Queen's Pantry

I never think to make a latte out of my flavored rooibos tea, but I sat in on one of the tasting cafe sessions at the Midwest Tea Festival last year where Queen’s Pantry paired this tea with almond milk. The tea is already on the sweet side, so there isn’t any need for additional sugar and the combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla make for an incredibly tasty latte that’s perfect to serve as an after dinner treat. I couldn’t resist stopping by their booth for a second time to pick up a couple ounces of tea to take home with me.

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2016/4/26/tuesday-tea-highland-hearth-rooibos-queens-pantry

Happy first day of autumn everybody!

Thanks to an extremely generous sample from ::Nicole:: I am celebrating the first day of autumn with a very fine cup of Glenburn Autumn Crescendo Darjeeling tea. I can think of no better way to bring in my favorite season than with a delicious cup of an autumn flush of my beloved Darjeeling tea.

This tea is ripe with flavor. Classic Darjeeling floral notes along with ripe fruitiness, a bit of astringency, some nuttiness and a wonderful caramelly/vanilla sweetness combine to make this a very fine autumn flush Darjeeling tea that is as fecund and fruitful as the magical time of year in which it is produced. I’m so loving it!

I hope that all of you out there in Steepsterland will take time out to enjoy a special cup today in honor of the beginning of this most glorious time of year!

Tea friend Nicole sent me some of this earlier in the year; I enjoyed a little, then set it back for heavy drinking season (AKA those miserable weeks before Daylight Savings Time when you have to wake up and drive in the dark). Although I oversteeped a little this morning, there’s a good balance between the heavy assam bass line and the Ceylon/Darjeeling counterpoint. A good wakey-uppey that, steeped lightly or with a little milk, would also be a good afternooner.

Two screaming weeks at work have left me chugging primarily tea I don’t have to taste. Today, on the other hand, I have taken a mental health day and enjoyed a cup of Windsor Castle in the a.m. sunshine with the cats. Ahhhh.

First conclusion was that this is a pretty mild black tea blend, but as it cools, the malty rye-bread Assam and that little Darjeeling uptick are there just before and just after you swallow. You just have to have a little time to think about it.

This is a really nice blend. Robust yet smooth. Mild maltiness. I personally don’t get anything I associate with Darjeeling though there are greener leaves within the blend. Really nice, really moderate. It wouldn’t be a wake you up kind of blend but it’s a good any time of the day tea.

I haven’t been able to enter Queen’s Pantry for some reason in the tea description. It won’t let me add “Queen’s Pantry”. The store is in the database already as “Queen’s Pantry,” and “Queen’s Pantry, Leavenworth, KS” and in order to enter this tea at all I had to choose one of them. Hanging commas drive me nuts, so I picked the one with the location. :)