Orange Creamsicle Mousse

This tastes too much like sour lemon. I’ve had delicious orange teas from Deb before, so I was confident I’d love this, but it isn’t really for me. The second time I had this, I gave it a shorter steep and didn’t dislike it as much. Still, the orange wasn’t juicy or bright, kind of just muddled and meh.

I came to mark a sipdown thinking I had previously written a note for this blend, but either I haven’t or it disappeared. Either way, I definitely want to say that I enjoyed this blend! It’s a really nice citrus/cream herbal, especially as a latte since the oat milk brings out the creaminess well. The orange also doesn’t tip over into being overly acidic, alcoholic, or concentrated, while also not fading into the background.

This is one of the blends I was most exited to try from Deb, so don’t ask why it’s taken me this long when I’ve had the pouch since December. The answer is “too many teas”!

I was a bit concerned that there wasn’t a lot of dried orange in my scoop, but there is plenty in the steeped cup so I guess the lemongrass is helping to pull it out.

I really like this one. It’s a soft and mellow orange tea with some nice creaminess. I don’t taste the coconut somehow, which is very unusual for me when it comes to a Deb tea. I guess it’s translating into creaminess, which is the intention. To me, it also does somehow taste light and airy like a mousse, and I can totally imagine eating a fluffy pile of creamsicle mousse while I’m sipping on this. There’s something a little biscuity as well, from the rooibos base, so maybe cookie crumbles sprinkled on top?

For some reason I always assume this is a white base, but then I realize that Deb doesn’t currently work with white tea. I feel like it would be even better on a white base though…

Smell: It definitely lives up to its namesake and smells exactly like an orange creamsicle!

Prep: I cold brewed this for 3ish hours. I made it to re-hydrate after writing a gruelling assignment for school. I think I should have cold brewed it for longer to allow all the flavours to develop properly. However, I will say this was a good tea; I just wish that the flavours were stronger (I need to try making this again, sadly I only have a little bit left since you need more leaf to make an iced tea and I only got the 25 gram sample pack).

Taste: If you gave this to me and asked, what does it taste like? I would tell you it tastes like a refreshing, but watered down, orange creamsicle mousse. I did not have that many orange pieces in mine, and I wonder if that could have helped amplify the orange aspect of this tea? But overall, it is a very nice and refreshing blend!

I got a little ahead of myself and started steeping this before fully reading the notes on the bag that it’s better iced! I’ve been looking over obvious things today. Smells fantastic and when I sip it I get a strong orange flavor with distinct lemongrass mixed in. The sip is really lovely and bright and has a slight sweetness to it. A while into the finish and the rooibos creeps in with it’s woody taste and dry mouth sensation, which encourages me to sip more. I’m enjoying the flavors, but I’m not usually a big fan of rooibos, so I’d probably pass on ordering this one. I’d love it if it was an herbal mix minus the rooibos. Going to go finish the cup while catching up on the latest The Boys episode, which is a nice distraction from reality!

Thanks for the sample, VariaTEA!

sipdown! glad that chocolate orange is on it’s way to us from the US. I need more chocolate orange in my life.

It’s almost 1 am. I am listening to a lecture, enjoying a cheese plate and drinking this cold brew from earlier. The first cheese was quite nutty and seemed to latch on to the honey/wood notes of the rooibos base. The second cheese was a creamier cranberry goat gouda so it pulled out the orange notes, which were creamy and sweet instead of bright and sharp. The third cheese was also nutty like the first but much more creamy and it also clung to the orange. The fourth cheese was also creamy – this time its like a super high end baby bel or string cheese and again, it pulled orange. The fifth cheese is a spicy cheddar (that is actually spicy) and it pulls out the honey notes of the base. I have now run out of tea but have more cheeses so I guess I should try this experiment tomorrow with more tea. It was fun to see how different flavors brought out different components of the tea. With that said, there was nothing I would call mousse in this tea.