Plum Deluxe

This tastes almost identical to their rosemary caramel blend, which is my absolute favorite PD tea. It doesn’t have rosemary, but my brain can somehow taste it because it’s so similar to that other blend. It’s warming and desserty and herbaceous on a delicious honeybush base. I wish I had more than just this TTB sample!

TTB sample! This tastes quite minty. I’m drinking it with milk, but maybe it would have been better without. It was a bit muddled with rooibos and some other flavoring in there. Not terrible, but I wouldn’t want it again.

Sipdown! A bit of an inglorious end though – my partner accidentally dropped a bandage into the tea after it was ready and before I had even had a sip! So I didn’t actually drink the last cup, but it is gone. Honestly, this was never ginger-y enough for me anyway.

Sip Down

It took me too long to sip this tea down. I had purchased it at a local shop roughly a year ago and tried it several times since grabbing 2oz. I disregarded it since I had noted that it was underwhelming. Jump to this morning and I had decided to make one last cup on the account there was hardly any leftover. Again, it wasn’t anything special. I tasted the maltiness of the black tea and the nuttiness (?) from the red rooibos, but the caramel and butterscotch weren’t present. Purely meh.

I taste a lot of lavender on a nice decaf base. The bergamot could be even stronger, but really, I thought this was quite a decent decaf EG. I’m always looking for good ones!

This is another blend that I steeped up for myself in the morning and it also very much hit the spot. It’s an interesting mix of flavours layered onto this gentle white tea base. Based on the dry leaf smell I expected the cinnamon to be the strongest note, but I think it was the rather jammy and plump black currant note I tasted the most. I’ve had other black currant teas from Plum Deluxe – it’s a flavour I personally think they execute very, very well. The cinnamon was probably the next strongest flavour after it, though. Cozy and almost pastry-like. Not a red hot type of cinnamon. It definitely evokes the sort of warm and fuzzy vibes that I think this tea is trying to give off based on its name.

I’m not sure I really tasted much orange, but in the moment I didn’t mind at all. The combination of currant/cassis and cinnamon was quite unique to me, and I found myself simultaneously relaxed by it as well as intellectually stimulated by the way the flavours danced off each other – in that regard I think it’s a very good representation of the bookshop inspiration!

I enjoy a fruity EG, and this one is pretty good! Hot, the flavor is milder than I had hoped, but the hit of tart cranberry is fun. As it cools, it gets creamier, which I always enjoy. The bergamot, cranberry, and black tea all mix quite pleasantly together. It’s slightly tart in just the right way. Yeah, definitely drink this one at room temperature with sugar and milk to get the most out of it.

Another finished tea today, and because it was single session sample from Kaylee not counted as a sipdown, though reduced from my cupboards. Thank you!

Although I am not a coffee drinker, I was somehow craving this tea. When I have opened the pouch, I knew it was a proper choice today. And it was rather the hazelnut than the coffee. I steeped it shortly, 3 minutes sounded enough for me; and I got just a lovely hazelnut cup with no bitterness from coffee. Honestly haven’t noticed that at all.
Also not much of the cake notes, it was rather like some hazelnut mousse or something, creamy and mild.

This is quite a decent EG. The strongest flavor I get is a banana, then I taste a bit of the bergamot. It could all be heartier, but I like it! With sugar and milk, I find this to be very fun and tropical – I’ve enjoyed my 1 oz bag!

It’s hard to decide what I think of this one. I taste the orange and rooibos with a bit of bergamot. It’s fine cold, if a little too tangy. Once I add milk, it gets more of a creamsicle quality, but I no longer notice the bergamot. I think it’s a bit of a strange blend.

TTB sample! This isn’t bad! The flavor is pretty light and pillowy and pleasant. I don’t taste the lemon and ginger distinctly, but it is quite gentle and nice. The flavors combine well.

I thought I would really like this one but really did not. I tried it at home, and then gave it a second shot at work- it just was not for me.

