“For National Apple Turnover Day. July 5th. I forgot to add July’s sipdown prompts to my calendar, so July 5th came and went without any apple teas for me. I finally remembered, so now I’m playing a...” Read full tasting note
“My recollection of this tea is positive, especially when I give it a sniff. Actual apple(!) and a black base instead of green. Wasn’t too enthused about this to start, but I believe I’ll enjoy...” Read full tasting note
“I like everything involved with this. That being said, I found both the apple and spice to be weaker than I generally prefer.” Read full tasting note
“I hadn’t been overly enthusiastic about adding yet another apple tea in my stash. That said… I welcomed the abundant apple bits in the dry leaf and its promising scent of apple and bit of...” Read full tasting note
Tea of the Week for November 9, 2015!
I hadn’t really planned on doing another apple tea for a while, mostly because last year we seemed to be bombarded by apple-y teas from 52Teas and I kind of felt like maybe people had had enough of apple for a while. But, since this is kind of a new company, or at least a turning over a new leaf for an established company, there’s nothing wrong with adding another apple tea to the lineup, is there? Especially when I had a request for one.
This is not so much an “Apple Spice” tea as it is an “Apple Cinnamon” tea but since 52Teas did release an Apple Cinnamon Rooibos previously, I decided to replace the word “Cinnamon” with “Spice” for this blend. But this tea is simply apples and cinnamon with my hearty, robust black tea base. And it’s quite tasty!
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To Brew: I measured 1 heaping bamboo scoop of tea into the basket if my Kati Tumbler and added 12 ounces of boiling water. I let it steep for 3 minutes. This was my first tasting. My second tasting I used a little less than a level bamboo scoop of tea into the basket and added 12 ounces of boiling water and steeped it for 2 1/2 minutes.
I mention both tastings in my brewing parameters because each produced two very different tea experiences with the second being far superior to the first. The first was very strong, a little astringent and veering on the edge of being just a little bit bitter. This communicated to me that this IS NOT a tea you want to over-steep or over-leaf. With this tea, a little less is more: less leaf and less steep time produces a far better cup of tea!
When I opened my blending vessel and saw how much cinnamon I had put into this blend, I worried that maybe I went a little overboard with the spice but I don’t think so now that I’m tasting it. there is a good amount of cinnamon so there’s no mistaking that this IS an apple cinnamon tea, but the cinnamon isn’t the star player in this cup.
Rather, I think that this is all about the threesome: apple, cinnamon and black tea. There’s a really nice balance between black tea, apple and cinnamon. I’m really pleased with how this turned out – I think my hubby – who is a big fan of apple -is going to enjoy this.
Organic Ingredients: black teas, dried apple bits, cinnamon pieces and natural ingredients.
Steep: 1 tsp of tea to 12 oz. boiling water. Steep 2 1/2 – 5 minutes. Allow tea to cool 10 minutes after brewing for best flavor.
At 52teas.com, you will find unique, hand-blended artisan loose leaf teas: a new limited edition creation every week of the year. We pride ourselves on offering truly unique, one-of-a-kind tea blends that you won’t find anywhere else.