Tea Forte Advent Calendar: Day 2 - Strawberry Apple

 


Today was our first herbal tea or, to be more correct - tinsane, since it contains no actual tea.


I admit, when I opened the little door and saw Strawberry Apple, I was not excited.  I'm not usually a fan of either apple or strawberry flavors in my tinsanes.  I find that apple tends to over dominate whatever it's paired with (unless it's paired with cinnamon), and strawberry never hits quite like strawberry.


That being said, the bouquet of the tea bag before steeping surprised me.  I one hundred percent expected my nose to get hit with nothing but apple.  Instead, I couldn't smell anything other than strawberry leaves.


Once brewed, the aroma carried that same strawberry leaf, but with the addition of a slight lemony scent.  The color, however, was pure apple.... and that's if I'm being nice.  It just didn't look appetizing to me. 

My first sip tasted like hot water with an aftertaste of berries by LaCroix.  Thankfully my second sip was much better.  The apple didn't dominate.  It was barely there at all.  I didn't find the blend sweet, or fruity really, and while I couldn't taste the lemon, I could feel the citrus on the sides of my tongue and on the back of my throat.  The strawberries continued to only be present in the aftertaste, but at least they tasted like real strawberries.  It was an all around uninspiring cut of slightly flavored hot water.


The shortbread of the day was a classic butter shortbread finger.  I didn't expect that it would pair well with my colored warm water, but at least I knew I would enjoy the cookie.

To my surprise and delight, the shortbread did wonderful things to the tinsane!  The sweetness of the cookie pulled forward the strawberry as well as some other berry flavors to the top note.  It still wasn't strong, but it was actual flavor!  The butter of the shortbread made the mid note fill with a savory baked apple flavor.  The pairing was best when I actually dipped the shortbread into the tinsane.  The flavors of the tinsane infused the shortbread and I suddenly had a lovely holiday berry dessert cookie!


Final thoughts:  This blend NEEDS shortbread.  It is a waste of time otherwise - but it is a nice accompaniment to the cookie.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Read more

Tea Review: Orange & Cinnamon Spice by Twinings

Image
 The second tea from my massive Christmas Twinings sample box. This is a caffeine free rooibos option - and it is one that I very much enjoyed.  I was expecting the cinnamon taste to be stronger on the profile.  Instead, what I got was something that tasted like the unsweetened tea version of orange juice - which was entirely delightful.  I have a korean tea that is sort of like an orange marmalade jelly that you add to hot water which I really enjoy but is often too sweet for me late at night.  This reminded me of that jelly tea without the sweetness. Final thoughts:  I will need to buy more of this - it is a delightful caffeine free option.
Read more

Tea Review: Chai French Vanilla by Twinings

Image
 One of my Christmas gifts this last year was a massive sample box of Twinings tea blends containing all sorts of flavors that I have never tried - well, you KNOW that means I have to review them all as I drink them! To start off, I knew that this wasn't going to be my favorite blend since the basic Twinings chai is not a chai I enjoy.  It's not... BAD - I just prefer my chai blends to have WAAAAAAAY more spice than Twinings uses.  I was curious to see what vanilla would bring to the chai party though, because it's not a flavor that I usually have in my chai.   So, what DOES the french vanilla bring to the chai party?  The answer is - nothing much.  In point of fact, what little spicing is in the Twinings chai is utterly masked by the addition of the vanilla and the cup tasted like regular black tea with a bit of vanilla creamer added.... sans cream. Final thoughts:  Not a Twinings blend that works for my tastes.
Read more