Dessert by Deb

Sipdown (277)

I have made this 3 times now and every time I didn’t really get to try it hot. And when I did try it, it would be like one distracted sip and then I would fall asleep or need to attend to something else. So, with this being the last serving, I made a conscious effort to get to it hot and now that I have, I have to say, I am indifferent.

I get cherry, apple, sort of cranberry. Hibiscus, though its not overly tart. Honestly, it might have been better when it was cold. It’s meh.

I’m always skeptical of “pumpkin pie” teas (and in fact pumpkin teas in general) but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this tea! The thing I hate the most about “pumpkin teas” is when they just taste like pumpkin spice and not AT ALL like pumpkin; but this one is very satisfying because while it does have some spice notes, like clove, it also REALLY distinctly still tastes like sweet and creamy pumpkin pie filling! I’m definitely going to run out of this one before Spooky Season is over!

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF8HG-hA_mr/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIy88D8wb1A&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

I’ve been generally over earl grey for the last couple years, but this sounded too good for me to pass up….and I LOVE it. The bergamot is pretty bold, but the lavender is the most prominent flavor for me. The cardamom, vanilla, and bit of maple make It taste like an earl grey lavender cookie. I had it at work this morning, and just started brewing another cup after I got home.

Yummmmmm. This is the tea that made me place my first Dessert By Deb order. I love hojicha, and feel like it’s so under-utilized in flavored blends. The maple is subtle and works really well here. It’s bready, and the cinnamon is bold. It really tastes like a toasted piece of cinnamon swirl bread. Tried with and without oat milk, and both ways are tasty. I think I prefer with milk.

Taking the advice written on this sample from VariaTEA to have this as an iced latte and it feels like the right choice. I get a bit of the rooibos, but it’s toned down more than if it was hot. I think I get more mint than chocolate, but I get a little chocolate too. It’s an interesting mix of mints. I can pick them out individually, but they also melt together well. I’d love to see DDB do this on a black base!

I put the rest of this sample in a mason jar in the fridge one night, swearing to myself I wouldn’t forget it the next morning… and did exactly that. I’m not sure how long it’s been in there at this point other than less than a week. I ran out of creamer about a week ago as well. Trader Joe’s rarely has it in stock because they sell out so fast and are limited by distribution on how many they can order for each day. All that to say no lattes for me. Still, this is a decent cup. As I’ve been sipping it I’ll run into one sip that has a flatness to it only to have it gone for a few more sips. I’m sure I didn’t do this tea any favors with days in the fridge. The start of the sip is muted, but towards the end the coconut comes out and there is a sweetness from the maple. I do wish there was a little more maple flavor instead of just the sweetness. Somewhere in the finish I think I get custard like notes. This was a fun tea to try!

The first few sips of this took some getting used to. Sometimes when I start a cup of tea it take a few sips to get into it and used to the flavors. Same with wine. Once I get over that I notice a slightly malty flavor and creamy coconut with a little sweetness to it. I’m having a hard time getting maple though. The flavor seems pretty subtle. I feel like it smells more custardy than it tastes. I’ll have to try the next cup cold steeped.
Thanks to VariaTEA for a sample of this tea!

I’m always a sucker for a Hojicha. It has such a warming flavor that pairs well with cinnamon. I can taste other flavors, which I’m guessing is the raisin. It does have a sort of baked flavor about it and reminds me of a Lupicia tea I have that has apricot and cinnamon. It’s good and might be something I’d consider ordering if I didn’t already have a similar tea. It’s nice to see teas other than the standard green or black being used in a blend!
Thanks to VariaTEA for the chance to try this!

I like this one better than the other DBB lemon tea. It has a nice malty base, but that is the most prominent flavor. I get some coconut that makes it creamy, but I’m not getting much lemon. The coconut is harder to pick out once the cup cools. This tea doesn’t make me think lemon coconut pie.

I’m tasting sugar for sure, a brown sugar flavor. It’s also a little sweet. Not getting a super prominent lemon taste in the sip. Maybe I can evoke a cooked lemon if I really try. The finish has a hint of lemon, but by then most of the other flavors are gone. I feel like this blend is missing something if it was going to live up to it’s namesake.
Thanks to VariaTEA for the sample!

