Smaug Tea

Last night, reliving an old tradition, I went to see Desolation of Smaug, to celebrate I am reviewing a thematic tea! I am not going to talk about the movie though, my reasoning is I could write several blog posts analyzing the ins and outs of what I did and did not like about it. Yes, I am one of those people, a Tolkien scholar that reads the Silmarillion for fun and has an entire bookshelf devoted to Tolkien themed books. So to save you all the pain and suffering of my Middle Earth ranting, here is some tea reviewing!

Smaug Tea by 52Teas is a blend of Dragonwell, Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper, and a hint of Lapsang Souchong, a fiery dedication to the last of the great Winged Fire Drakes. The aroma of this tea is intense, it actually made me sneeze. The tea is spicy and strong, with intense notes of cinnamon and cayenne pepper ending with a very delicate hint of smokiness. I did not notice any vegetal aroma from the Dragonwell, it is all power and fury. I think a mere sniff of this tea would turn a Cold Drake into a Fire Drake in no time.

The brewed leaves are still incredibly spicy and potent but now with a sweet undertone. There are vegetal notes present now as well that are faint but do blend nicely with the heat from the spice. The aroma of the liquid is much milder but still pleasantly spiced with sweet cinnamon fading to hot cayenne pepper. There is a buttery vegetal tone and a slight smoky hint as well.

Oh My Glaurung that is an intense tea! First there is a sweet vegetal taste mixing spinach and artichoke, as you swallow the midtaste becomes cinnamon warmth and then fades into hot cayenne fire in the back of your throat. It burns like dragon’s fire, though not unpleasantly so. There is a slight aftertaste of smoke and sweetness, I wish there would have been a touch more smoke (a personal preference since I love smoky teas) but as it usually is with dragons there is no room for smoke, only fire. This tea is a fitting tribute to Smaug, it is powerful while still being enjoyable, I do not reccomend any dwarves sip this tea though, it could end badly.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/01/52teas-smaug-tea-tea-review.html

Travelling Tea Box C

I am excited and nervous to be trying this tea. I love the idea behind the tea (SMAUG!), but know that I don’t like some of the flavors/ingredients in it. Peppers/cinnamon/spicy/smoky flavors in tea and I don’t get along well. I know it’s so appropriate for the theme of the blend, but there’s a reason why I didn’t buy this it when it popped up. I do like Dragonwell, though, so maybe it won’t seem so bad?

Giving this tea a sniff, I like it much more after it’s steeped than when it’s dry. It is very heavy on the cinnamon, but it seems appropriate for the holidays. The tea base sort of sits in the background and doesn’t contribute much.

Sipping… yep, the cinnamon is the main flavor. It smothers the tea base, so I can’t get a bit of Dragonwell. When I think that I can handle the cinnamon, I’m hit with a very spicy and irritating finish. It actually burns the back of my throat! I don’t taste any smoke, but that could be because I’m concentrating on the cinnamon and spice. My brother also had a cup and reports that it’s “fine”. I’m glad that I tried it and that I could participate in the first of my holiday pouches, but am not sad to see it go. Twelve Teas of Christmas: Day One

I bought this tea mostly for my father and husband. They both like spicy cinnamon and they are both a fan of Butiki’s Winter Fire tea, so I thought this one would be for them too. I can’t handle the Winter Fire tea at all. It tastes alright, but I feel like I am suffocating for just a moment after each swallow. My mother and sister felt the same way. I attribute it to the hot peppers. This, having cayenne pepper and all, I figured would not be a good match for me. And it supposedly has Lapsang Souchong in it too! Oh, no thank you to that! Adagio’s custom Smaug blend was all the Lapsang Souchong encounters that I ever needed.

So why am I sitting here with a cup of this tea anyway? I don’t really know. I seem to be having an OCD issue causing me to try out teas just because I have to simply say that I tried them. Here and there, if I am in the right mood, I can override the OCD, but not tonight. Of course, I only brewed a tiny tea cup of this.

The Lapsang Souchong is completely lost on me in this tea. I know it is in there sparingly, but that’s some powerful stuff to hide even in small quantities. I’m getting just a small touch of the same sensation that choked me upon swallowing Winter Fire, but not enough to actually make me cough. That all being said, this is really just a strong cinnamon flavored tea. It’s not fooling around when it comes to flavor.

