Dessert by Deb

First Impression: This is a beautiful tea! The pink cornflowers and golden maple flakes really give it a festive holiday cookie vibe! This also smells strongly of bergamot, but in like a refreshing way. It differs from Deb’s earl grey tea cake, which although I enjoyed, it had a strange smell to; I think this was because the bergamot was mixed with lavender? But earl’s sugar cookie smells very inviting.

Taste: I made a latte out of this! I will say that it does not need any sugar, and I say that as someone who has a total sweet tooth. Not that this is overtly sweet by any means. But it really lives up to its sugar cookie name. I am not sure if the creaminess factor is coming from the milk or the coconut? But this definitely has a cookie-like feeling to it. My only qualm is not steeping this for longer!

I will definitely be repurchasing this one! I think it is one of my favourites from Deb’s new collection! :)

Deb has some beautiful EG blends, but this one is not my favourite. It has a strange, earthy smell that I cannot put my finger on. I think it is coming from the lavender? The dry leaf of this smells fine, but once steeped, it smells a bit like musty?

However, the taste itself is nice. The bergamot is noticeable, and this tea makes a good latte! :)

It is not my favourite EG (I prefer spiced earl grey muffin or earl’s sugar cookie over this one). It was just okay. Not one I would repurchase.

I loved Deb’s other earl grey blend, spiced earl grey muffin. It was actually the first EG that I have ever tried, so I was looking forward to venturing out further and trying her other EG blends. I am not sure what to compare this to, since I have only had EG from Deb, however, like others have said, the bergamot in her blend makes itself known.

The dry leaf of this smells lovely and refreshing. You get a strong bergamot scent with a hint of lavender. I have tried this with coconut milk, but I find that it subdues the rest of the flavours, so this is one of those rare black teas I prefer to have straight without any add-ins like sugar or cream.

So, the main notes are bergamot and lavender. This is of course a bit astringent because of it has a black tea base, but it tastes very smooth and refreshing. I do not taste any of the other components such as maple, brown sugar, honey, or bee pollen. I thought the addition of these ingredients would make it super sweet, but I can barely taste them in this blend. They might be there, but used so sparingly, that they are being overshadowed by the other bolder ingredients.

But I like this one. Not enough to repurchase though because I think I prefer the spiced earl grey muffin. But this is still a good, floral tea blend.

Cold Brew!

Not sure that cold brewing is the best method for this tea as the flavours felt a little flat/hollow and mostly I just got thick jasmine with tart (yet drying) hibiscus. Also, I’m just not sure I’m sold on jasmine and hibiscus being complimentary. There needs to be more sweetness or acidity to the blend, I think – that would make the fruit and even the hibiscus pop a little more and taste juicier.

Maybe I’ll try this with agave next time?

Geek Steep S1E11 – Shera and The Princesses of Power

I’m a few days late posting podcast tasting notes, but sometimes life is busy. This week on the podcast we talked about the first season of Shera and The Princesses of Power, which is something I’ve alluded to with other tasting notes for some Shera fandom blends I purchased from Adagio after we had finished recording this episode…

As is most likely very clear from those tasting notes, I became a MASSIVE fan of the series. However, this actually wasn’t one of my fandom choices – it was Marika’s, and I just ended up falling fast first in my love for it – clumsily but all at once.

I picked this tea for my tea to drink during the recording – I had sort of already found my “perfect pairing” during my watch of the series and this tea doesn’t really fit into it, but I liked the wordplay of the name – it sounds really fitting/appropriate for the first season of the show. Jasmine for all the nature and magic of the world, rainbow for the inclusivity of the characters and happy uplifting feeling of the series, and punch for the action! It’s Marika’s ideology that she used way back in our first episode (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) for her Blood Orange Boost pairing…

And, it’s a nice tea – though I don’t think really my kind of tea. It’s really more of a jasmine green tea than anything else and while I’m not surprised by the precense of those flavours (y’know, given the name) I guess I was just hoping for a bit more of a punchy red fruit flavours – sort of “Hawaiian Punch” style. I feel like those kind of dense red fruits could actually feel really elevated by a touch of fresh and floral jasmine – it’s just the right kind of nuance to really class up that more basic flavour.

