I wonder how this tea would taste if made with houjicha, though it’s great the way it is.

This is the other part of my order that arrived today—my first order from 52teas. I chose this flavor because anything described with “butter” I have to try. And with cinnamon too? I love cinnamon. Okay, on to my review:

Dry leaves: Directly from the opened pouch, the scent is dark, sweet and tangy—very “purple”— overlaid with a dry spiciness. The purple-ness reminds me of dates, specifically date candy (like those coconut date rolls from Trader Joe’s but without the coconut).

Brewed: The aroma is cinnamon dates, or a mulled plum wine….served in an opium den. And for some reason, I’m reminded of an ancient asian herbal shop. Must be the “hint of smoked Assam”.

Taste: I’m not getting much butter or toast, but I do get the raisins and cinnamon and black tea. I love the smokiness of this—it’s new to me and makes me want to branch out to try more smoky teas—like Lapsang Souchong (or the Smoky Bacon!).

Last words: I like it! It is, surprisingly, a very “atmospheric” tea. The scent is intoxicating and the taste is mysterious.

Very good. Will write review later today.

I’m not positive how I feel about this tea. It’s got a certain smell to it (almost an old smell?). Although I just ordered a black from 52 teas that also has a hint of this same smell.
The smell is still there after steeping & comes through in the taste as well, although not as strong as the scent, thankfully.
I get the cinnamon & a hint of raisins. I think I am almost getting a toast smell, but no butter.
It’s quite good. Buttered Cinnamon Raisin bread is one of my fav breakfast treats. This tea doesn’t quite substitute for it, but pretty close.