I like cinnamon plenty, but I don’t usually crave it in a tea unless it’s blended with other ingredients too. This is a tea that I will likely drink more of simply because my husband likes it too, but I won’t be reaching for it when I’m making tea for myself alone.

I missed out on this blend on the 14th because I didn’t check the labels carefully enough, so I’m playing catch up. I’ve been wanting to try this tea for ages – and not just because of the name. (Okay, maybe the name did influence me a little bit – I’m a sucker for dragons and all things Tolkien.)

This tea is sure packing some heat – the cinnamon is like those little hot cinnamon hearts that you get on Valentines Day – the tea smells like them too for that matter. But the heat doesn’t overwhelm everything else, instead it’s just a pleasant little prickle on the tongue. The dragonwell base ends up working really well with the heat – better than a black tea would in my opinion. Dragonwell has a bit more muscle to it than most green teas and it holds up well to the strong flavours with it’s smooth and slightly buttery notes. There’s also just the faintest hint of smokiness (from the lapsang souchong probably) that gives this tea an interesting finish.

Now that I’ve drank my cuppa I feel all fired up and ready to hunt down some pesky dwarves and hobbits. ;)

So I won’t be rating this because it will artificially bring down the overall rating because I really shouldn’t be drinking this in the first place. But I did because I’m a bit OCD like that and I’ve got a 52teas montly subscription for a year and I’m going to drink at least one cup of all of them dammit. But I really shouldn’t be rating this because I KNEW I wouldn’t like it. I don’t like a single ingredient in it.

It’s actually not as horrible as I thought it would be. The cinnamon is an unpleasant tingle and the cayenne I hate so much. But I actually think I don’t mind the green tea so much, it doesn’t have the weirdness of flavour that puts me off all of the ones I’ve tried so far. Maybe I’ve just been drinking low quality ones? Mostly in restaurants.

So hey Alphakitty, you want this?

wow definitely spicy in the cayenne pepper way. very exciting!
you guys probably already know how much i like the other smaug tea. i’m kinda a pusher of the stuff. but i’m one of the only people to like it which probably means i’m either a special snowflake, or totally cray cray. (place your bets now)
so you won’t be surprised to hear that i really like this smaug tea too! (yay finally 52teas and me found a happy meeting ground!) but i also kinda wish it had more lapsang. long live lapsang!
Thank you Scheherazade so much for sending me this! i’ve wanted to try it for so very long! and now my curiosity has finally been quenched!
i’m glad i have a few more cups worth to brew and knowing me i will probably treat them like leafy liquid gold.

I honestly don’t remember why I picked this up other than it was Smaug, and I must own all the dragon things. However, this tea is awesome. It’s dark, subtly sweet, and has a nice burn in the back of my throat as I sip it. It’s cooled down a bit since I started drinking it, and oddly enough for a tea inspired by a fire-breathing creature, I think I prefer it at room temperature. The cinnamon and cayenne are stronger and mingle together nicely. Also, I can just taste the Lapsang Souchong now – before, it was a hidden and I couldn’t detect any.

Second to last sample I have from Alphakitty, and I am really sad to be drinking the last of this awesome blend. For those that actually know me my favorite author in the world is JRR Tolkien so as soon as I saw Smaug Tea I knew immediately I had to try it.

Dry this tea has a strong cinnamon smell to it, which is great I thoroughly enjoy a cinnamon-y tea. AT first I was slightly concerned the cinnamon might be overpowering based on the dry smell, but I was completely wrong. Once brewed it still retained the cinnamon aroma however it was quite subdued and mellow now, and also accompanied by a slight smoky aroma I am guessing from the Lapsang.

The final brew is a clear aroma with a slight coloring in it, my cup at work is not friendly with colors seeing as it is bright orange inside of it! But who cares, when the tea tastes this good you are not looking at it. The easiest way for me to describe this taste is like cinnamon hearts except not cheap candy cinnamon, which really makes the difference.

Long story short if you get the chance to try this tea, then do it. If 52 teas reads this then please make this blend again so I can attempt to secure some for myself! I don’t think I have a cinnamon heavy tea that I enjoy more then this blend now.

This has quickly become my new favorite tea from 52Teas. A perfect balance of cinnamon and heat with a delicate green tea base makes for an excellent indulgent cup anytime.