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059/365

I used a recipe from T2’s website, and made this one up as a salted caramel latte. The tea itself is described in terms of pancakes, so it seemed a bit of a stretch from that to salted caramel. It worked, though, so that was a surprise! Apparently, adding 1 tsp of honey and a pinch of salt can have a fairly drastic effect!

I can’t say all that much about the tea just now, as I’ve yet to try it plain. It stood up well to the milk and additions, though, and contributed a lot of its own flavour – I wouldn’t say pancakes, perhaps, but there was a certain “bakery” kind of quality, a maple-like sweetness, and a little bit of astringent bite. Combined with the salt and honey, I could definitely imagine salted caramel.

What I wanted from this one was a warming, comforting, just-in-from-work kind of cup, and that’s what I got. I’m enjoying being a bit more creative, too – it’s inspiring to do something different!

I’ll write a more in depth tasting note for this one once I’ve tried it on its own, but for now I’m very happy with it!

058/365

Made this one as a latte, because that’s obviously what it wants to be. It’s as fundamentally delicious as you might expect, and it really nails “ice cream” as a flavour. It’s vanilla, for sure, but there’s also something beyond that which suggests ice cream more readily – maybe it’s the carob powder? It’s not just vanilla matcha, although it’s actually pretty difficult to explain why that is, when vanilla is very much the main flavour.

I think it helps that it’s a latte – it lends a thickness, and an extra “dairy” dimension that it might otherwise be lacking – I’ll have to try it without so much milk, and see how I feel about it then. One thing I did notice is that it’s slightly powdery in terms of texture, but it’s a fine powder rather than a gritty one. I stirred it a few times as I drank, and that seemed to help a little, but I think it might be partly due to the ingredients. Perhaps one of them just has that texture? When I got to the bottom of the cup, there was no powder sludge, so it was definitely whisked thoroughly enough (I use an electric whisk anyway, so there was little doubt about that…) It didn’t spoil my enjoyment, in any case. This one’s great, and I’d definitely buy more!

057/365

Something simple this morning, for the first full week back at work. I found this one surprisingly malty, so probably quite heavy on the Assam, but with brighter, citrussy Ceylon notes. I think I actually prefer it to Twinings English Breakfast, which is something of a revelation to me. It’s so much maltier, and I really like that, although I wouldn’t necessarily drink it on an empty stomach.

Not much to say about this one, but I’m glad I tried it. It’s nice to find that I can still be surprised by something as ordinary as an EB!

056/365

I’ve drank this one many, many times before, and so today I decided to do something a little bit different. I’ve only recently got on the tea latte bandwagon, and I’ve never tried it with this particular blend before, so I gave it a go. I used a slightly amended version of Bluebird’s Festival Chai recipe – 2 tsp of tea, in 200ml boiling water, for around 8 minutes. I added that to 200ml of hot milk, and topped it with cinnamon.

The result is pretty delicious – very creamy, but still with a good level of flavour from the tea. Bluebird’s Gingerbread Chai is already a fairly desserty blend, but making it as a latte takes it to a whole new level – I’d say it’s less chai, more cake. The spiciness is very much in the background, and the ginger cake flavour is front and centre.

A great way to bring new life to a well-tried tea.

055/365

Made this one up as a latte this morning. I used three bags in 250ml boiling water, for around 8 minutes, then I added 150ml of hot milk. It’s not quite as flavourful as I expected it to be, if I’m honest. There’s quite a lot of cardamom, because it’s having that tongue numbing effect, but otherwise I can mostly taste vanilla. It’s pretty sweet, with both liquorice root and vanilla, and then the milk, but I don’t mind that too much. I just wish I’d been able to taste more of the fennel and pepper, which would have balanced things out a little better.

I’ll try this one brewed straight next, I think, and that should give me a better idea of what it’s like. Maybe a latte just isn’t the thing for this one (although it’s warming and comforting, and that’s really all I wanted this morning…)

054/365

I’m not the greatest fan of mint tea. I mean, it’s okay, but it’s pretty dull on the whole. This one is a blend of spearmint and peppermint, which raises it a little higher in my estimation – I like spearmint a lot more than peppermint in flavour terms. A nice thing about this blend is that it’s actually green when you brew it. The majority of mint teas I’ve had have been sludgy brown affairs, so it’s always nice to see a fresh-looking cup. I guess the brown is at least partly oxidisation, so I’m not quite sure how it’s been avoided here, but I’m glad it has!

In flavour terms, it’s exactly as you’d expect. Mint, tingly and cool. The spearmint adds an additional edge of sweetness, but the peppermint is definitely the dominant flavour. As mint teas go, this is a good one.

053/365

I was surprised this one was a black tea, initially. It sounds like something that might be a fruit or rooibos blend, or at least that’s what my brain told me. Possibly I’ve tried something with a similar name before. I’m pleased it’s a black, though. I’m even more pleased that it’s totally delicious!

For starters, it’s rather unexpectedly creamy. It reminded me immediately of 52Teas Orange Creamsicle, only more creamy. The orange flavour is a little artificial. It reminds me more of Kia-Ora juice or orange candy than an actual orange – it’s too sweet to be flavour accurate. That’s okay, though – candy orange with this level of creaminess is a pretty wonderful thing.

Love.

052/365

I get Chai from this one – actually a really nice Chai – but no gingerbread. That’s my number one gripe as far as this tea goes. Maybe it’s an age thing, as I’ve found with a couple of the other PostTea advent blends, but who knows really?

As a Chai, I rate this one. It has really delicious black liquorice notes, which I’m assuming is largely aniseed-related. It has lots of cardamom, a good hit of black pepper, and is fairly light on the cinnamon, ginger, and clove. It’s a little bit different from the “typical” Chai I generally find in the UK, and I like it all the more for that.

A tea called Gingerbread should have some ginger/cake kind of element, though, and this one doesn’t. Mixed feelings.

051/365

I’m going to spend the first few days of January revisiting a few of the PostTea advent blends I missed when I was ill at the beginning of December. As it turns out, I think I missed some good ’uns.

Today’s tea is Bakewell Blend, which is supposed (obviously) to resemble a Bakewell Tart . To me, that means – frangipane, cherry, icing. This is a pretty good recreation, although it’s mostly almond and a sweetness that’s pretty spot-on glace icing. There’s really no cherry/jam flavour to speak of, and that’s a slight disappointment.

It’s still ridiculously desserty, though, and I like it for that. It also nails two of the flavours, and two out of three isn’t bad odds. Could it be improved? Yes. Would I buy a bag? Probably not. But is is good to drink on the first day back at work (basically, end of days in terms of my mood)? Yes. And that’ll do.

050/365

I’ve had this one in previous years, but for some reason I’m really appreciating it this year. Maybe the recipe has changed slightly, or maybe it’s me, but for the first time it actually does make me think of wine, rather than just fruit tea. There’s a rich, tannic quality that’s somehow just really spot-on as an imitation of wine – which isn’t something I expected to find in a tea! The fruit/spice elements are really good also – orange and cinnamon most prominent among them. Happy with this one!