Josie Jade Send Message

First cup of the day, and my first time trying this new tea. I was shocked by the size of the dry leaves – they’re huge! They’re very pretty mixed with large pieces of pecans. The dry leaves smell like rich maple with an underlying nuttiness. The steeped tea has a hint of sweet fruit along with the maple. I think this is probably the best, most authentic flavored maple tea that I’ve had. The flavor is initially fresh pecan, and then it changes into a sugar maple syrup aftertaste that leaves me feeling like I just had a very satisfying pancake breakfast. After adding a little sugar, it becomes almost a pecan pie dessert flavor. I’m definitely going to have to share some of this with my mom. She has a thing for fresh, real maple syrup and gave me a bottle for Christmas this year. She’s trying to have my aunt in Pennsylvania mail her fresh maple syrup since the season is coming up. Come to think of it, this tea kind of reminds me of those little maple leaf shaped candies that you can get in Pennsylvania (maybe elsewhere too?) that taste like hardened maple syrup. They’re so sweet that it almost makes your teeth hurt! Yum! This will be a nice, comforting tea to enjoy during the cold winter months.

-Dry blend has very large black and brown tea leaves with large pieces of pecans.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of rich maple syrup with a nutty note. Tea liquor aroma is of maple with a hint of sweet fruitiness.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow orange color.
-Smooth fresh pecan flavor and finish. Sugary maple syrup aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Very good tea. A sugary sweet and authentic maple flavor with a slight nuttiness. Reminiscent of pecan pie or maple leaf candies.

I’m sad to say it, but I think I am about pumpkined out for this year. I’m happy that I’ve found a lot of delicious pumpkin teas, though. I still love pumpkin flavored things, but there’s so many of them in the fall that it’s a little overwhelming after awhile, and I’ve reached that point.

This one is delicious, though! It has a nice fresh pumpkin flavor with just the right amount of sweet spices to compliment the tea. I could drink this one all day (even though I’m tired of pumpkin – it’s that good!) Very glad I ordered this one with my Black Friday order.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with pieces of spices, citrus peel and small orange pumpkin sprinkles.
-Dry leaves smell richly of spices, cinnamon and sugar. Tea liquor aroma is of warm cinnamon.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Light fresh pumpkin flavor with a sweet spice finish. Faint pumpkin pie aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A creamy cup of fresh pumpkin flavor with a compliment of sweet spices.

We stopped by The Spice & Tea Exchange while we were in Asheville and picked out this tea on a whim. I made a travel mug for the boy to take with him when he was leaving for St. Louis, and he called 5 minutes after leaving to say how good it was. It certainly smells good while it’s steeping, and puts a wonderful smell in the air. The dry leaves smell like nutty hazelnuts with a wonderful cookie aroma. Sadly, I’m not getting much cookie in the taste at all. It’s a nice cup of toasty hazelnut black tea, without much cookie noticeable. There is a sweetness to the tea, so maybe that’s supposed to be the cookie? With milk and sugar it becomes a creamy cup. The black tea is definitely strong (almost to the point of being bitter), so this will be a nice morning tea.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell of nutty hazelnuts with an underlying cookie scent. Tea liquor aroma is of toasty hazelnut.
-Tea liquor is a clear very dark brown color.
-Robust flavor with a nutty finish. Somewhat bitter malty aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A strong cup of toasty hazelnut. Little cookie flavor noticeable.

I saw this at our local co-op the other day and picked a box up. I have some of the other holiday blends from Celestial Seasonings, but I could never find this one. I like these teas for when I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to make a real cup of tea. It’s easy to just pour some water over the tea bag and let it sit until I have time to get back to it and go. And this one is caffeine-free, so it’s good for those late-night dessert cravings that will be the death of me. I’m cheating with this first cup, though, because I have a few of the most amazing homemade sugar cookies leftover to enjoy with this tea tonight. In all fairness, my mom made them from my grandmother’s recipe and I probably haven’t had one since at my grandmother’s when I was in high school. And my mom nailed the recipe – these cookies are perfect! Taking a bite is like stepping back into my grammy’s kitchen with a couple of these and cup of Red Rose tea. Fluffy and kind of crumbly, but not too much. And perfectly mixed icing that is kind of crunchy but only until you bite into it, and then it’s all amazing sugar cookie heaven . . . that’s my ode to the sugar cookie. Seriously, if anyone loves sugar cookies as much as I do and wants the recipe I’m happy to share!

I was worried that this tea would be a little weak, since the color of the water hardly changed while steeping. It’s not as thin I as expected, and there is a wonderful cookie flavor. There is also a hint of butteriness that is nice. I’m glad that I picked up a box of this. It will be a nice tea to have before bed and it is just sweet enough to count as dessert in my book!

-Large square teabag without a tag.
-Teabag smells lightly of butter and sugar with a hint of orange. Tea liquor aroma is of rich sugar cookie dough.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy pale yellow color.
-Light buttery sugar cookie flavor and finish. Sweet vanilla aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Buttery and sweet sugar cookie flavor. A perfect evening cup before bed.

New tea for the day. This one smelled absolutely amazing – a wonderful, fluffy cheesecake smell. Unfortunately I am not getting that in the taste. The flavor was extremely strong and on the verge of being almost bitter. There was a little Irish Cream finish, but only a bit. The cheesecake is almost impossible to find. I’m tasting more of a malty chocolate flavor rather than the cheesecake. I added milk and sweetener and that helped to bring out some of the cheesecake notes, but not a lot. I steeped this tea according to the recommendations – 3 minutes at 205. I think I will try it next time at 2.5 minutes and see if that makes a difference. Not a bad tea, because I like strong black teas (especially in the morning) but I just didn’t get any of the flavors that the description and the smell promised. Somehow I messed up my Butiki order and ended up with 2 of these, so I gave one to my mom for Christmas. I think that she will like it as she loves strong teas and Irish Cream. Oh well, it was about time for a blah tea since I’ve been trying so many new ones lately that I love!

