52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 9
Yeah, I’m a day late with this one. Yesterday was an incredibly busy day & I wasn’t able to actually focus on the countdown. So, I held this tea until today, thinking that since Day 10’s tea is a caffeine-free tea, it’s one that I can have after this tea and it will all work out OK (gotta have that caffeine!)
This was a tea that I was extremely hesitant to create way back when I created it (it was crafted as a create-your-own tea of the week reward from our start-up Kickstarter back in 2015!) I was hesitant because as I’ve said (probably more often than necessary) I do not like Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches. I never have. I’ve recently learned that it is an inherited trait (or a naturalized trait) from my mom, who also has never liked Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches. So I’m sure she had everything to do with influencing my opinion of the sandwich.
I like Peanut Butter. I like it in cookies, I like it smeared on my pancakes. I like it in a Peanut Butter & banana sandwich or a Peanut Butter & marshmallow creme sandwich. Or even just on toast with a little butter & a sprinkling of cinnamon & sugar. But I don’t want it with jelly.
I also like jelly on just about everything. (I’m still kicking myself for not doing the Bonne Maman advent.)
But I don’t want them together.
So I guess you get my point. I didn’t want to create this tea back in 2015 (it might have actually been 2016 when I actually crafted this one). But I did – and I ended up LOVING IT. So, I actually probably would actually enjoy a PB&J sando. But I’m not gonna risk it because years and years of conditioning have made me this way. Who am I to upset that hard work?
But this tea: I love it. I get a strong raspberry jammy flavor – a good raspberry jelly flavor – the kind that’s made with lots of real fruit & less sugar. The kind that you end up paying about $5 more per jar for just because it’s made better & tastes better. (Which is kind of a good reason, if you ask me.) The peanut butter comes in after the strong raspberry note. You don’t get a lot of “bread” flavor – that’s intentional on my part, because I didn’t want to make this too sandwich-y for reasons I’ve already mentioned. I did add a hint of breadiness to it by way of a rich, malty, bready Yunnan to the blend (also in this blend is a malty Assam & a crisp Nilgiri) but this wasn’t intended to be a sandwich tea, but a PB & J non-sando tea. I think way back when I was originally crafting this tea, my thought process was that if I don’t go for the sandwich angle, I can drink it.
It’s all mental.
Anyway, I love the way this tea came out. I love the raspberry. I love the black base. I even love the peanut butter with the raspberry. It’s yummy!