I think this was better when it was hot. It was still missing something in the first half of the sip before it transitioned to a nice finish, but the issue becomes more prominent when the cup has cooled. Maybe it’s the rooibos that is distracting me. It definitely has come out more in the cooled cup. I was getting a buttery flavor with a hint of toffee, but it wasn’t as strong or bold of a presence as I would like. There is also a sweetness to it… stevia? Super glad to have had the chance to try this (thanks to VariaTea), but I don’t think this one is for me.

Made a cup of this to sip on in the evening. It has hibiscus in it, but it’s used in moderation to give a little tartness to the berry flavor and isn’t distracting. Always nice to find people who can use it without having it be overwhelming in a blend. Not quite getting a crisp flavor, but maybe an oatmeal flavor if I think about it. The berry and ginger are very complimentary. I made a failed jam turned black berry and ginger syrup a month ago and was surprised the two paired so well. Although I’m enjoying this, I’m on the fence on if it will be something I purchase. Maybe another cup will help me decide.

Ooooooh, I kinda like this one! It has a nice coconut taste to it that blends well with the ginger. I can taste other spices in there, but ginger is the most prominent. It does seem a bit creamy. It has a nice coconut ginger finish. I’ve been sipping this a little absent mindedly while working and I think I like it better when I’m not hyper focused on it for the note’s sake!
Thanks for the sample VariaTEA!

This tea is… strange. There is something in the scent and taste that I can’t quite put my finger on. Ginseng? Is it older dried ginger? It is hard to pick out the bergamot as EG in this. The berg kind of melds with the ginseng flavor and is reminding me of those fermented orange peel candies I’d get at Asian grocery stores that had a tang that rang to the corners of my jaw. This is almost like I took some of those peels and steeped them with some tea. I’m trying really hard to think muffin, but it’s just a ghost of a taste that I’m not sure is real. Adding a little cream didn’t really change anything. I’m enjoying this cup, but this isn’t once I’d be likely to revisit.
Thanks VariaTEA for the chance to try it!

I got a little ahead of myself and started steeping this before fully reading the notes on the bag that it’s better iced! I’ve been looking over obvious things today. Smells fantastic and when I sip it I get a strong orange flavor with distinct lemongrass mixed in. The sip is really lovely and bright and has a slight sweetness to it. A while into the finish and the rooibos creeps in with it’s woody taste and dry mouth sensation, which encourages me to sip more. I’m enjoying the flavors, but I’m not usually a big fan of rooibos, so I’d probably pass on ordering this one. I’d love it if it was an herbal mix minus the rooibos. Going to go finish the cup while catching up on the latest The Boys episode, which is a nice distraction from reality!

Thanks for the sample, VariaTEA!

This was a free sample from my last order from Dessert by Deb for their Autumn collection. Deb was kind enough to let me pick the teas for my free sample, and I chose this one because I know Deb works with coconut in a lot of her blends but I typically try to avoid buying coconut blends – I figured a free sample was an excuse to not buy a coconut tea and still get to try it. Of her coconut teas, I was most intrigued by this flavour concept…

The dry leaf smell of this is amazing, and it made me really excited for the tea. It’s more coconut forward than lemon, and the coconut is that kind of buttery coconut that makes me think of pastries! In particular, these coconut buns that I get from a Chinese bakery I sometimes pass when I’m going to my local comic book store.

The steeped tea, impressively, doesn’t disappoint! My biggest fear, aside from lotion-y coconut caused from it being rancid (not that I expected Deb to sell rancid tea; it’s just one of THE WORST flavours when coconut does eventually turn), was that it would be too sweet and I’m really happy with the balance of this blend! The coconut is very buttery and a little bit creamy, and the result really does lean quite heavily into that coconut bun/coconut pastry imagery I was get from the LLT aroma. I think for this to be coconut pie I actually probably would have wanted more creaminess or even a custard-y flavour but I’m probably more happy with what I got. The lemon is there, also creamy, but much lighter comparatively. The black tea impressively still comes through in the taste and I actually very much like the balance that the little hint of tannin gives to the blend. I can’t remember is Deb actually says what the black tea base is, but I would guess something Indian or Sri Lankan – the malty/bready notes, full bodied robustness, tannin, and even hints of cinnamon seem to support that.

So yeah – a blend I surprisingly ended up loving a lot.

Got tea mail today from VariaTEA with a bunch of Dessert by Deb samples to try! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!

