We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box (HHTTB) For those who don’t know, I’m a recovering addict. It’s been almost 30 years since I had a drink (actually my anniversary is coming up soon). So I haven’t...” Read full tasting note
“SIPDOWN! you know what’s fun? mixing up the teas you’re drinking even though they taste nothing alike lol oopsy… so anyway this tea? it’s slightly floral…a little grape like and with a bit of...” Read full tasting note
“Tea # 16 from HHTTTB2 Elements of grape and rose on a dry white base. Sweetener amplifies the icewine notes, but I was expecting it to be sweeter from the gate.” Read full tasting note
“Thank you for the sample, NM Tea co. I’ve never had a tea that attempts to mimic wine before and was very excited to try this. I’m so grateful that there a couple of mugs-worth in the packet...” Read full tasting note
The complex method for making Ontario ice wine is modeled after the centuries old techniques for making German Eiswein. (The first ice wines were produced in Germany about 700 years ago.) According to Canadian law, in order to be considered true Ice Wine, all grapes must be harvested after the first hard freeze at a minimum of –8°.
Freezing temperature is key. If it doesn’t come quickly enough in the season the grapes can rot. If it is too severe, the grapes will become to hard and no juice can be extracted. In order to retain their sweet flavor, the harvested grapes need to be pressed immediately while still frozen. The pressed juice is thick and sugary, much like the wine produced after fermentation! This thick sweet grapey character of ice wine makes it a natural after dinner desert wine. It also makes it a natural partner to our white tea, a Pai mu tan from Fujian.
Company description not available.
This tea is a dark amber. It smells like roses, light and floral. There is no smell of berries like in the dry leaves. Tasting it, the primary taste is just like the smell. It tastes very strongly of roses, almost as if they were actually in the tea itself, although I have seen no parts of it. At the end of the tea, after I have let it sit for a while there is a sweet raspberry aftertaste that slowly overrides the other tones in the first brew. I brewed it a little too hot for the first brew, for a little too long, so it is a little extra bitter.
For more notes on this tea see the review on my blog.
http://teasnobbery.com/2010/10/08/tea-review-ontario-icewine-from-nmteaco/
This is one of the first white teas I ever tried. I took a whiff of the little sample tin at the Ohio Tea Company store and bought a couple ounces to test. The dry leaves have a delectable sweet grape smell that’s complemented by the light, dry, tannic aroma of the white tea itself. It’s the aroma of a refreshing ice cold spring drink.
When you brew it, the taste is pleasant while hot—a classically delicate white tea with prominent grape notes—but it’s a completely different animal when you allow it to cool to room temperature. Icewine is an accurate descriptor, although the only sweetness comes from the natural honeyed notes of the tea leaves. There’s a touch of white florals somewhere in there, almost like a perfume note. Saving the rest of my bag for cold brewing this spring and summer. I have a hunch that it’ll be fantastic when it’s properly chilled and the flavors have been slowly extracted.
On a side note: this actually holds up to grandpa-style brewing when you use a smaller amount of leaves. The taste of the liquor produced by soaking a teaspoon of leaves in a 12 ounce mug filled with hot water for an hour is extremely similar to that of liquor from a quick steep in a filled gaiwan, if a tad more tannic.
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Sweet, White Grapes, White Wine
This is the last tea I have to try from Dexter… from a while ago! Shame shame! Well, the tea generosity lasted an entire year, so another big THANK YOU! This tastes almost exactly like I thought it would, though I have no experience at all with Ice Wine! It’s very flavorful – the white tea actually brews up a golden color, so it’s definitely full of flavor. But there is a bubbly fruity flavor that I could only describe as Ice Wine, even if I’ve never had it. It does seem more like Ice Champagne to me though, now that I think about it. Wonderful to try! I’ve been very happy with the few teas I’ve tried from New Mexico Tea Co. I’ll have to order from them at some point.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps // 32 min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #2 // 30 min after boiling // 2-3 min
This is from a sample Dexter3569 sent to me ages ago, and that I’m finally sipping down (yet it was already out of my cupboard – bah!) Anyway. Slightly floral, sweet, a bit honey-ish. I remember asking to try this, and now I’m wondering why? Ice wine is a common offering in these parts, and I’ve yet to really love it. I think it’s the concept that got me (ice wine tea? Yes, please) more than the reality of it.
Regardless, this is a sipdown, and I’m always grateful to Miss Dexter for sharing so much with me.
Flavors: Flowers, Honey
A friend gave some of this a while back, and I have to say I find it to be an aquired taste. It’s not my favourite tea, but it seems to grow more and more on me each time I taste it.
I had it clear this last time, and I think I prefer it that way, which is somewhat odd as I’m normally a milk and honey/sugar kind of tea drinker. However, each tea has its own character, and this one appears to be best left to its own devices.
