Organic Vanilla Blossoming Black Tea

Yesterday evening, it started snowing. I am no stranger to snow, but it’s been noticeably absent from these parts for the past number of years. We’ll get one, maybe two inches – barely enough to cover the ground. When I was in high school, we’d hope against hope that the school board would take pity on us and cancel school for the day [and since we usually don’t get much they typically would, even though it was definitely drivable].

This year, we got dumped with 14-16 inches during the big east coast snowfall. In between then and now, we received a few more inches. Yesterday evening, the weather graced us with another 4-6. This has prompted a number of silly hash tags on twitter, like #snOMG, #snowpocalypse, and #precipageddon [that last one may be my favorite].

Last night’s snow was packing snow. For those who might not be familiar, that means it was coming down in big, airy flakes that are optimal for creating those spherical orbs of crystallized H20 that people sometimes like to chuck at each other or stack into vaguely humanoid forms. This was the kind of snow that used to get me crazy excited as a child, because I knew I’d be decking a few kids in my neighborhood before someone got hurt and we all got yelled at. [Ah, childhood.] Even now, it’s the snow that I find the prettiest. There’s something romantic about it, and it demands a tea with a hazy warmth about it.

Deciding to chance it on something new, I brewed up a cup of Vanilla Dian Hong while I watched the flakes float silently down outside in between physics problems. [I should add at this point that this is one of my favorite contemplative “it’s snowing outside” songs ever – http://bit.ly/c5811d – should you need/want one.] So I sat there, working through problems, watching the snow, and smelling the tea while I waited for it to cool.

It smelled like vanilla, unsurprisingly, but with an edge. It almost smelled…malty. Maybe earthy? It reminded me a bit of pu-erh, actually, and I did find that surprising. Once I thought it had cooled enough to sip without fear of scalding, I went ahead and slurped in a bit.

I’m not sure how to describe what transpired, but it resulted in one of the more interesting mouthfeels I’ve had in a while. It was as though the outside borders of the liquid was watery; tiptoeing on but not quite breaking ground into bitter. It was a little metallic, in a way, almost…coppery? The center of tea, however, was rich and flavorful. This was all in one mouthful, and all when it was held in place without swallowing, and unfortunately that’s the best I can do to explain it.

The center of the tea didn’t have a lot of vanilla taste to me, which was maybe a little disappointing, but it did taste like something good. Part of it was malt. That was unmistakable to me, but it took me a long time to place what the other thing was. Once I did, it was one of those things that made me “D’oh” out loud. It tasted like graham cracker. I haven’t had graham crackers in a long time. Realizing that this is what I was tasting almost instantly transported me back to when I was little and my brother would fight at the end of lunch over who got to split the cracker down its perforated seam. I used to like to dunk my sections of cracker in my apple juice. [Don’t make that face at me; it’s good! Seven-year-old me promises. Cross her heart!]

As the tea cooled down to lukewarm, the vanilla came out of hiding and was much more present in the tea, which made me smile. Sometimes, when the sweetness would fade away at the tip of my tongue, I could taste a spicy puff of black pepper. When I exhaled, I could taste the vanilla on my breath, and the scent rising out of my cup began to remind me of pipe tobacco.

This tea was best to me at a bit below hot to lukewarm. It’s something that I’m looking forward to trying again, because I found it to be pretty complex. It lent itself very well to homework and snow, and since we’re supposed to be getting more snow in soon [and I doubt my load of homework’s going to lighten before the semester’s over], I may find myself in another opportune setting this weekend.

Having just finished cups of Black Orchid by Mariage Freres and Starry Night by the Jade Teapot, I’ve turned to this one as the third in my tale of three vanillas.

The dry leaves look quite a bit like the Black Orchid. The color is similar and you can see vanilla beans in this one, too. I’d venture to say that the leaves of Black Orchid are slightly longer, which is probably owing to a difference in the variety of black tea used.

And that’s where the similarities end. I get the same chocolate note from the dry leaves of the Dian Hong that someone else mentioned instead of the amazing vanilla that came out of the Black Orchid. This, however, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just a different thing. The aroma of the tea also has a chocolatey note — in any case, it is not overwhelmingly vanilla, though I can smell some vanilla in it. Mostly what it has going for it is that aromatic Samovar black smell that is common to all of the black teas of theirs I’ve tried. It’s a brown sugary, malty, smooth, delicious foundation for all the other flavors to frolic on and among.

