Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Sipdown! Thank you so much to JennyFur for this tea!

Well. Today I’m feeling better. I’ve really been eyeing this tea, but I wanted to try it one last time before buying a 2 oz bag. Because I am the “computer-wiz” of the house, I am currently working on installing Windows 7 on my Dad’s iMac (which has been a nightmare so far). I decided this would be a good time to drink a tea which I already know I like. So, it is time for a break and I am going to brew up the rest of this tea!

I steeped a little under 2 tsp per 16 oz for 3:30 mins at 212. I am drinking this one in the “sister” to my favorite mug :) I adore my Disney slogans mug with Eeyore on it, and I recently received the Tiger version for Christmas! :D Now, back to the tea.

First sip:
This brewed the “pineapple yellow” I remember last time. Yum :) I wish I had more leaves to brew this with :( It needs more kick. The tea is perfection though. I love the flavors, just like last time. I am so glad I chose to brew this one for today. I really needed it.

Finishing off the cup:
Oh yes. This may be my new favorite tea gasp. I adore all of the flavors and it brews such a pretty color. This tea is just a cup of joy. I adore it.
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Overall, I will for sure be ordering this tea in the 2 oz size tonight. Wow, I love this tea. Love, love, love this tea. I really think this will be a tea I will use to get my friends into liking tea. It is soft enough that it wont be overwhelming and it has a cute name :) Again, thank you so much JennyFur for this tea!!

This is my first “dessert tea,” and I love it. The sweet, confectionary flavor is perfect after dinner or when craving a late night snack. A cup of this tea feels so indulgent. The smell is heavenly! I wish there was a hint of pineapple or a bit more fruitiness. In the sample I bought, I taste more caramel than anything. But the flavor is spot on to what the gooey, brown sugar “sauce” on a real pineapple upside-down cake tastes like! And I know a lot about them because I own a bakery. ;P

I feel like I should point out that this tea is heavily artificially flavored. If you’re a tea “purist,” you probably already know to stay away from most dessert teas. If you’re not a fan of artificial flavorings in your cup, this tea is not for you. Personally I don’t mind it, and I would drink this as a dessert any night of the week. :)

I think perhaps it’s me, and that maple is somehow hard-wired into my taste buds? Both this and Blueberry Crumble were overwhelmingly maple scented and tasting! What’s up with that?

I let this cool and the maple certainly wore off somewhat. I want it to be pineapple though! Should I be steeping this longer or shorter? Different temperatures perhaps?

Update April 16/13: Everyone raves about this tea so I had to try it again. What am I missing? It still smells overwhelmingly of maple. Maybe I’m getting a cake taste? When it was still piping hot I think I caught a hint of pineapple, but not as it cools. I was so hopeful for something delicious here. Darn.

Anyone interested in swapping? I’ve got a few cups worth of a few different Della Terra’s and David’s blends I posted on the swap discussions.

Friday afternoon cake break!

Thanks TastyBrew for the sample, as I’ve been dying to try this. It reminds me of DavidsTea Red Velvet Cake, but without the sprinkles and junk that give it that suspicious oily sheen, and a stronger cakey flavor. It tastes like a golden vanilla cake; no pineapple flavor detected but that’s just fine with me. Cake trumps fruit any day.

Alright, trying this again. Now that I’m sure I’m getting my water to the right temperature it might be better, and if it’s not it’s probably my own tastes rather than the tea’s problem. I figure if I can’t get a good cup of tea out of it I’ll send it on down the T&C box list, because I’m sure someone else will be able to appreciate it more!

This smells so intensely cakey and a little caramel-y. There’s some fruit to it but I honestly couldn’t identify what fruit. Again, full disclosure in that I’ve never had a pineapple upside-down cake.

When I drink this straight there’s an edge to it I don’t like, so this cup is with milk. It’s slightly better this way, more subtle and creamy, but there’s still a sharpness to it that disappoints me. I think it’s not for me.

I think it was a mistake to Cold Steep this one overnight. I had completely forgotten just how sweet it was, which is why my 1oz package has sat around for so long and mostly been doled out during swaps. I’m going to have a hard time drinking a 66oz pitcher of it.

Mmmmmm. This is super delicious. Tastes just like cake!!

The smell of the dry tea is wonderful. I don’t quite pick up pineapple. But I get a sweet cake flavour, slightly nutty, almost like a crumble cake.

The taste of the tea reminds me of a cake my mom used to make called Lazey Daisy Cake (no idea why it was called that). It was essentially a white pound cake with coconut and brown sugar melted on top to make a glaze, then served with cream. Again I do not taste pineapple. But I taste sweet, heavy cake, creamy, some vanilla flavour. Maybe a hint of cherry towards the end of the sip.

Regardless of what the name of the tea is, it is a delicious dessert tea for sure!

Dear husband had the idea of putting this in a steeper and infusing some mead with it, and it is phenomenal. Just silly good. I encourage anyone who likes a nice glass of mead to get an unflavored one and put some in there. It is one of the best things I’ve ever drank.

Mmmm…REALLY good…too bad I am not tasting the pineapple..
BUT, what I DO taste is a big, fat TWINKIE….love those things…
Pineapple Upside Down Cake is my absolute favorite, though,
If I could taste pineapple, I think I would be moonwalking with a smile…lol… :-)

the first thing i thought when spied this blend was ’it’s sticky!’ with great zeal. the last blend i sampled with this degree stick was steap shoppe’s cinnamon swirl bread (which is awesome).

i have been known to cook, also to bake… if you like to eat good stuff then it’s a good plan in my mind to know how to make it! when i make pineapple upside down cake the healthy presence of a fruit is secondary… the pineapple’s primary function is an unexplainable reaction with butter and brown sugar to create a lightly other-than-orange citrusy caramel which happily gets stuck to everything. don’t get me wrong, i eat plain avocados in droves and would eat sushi everyday if my budget could support it… but sometimes i just wanna be bad. and seeing as my cholesterol is perfect and my blood pressure is ideal i really don’t see the harm.

the blend was gummy, and i had high hopes: could it be a tea version of my sticky cake recipe? could it, could it? i hoped so! ShortSorceress was so kind by sharing, i had such high expectations… i could smell the pineapply caramel.

i sipped. ‘come to papa!’

it wasn’t the way it smelled! that’s not only unfair, it’s false advertising!!! i was bitter.

that was several days ago. i closed the bag back up and have been stalking around it grumbling. should i try it again? what if i got my hopes dashed for a second time? i have determined i will try again… i have enough for one more go. thusly i will forestall rating….

pineapple upside down cake, round II, let’s go……

ROUND II: with half the water and twice the recommended leaf i got the tea i had been expecting the first time around: distict tangy caramel, billowing clouds of candied pineapple steam and the much coveted detectable cake base.

oh yes… this could be sold at a bake sale. very nice! and after the success of round two i will numerify! well worth the second effort.