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Aw man, this tea psyched me out—it smelled (and looked!) so good dry and brewing I had to will myself not to eat it, super toasty almonds and cinnamon, drool. Then I took the infuser out after the (quite unorthodox I must say!) 10 minute steep time and was surprised to see a very bright, almost pink red cup of tea. And it tastes fruity-astringent, very apple-y, in a way that reminds me of oversteeped Celestial Seasonings teabags from my youth—exactly the sort of thing I wish to avoid now. Alas. That said, it is still OK tasting—there’s still wafts of that toasted nutty deliciousness, and it smooths out that apple-tartness some both in flavor and mouthfeel…even the apple astringency is of a more authentic, crisp-real-juice sort, reminding me in an excellent way of coming home from middle school in the fall in upstate New York and eating warm empire apple crisp before doing homework or raking leaves for my father—but next time I’m going to see about steeping for much less time and see if I love it more. And here I was, all excited at the notion I’d found my no-caf answer to, say, Della Terra’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. But this smells like its namesake to the max, and then tastes more like something called, say, Cinnamon Apple Nut Crunch.

Still, the longer it lingers on my palate the more I recognize it’s pretty much a quintessential fall tea, evoking memories up the wazoo for this upstate gal like a madeleine might for a Frenchman. ;)

…

This also tastes a little like some baked good I must’ve eaten or maybe even made once, a soft fat cookie thing where the center had some sticky spiced applesauce-y filling, and the rest of the cookie or cake was pillowy, slightly chewy spiced dough studded with nuts or oats or something. Maybe an Archway thing? Hm.

For something that seemed so initially disappointing out of shock this sure is sticking with me.

Bold like an assam, but beautifully balanced and very delicious. Possibly the best Ceylon tea I’ve had (generally not a fan). The immediate impression involves a wonderfully smooth toastiness. Has some woodiness, along with an unexpected sweetness at the end of the swallow that lingers. Package says it takes well to milk and raw sugar, but it’s so good I didn’t even want to add them (and I’m usually shameless about that stuff!). I would definitely order this again.

Doing a comparison between this and Joy’s Teaspoon Earl Grey. Dry, I think I like the smell of Joy’s better; it’s gentler and sweeter. The H&S dry hits you over the head with bergamot.

Brewed, they look identical, a lovely ruby hue. The Joy’s continues to smell mellower, though the aroma of the H&S has backed off a bit now. The flavors match the smell impressions; Joy’s is gentler, softer, but still full of flavor (as it sits it takes on a tasty, invigorating lemon-y tang). The H&S isn’t bad at all, but in the context of such immediate comparison it comes off as far more bitter, though still full of nuance. The Joy’s is easy and enjoyable to take straight whereas the H&S can handle a healthy splash of milk. This leaves me conflicted because I tend to add milk to my afternoon Earl Grey just out of habit, so while I like the Joy’s more here the H&S might be more appropriate for how I tend to use EGs. Hm…

Doing a comparison between this and Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme. Dry, I think I like the smell of this one better; it’s gentler and sweeter. The H&S dry hits you over the head with bergamot.

Brewed, they look identical, a lovely ruby hue. The Joy’s continues to smell mellower, though the aroma of the H&S has backed off a bit now. The flavors match the smell impressions; Joy’s is gentler, softer, but still full of flavor. The H&S isn’t bad at all, but in the context of such immediate comparison it comes off as far more bitter, though still full of nuance. The Joy’s is easy and enjoyable to take straight whereas the H&S can handle a healthy splash of milk. This leaves me conflicted because I tend to add milk to my afternoon Earl Grey just out of habit, so while I like the Joy’s more here the H&S might be more appropriate for how I tend to use EGs. Hm…

Slept in, husband surprised me with cuddling and a makeout session (sorry if that’s TMI; this is my tea journal…) and then said he was totally game for celebrating Cinco de Mayo the way we traditionally have (he doesn’t drink and tends to get annoyed at how ethnic pride days in the US are just an excuse for college kids to get drunk, rendering otherwise great hole-in-the-walls loud and frantic packed-to-the-gills zoos, so we try to find tiny relatively deserted taquerias that don’t serve alcohol to get our salsa verde on) despite having a mountain of tests to grade. Wound up at Caminos de Michoacan, a taqueria and panaderia in one over in Berclair (awesome time-warp neighborhood, feels like the ‘50s-’80s, working class families, no ugly McMansions or suburban isolation sprawl yet, etc.) we’d ony been to once before, years ago. Had lengua and al pastor tacos along with a bowl of pozole with all the fixings and horchata. Yum. On our way out we grabbed a ton of pastries and cookies (including one of my favorites, an anise-flavored pig-shaped cookie) and the entire bill was still something like $15 cheaper than it would’ve been at any of the more typical spots we frequent. Awesome.

