Tea Review: Breathless by August Uncommon Tea

 The front of the package bills this as a boozy black tea with white chocolate and prune. Well... I don't get the boozy bit at all.


 

The white chocolate is the dominant fragrance in the bouquet of the dry leaves and it adds a sweetness to the brew that means this does NOT need any sugar added to the cup for my palate. However, it is thankfully not TOO sweet.
 

 
Do I taste the prune?...... *sips again* ...... only when I'm really looking for it. Mostly, I think this tea reminds me a bit of a plum pudding..... which I guess means that it does have a sort of boozy prune profile after all....just... in a very specific combination.
 

 
The back says notes of armagnac which I maybe get? I think of armagnac being a plum and vanilla taste though I have had some armagnac that have more of a caramel and burnt orange taste and this tea has a bit of plum and maybe some burnt orange... so that could be their armagnac claim there. The back also says prune - which I've already addressed, dark cherry - I get more cherry in the nose than the taste but if I REALLY search for it, I can taste it on the end note and the aftertaste. The last claim on the back is whipped cream.... uh, no. I don't get that at all. Yes, the white chocolate adds a creaminess to the tea along with the sweetness... but it doesn't translate to a whipped cream taste for me.

 
Because of the sweetness, I have a hard time thinking of what this would pair well with. The flavors in this are bold and strong and I think would fight with a lot of foods. The one thing I could think to match it with is the Russian Gingerbread with Orange Filling that I got in my Russian Yum box a few months ago. Both the tea and the snack have really strong flavors - but they're complimentary and so they each break up the other and give a break to your palate without getting overpowered by the other. It's a nice pairing - but in all honesty, the tea doesn't NEED anything to pair with it. It's nice on it's own straight off the steep with no additions or sides.
 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar - Day 2 Jade Oolong

Image
 Day Two of the advent calendar and what did we get? Jade Oolong!  As good as the assam blend was yesterday, I was excited to taste the quality of today's oolong.  I had high hopes. So, I made myself a cup according to the directions -trusting them on the temperature and the timing. All in all, it's not a BAD quality oolong, but I've had better and it didn't compare at all to yesterday's cuppa.  I think the thing that cut into my enjoyment of the oolong was that this one had a sort of grassy flavor on the end note which persisted a bit into the after taste.  Because of the grassy end note it took me longer to get through the cup - so by the time I was ending the cup it had cooled.  I have to say, I'd really enjoy this as an iced oolong with a bit of added sweetness.
Read more

Tea Review: Vanilla Almond Spiced Chai by Trader Joe's

Image
 This was in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's, and well, I love me a good chai.  Loving a good chai means that I am eternally on the hunt for good chai blends, which means I pretty much have to try nearly every chai that I come across because you never know when it is that you're going to find THE chai blend that is perfect for YOUR palate.  As such, I picked this up for a taste test. Now, the large print advertises this as a chai - but if you keep reading the bottle, the smaller print bills this as a protein smoothie, and honestly that's far more accurate.  "Protein smoothie with chai tea, almond, coconut cream, and an exotic spice blend" is how the entire label reads.  Texture wise, this is DEFINITLY a protein smoothie.  It's thick in that nearly melted milk shake sort of way, and it has a coarseness to the texture that utterly betrays the presence of the chopped up almonds.  There is also the not quite dissolved powder sensation that you get with an
Read more

Tea Forte Advent Caledar: Day 15 - African Solstice

Image
  Oh joy - a rooibos. Ok, so sometimes rooibos can be tasty.... sometimes - but more often than not I lump it in with honeybush as a sad weak tea substitute that only makes me crave a real cup of tea.  There are some exceptions - I have a lovely rooibos blend in my regular stock called Party in the Jungle which is a delightful cup, and my friend Brian used to stock an absolutely FABULOUS rooibos chai with spicy chili in it that I could not get enough of - but those are the exceptions and not the norm when it comes to rooibos for me.  This name - African Solstice - tells me NOTHING.  Time to look at the write up. Ok... now I'm full concerned.  Rose is such a strong flavor in tea for me.  Rose without a black tea to balance it... I would be tempted to skip this blend entirely except my roomate's girlfriend is down for the weekend and she likes florals.  So, I know if I don't like this, I can pass it on to her and she'll enjoy the hell out of it. The color was mild - about
Read more