Spice Imperial

Quick note; in a hurry. upon smelling this tea I thought it would taste like Christmas ham-clove and cinnamon. I was relieved to find it did not, though both spices were apparent. I’m not a clove fan so I didn’t make it far, though my wife that doesn’t write notes loved it. Moderate astringency (wife didn’t agree) and dry is no good to me either. This is something I may have to work on so as not to miss out on other notable intricacies present in drier teas. Pleasant afterflavor, should work nicely to clear the palate of an oily meal. Not bad, just not a clove person.
tunes playing-America=Tin Man/Ventura Highway/Sister Golden Hair Surprise

When I first opened the package of this tea, I was surprised to smell just how spicy the aroma was. It is almost as pungent as the MarketSpice tea! It isn’t quite as oily in presentation, though, so I didn’t think it would be quite as spicy tasting as the MarketSpice.

And it isn’t. This is actually what I’d call a warmly spiced blend, but not spicy or hot. The black tea is about as strong a flavor as the cinnamon, and the cinnamon is the strongest of the spices, with the cloves appearing about mid-sip. The orange sort of peeks its way through, appearing throughout the sip, but not becoming a really strong flavor. More like a pleasant accent to brighten up the cup. At first, I found myself wishing that there was more vanilla flavor, but as the tea cools slightly, the vanilla flavors begin to come forward.

This is a pleasant enough tea, but the black tea base is a bit on the mellow side, and I found myself wishing for just a bit more roundness. I suspect that this is a Ceylon, and I think this blend would have been even better if there was a little bit of Assam or Nilgiri added to it, to add some roundness and maybe a touch of malt to the cup.

It is good as it is, but, it could be even better, I think!

I got this sample from Liberteas and held off making it so I could serve it for a tea party day, plus I was hoping for cooler weather to serve it. I got my wish today! Well, I consider 70F cooler weather, anyway.

I am a little leery of some spiced teas as they sometimes overdo it for me. Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice is one that makes me hide under the bed, but several of my friends love it. This one smelled really good but I was afraid I would be assaulted by cinnamon. Instead, I was sweetly wooed.

I really agree with Liberteas on this one. I felt that I tasted more clove than cinnamon, though, but even that was mild. I was really excited to have this since my daughter gave me a few sips of her spiced apple cider from Starbucks last week and it was sooo good. This reminded me of it, though I drank it unsweetened and I am sure the SBucks stuff was full of sugar.

The tea base could be a little stronger for my taste, but I am seriously inspired to try to make a mulled tea this good. this was really tasty. Thank you, Liberteas, for the delicious tea!

There’s nothing better than spiced tea on a rainy, cold winter day. Or, you know, on a sunny summer afternoon.
Though I actually prefer spiced tea on cold days, I couldn’t resist trying this great gift, especially after opening the tin and immediately getting hit by that lovely aroma. And though it isn’t as good as my favorite “Chá verde Inverno”, which has a stronger citrous flavor, Spice Imperial is a very nice addition to my growing tea collection.

A must try one. I’m from Turkey, one of the country where tea is consumed most. Unfortunate to say that we do not have this kind of flavoured tea varieties in here. I am lucky enough to find out about Whittard, and its spice imperial. About a decade a go, discovered it during my visit to London. It has an amazing taste; a very strong taste as well. Therefore you get the best joy of it when blending it with a regular (not flavoured) black ceylon tea. Don’t use same amounts while blending, whittard s.i. should be added half amount of the other that you’re adding. Enjoy!

I bought a box of the bagged version of this tea (50 teabags) last year- before discovering I hated it. I would not recommend drinking it black – although, I may be biased, preferring most black teas with milk – it just tastes bitter and a bit nasty to me without (perhaps my fault?). I can’t really distinguish any of the individual flavours – just a vague hint of mixed spices. Saying that, it is still pleasant to drink, if I manage to offset the bitterness with a huge amount of milk.