I have a real love-hate relationship with these mini Hama beads, I feel like I am making no progress what so ever with sorting them and it is frustrating me. But I can’t hate them because they are so pretty, lovely vibrant colors mixed with a tiny size makes me happy, I just wish they would sort themselves because I want to start using them! I also have a real love-hate relationship with tea companies that have seasonal teas that go away and do not necessarily come back. It seems I have found a few of those that I end up loving and have no way of getting my greedy hands on ‘the precious’ again and I am left longing for them. It is one of these teas that I am reviewing today!
Toasted Marshmallow by DAVIDsTEA was sent to me (along with some other yummy spiced teas) from one of my Steepster friends, sadly when I went to their website I realized that it is a seasonal tea, and I had missed the season. Tragic! The tea is a blend of Black Tea, Marshmallows, Cinnamon, Allspice, Brittle Pieces, and Kukicha Green Tea, I am impressed with the use of whole Allspice berries, I have not seen that in a tea before. The aroma is very sweet and spicy with notes of marshmallow, toffee, malt, and cinnamon. There is also a strong note of spiced rum, allspice almost always reminds me of spiced rum. It has more of a mulling spice than a roasting marshmallow aroma, and even though it doesn’t match the name the aroma is quite pleasant.
Once steeped the aroma of allspice fills the room, the leaves loose some of their sugary sweetness and are mostly spiced, specifically rum tinged allspice. It is very rich with a hint of malt and smells extremely smooth and welcoming. The liquid brings back the marshmallow and has notes of spice as well, much sweeter and rich with a strong allspice finish.
The taste is sweet and malty, it is like someone already added cream to my tea. The mouthfeel is extremely smooth and velvety with a slightly sharp finish, but it leaves a slightly waxy feel in the mouth which is not as unpleasant as that sounds. For all that the aroma of allspice and cinnamon are fairly strong, in the cup they are quite perfectly balanced, just enough to let you know you are drinking a spiced tea without being overpowering. I found that letting this tea steep a long time improved it (usually I can’t say that about black teas) I first steeped it for 4 minutes and found that the spices and sweetness were present but the tea taste was not. Letting the tea steep for 6 and a half minutes brought out the malty qualities and made the tea a bit more brisk. Upon tasting I can say that the name doesn’t really match the taste, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment, I will definitely procure more if it returns!
For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/01/davidstea-toasted-marshmallow-tea-review.html
