Vanilla Tea

Cake and tea. This is fodder for the writing mind. (Probably, to be honest, especially cake…)

This one was shared with me by Dinosara and an excellent choice for sharing it was too. Vanilla blacks have turned into something of an obsession for me. I am searching for the perfect vanilla flavoured black, seeing as I can’t apparently get the actually perfect vanilla black that Chi of Tea sold. That one was so awesome and just right in every way.

This one has bits of vanilla pod in it, which is a plus. I don’t care if they only impart very little actual flavour, they have a huge significance aesthetically. The perfect vanilla flavoured tea much have them, I think. It also, according to Upton’s information, has artificial flavouring. I’m less keen on that. The perfect vanilla black should be flavoured with real vanilla. Not an artificial approximation of vanilla.

(Unless by artificial flavouring they mean giving the tea a flavour which it does not have naturally, in which case it’s an entirely different crate of fish. I don’t consider this very likely though…)

The aroma is strong on the vanilla notes. A sweet caramel-y vanilla, hanging heavily over the surface of the tea itself. It smells right, I have to say. It smells like my memory of the aroma of the aforementioned Perfect But Unavailable vanilla black, except it lacks the note reminding me of coconut which in turn reminded me of a specific sort of licorice sweets. I don’t get that whole association chain here. Still, it’s close enough that I would say the prospects of finding the perfect vanilla tea is looking quite good at the moment.

The flavour does not hit you in the face with vanilla. It’s definitely there, but this is tea-flavoured tea which ALSO tastes like vanilla. Not just tea that tastes like vanilla, the end. That’s a mark in the positive column, as is the fact that while it is somewhat modest and doesn’t overpower the base, the vanilla is easily detectable.

It has a dry feeling to it, though. It’s not astringent as such, but it is a dry sort of flavour (also, it’s dark brown. Been a while since I had a synesthesia inducing tea, actually) and this then led me to actually look up taste-colour synesthesia, which didn’t seem to yield very many useful results. Maybe it’s not a very common type, and I’ve only got it in a mild form, I think, due to how it doesn’t always work. No matter what,
’¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨4yurjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjh (Luna helping me type there. I choose to share the antics of my cats rather than deleting them) it caused me to forget about the tea which is now lukewarm.

So anyway, it tastes dark brown, which is more the colour of black tea, seeing as vanilla on it’s own has more greyish sort of flavour. That dry flavour that caused that whole side-tracking thing with the synesthesia is not really something I think would be part of the perfect vanilla tea. It’s distracting, and for that I will say that this is not the perfect vanilla tea either, although a very good candidate indeed. If the dry note had not been quite so strong, it would have been a different matter entirely. Maybe also with a touch of that coconut-y note as well. Then it would have been worth at least ten more points.

This tea is probably one of the best examples of a Vanilla tea that we’ve encountered. It is a standard black tea, very much in line with the generic term, “China Black”. That said, it is a good quality tea base with a full black tea flavor.

The tea is advertised as a full-leaf tea, however, when wet, it reveals itself as a machine processed tea. The leaves are broken, cut and relatively small. This is in line with the tea being a standard China Black. Even though it does not appear to be a proper full-leaf tea, the base is still substantial enough to support the vanilla flavor.

This tea uses actual pieces of vanilla bean along with some artificial flavoring. The beans are exactly as they appear in the image, chopped pieces. In a sealed container, no doubt the oils from the bean pieces infuse with the tea. The flavoring is added for extra punch and works wonderfully.

Some drinkers may flinch at the use of artificial flavorings, however, Upton makes clear that the products they use are labeled according to FDA regulations which are fairly specific. However, Upton’s marketing material states, “…the so-called nature-identical flavorings which are used on most of our flavored teas, must be listed as artificial.” In other words, nothing to worry about here. Drink your tea.

The vanilla aroma is strongly present in the dry tea, and the liquor is properly infused with it as well. The subtle sweetness that vanilla offers is found throughout the sip and even lingers in the back of the mouth. The bean pieces really solidify what the added flavoring may not add, thus this tea has a creaminess to it.

We would go so far to say that this is one of the best Vanilla Teas available.

Note: Upton Tea is an importer, they repackage and sell teas from around the world. They are not blenders. This tea is a product of Germany and is blended there. Some members of the Leafbox staff are familiar with numerous German tea blenders and merchants. Vanilla tea is a standard tea in Germany available from numerous sources, this one ranks among the best of that segment as well.

Our tasters found this tea to be complimented well with a bar of good chocolate nearby.

This is the final tea in the sample pack that I got from twiggles for the Easter HoppiTea. I do love a good vanilla tea, although I don’t have many examples that are just straight up vanilla black. The aroma of the dry leaves on this one isn’t just vanilla, but I can’t really place it. Like many vanilla teas, this one is made up of fairly small pieces of tea leaf. Brewed, the aroma becomes more definitely vanilla with the black tea base coming through. The taste is vanilla, but not creamy vanilla, just a warm vanilla on top of the robust black tea. It’s a solid, tasty black tea, though I can’t help but wish the vanilla was a tiny bit stronger (I am, after all, a flavor junky).

Having 2 Upton vanilla teas to sample tonight, this choice was random (other being Earl Gray Vanilla). Turned cold and rainy here today, so in spite of a large Teavana (sale) order arriving today, this is what I wanted.

The words “black tea” always worry me. Will it be bitter?…too strong? Well in this one, the black tea is very well behaved, very nice. Obviously the vanilla is the star here, but they are very good partners, and am enjoying this cup of tea very much.

It’s good, a solid tea for sure, but I had higher expectations for it.

As usual the base of the tea from Upton is great, but I found myself hoping for more prominent vanilla flavours, especially because there is vanilla bean in it. I am usually one for more powerful flavouring, so take this with a grain of salt. But I found it was more like a strong base with a mild flavouring on top, as opposed to a straight “flavoured tea”.

Still nice quality, but I think I’m gonna move onto some more of the 30 samples I just got from Upton :)

12/09/09 I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon fire. Brewed for 3 minutes and I have a wonderfully smooth cup of tea. I don’t seem to like this tea by itself anymore. I am on my second infusion and will try for a third before the evening gets too late.
12/28/09 Smooth. Tasty. Great with chocolate

Sweet and creamy. like a desert….