-Dry blend has medium black and brown tea leaves with small blue and yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of cheesecake. Tea liquor aroma has notes of chocolate, cheesecake and maltiness.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Very strong and robust black tea flavor with an Irish Cream finish. Very heavy chocolate aftertaste with a faint taste of cheesecake.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A very strong black tea with little cream or cheesecake flavor.

I got the sweetest surprise on Christmas Eve – this tea was waiting for me at my door from a wonderful tea friend! I like honey and lemon, so this was right up my alley, and living in Carolina, of course I love the name! I had a cup of this yesterday afternoon, and it was exactly as expected. It has a fresh, tart lemon flavor with a hint of honey sweetness. Add a little milk and sugar and it becomes a creamy, lemony dessert cup. The tea comes in a beautiful recycled glass bottle, which looks so pretty sitting in my tea cupboard. I’m glad I have this tea to keep me warm during the winter months ahead, and every time I see it, I will be reminded of my far away tea friend. :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with yellow and orange petals.
-Dry leaves smell like fresh lemon with a hint of sweetness. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a sweet honey aroma and a small taste of tart lemon.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium brown yellow color.
-Tart lemon flavor with a rich malty finish. Strong honey lemon aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A unique cup that becomes a sweet creamy decadent lemon flavor with milk and sweetener. Wonderful honey and lemon aftertaste.

I had this tea on Christmas night and forgot to log it. It was full of fresh pumpkin flavor with a sweet creaminess to it. Perfect ending to Christmas!

-Dry blend has large black and brown tea leaves with pieces of spices and pieces of dried pumpkin.
-Dry leaves smell heavily of spices. Tea liquor aroma is of fresh pumpkin with a hint of spices.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Light malty flavor with a pumpkin finish. Pumpkin and cinnamon aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Light pumpkin pie flavor with a creamy sweet note.

Happy Christmas, friends! I hope everyone is enjoying the day with lots of food and family and friends! We opened presents earlier today and haven’t even started cooking yet since my Mom is busy playing with the iPad that I surprised her with. She barely even has a cell phone, so this is a big deal. We had banana cream cheese stuffed french toast this morning, so we’re still full from that. It’s been a good day. :)

I’ve had a few other teas this morning, but this was the new tea that I wanted to try today. I don’t think I’ve ever had plum pudding, but would like to try it after having this tea. This tea is very lightly flavored, and very smooth. It’s a nice relaxing tea for Christmas afternoon. I can taste fruitiness, rum and spices and it’s becoming more flavorful as it cools.

-Dry blend has very large black and brown tea leaves with pieces of orange peel and small blue and orange petals.
-Dry leaves smell of sweet fruit, spices and rum. Tea liquor aroma is fruity with a hint of sweet spices.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange yellow color.
-Light malty and spicy flavor and finish. Fruity plum and rum aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A smooth cup. Light fruity flavor with a hint of rum and spices.

New tea of the day. Ahhh, the house is clean, the cats and dogs are bathed and I am officially ready for Christmas! It’s stopped raining too and the sun is shining. It feels a bit odd to have warm weather on Christmas, but this is the South after all.

I was excited to try this tea because I like banana flavored things, but a bit hesitant because walnuts aren’t my favorite. Luckily the walnut flavor in this is very good. It’s more like a nutty flavor than the taste that you get from eating plain walnuts. The banana flavor is sweet and perfect. It kind of reminds me of the banana flavored runt candies, but a little less artificial than that. I wish the banana was a little stronger, but it does seem to be coming out more as the cup cools. Adding milk and sweetener gave it a creaminess. I’m glad that I added this one to my order!

-Dry blend has very large black tea leaves with large pieces of dried bananas and large pieces of walnuts.
-Dry leaves smell like fresh nuts with a hint of banana candy. Tea liquor aroma is of malty black tea with a touch of fresh banana and walnut.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish brown color.
-Heavy walnut flavor and finish. Fruity banana aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Nice fresh walnut flavor with a hint of banana. Banana flavor becomes creamy with milk and sweetener.

Another new tea for the day. I knew I had to try this one when I placed my first Buitki Teas order, since I love anything almond flavored. I think the dry leaves smell like a sweet marzipan candy with a little cinnamon noticeable. The tea in my cup has an almond cookie aroma with a hint of maltiness. The flavor is initially almond, but then it follows up with a heavy almond and cookie aftertaste that lingers. I like this one! As with other Butiki teas, it seems to be very well balanced and all of the flavors flow together perfectly.

I slept in today. It’s dreary and rainy out today and my day is going to consist of laundry, cleaning the house and bathing 2 dogs and 3 cats. Yuck. I would rather stay in bed with some tea and a good book all day. But, better to do the chores today so that I can enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day chore-free! I’m going to enjoy the rest of my tea and one of the sugar cookies that my mom and I made yesterday. We used my grammy’s recipe and they turned out perfect – nice and fluffy with the icing that gets a little hard once it sets but it’s soft when you bite into it. Yum!

-Dry blend has very large black tea leaves with sliced almonds and pink petals.
-Dry leaves smell like sweet marzipan with a hint of cinnamon. Tea liquor aroma is of a sweet and nutty almond cookie with a malty undertone.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish brown color.
-Robust almond flavor and finish. Heavy almond and cookie aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Excellent tea. Nutty almond flavor with a sweet cookie aftertaste. Very well balanced.