24 Tasting Notes
I really like the fact that Della Terra use real ingredients in this blend. It doesn’t taste artificial. I’m sure that other people could create blends which were more focused on making the tea like a s’more rather than a flavoured tea.
This tea looks like exactly like I imagined from the ingredients. The white mini marshmallows and cracker bits stand out against the dark tea and chocolate background.
There is definite chocolate in there, but it isn’t overpowering. It seems to form the base of the cup alongside the tea, with the marshmallow on top. There is just a hint of the graham flavouring coming through, although it might be nice to have a bit more. It’s not a sickly sweet cup, that would ruin it. The tea in the background is pleasant, but this blend could maybe use something a bit stronger. I’m very pleased overall though. I’m gradually getting in to flavoured teas, and it’s nice to be getting experience of Della Terra first because I think they make proper flavoured tea instead of anything artificial.
First of all, I’ve never had eggnog before, so I can’t make any comparisons!
The dried tea is a rusty brown colour with odd white snow flakes in it. It’s smells of cinnamon with a hint of other spices like nutmeg. When steeping the spices come out again, but with extra warmth which makes the sweetness more pleasant. There is also a slight liquor smell to it, although not in a bad way. I found it was present more in the dry leaves than the mug.
My first try was without milk, and it tasted nice, but I felt it needed some creaminess to help balance the sweetness, so I added just a dash to my second cup. This made it really good. Cinnamon is one of my favourite sweet spices, and it came across well. It is quite a sweet blend, and I didn’t really get much of the tea at all in the first cup, so second time round I also steeped for a lot longer.
Based on my first cup I wouldn’t have rated it as highly, but playing with how I made it helped a lot, and I really enjoyed the second cup. It’s not a flavour to drink all the time, but nice would be nice with sticky bun in the afternoon.
I really didn’t think I would like this as much as I do. The reason I was a bit unsure was because I am not a massive fan of pineapple. Turns out I’m into pineapple and vanilla though!
I’ve had a lot of flavoured black tea recently, so switching to this white and green mix was very refreshing. Visually, The tea looks nice and light, with flecks of red peppercorn and the light pineapple. It is very appealing.
The dry and wet smell reminds me of baking. That lovely warm cupcake vanilla with the pineapple immediately puts me at home in the kitchen baking with the wife.
The liquor is a pale yellow and tastes incredibly refreshing. No one flavour stood out above the others, which is a compliment because they all balanced very well. My main fear was that the pineapple would be overpowering, but that’s definitely not the case. It’s just slightly sweet with the vanilla, and the pineapple comes in just after that.
The green and white leaves mix well here. It seems to me like the green stops the vanilla from being sickly and the white adds this butteryness that probably blends to give me that cupcake vanilla and baking association.
Very pleased I tried this tea now. One problem though, I know others in the family who would love this tea as well, and this means I am going to have to share my sample! Oh well, just an excuse to order some more ;)
Preparation
This is another winter warmer full of spice, but it has the added bonus of the sweet fruitiness of the mango, papaya and orange. Although I couldn’t taste any of the white chocolate, the sharpness of the fruit was not as prominent as I expected, so it must work to blend and add a touch of creaminess to the cup.
It’s such an inviting tea in the tin, as is J&J’s Girlie Grey. It’s lovely to look at as the different ingredients pop out against the dark brown assam, and the smell is intense but very pleasant. Very sweet from the choice of fruit but with classic winter spice.
It’s tastes just as good too. It’s another tea that I immediately want to go out and share with people. It would be great to have as an afternoon refreshment when you all sit down having spent a long time out in the cold.
The tea in the background works very well with the other flavours. In my opinion sugar and milk won’t get anywhere near this cup as it is sweet enough as it is, and any more creaminess will take away from the sweet definition of the fruit which help distinguish this blend.
As others have mentioned, this tea is a definite reminder of mint chocolate confectionary, such as After Eights. It smelt incredibly chocolatey in the bag, but the mint comes out as soon as it starts steeping.
You can definitely taste the mint in the tea, but the chocolate wasn’t as prominent throughout. This may be because there wasn’t a good ratio of chocolate drops in my cup as they’d all sunk to the bottom of the bag, but a bit of sugar may also help bring it out as mentioned elsewhere.
Overall it’s quite refreshing. I like the peppermint flavour, it’s got exactly the right amount of sweetness in it. I’m sure this is going to be a great tea for dessert as soon as I get the right balance.
Mmm, this was nice. Exactly what was needed when the heating in our office broke! Just shut my eyes, take a sip, and I’m sat by an open fire in a log cabin that’s surrounded by snow.
It’s does smell spicey! Quite sweet thanks to the vanilla, but the ginger and the chai spices really come through.
It’s nicely reflected in the taste. At the start you get a warming sensation on your tongue, and it’s a definite winter spice mix. This is followed by the vanilla coming through and the everything blends in to a natural of sweetness and spice (and all things nice!)
Another first for me! Well, a couple in fact. I’ve not tried any compressed tea yet, or anything remotely close to a Pu-erh. The compressed tea is in the form of an acorn cup, complete with little dimple on the end. I’m not sure if this is intentional or because of machine production?
The liquor produced is a light brown, and it smells of earthyness with a hint of wood. The taste is quite refrshing, very light with no real after taste. I can just taste something sweeter in the background. I’m wondering if it will come out in later steeps? I will find out!
Update: Second steep produced a liquor which was slightly redder (not sure if that was to be expected). The smell changed quite a bit. There was a definite sweetness to it, not floral at all but fruity. Reminds me of raisins quite a bit.
The taste wasn’t as sweet though. I could sense it in the background when taking in the tea, but it wasn’t in the body. There were some more hints of it when the taste was going. The taste was still earthy, but there wasn’t as much wood to it this time. Still very pleasant, and did leave my mouth feeling quite refreshed. Easily got another two steeps from this one toucha!
Third steeping! This time the taste reflects the sweetness in the aroma. A nice blend of fruit and earth. I can see why some discard a number of steepings to suit their palette as the taste changes dramatically. Personally, I have enjoyed it all so far.
This tea has a sweet and nutty aroma, with just a hint of smokiness. The combination comes across as a bit buttery. The wet leaves are a dirty green colour, and the liqour was amber, darker than I expected.
I must admit that the aroma made me think this would just be an average green tea, however I was definitely wrong! The taste is something quite different. I’m finding it difficult to describe really. It’s not as nutty as I expected, and although there is a sweetness to it it’s not like the aroma. There is a taste of smoke though. It’s not as in your face as a Lapsang Souchong, more subtle and well balanced. A strange buttery smoke mix that’s surprisingly refreshing.
I did think that I wouldn’t find anything special in this leaf considering the aroma, but was thankfully proved wrong. However, it doesn’t stand out as much as the Royal Ceylon Gunpowder I tried last week. It’s definitely higher on my list than some green teas I’ve had, but it’s never going to compete for top spot.
