S'mores (Seasonal, November-February)

I started making this and then my boyfriend was like, want to go to Starbucks? So I let this steep while we went…and now I have a cold coffee drink and hot tea.

This wins out. I’m not getting too much chocolate, but this definitely tastes like the graham crackers and marshmallows.

I am of course a chocoholic so I’ll just add more cacao nibs since I have them to see if that helps. Of course I also wasn’t really paying attention when I added the tea to the steeper so maybe I managed to unknowingly scoop out a teaspoon with little cacao nibs.

But even without chocolate this is so good. How does it taste so much like graham crackers? It’s definitely not just the cinnamon that’s doing it! The marshmallow root is interesting with the cinnamon, and it also makes this really sweet. I am loving the slightly smoked pine flavor at the end of the sip too.

Next time, more cacao! (Is there such a thing as enough though?)

I don’t like rooibos at all. That being said, I do love s’mores, and I couldn’t resist getting a sample of this. I mean, it’s not like I would be stuck with a bunch if I hated it! Sadly it’s discontinued, but replaced with a very similar blend I see which is good because I LOVE this tea!

I steeped it for 20 minutes, which seems like a very long time but it’s the suggested amount. I think it really paid off—I sniffed it a few times during the brewing, and while it smelled pretty rooibos-y after 10 minutes that weird medicinal odor was gone after 20! I think I might actually go back and experiment with some of my rooibos blends with longer steeps, maybe it masks the flavor better or brings out different aspects?

In any case, this tastes nothing like what I expect from rooibos, except maybe it adds a little woodsy-ness. What it DOES taste like is crusty, buttery, delicious graham cracker and soft marshmallow. It’s pretty darn amazing! As others have said the chocolate is almost non-existent, but I don’t really mind much. In fact, I think I’ll mix the rest of my sample with Della Terra’s S’mores (which I find strong on the chocolate but lacking in graham cracker flavor). This tea is so rich and luscious, but not too heavy. I know I said it doesn’t taste chocolate-y but it does remind me of red velvet cake for some reason, so I guess there’s a little chocolate! There’s also a bit of a tanginess, which I suppose is why I am getting the red velvet association.

Firstly, I ordered samples a while ago and I think this one has been discontinued since then.
I was really excited to try this tea but was wary after smelling it, because the smell was nothing like smores. Reminds me of my disappointment with DT’s Toasted Marshmallow.

The taste of this tea immediately reminded me of sweet potatoes, but not in a good way. I just didn’t like it. :(
What I did enjoy about this tea was the pretty orange color. http://instagram.com/p/Q5xp9YLPB6/

I honestly haven’t had much luck with the rest of my samples other than Whisper of the Woods but I have not given up on Whispering Pines! Hopefully I will try more of their teas in the future.

Er…. so when I pulled the infuser basket out of this one, the aroma I got made me think of tomato. Like, tomato soup. Or V8 juice. Very strange. It makes me quite apprehensive to try this tea…

Circumstances resulted in this tea completely cooling before I got to try it, oops. It still smells like a herby, brothy tomato soup. So strange. The flavour is… like sweet-ish, herby tomato water. Uh oh got this impression in my head and it won’t go away! I can recognize some cinnamon in the flavour, but that’s about all that I can pick out.

Oh man. Totally just realized that it smells vaguely like autoclaved contaminated LB medium (for those of you in sciencey fields)! Combined with V8-containing media that was used in a lab down the hall from mine once upon a time. That was not a good association to have made. I think I’m doomed with this cup. I did drink it; it’s palatable, but not a tea I think I’d want to drink again. I see it has been discontinued though, so I guess people won’t be drinking it again!

While I was absorbed in my Smokey Mountain Mate, my S’mores was over in my infuser, taking a nice long steeping. Brenden from Whispering Pines suggested a 20 minute steep, though mine MAY have been more like 23 by the time I made it over to pull the basket up (THIS is why I need a Breville to automatically do things for me! #firstworldproblems)

Anyway, I added a little soy milk to this cup, because… well mostly because I wanted to. As I walked back to my stool, I smelled the cup and knew it smelled AWESOME but couldn’t place the scent. Then it hit me! Smells JUST LIKE graham crackers!!! Sweet cinnamon goodness!

First sip… I don’t know if I would place this as s’mores right away, but it certainly tastes good… I definitely get the marshmallow and graham cracker right away, but the chocolate doesn’t hit me as much as I would like. Maybe it would just muddle the mix if it was more prominent, though… The cinnamon/sugar flavor of this comes through more than anything. I might just call it graham cracker tea if I didn’t know better! I’m not complaining, though, I love graham crackers :) Overall, the depth of flavor is actually impressive and I’m left with a lingering sweet marshmallow flavor. I wonder if adding sugar would bring out the flavors or just make this over the top sweet. I’m not going to mess with it, though! Thanks for the free sample, Brenden !