Vicky's Sponge Cake

This is my fourth day in a row drinking this tea! Is it love, or just a passing fling? I will savour it either way. (Mmmm….spongy berry cake)

At first glance, this blend reminds me of fantasy island, but it’s not as artificially sweet, is more creamy, and doesn’t get that awful bitterness that Fantasy Island tends to get.

It dry blend and the liquor both smell of tart raspberries. This comes through in the main body of the tea which tastes as close to jam as tea can get. Seeing Ceylon in the ingredients usually makes me wary but it’s a fine base here that blends right into the berry notes. The really amazing and delicious part of this tea is the smooth and creamy notes near the end of the sip. Raspberry jam and buttery cake.. Umm. I’m finding it difficult to describe how I feel about this cup of tea without resorting to profanities so I’ll just say that this probably falls in my “keeper” list.

Thank you Cavocorax for sending me some of this, and Bluebird Tea Co. for making this exist. Will be ordering more in the future.

Edit: I second steeped this for about 6 minutes and it was equally fantastic, although in a different way. The jam was cut back a lot, becoming a light spread and allowing the buttery sweetness of sponge cake to dominate the cup.

So i wanted to try this as a cold brew since the warm cup i had was more raspberry than sponge cake. It turns out, the cake was hiding in the cold brew :) This is a creamy cup of delicious cake like tea. I am digging this. Now i just need to try and figure out how to get this taste with a hot brew!

Iced it. Prefer it hot. End of story.

I guess I should have cold-steeped it, since everyone’s good reviews were about cold-steeps, not iced. I need to work on my patience if I’m gonna do cold steeping!! I want it NOW! Not later! ;)

I remember this one being better the last time I had it. It is still tasty but there is not as much raspberry and sweetness as I recall. At least I have a fair bit more of this to keep trying to get it right. Thank you Cavocorax for sharing this with me :)

Made this one as a cold brew. Brewed for about 12 hours. Turned out pretty good. It tasted very similar as it does hot. Cold, there are strong notes of vanilla and cake. I feel like I am getting a lot of cherry flavour. Slightly creamy. Delicious.

Edit: I had a glass of this today while I was painting, my parents came down to help. I hate painting, and my mom loves painting, so that helped. Dad just lounged and “directed” us while painting. When I turned around, my glass was half empty. Dad tried denying it was him. Anyway, he was caught, and he said it tasted like jasmine tea. I explained to him what it was and what the tea tastes like and he responds “No, it tastes like jasmine”. I had another glass later in the day and for the life of me could not taste any jasmine. To each their own. From now on, I am guarding my drinks!

I’ve refrained from reviewing this because I was working on tweaking the steeping parameters. But I’ve been able to get a consistently good cup from it for the last several times, so I think I’ve got it! Boiling makes it just a tiny bit bitter and can lead to the base overpowering the jammy raspberry.

It’s actually pretty stunning when I nail it. Lovely jammy, sweet raspberry and vanilla flavors with a wonderful creamy mouthfeel. There’s the tiniest bit of coconut in the aftertaste, but only once the cup begins to cool. While piping hot, it only comes across as silky feeling.

Definitely keep in mind that this is sponge cake, not cake cake though. It’s basically a sweet, convenient delivery system for delicious berries and cream and it that this is definitely a winner.

Quick couple of reward notes for me. It’s all thesis-writing from now on…

Thanks to Bluebird Tea Co. for this free sample! :D

The aroma of this one reminds me of Butiki’s Raspberry Truffle. Must be something about black tea + freeze-dried raspberries? Anyways, it’s not a super fruity scent or anything, but enticing nonetheless. …oooh. So I’m drinking this warmer than I normally would just so I can write this and get back to writing other less-fun things, and… this is pretty darn tasty! It’s sweeter than Butiki’s blend, IMO, and while I can taste the raspberry, I’m also tasting an underlying flavour of what makes me think of Celestial Seasoning’s Raspberry Zinger… but very muted and rather pleasant, mixed with black tea flavours and a kind of almost chocolatey creaminess. Probably the vanilla.

Anyhow, this is pretty good! Kind of wish I had more than a sample of it, but then again… my cupboard just went up a few more teas, so probably for the best.

ETA: Second infusion in less water is reasonably tasty. Less raspberry, but still cream + black base.

In raw form this blend is a wonderful mixture of black Ceylon, large pink/red raspberry pieces and plenty of green chopped raspberry leaves. All being the three first noticeable ingredients. Aesthetically so it looks natural and oh so good.

As I opened the packet I was greeted with a raspberry and strawberry jam like scent that was thick and very sweet.

Brewing Method: Teapot with infuser

Water Temperature: Boiling

Steeping Time: 5 Minutes

Once steeped this tea is orange in colour with a sweet and rich berry jam aroma, much like it’s raw form.

My first few sips reveal a sweet yet mellow, berry jam fruit punch that has little tartness and leaves a clean, fruity after taste. There is also a slight darkness to it which may be the Ceylon and a coconut creaminess which make this more than just a fruit tea.

The more I sip the stronger the coconut essence becomes and it just seems to get creamier and creamier whilst staying light.

Victoria Sponge Cake? I would say so, as near as a tea can be to the real thing. It’s the next best thing which is almost calorie free. :D

I know what I will do next time I get a cake craving, make myself a pot of this tea before crashing on the sofa with my feet up to indulge to my hearts content.

For pictures and a 10% off code for Bluebird Tea Co. please view my blog.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2013/03/26/cake-cravings-vicks-sponge-cake-tea-will-cure-them/

Popped this into the fridge at work around 10ish this morning to cold brew and am enjoying it now. So, I guess that’s around a 6 hour steep-time?

It’s really enjoyable cold. A little sweet-tartness (in a good way!) from the raspberries, and I’m also getting something creamy, that I don’t quite pick-up as much when tasting it hot.

I’ll have to start cold-brewing this one more often!