Sugar Plum Spice

So I got an electric kettle and was curious how it could compare to the kettle on the stove here. It wasn’t much faster…which now makes me feel like it was kind of dumb to get because I have a gas stove at home. Then again, I can set the temperature so I guess that works. Or I can sit in bed and make tea. (I got the Cuisinart kettle because every year since I’ve moved out I seem to be expanding on Cuisinart things…immersion hand blender, food processor, griddler, and this year kettle. None of it has broken so I’ll stick with them!)

So because I was testing boiling water I thought I’d make something, and this seemed fitting. I used two bags because I was going to make a full mug, so roughly 12 oz of tea, and steeped it for only 3 minutes to make up for it.

This is totally undrinkable for me, it’s a nice plum flavor but it’s too sweet, and the aftertaste is not good. My mom was able to tolerate it for a few more sips than I could, so I tried diluting it, getting it more to the right level and while better, it still met the sink drain.

I will give it another chance, maybe 1 bag for the 12 oz and a 4 min steep, and see if that’s tolerable. Otherwise, onto the swapping sled it goes.

I forget who suggested this to me but I picked some up today and I am liking it…
I am a big fan of cinnamon and plum flavors together, I have the cinnamon plum tea by Rishi which I also like. This one is sweeter and a little lighter on the hibiscus and has some other things like roasted barley and chicory which bring it down to Earth a bit.

Lately I’ve been reflecting a lot on this tea drinking habit of mine and as much as I like trying a lot of different teas it still makes me cringe when I have to buy tea and tea bags that are all wrapped up in plastic and hermetically sealed like surgical instruments. Have we really become this precious? Tea used to get from China to Russia on the back of a camel and somehow the world managed to carry on.

So thanks to Celestial Seasonings for providing simple no frill teabags and cardboard boxes and keeping some waste out of the landfill. I am coming to the conclusion that I have to find more companies that reflect my values as a person. Or maybe I need to just go to local teashops and buy in bulk and bring in my own containers.

Perhaps I am getting a little nutty but it does help me to enjoy my tea when I’m not also obsessing over my contribution to the gigantic plastic gyre in the Pacific Ocean…. ;-)

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: boiling
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cinnamon, hibiscus
Steeped Tea Smell: floral, plum, cinnamon, generally sweet and spicy
Flavor: sweet, cinnamon
Body: Full
Aftertaste: cinnamon, hint of ginger
Liquor: barely translucent dark red-purple

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Very festive, pretty yummy, the plum is weak and the cinnamon dominates. It has a sweetness to it, not sure what from, but I am glad I taste before sweetening.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/01/celestial-seasonings-teabag-herbal.html

So, I’m on my second pot of this, and I’m really not sure what to think. I taste spice, cinnamon mainly, but there’s a hint of cardamom as well. I also taste plum, and there’s just a hint of the hibiscus in the background. I think the fruit flavors would come out more with a longer steep, and I’m tempted to try a 10 minute steep on this, but at 5 minutes the spices are quite strong enough, thank you, and I really don’t want to find out how much stronger they could be. So I’ll hold off on giving a rating for now.

On side note, I think my sickness is coming back. Joy of joys, my nose has been running so much it’s ready for a half marathon.

I headed into work yesterday with two mugs of tea again. I was craving Candy Cane Lane, but forced myself to drink a different herbal…and I’m glad I did.

This has always been one of my favorites, for as long as I can remember. Every Christmas season I buy a box or two and savor it until it comes back around. I don’t know why I’m suddenly in the mood for Christmas teas, but here I am! This definitely disappeared far too quickly last night at work.

I should just invest in a thermos.

This will forever be a part of my earliest tea memories. I remember having this tea with my childhood friends. The allure of Celestial Seasonings’ artwork on the tea boxes gets me every time! I believe I liked the old artwork for this Sugar Plum Spice blend instead of the newer image.. but then again, isn’t it the TEA that matters? Its scent is sweet and spicy — very much a holiday blend. The taste is a combination of spices, plus a heavy layer of something sweet. I don’t think that it’s exclusively plum flavor, but just a general fruitiness. I’m also tasting a bit of a licorice note in the sweetness (& I don’t like licorice in tea). I suppose I’ll keep drinking this because it’s a nice caffeine free, festive tea and it’s too deeply embedded in my tea memories for me to let it go.

Backlogging: drank a cuppa this yesterday to combat my sickness (a terrible Migraine). I love, love, love this blend of sugary spices and pleasant plum – I kick off the holiday season with this one. Now it’s time to load up for the rest of the year! I’ve tried other cinnamon and plum blends and none of them are as good. …

Now I’m at work without a bag on hand and am wishing I brought one! I’ll brew when I get home, to kick off the weekend. Yums!

I needed something to calm my nerves, because this day (nay, this week) has been nothing but, frankly, shit. I am apparently going to lose my job, and there is little I can do about it. They thought they gave me a choice, but there isn’t one. Unless “give up school for your job, or give up your job for your school” counts. Except school is why I need a job, thus if one goes, so does the other.

