Maple Sugar

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Sunday, September 26th: National Pancake Day Tea #2

This is ancient and from a teabox.  But I forget that even the scent of the leaf is like the freshest brown sugar.  It’s a brown sugar tea!  I think I have some other teas that are like this but this one always seemed like it had something extra.  I don’t really have any non-caffeine teas that fit the theme today, so only two teas for the challenge today.

At first I was a little overwhelmed by the scent of this tea since it reeks of maple syrup, but boy does it have amazing flavor! It’s rich and full bodied in your mouth with a delicious sweetness from the maple sugar pieces. It’s perfect to drink with breakfast in the morning or even as a midnight ‘snack’. Add a little milk to it and you have the perfect mixed black tea!

Holidays TTB: First few sips of this are on the boring side. I feel like I’m searching for the flavor. Then a user error (too much sweetener because my dog knocked me) made this taste way to sweet. I am going to leave this one aside and circle back with more leaf.

When you open this tea, you immediately find yourself thinking of a maple donut or Waffle Crisp cereal or something else sugary and strongly maple-scented. So you’re a little nervous about how this is going to turn out, but luckily, it mellows out considerably. In the end, there’s just a light, pleasant maple flavor, almost an aftertaste. It’s enough to satisfy maple fans (like me) without triggering a sugar crash.

Cons: I can’t imagine wanting to drink this iced, so hot only for me. Also, there’s an oily sheen to the finished product, which is somewhat unpalatable.

My first sipdown =)

I ordered a lot of samples from Tea Guys. The first time I tried this I thought it was “OK”, the second time was more like “meh, why did I buy this?” and for my final taste it was really delicious. I think the trick with this one (for me anyway) is to measure a little more tea. It was only when I added a bit more did I get a blissful cup. So, a sample of this yielded me only 3 cups, but I think if I had steeped it correctly it’s more like 2.

I will definitely re-order this one. This tea is one of the few teas that come in different varieties (bagged, loose, canned, etc) on their website, so it must be popular.

Took this on the semi-short drive to Boulder today. I saved up my pennies and splurged on a lovely B&B for Valentine’s Day with my man. In fact, I am typing this up while sitting on the lovely balcony and sipping on a mug of this!

I chose this particular BnB specifically for it’s emphasis on it’s tea. A tea BnB you say? I am in tea nerd heaven :D they have a 24hr tea service and lovely tea trays to borrow during use. I am already missing my stash at home, but seeing as they a) make their own herbal blends and b) have Rishi tea and athentic branded Japanese greens, I was instantly sold! I will have to post a pic of their tea wall in a sec.

On to this tea! It’s so sweet and maple-y. I do get the slightest bit of dryness in this from the type of black, but it’s minor. I get an almond-malty taste in addition to the candy sweet maple flavor. Sometimes I like to use the slightest hint of maple syrup in certain Assam teas and this blend pretty much does it for me! I know this would be great with some almond milk splashed in. I almost wish I had gotten more than a sample!

Being a Canadian I have been searching for a perfect maple tea… and I think I may have just found it. As soon as I opened this up and I was hit with the delicious aroma of maple. Once brewed there is a nice smokiness from the tea base that helps offset the sweetness of the maple. I found all the of the flavors worked with one another and this one was best enjoyed once it cooled to around room temperature. If you are a fan or even remotely like maple, this is definite must try!

Maple. Sugar. Creamy. Cinnamon. Cookies.
Holy Shanghai!
This tea is so much more than I expected! There’s so much in it. It’s so full and rich. This is definitely another win from the Tea Guys!
My only complaint is that I can taste the black tea base a little too much. Think I need to steep it around 4 mins instead of 5 and a half. But once I figure out the steeping, this tea is gonna make for an awesome cuppa!
A must try for any dessert tea lover! :D