Despite the word maple in its title, it was disappointing that I couldn’t taste maple in the tea. What I did taste wasn’t bad, however, it was just more “black tea” than “maple dream”. Not sure what I was expecting… something closer to a maple donut experience? Definitely didn’t get that and couldn’t really smell the maple either, dry or steeped.
Anyway, to prepare, I used a very small amount of the loose tea in the infuser basket of my 12 oz cup—lined the bottom of the basket. The instructions said 1.5 tsp per 8 oz, but I figured less is more as I find most teas too strong for my liking. I steeped the tea for between 2 and 3 minutes in just boiled water like the instructions stated. Despite the small amount of tea, the water came out a deep caramel/brown color.
The tea was definitely drinkable, as is, once it cooled down. Though it had a strong flavor, I couldn’t pick any specific flavors out. It was also a bit bitter for my taste, so I added sugar which brought the flavor more to my liking. I also tried adding milk-which was okay-but I think I preferred the flavor most with just the sugar. The website suggested trying milk and sugar in the tea, but said lemon and mint are not recommended.
Resteeped the same basket of tea to make a second cup. Same 2-3 minute steep time as before which left me with more of a dark amber color. Added sugar from the get-go this time, but didn’t bother with the milk. Again, nice tasting blend, but no maple flavor in sight. Perhaps I should have sweetened it with syrup.
Would I buy this again? Well, it’s not something I absolutely have to have, so I wouldn’t buy a big bag of it, but I would add another sampler pack to my shopping cart if it’s still available later on since I anticipate the sampler size lasting for several cups with my modest portioning.
Current cup count (12 oz) from 8g sampler size: 1 + 1 resteep. Still plenty of tea left in the sampler.
