Sweetheart Cinnamon

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

I’m starting my day with a cup of Sweetheart Cinnamon which was a gift from a friend last year and I had forgotten all about it. Then on Tuesday I was re-arranging my tea shelves and I came across it and just in time. :)

The tea is red/brown in colour with a strong and sweet cinnamon scent. A few sips in and I am in cinnamon apple heaven. The cinnamon spices up the sweet apple and leaves a tasty treat after taste. Half way down my cup this tea has started to leave my mouth and tongue dry, it tastes nice but I hate getting dry tea mouth…perhaps it’s from using cinnamon powder instead of bark/stick.

It reminds me of cinnamon chewing gum from USA that I loved as a teen.

I really like this tisane. If you steep it for just the right amount of time, it’s sweet with cinnamon and very good—especially if you like cider with redhots (which I do!). It reminds me of Good Earth—so much so that I was surprised there was no rooibos. It’s just cinnamon, apple, hibiscus, rosehips, licorice root. My main problem is steeping—too long and the cinnamon will hurt your tongue. Too little, and it tastes like watered down apple juice. I was going to buy out the store, but after brewing a cup with too much of the tea, my mouth hurts!

This product title doesn’t show up anywhere in Bigelow Tea’s current lineup, so either that means it has been totally discontinued, or that Bigelow has just quit putting out holiday-thematic versions of their standards. “Cinnamon Apple” still exists, and I have always suspected that the “Sweetheart Cinnamon” was just a specially boxed version of the same.

My take on it has changed a little over the years…now I’m getting the “sweet” first before detecting the apple/cinnamon. Maybe the next cups can be combined with some chamomile or real cider to tone it down a bit.

Traveling tea, made in the Timolino for the ride down to my fiance’s parents’ house.

I used to love this tea. It’s one of the few non-Lipton teas my mom ever purchased and I loved the cinnamon flavor. I needed something easy this morning and found a bag of this in my cupboard.

It’s still cinnamon, but it’s not as strong as I remember it being. The aftertaste of apple that I remember is relegated to the end of the cup when the tea has cooled.

I’m really glad I have Hot Cinnamon Spice as a replacement for this.

I love the way this tea smells dry. It’s like warm spiced apple cider. And it doesn’t seem to lose that aroma upon brewing. And it actually has a recognizable tangy, apple-y taste. The cinnamon doesn’t come through until after the tea has been swallowed but it’s definitely there. I think with a little sweetener this could actually be a pretty decent tea.