As it stands, this is jasmine first (but a really nice jasmine) with subtle nods to orange and raspberry – more soft and soothing than punchy.

Our Website: https://www.geeksteep.com/
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DB topic:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast

If you want to get caught up on the Geek of The Week for next Thursday, the spoiler for our explored fandom is at the bottom of our latest DB post!

Definitely my favourite pumpkin spice tea ever! Brown sugar really amplifies the taste of this similar to DT’s pumpkin chai! But this one is so good! It honestly has no many spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger etc.) which I love because it feels like you are drinking a liquid pumpkin pie – yum!

Based on the ingredients, I knew I would love this one. I believe this tea is essentially Deb’s “pumpkin pie tart”; however, it has a black tea base, which I think works better if you want to make a latte. Because of Starbucks, this is what I typically associate pumpkin spice with: a warm, sugary cup of goodness.

It also contains apples that are look like pie?! Delightful! I think I read on Deb’s Instagram story that she cuts these by hand, which I think is so thoughtful!

Smell: It smells like a sweet pumpkin pie, with the most prominent notes being cloves and nutmeg.

Preparation: Stove-top method! I do this for all my lattes. I just put water in a pan, add a heaping tablespoon of tea and sugar, wait for it to reach a boil, and then add milk.

Taste: This tastes wonderful and is everything I would want in a pumpkin spice latte. I have tried pumpkin pie chai from David’s Tea and the classic pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, but I disliked both of them. I think I have just concluded that I am really sensitive to any overtly artificial flavours. However, this tea blend tastes very wholesome and natural. Like something I would make in my kitchen, as opposed to a large factory (which makes sense since Deb makes all these blends by hand and they contain no artificial flavourings)

I am not sure how this would taste on its own, but as a latte, it is scrumptious! I would highly recommend this if you like pumpkin spice flavoured things, or spicy teas! I will be repurchasing this for sure.

I thought steeping this for longer would bring out the other notes – coconut, chocolate, and coffee – however, it just made the red rooibos more improvement. I like this tea, but it is definitely not my favourite. Still glad I got to try it! :) I wonder if this would have been better with a different tea base?

When I saw this tea, I felt uncertain about what to expect since I dislike rooibos, but I love tiramisu!

I think the flavours for this tea are really creative and really capture the essence of tiramisu! Upon first sip, you get a hint of that red rooibos (but it is not too overpowering), dark chocolate, and a tiny glimmer of coffee. I think I should have steeped this longer and over leafed it!

Improvements: I think this tea could be better if it had a heavier coffee, coconut, and chocolate note. They are chilling in the background behind the rooibos, but I wish they were more central flavours.

However, I ended up enjoying this one! I might repurchase it.

Latte Sipdown (237)

I had such high hopes for this one but I am not loving it. I think its the hojicha since this is overwhelmingly grassy. Cinnamon, sweet maple, grass. So its not working for me at all…which is probably for the best since I can’t love and own everything.

First, Deb goes above and beyond with her packaging! My entire box came decorated with stickers, a handwritten note, and the tea ziplock bags came in such pretty colours. Deb is such a sweet heart! <3

I loved ginger berry crisp, so it excited me to try another ginger herbal blend by Deb! I steeped this for 3 minutes in boiling water. I want to start by saying that I love ginger! I also drank this tea to soothe my tummy after eating a ton of pizza, and it definitely was a very soothing blend.

I am sad I only got 25 grams of this tea. Next time I order from Deb, I will get 75 grams. A lovely, spicy but light ginger blend! :) I have never tried honey bush before, but I am getting a light earthy taste in this blend, which I am guessing is from the honey bush. And then I get a refreshing ginger hit and a bit of sweetness on the back end.

