This delicious blend of organic black teas (Assam & Kenyan) – a fine CTC blend (aka my favorite Scottish Breakfast Blend) – that is combined with vanilla bean, marshmallow root & coconut. This is not a vanilla tea – or a marshmallow tea – or a coconut tea. It’s something amazingly, delightfully delicious. Smooth yet strong. The kind of tea that you’ll want to wake up to every morning. Grab some while it’s available because – it won’t be available long!
It’s also organic, vegan, gluten-free & all natural!
organic ingredients: black teas, marshmallow root, coconut, amaranth petals, vanilla bean & natural flavors
more about this tea: Please don’t read too much into the name of this tea. It doesn’t mean that I’ll be creating a new breakfast blend every year – nor does it mean that I won’t. I mean, I might. Or – I might not. I’ll remain undecided until the time comes.
Really, this tea started out as my newest vanilla and/or marshmallow black tea – but when I taste tested it, I found myself wanting coconut in it. I have been on a bit of a coconut kick lately (you may have noticed) & I really wanted coconut in this blend & I’ll keep it real with you, I’m not one to ignore those impulses when they occur. Generally, if I want something in a tea, I’ll add it. I’ll just do it. I’ll not even ask for permission. I’ll just do the thing.
So I did it.
So, now this tea doesn’t quite qualify as a vanilla and/or marshmallow black tea because there’s coconut in it. And I’m not sorry about that. Not at all. And I don’t think you’ll be sorry about it when you try it. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you’ll be glad there is because it’s really, seriously good with the coconut.
So that’s that.
to brew: I recommend shaking this blend before measuring it. The vanilla beans are tiny & the tiny particles in this tea tend to shift toward the bottom of the pouch. And those vanilla beans are what helps give this blend a vanilla yumminess that it wouldn’t otherwise have – you know – without the vanilla beans.
So, shake the pouch. Measure out 2 ½ grams of tea to 12oz of nearly boiling water. (205°F) Allow to steep for 2 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend steeping longer than that because this is a finely cut CTC blend – which means it’s ready to go all bitter on you if you oversteep it. It doesn’t like to be oversteeped. It really, really doesn’t.
Strain & allow to cool for about 10 minutes. The cool time allows the flavors to develop. The time spent waiting for the cool time to expire – is well worth it.
serving suggestions: I like this one served hot & straight up with no additions. It’s really good like that. But – if you want to bring some of the vanilla-y, marshmallow-y, coconut-y goodness of this tea forward, a teensy bit of sugar will do that for you. I prefer a raw sugar – about ½ a teaspoon of it. This makes all those flavors pop – it’s a delightfully flavorful medley of coconut, vanilla and marshmallow that makes for my idea of a perfect breakfast.
It also makes a really good latte. If you want to go latte, I recommend steeping it stronger (please note: steeping it stronger DOES NOT mean steeping it longer. It means adding more leaf when you steep. Instead of the 2 ½ grams, add 3 to 3 ½ grams & steep for the same amount of time (2 minutes). Steeping it longer may make the tea stronger, but it will also make it more bitter and astringent – so the safest way to avoid a bitter, astringent tea that is still strong is to add more leaf, not more time to the steep.
