73

Sampler September! Another sampler from my Tea Fest PDX fundraiser bag.

The steeped tea smells strongly of blueberries… with a tarter edge than the sweet and syrupy blueberry I often get from teas that reminds me of a pancake syrup.

The tea has a nice body for a flavored black tea, with a touch of breadiness coming through. The flavor is juicy and fruity; I’ve rarely eaten much huckleberry in my life, so my tongue is tasting blueberry. Sweet, but not syrupy/candy sweet, with a more juicy/fruity edge. Very smooth.

My work thermos will be empty by lunch.

Flavors: Blueberry, Bread, Fruity, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
Shae

I just found this tea on another website, but I thought Plum Deluxe made their own blends. Do you know? It looks like this company/business uses a lot of the same blends and photos as Plum Deluxe, so I’m trying to figure it out.

https://decemberlarks.com/collections/loose-leaf-tea/products/huckleberry-black-tea

Shae

Actually, after looking at their Instagram it looks like they are just putting their labels on the Plum Deluxe bags. :/

Mastress Alita

Plum Deluxe makes the claim they “hand-blend” all their teas, but those of us on Steepster became dubious of this claim several years ago when several of us had their advent that year (I recall a banana bread tea that was suspiciously similar in looks/ingredient list to an Adagio tea, and another that appeared to be a Dethlefsen & Balk catalog blend). Some of their teas even currently listed look suspiciously like ones I’ve seen elsewhere, but I’m not going to say if they are cleverly creating dups, buying bases and adding some ingredients here and there and claiming it is then “hand-blended”, or what.

I would assume that at least their photos are legit as they are so uniform, so it is a bit weird to me that other site absolutely looks like they have the exact same photos. Unless they are wholesaling from Plum Deluxe and have some sort of agreement to use their photos too? Dunno.

Shae

I didn’t think about wholesale. Hopefully that’s it. It does look like they sell teas from Maya Tea Company as well.

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Comments

Shae

I just found this tea on another website, but I thought Plum Deluxe made their own blends. Do you know? It looks like this company/business uses a lot of the same blends and photos as Plum Deluxe, so I’m trying to figure it out.

https://decemberlarks.com/collections/loose-leaf-tea/products/huckleberry-black-tea

Shae

Actually, after looking at their Instagram it looks like they are just putting their labels on the Plum Deluxe bags. :/

Mastress Alita

Plum Deluxe makes the claim they “hand-blend” all their teas, but those of us on Steepster became dubious of this claim several years ago when several of us had their advent that year (I recall a banana bread tea that was suspiciously similar in looks/ingredient list to an Adagio tea, and another that appeared to be a Dethlefsen & Balk catalog blend). Some of their teas even currently listed look suspiciously like ones I’ve seen elsewhere, but I’m not going to say if they are cleverly creating dups, buying bases and adding some ingredients here and there and claiming it is then “hand-blended”, or what.

I would assume that at least their photos are legit as they are so uniform, so it is a bit weird to me that other site absolutely looks like they have the exact same photos. Unless they are wholesaling from Plum Deluxe and have some sort of agreement to use their photos too? Dunno.

Shae

I didn’t think about wholesale. Hopefully that’s it. It does look like they sell teas from Maya Tea Company as well.

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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