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Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act II scene 3

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The Tempest, Act IV scene 1

Oh, how this tea has been calling to me ever since Doulton’s box arrived. This was the main smell that I experienced when I opened the box. This is what’s been fragrancing my room. It’s sort of an intense vanilla/hazelnut tea smell. It sorta intimidated me.

Oh, this is good. I’ve only ever had hazelnut as a syrup in a latte (not my favorite) so I think that my mind picked up on the vanilla more. But wow. I think “hug in a cup” isn’t just something that Leland flippantly put in its description in order to sell more tea. It does seem like a holiday tea, but I’d take it a step further: this is more like the warm loving heart of most holidays. And Stephanie nailed the description of the second infusion: a cinnamony snickerdoodle!

This was the highlight of my day by far. I even kept the leaves for a final steep after I got home from work. Yes, three is definitely this tea’s limit. And usually I love contemplating where one of these teas fits in Shakespeare’s cannon, but this one was on the verge of infuriating. It’s not a tragedy and it should be one of his better plays. Could I call a tea “Shakespeare” the man? That didn’t sit well with me. Then I looked up a play that I’m not too familiar with: The Tempest. Aha! It’s got the family drama of many holidays but ends well. Many critics have even speculated that the character of Prospero was the embodiment of Shakespeare himself.

And then it happened. I was looking at this quote on one of the websites that I’ve relied heavily upon for these notes (enotes.com) and I read the commentary and almost fell out of my chair. They refer to Bogart’s famous last line in The Maltese Falcon: “The stuff that dreams are made of” and how Bogey had suggested this line himself (as far as anyone knows the misquote was unintentional). Well, I shall misquote intentionally: “This tea is such stuff as dreams are made on.” TG