The two notes here, chocolate and vanilla, are like two for the price of one. If you’re looking for a vanilla flavored tea, you’d probably be more satisfied with the Black Orchid, which is classically vanilla flavored. But if you’re looking for something with vanilla flavor and something more, give this a try.

I’m not sure which I prefer to tell you the truth. Both this and the Mariage Freres Black Orchid are exemplary blends. Black Orchid is a Rembrandt, this is a Jackson Pollack. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. I’m calling it a tie.

The amazing takgoti sent me this tea!!! My first Samovar tea!!!

I made a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing this weekend, and we had two pieces left – I thought that this tea would go well!

First off, the scent is heavenly. The tea tastes almost like it has spirits in it! A vanilla bourbon flavor that is different than any vanilla tea I’ve ever had. It combines with the sweet maltiness of the Yunnan for such a full bodied taste! Having a high quality tea base really makes a difference. It also held up well to the dense dessert.

I KNOW it didn’t have any alcohol in it, but I feel a bit tipsy! I must be drunk on deliciousness!!!

It smells like caramelized vanilla and something heavy and almost coffee-like. The taste is unexpected – not sweet and soft like a typical vanilla but more… masculine, for want of a better word. Earthy? I can totally see Cocoa Puffs flavor they mention in the tasting notes, particularly in the aftertaste. I don’t get graham crackers so much as that undernote of whatever cracker-like thing Cocoa Puffs are made of. It has a hint of pu-erh sweetness to it but the vanilla tempers it, keeps it from being too strong. It is much heavier and bolder than I originally expected and I like it though the thickness of the flavor makes one cup plenty.

This is quite a complex tea! The leaves alone smell so decadent. I know this was a great choice for a dessert tea, I just wish I had a dessert to pair with it. I taste milk chocolate, a bit of cedar/woodsyness, warmth from the vanilla beans. The aftertaste has something a bit like the coppery taste after biting my tongue, maybe it’s just earthy flavors I haven’t quite explored yet. I’d enjoy tasting this tea again, it has many interesting characteristics.

I think I may have to add this one to my shopping list. I only had a wee bit of this to try, and I’m liking what I’m trying thus far.

Nice vanilla flavor. Very creamy and smooth. The Yunnan adds a nice peppery tone to the cup. It’s a wonderful contrast from sweet to a little bit spicy. I’m liking this a lot.

Thank you to Geoffrey for sending me a bit of this tea … sorry it took me so long to get around to trying it!

I love vanilla and am picky about teas that include it. I have fairly high expectations going into this one since Samovar seems to be angling more at the high end of the tea market. The dry leaf is very dark and has noticeable snips of vanilla bean mixed in, which is a good sign, but the aroma is not as deeply soaked in the spirit of vanilla as others I’ve tried, most notably Mariage Freres.

After four minutes I have a dark brown liquor with a pleasant level of vanilla scent. I almost always put cream and sugar in vanilla tea, but I’ll taste this first without to see what comes across. The tea base is quite strong, with quite a bit of astringency but lots of vanilla too. There are malty and spicy notes in there, pepper and nutmeg. With cream and sugar, the vanilla really blooms. It all works really well together to create a hot vanilla malt-like experience which is very tasty. High marks!

hrm. I wasn’t particularly impressed with this tea. I wanted to be, I love vanilla. But it really didn’t have much of what I identify as that flavor. More came out once it cooled, but not initally. It was pretty tannic.

Overall, it just didn’t stand out for me. I tend to hold Samovar to pretty high standards, partially because they cost so much, and partially because so many others hold them in such high esteem. And this just didn’t make it.

Ah well – more samples to go try. :)

This is quite a cerebral tea and certainly not a run of the mill vanilla . On the forefront is the sweet vanilla ; in the background, is a slight pepper/malty? flavor from the yunnan. As I drink this tea and contemplate the contrasting flavors, I keep thinking to myself, “hmmm…what is this?”

The aroma of the dry leaves is everything vanilla: vanilla bean ice cream, vanilla cake, vanilla wafers, vanilla extract. Yum! You can see where my mind is right now.

Once brewed, the tea’s aroma has a more natural vanilla scent. I’m so excited to try this tea for two reasons: 1) it just smells so delicious, and 2) it’s the first cup of tea I made in my brand new owl cup!

