French Vanilla Black Tea

Many thanks to RachanaC via the Pay it Forward swap for this tea!!!

This tea got some harsh reviews. After reading them over, I decided it would probably be best to mix it in together with some bits and bobs of a few plain teas I had hanging around, and to take it with cream and sugar. I am happy to say that this bit of help produced a cup of tea that I like very, very much! It could be because I (whispers) sometimes indulge in General Foods International Coffee powder! My grandmother used to take me to the hair dresser with her every week when I was little, and the hair dresser served it (to a wee thing as I was!). I would drink it, and wait for my grandmother’s hair to be set with rollers and put under the enormous helmet dryer then teased and sprayed to within an inch of its life every week! I still to this day have some tins of this stuff at work and at home. When I am feeling particularly nostalgic, I will stir some powder into hot water and have A Moment.

So! I am totally having A Moment with this tea!!! I will admit – it is not fine, it is not natural, but BOY do I like it! It tastes like General Foods International Coffee Tea! It is really good in the afternoon instead of a cup of coffee. The little bit of plain tea tempered it into a nicer flavor. Milk and sugar takes care of many faults ;)

I am so glad that this tea found it’s home with me! Thank you again RachanaC!!!!

Yikes! Just awful. The leaves were so oily the taste was like wood. I didn’t really taste vanilla. I had to think really hard to find the flavor and I kind of tasted it but wasn’t even sure if I was trying o hard I was imagining it. Won’t be buying this one again.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2-3 tsp, one entire sample bag
Water: 500ml filtered 212° water
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (black, strong)
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: French vanilla, which made me think coffee
Steeped Tea Smell: french vanilla, milky, coffee
Flavor: bitter, astringent, milky, french vanilla creamer, black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: astringent, black tea
Liquor: Opaque dark brown, like coffee

I placed a large order of mostly samples so I could experiment with more flavors from thepuriTea, it’s sort of like pokemon, I want to try them all (mostly).

I think the 3 was a bit long, perhaps 2 or even 1 minute would have left this tea less bitter and astringent.

The flavor though is a very milky smooth wawa french vanilla coffee and creamer. I am not sure if it is the fact french vanilla is permanently affixed to coffee in my head or there is really a coffee flavor to the tea. MilitiaJim agrees.

Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar, sweeter, no longer bitter but still astringent. The sweetener brings out the sugar more.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/06/thepuritea-loose-leaf-black-tea-french.html

Expect to get one very tasty infusion, full of vanilla and black tea aromas and flavors. My humans foolishly tried a 2nd infusion. Chuckle! Details and a great photo of me next to the cutest little teacup: http://lyt-tea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-thepuriteacoms-french-vanilla.html

When I opened the package, I was a bit weirded out by the glossy/greasy look of the leaves. In past experiences, this basically implies leaves coated with artificial flavouring – bleh. Steeped two cups for two minutes. With the amount of bitterness I got from the first sip, it was as though this was two minutes too long. Great smell….fail taste. I splashed a bit of milk into the cup after having one cup straight. That helped to cut the bitterness, but the bite was still there.
At least it was better than Bigelow’s French Vanilla.
I didn’t bother resteeping the leaves.