This tea immediately appealed to my inner sugar cookie fiend. I also love Earl Grey, so that was a bonus.

First and foremost, Deb uses a very solid Earl Grey base. The bergamot essence is always incredibly fragrant and undeniable whenever it’s used in a blend. In the case of Earl’s Sugar Cookie, the flavour is predominantly Earl Grey, which is to be as expected. The coconut appears towards the end, contributing a creamy, almost buttery mouthfeel that helps reinforce the idea of cookies. Personally, I would say it feels more in line with shortbread cookies as opposed to sugar cookies, but the flavour is enjoyable just the same.

I received my holiday Dessert By Deb haul this morning, and this is the first blend that I opted to try.

The coconut took me out of enjoying this blend fully, unfortunately. I don’t get an essence that screams ‘apple pie’ in the scent nor in the flavour once steeped. The coconut does a well enough job at mimicking the taste of pie crust and there’s a nice natural sweetness throughout, but the apple-cinnamon profile that is the epitome of apple pie is incredibly light. Almost to the point of being nonexistent.

I’m not sure if my deviating from the suggested steeping parameters had a hand in my non-positive experience, but I will make sure to play around with the steeping on my next go-around with this tea. I’m not ready to give up on it just yet.

Sipdown!

I figured I would go ahead and finish this sample off. I’m finding it’s best to overleaf Deb’s teas, so I generally use a whole tablespoon for my 12oz mug (about twice as much as I would normally use). That means I got two cups out of this sample size.

Not much else to add besides what I already said yesterday, this is a pleasant sweet pumpkin spice tea but not something I would feel the need to have in my cupboard.

So this was one of the free samples from my order, as it was the featured “sneak peek” sample for that week. I probably wouldn’t have chosen this myself, as I’m just kind of over pumpkin spice at this point, and it never lives up to my expectations. But nevertheless, here we are!

Pumpkin spice is definitely in the forefront here, with strong clove notes backed up by cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s not overpowering though, which is nice. The added brown sugar and maple crystals do give a nice sense of caramel, as well as a subtle sweetness. I admit, I don’t like the idea of sugar being included in loose leaf tea, but so far it’s been a sensible amount at least, and doesn’t turn the cup into a sugar bomb. I think it’s the coconut here that’s giving a slight sense of crisp and light pastry, although it could also be my imagination…

All in all, pleasant enough. This is not something I would reorder just because pumpkin spice is not really my thing. But I won’t mind sipping down the rest of the sample packet, since it’s the right time of year and all… ;)

ETA: Did I mention I made a second Deb order already? She got me good with those cookie-themed teas…

Sipdown!

I do like this one. It has a nice natural blueberry-elderberry flavor to it, with a bit of currant as well. The added maple and brown sugar adds just enough sweetness to help it taste richer and more jammy. The lemon is very subtle in comparison, but I can pick it out.

Does it taste like a scone? No. But I do like it as a jammy dark berry tea. I’m not sure whether I’ll reorder it – I don’t have a favorite blueberry black tea but I do have Lupicia’s in my cupboard to try.

I quite like this one.

Mostly, it’s an elderberry or blueberry tea to me. There’s a little hint of lemon, but not much. There’s also just a little bit of tartness from the hibiscus that helps round out the berry flavor nicely, and maybe the lemon is blending in there as well. The added sugar only creates a subtle sweetness, thank goodness. I’m not sure whether I get maple specifically? The base tea has a bit of a musty hay note to it, perhaps from the high recommended water temperature.

I don’t really get scone, but it’s a perfectly pleasant elderberry and blueberry tea. I think next time I may try a lower temperature and longer steep, just to see how that affects it.

Sipdown (1178)!