My boyfriend and I celebrated our 5th year anniversary yesterday by going to the Maryland Renaissance Fair! I’ve never been to a Renaissance Fair before, and it was so much fun!!!! I dressed up in a padded petticoat, green linen skirt, white chemise, and floral corset. It was such a blast! Everyone is dressed up and calls you “milady”, all the food is fried, the shows are hilarious, and people drink all day long! It was quite entertaining. We saw jousting and archery and my boyfriend bought a real, combat ready sword!! I bought this cute little pottery owl mug. Click here to see it: http://tinyurl.com/3rcj6ko

So, now we’re back to the tea. It should have cooled off by now. Mmmmm!! This is really good! It has a very nice black tea base that complements the vanilla flavoring well. Or maybe it’s the other way around, and the vanilla complements the tea base. Either way, this is delicious!

After sipping it with no additions, I added a little milk & sweetener. Wow! Now it really tastes like vanilla sweets! I kind of chugged it down actually. Time for a second infusion! The second cup is just as good as the first. This might be the first Samovar sample that I go for more than two infusions with.

I’ve had vanilla as a second or third flavoring in a tea, but never as the main event. With that said, I think this may be the best vanilla tea I’ve ever had!

Of course, it could also be the owl mug that makes it so good. I guess we’ll never know. :)

I am adding this to my shopping list right now. This was another smokey sample that I thought about throwing out… and once you can get past the smoke (see last review… this isn’t part of the tea, just part of my particular samples) it’s amazing. And I typically don’t like vanilla tea at all. It’s perhaps my least favorite flavoring. But this one is just enough to make you think of vanilla without being overwhelming. Yum!!

My black tea sampler from samovar came in today! For the price I paid (which was a lot—even with the steepster select) i secretly hoped it would be more than just 1 time samplers. But oh well~

this tea smells faintly like vanilla, but more on the weird side. I’m not sure whether or not to add milk and sugar….but after just taking a tiny sip I guess I’m going to. Yeah, the flavor is definitely better.

I can see why they say it “appeals to coffee drinkers”. Somehow it has similar tastes overall to coffee, but I can’t really pick out any specific flavors in it. I’m tasting some vanilla for sure but it’s not the most prominent flavor. Hmm, flavor profile says it has black pepper, that would make sense for this slightly weird flavor i’m tasting. I think the pepper is leaving a slightly weird after taste as well, but overall it’s a good tea. Really can’t say more considering I’m not that into black teas.

I bought “Vanilla Blossoming”, which I’m guessing is the same. Wow! This is magical! This is a really evocative tea. The first sniff took me straight back to childhood. Suddenly it’s Christmas and I’ve got my nose in a big box of chocolates. I smell chocolate, but also the fillings. Lots of sweetness. Complicated. The taste is a dark, vanilla, but also the bourbon. I could swear this has alcohol in it. I love this tea.

I only used 1 teaspoon in 8 oz water, so much less than the directions say. 2nd steep was still good.

The vanilla flavor is light and very well balanced with the natural tea flavor. Beneath the vanilla, the taste is earthy with currants. The aroma is mild vanilla and oak. The vanilla is dominant in the aftertaste. Mild astringency. Liquor brews up copper colored.

I received some of this a few weeks ago along with some Ryokucha and Peppermint Yerba Mate… had been drinking it straight (which is still mighty tasty), then a few mornings ago I thought…

I had a variety of creamers in the fridge (hazelnut, gingerbread, vanilla caramel..) with the hubby still drinking coffee and I being a recent coffee convert … Tried a tiny bit of creme brulee creamer..like a 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon for a full 16 oz. pot. OMG. SOGOOD. ..and not overwhelming. Though I can see how putting in anymore than that would greatly take away from the tea.

Gives me the familiar mouthfeel of a creamy cuppa jo, but still tasting the mellow vanilla marshmallowy flavor of the tea… Fantastic alternative to coffee discovered!

I was excited to try one of the Samovar teas finally, as I’ve heard such good things about them. The shop I visited was out of the Masala Chai I’d wanted, but the Vanilla Dian Hong was second on my list, and it was in stock. When I popped the lid, it wasn’t vanilla I noticed, but rather the scent of a chocolate liquor instead. I was very excited to try this one, but as it was late when I got home I opted to try it in the morning instead. When brewed, this tea doesn’t have the same taste as it smells dry, which was fine. You definitely get more of the vanilla in the tea itself. What I found was that it almost had a flavor similar to a rooibos, with the slight aftertaste of black tea. So I wasn’t blown away, though I felt I should have been for the $18.99 price tag. I’m hoping Samovar’s masala chai fares better for me.