Being October and a huge pumpkin lover (with an IG account dedicated to all the pumpkin stuff I find and yes, I have one just for tea as well) I had to start with Pumpkin Pie Tart. It smells so much like pumpkin pie! I’ve never had a green tea based pumpkin tea, but this tea makes me think that is the way to go. I can smell crust under the appropriately spiced pumpkin. The sip is mostly spice, but the end of the sip and finish are full pumpkin pie trailing into a buttery flavor. It’s light, yet flavorful at the same time. I was a little surprised by the steeping parameters being hotter and longer than I usually see with green, but they didn’t steer me wrong. This is going to have to go on my shopping list because I want more cups of this!

This is the tea from this new collection that I practically lost my mind over and just HAD to try as soon as possible – the idea of a cinnamon raisin profile on a houjicha base is just so brilliant to me, and I do basically always love any tea that utilizes houjicha…

I want Deb to do more with this base, because it’s incredible! The liquor is medium bodied, with a really clean and crisp texture. The perfect level of roast with a nutty quality, hint of minerality, and kind of barley like flavour. It works so well with the subtle kiss of woodier cinnamon, which is my favourite cinnamon of the moment – I am officially over “hot cinnamon” (like Valentine’s Day hearts) tea for the moment. I get just a bit of sweet raisin, and that obviously compliments the cinnamon so well. It’s almost elegant feeling, because while you get that cinnamon/raisin profile it’s not over powering the tea base at all – it’s just a solidly balanced profile where they all get the representation that they deserve.

Only thing I’ll say is that, to me, a “pudding” would indicate some kind of creaminess and that was absent from the cup for me. It’s probably more accurate to call this a Jojicha Cinnamon Raisin Toast type of profile – but that’s equally delicious!

The name of this tea sucked me in – I’m a total slut for a good rhubarb tea, so my hopes were very high with this blend! I did enjoy it a lot, but sadly my hopes weren’t really met. Maybe they were just too high!?

My absolute favourite part of this tea though is the loose leaf visual. There’s something so magical and stunning looking about those chunky pieces of apple coated in that fine beetroot dust to tint them red. There’s actually no rhubarb in this tea as far as I can tell, but they sort of cleverly trick your brain into interpreting its presence. I also think that Deb was really smart in combining a more tart and drying apple note with hibiscus to sort of “mimic” rhubarb. It’s a nice flavour and it kind of does what I think it’s trying to do, but honestly the reason this didn’t meet my expectations was because it doesn’t taste enough like rhubarb – so the absence in the blend WAS felt by me.

That said, it’s a good flavoured tea – I like the sort of tart but also baked apple note and the mix of subtle maple, and warming ginger. I can see a pie influence, and it feels appropriately autumnal. If it weren’t for the name setting up my expectations in a different way, I think this would have been something I’d have enjoyed way more right off the bat.

I’m still working my way through the teas from this latest collection, but so far this has been my favourite – which was a huge surprise to me. I actually almost didn’t order this one because I was pretty confidant that it wouldn’t work for me, but I added it in at the last minute to hit free shipping for my order…

I wish I could better explain the flavour, but I’ll have to retaste it and try to take better mental notes. For this cup, I had it at the very end of what was basically a ten hour work day and I was totally drained – but it was such a delightful moment of positivity after that tiring day. I remember the bergamot being pretty strong, but offset but lovely notes of cardamom & vanilla. And it’s crazy, because I don’t normally love bergamot and I don’t normally love most spiced tea but together it sort of… clicked!?

I’m actually on pins and needles to see if this was just a fluke brought on by exhaustion of if I actually found a flavoured EG that I really enjoy!

So recently the new Autumn Collection from Dessert By Deb launched and all of the teas sounded amazing so I placed an order. The collection actually does have a different name, but I can just never actually remember what it is…

This wasn’t from the collection, but Deb kindly added in three free samples for me & even let me pick out which samples I wanted to try. I tried to pick things that I would absolutely have never ordered otherwise that I just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to try. When my order arrived, I let a coworker pick the first tea that I tried and this is the one that she chose.

The dry leaf smell is way more herbal than I anticipated it smelling; like a mix of grass and maybe nettle leaf!? With just a hint of lemon from the abundance of lemongrass in the blend. It steeps out pretty herbal too, and now I feel like I need to check the ingredients again because I struggled with what specifically was giving it that distinct of a herbaceous quality. There were notes of lemongrass, green tea, and a smidge of orange as well but they all paled in contrast to whatever that other flavour I was getting was.

It wasn’t bad, though it also wasn’t really my cup of tea either. Mainly, though, it was just so much different than what I had expected it to taste like from the name and also the dry leaf visual.