I could have sworn I’d tried this tea before, but I must be confusing it with a different Dessert by Deb flavour – there are many orange ones, after all. Regardless, this is nice/enjoyable but it’s not doing anything special for me. I do appreciate how smooth and pleasant the green tea is – it’s definitely present/detectable, but as a non lover of green teas I actually think it’s incredibly smooth and complimentary to the orange notes and it’s not turning me off at all.

I do wish that the orange was either jammier and more sweet like an actual marmalade – it’s a touch weird, honestly, to be asking for more sweetness in a Dessery bt Deb blend since they do lean really sweet but I think it would benefit the illusion of the name here. Conversely, the orange level could stay the same but the tea could be more buttery or pastry leaning which would give me more of the “Thumbprint” part of the name. I don’t think the blend needs both – that would be too much, imo. It’s just a little too simple/straight forward for my own tastes at this moment.

I’m happy I tried it though – thank you VariaTEA for sharing!

Y’know I really didn’t like this tea when I first tried it. I didn’t find it cookie tasting enough, and the spearmint in the blend really rubbed me the wrong way. However, I very recently had a cup and I actually enjoyed it a lot. Even though I could still taste the spearmint, I didn’t find it as abrasively sweet or at odds with the chocolate flavour. It was mellow, and refreshing and kind of just worked. Even more shocking, I found the finish of the sip actually very cookie-like. It was chocolate-y but in a biscuity and almost alkaline sort of way that make me think of the wafer part of an Oreo or the interior part of a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie. The rooibos helped with that a lot, I feel.

I don’t know if the fact this sample is now a little aged (and so less fresh/intense tasting) is part of what made it work me for me, but I’m just glad that I seem to be enjoying this blend a lot more now. Regardless of what the cause is.

The spearmint in this tea still bugs me a little bit but I made a late night hot cuppa a few nights ago and I managed to sort of ‘tune out’ the spearmint for most of it which left such an otherwise nicely balanced chocolate, sweet nutty rooibos, and maple balance that did give me some cookie vibes.

So if you get Deb’s newsletter then you probably saw that her upcoming Winter/Holiday collection is cookie themed and while I was initially really excited when I looked at the list of blend names I wasn’t super enthused about most of them – though a couple piqued my curiosity, so we shall see…

It did prompt me to go and dig out this untried blend from my group order with VariaTea and Sil earlier this year, though!

I know VariaTea liked this one as an iced latte because it reminds her of mint chip ice cream, so I will definitely have to keep that in mind for the rest of the sample. This time around I just tried it hot and plain, and I wasn’t feeling it. It’s not particularly cookie like, but that wasn’t what lost me. I just really didn’t love the combination of a a more refreshing and menthol spearmint with the chocolate. Plus, it was a lot of spearmint. I enjoy spearmint teas, but when I think “mint chip” my mind definitely goes more towards creamy peppermint with chocolate than crisp spearmint.

It was just a bit of a disconnect for me.

Sipdown!

This one just never came together for me, and I was always searching for the chocolate. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly nice minty rooibos with an interesting mix of mints. It has a slight creaminess to at as well, I assume from the vanilla (though I wouldn’t identify it as vanilla). The spearmint can get a bit chewing gum-y at the end of some sips.

But I just don’t really get chocolate, and because of that it’s just okay for me.

Hmm, I’m a bit underwhelmed by this one. I felt the urge to try it after I saw it on Deb’s Instagram earlier today.

But mostly I’m just getting mint with a little bit of creaminess that could possibly be vanilla? Or white chocolate? Although I am known to have trouble with chocolate in tea. Don’t ask me why I continue to buy chocolate teas… :P

Anyway, this is an enjoyable sweet and creamy mint tea, mostly peppermint. Maybe I’ll try a bit more leaf next time to see if that changes the flavors!

G is for…Ginger Creme Brulee

Check out the “G” tea pics here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRVRktkgW-r/?utm_medium=copy_link

Made this as a latte with my salted caramel sweet cream. It’s soooo sweet and rich and decadent. The ginger provides the perfect counterbalance to keep everything from being cloying. Yum!