It tasted sort of bland overall, despite putting extra tea into the water. The strongest note was cinnamon, follpwed by the maple note seemed a little artiicial and there was this woody-bark taste underlying that I did not enjoy and cannot pinpoint.

This is a pretty good EG creme. The creaminess is lovely, and the bergamot is present at a nice level. I enjoy most of PD’s EGs, and this is no exception. It’s best at room temperature with milk and sugar.

An interesting earthy mix of rooibos and black tea. Spicy and yet slightly creamy in the dry aroma. Not much in the way of apples but the cinnamon is there. Thought they were joking when they said apple essence. But I guess it’s a thing. Though honestly it just seems like a fancier way of saying natural flavor. My daughter came in from outside, 23F, and wanted apple cider but we didn’t have any. I would say this is more chai than apple cider. The apple is very light, almost unreadable really. Ooo hmm, there it is in the aftertaste a bit. My daughter thinks it tastes good but I think she’s disappointed because she was looking for more apple flavor.

The sampler in my subscription packet this month (Plum Deluxe being the final remaining tea subscription I just can’t bring myself to end, despite my stash).

A pleasant enough black tea, with some of the bitterness I expect of a breakfast tea and a clear scent of hazelnut. The hazelnut flavoring is more forward when the cup is hot. As I’m down to the last colder sips, I get almost none of it, with a light berry flavor underneath the tea itself showing up instead.

Nice to drink, but not something I’d need to have.

This tastes fresh and fruity and herbaceous in just the right way. I like how they managed to keep it authentic and not sour, yet still so flavorful.

I’ve really been enjoying this tea. The aroma of stonefruit and lavender is so complimentary. The flavor is too! The apricot is a little more subdued to the lavender, which is pretty strong in this tea. I like lavender and am fine with it, but I think it might be a bit much for those more sensitive to florals. I think a little more balance between the apricot and the lavender would elevate this a lot, especially if the apricot had more of a “juiciness” to its flavor. Still a very relaxing evening tea and a shame it was recently retired on Plum Deluxe’s website.

TTB tea! The first day, this was too rosy for me, but the second day, it mellowed out a little. The flavor is just okay, not my favorite. It’s slightly fruity/floral, but it’s a little mild.

TTB tea! This reminds me of other strawberry lemonade teas I’ve had before. It’s a bit too sour, but it’s still decently refreshing cold. As I drank it, I enjoyed this more and more.

TTB tea! I taste a lot of apple combined with cider spices. Warm with milk and sugar, I’m enjoying the cider vibe! I wish the spices were even stronger or the apple were a little tangier or more authentic, but this was a decent cup of tea.

I have had this unopened pouch for over a year. Somehow it got pushed to the back of my tea drawer and I forgot about it. I decided to go through the drawer and organize my teas and that’s how I found this one.

I don’t hate it. I don’t love it. Unlike red rooibos, this brewed up pretty pale. That was surprising to me, but I suppose green rooibos is like that. The flavor improved as the cup cooled. I don’t think this will be a go to evening tea like my good earth sweet n spicy or peppermint herbal tea, but it’s drinkable.

There, is that damning it with faint praise?

TeaTiff TTB #21

Despite the long ingredient list for this blend, I mostly got ginger and turmeric with just a hint of anise. It felt very warming and healthy and I’d probably enjoy it quite a bit if I was sick! But I wish there was a bit more complexity to the flavor profile.

Adventageddon Day 25 – Bonus Tea

Merry Christmas to all my tea friends celebrating today!! I’m enjoying a cup of Cool Mornings Green Chai this morning as my final cup of tea from this year’s Adventageddon – there’s always one or two advents each year with a special bonus tea for Christmas day. At first I thought it was a weird choice for the day, but as I sip on the roasty notes of green tea with the sweet, cooling spearmint and warming finish of hot, earthy ginger I’m finding myself increasingly sold on this being the perfect tea to unwind with during the peaceful stillness of this morning! It’s kind of like DT’s North African Mint, actually.

Today’s Advent Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1R_1v7OaYo/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahh7451ad74