I have a stress headache from furrowing my eyebrows too hard for too long. I snagged this from my mother’s cupboard, because it seemed interesting enough. You can definitely SMELL the spices, and sniffing it, it’s very christmasy. Spicy sugar plum—very fitting. I just threw the teabag in and didn’t even bother with a set steep time—so yeah, the bag’s still in there. It’ll survive. It’s got a good spice base. Not too strong, and luckily the hibiscus (which is very apparent) doesn’t overpower it. I think I’m actually getting some form of sweet, plum flavour in there as well. The spices are solid—cinnamon of course, but there are others (I didn’t look too closely at the ingredients, forgive me).

I think it balances very well; I can see myself snagging a few more bags of this in the future.

so, obviously, I have a propensity for spiking my tea in the evenings (it’s cold in montana. rum is nice when it is cold). I’ve had this tea plain and it is fine. But, my dear tea friends, here is a great trick: brew two bags, add a touch of agave and a drop of vanilla, and a shot of dark rum. hello wonderful winter drink.

My aunt didn’t like this tea so she gave it to me. I love it! I actually quite enjoy it with out sugar, but tonight I thought I’d try it with a little bit. I asked my boyfriend what he thought and had him add the sugar. He added two level spoon fulls of sugar, and it tasted just like a candy cane. And I for one looove candy canes. I do have to say though, I think one spoon full of sugar might have been enough. I’m kind of sad that it only comes out during the holiday season, so I’ll have to get some more, ya know stock up on it a bit so I can have it whenever I want! :) I love this tea! It’s quickly become one of my favorites.

Last night’s cup has spurned a kick to drink up some of the bagged tea so I can buy more loose. I’ll probably always keep some bagged teas on hand, but I’m drinking mostly loose tea now. The Sugar Plum Spice has a nice cinnamon and spicy flavor without being too sharp. The undertones and aftertaste are floral.

White ceramic Mepkin Abbey mug (I have two of these.). 1 bag.

It’s been over year since I drank this tea and clearly my memory has faded a bit in the meantime as I took a sip and WHOA! -What a kick from the cinnamon and the sweetness! It’s less of a ‘bleh’ reaction than a oookaaay-maybe-I-won’t-steep-this-quite-as-long-next-time reaction. I do wonder what’s causing the sweetness, I’ll have to peruse the ingredient list on the box. is curious now

I never reviewed this? Hmm… Well I’m drinking it now, and it is almost the last bag. I don’t like this too much. It’s much like drinking potporri to me. ew. It seems like there is less of a plum taste and more of a hibiscus taste. And the plum that is there is bitter. I don’t think I would buy this one again, but the sugar plum idea is nice.

Don’t like this nearly as much as the other holiday teas I’ve tried from CS. It has a very light cinnamon taste with a miniscule hint of plum flavor. It’s just too weak.

This is a wonderful Christmas blend. I’m having it tonight steeped in a pretty normal little tea or coffee mug, to take off the edge of being so far from home and from my normal holidays celebrations. It’s sweet and earthy and the spice hits just right. (Which I really, really wasn’t expecting, because I remember disliking this Celestial Christmas blend a lot last year.)

I think that this is the oldest box of tea in my stash. …It was actually from my mum’s stash. The box has the old red/white/blue ballerina art, not the cutesy purple fairy stuff. I mean, late 90’s/early 2000’s. I could probably sell this in the vintage part of Etsy.

….To be honest, it still tastes the same as it did 5+ years ago. That is, kind of like potpourri. Perhaps it has mellowed a bit, which is probably a good thing. I always brew it for about 2 minutes, then add a used black teabag for about 2 more minutes to kind of make a lazy person’s blend.

I wouldn’t be consuming this tea if I didn’t have a complex about food waste. I guess it’s just that sugared fruits, candied fruits, and applets/cotlets/Turkish delights/heavy sweet fruity winter things really aren’t part of my culture? Perhaps this tea is imbued heavily with Tchaikovsky elements, which means that I instinctively shy away from it? I don’t know. CS really isn’t my favorite company to begin with (but I really appreciate their packaging and production beliefs), so I’m not that broken-hearted. …Though I do have at least 4 more bags of this. …

Snowing heavily here, and wanted something Christmas-y. Spicy, thanks to the cinnamon. If it didn’t say Plum on the package, I couldn’t have told you there was plum in it. Tasty, but only one steep per bag.

One of, if not my favourite teas. I know, I know, it’s bagged and boring, but my word is it ever good. Plum? Sugar? Can’t screw that up.

Goofed up with my first cup of this on Sunday night. I accidently let it steep for about 20 minutes. The result was something like lukewarm Dimetap or perhaps the purple Triaminic. However, it did ease the mild nausea I had. I haven’t been able to bring myself to try another cup. I think I’ll wait until nausea sets in again.

I think personally I’m not a big fan of plum and cinnamon and the tea was very sweet. Overall not a terrible blend, but not a great one either.