Why am I telling you all this, tealog? Because when we got home I put all the pastries on a big silver platter and brewed up some of this tea. And it was delicious and satisfying and pretty much an ideal Sunday afternoon. I wanted to explain all this because while the tea really did taste wonderful—strong and satisfyingly flavorful enough to stand up to all of those spiced sweets, but smooth and not so complicated I felt distracted or like I was wasting it that way—I feel it’s only fair to note everything else going on was so enjoyable that my mood’s such that anything better than Lipton probably would’ve been alright, ha.

That said, I do think this is an ideal “whenever” daytime blend. I might put it in rotation for my morning tea routine.

submitted as evidence:
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Nearly as good as Della Terra’s Lemon Chiffon, which is saying something coming from me…gets the creamy sweet lemon thing right in the same way (smells wonderful dry and brewed), smooth, not too astringent. The one tiny edge DT Lemon Chiffon has over this is that it has more of that buttery lemon bar crust element than this does (not surprising or a failure on its part really, as the name doesn’t indicate anything about trying to taste like lemon pastry). But the mouthfeel and flavor and aroma are scrumptious. And something it provides that Lemon Chiffon doesn’t, for better or worse, is a transformation as you finish the cup: as it cools, it gets less rich and more astringent, more like the puckery juiciness of straight lemon zest (yay accurate naming), though never reaching an unpleasant point. I do enjoy teas that change throughout the experience of the entire cup provided I like all the steps involved, and I do here, so it’s fun. The aftertaste/mouthfeel finishing the cup is more like you’ve been drinking uber-fresh lemonade or ODing on lemonheads than eating a lemon bar, fresher, intenser, more immediately lemon-y, less sweet. The lemon flavor lingers vividly in the mouth for quite a long time afterward too, complete with the oiliness (might sound bad but is great). I welcome both types of lemon experiences.

I’m going to think of this as a very decent back-up plan or occasional substitute for novelty’s sake, something I could order if for some reason DT ever didn’t have Lemon Chiffon available (the horror!).

Dry and brewing there is a very strong vanilla extract aroma, complete with that tinge of alcohol burn. This tea has the slightest hint of bitterness and is, predictably for a decaffeinated tea, a little thin/watered down flavor-wise. It’s not a bad tea at all though, especially given it’s decaf. The vanilla is really, really strong, which I think I’d like more if there was a rich body and some creaminess to go with it. Not a solid winner like Florence (but granted, Florence is caffeinated)…and if I wanted something rich and sweet but without caffeine, I’d probably reach for American Tea Room’s Choco-Late or Macaroon before this. Still, not bad, just not the best for the niche I’d be trying to fit this tea into. Though on the other hand, upon a resteep, I guess when I want that dessert-y rich sweet flavor AND the taste of black tea in the evening, that’s where this shines. Hm. Might have to rethink whether this fills a need after all.

Holy crap this tea really delivers. Smells of wonderful sweet chocolate, and then the flavor is in fact rich, creamy chocolate and toasted hazelnut! Tastes like a Rocher candy without the crunch. Actually, what it reminds me a lot of is those rectangular tins of International Coffee, you know, the sweet powdered “coffee” stuff I used to drink in the ‘80s as a kid thinking I was being all fancy and grown up. That rich, and that guilty pleasure (so sweet, so creamy!) satisfying. Love how much hazelnut’s in this. Woah.

A tea that doesn’t ask much of you (you don’t have to set aside any concentration to enjoy this), that just offers sweet, straightforward pleasure. (I’m also getting the impression it’d be hard to make this tea taste bitter—it’s smooth, smooth, smooth and the tea element is very light, somehow without the whole thing tasting watery. Tastes, yeah, more like a sweet faux coffee or hot cocoa than tea.) I haven’t added milk yet because there’s not even a hint of bitterness and because it’s so creamy already, but I reckon it’d taste just dandy should you choose to do so.

And it resteeps well! Love. Kinda feel like a tea noob/poser for so loving a tea that, um, doesn’t taste like tea, but there it is. Yum.

All the usual standard hoped for qualities of a darjeeling, and smooth to boot. A nice easy-going version for when you don’t want to treat it all too preciously or think too much about it.