Dessert by Deb

G is for…Ginger Creme Brulee

I got a whole tin of this one and it seemed like as good a time as any to break into it for a latte.

Sipdown (249)

Feel like I am in the minority here but I am really liking this one. I get a whole lot of ginger but also custard. Plus it is sweet so I guess this is arguably what a ginger creme brulee would taste like. I am a fan. Now back to my midterm…

I love the idea of this tea. But, it just smells and taste like coconut. Not getting any matcha or cream puff. Sadly, I don’t really care for coconut, so this tea is a huge cup of nope for me.

Sipdown! (1 | 1)

First sipdown of 2024!

Working on getting through these Deb teas, because I don’t know what I was thinking ordering them, most of the time her teas are very meh to me. I blame the hojicha collection ha ha.

This is pleasant enough. I wouldn’t call it pumpkin pie, more of an eggnog vibe if anything. Mellow and slightly creamy with pumpkin spice, of which the nutmeg is really standing out to me. So yeah, sort of like a light eggnog green tea. Not bad, just nothing I’m in love with.

Sample sipdown! I figured I would finish off my little pouch of this with a somewhat overleafed big mug, to try to bring out a somewhat stronger flavor. I also increased the steep time from 4 to 5 minutes, according to the package instructions.

I was afraid this would turn out crazy sweet because of the sugar dust at the bottom of the pouch, but luckily it doesn’t really taste any sweeter than my previous cups. I will say I think the longer steep is a mistake, as I’m getting some bitterness here that I didn’t find previously. But that could also be from the cinnamon, as I see quite a bit swirling around at the bottom of my mug.

Otherwise it tastes very similar to before despite the overleafing. The apple flavor is perhaps a bit more subdued, and I think I get a little more cinnamon, but otherwise the main flavors here are still clove and sweetness from the sugar.

It’s pleasant enough, and I’ll happily finish the cup, but not something I need in my cupboard.

My first tea from Deb! I figured I would break into the free samples first, since the other packages are completely sealed and I would rather leave them that way until I get some more sipdowns in. Plus it sounded good!

First, let me just say that Deb is amazing. The package she sent me was covered in cute holographic stickers and filled with pretty tissue paper. She included a little paperback notebook with types of tea printed on the cover, and wrote me a sweet (and rather extensive) note in a cute tea-themed card. All this in addition to the free goodies I got because of the weekly special! What a sweet person she clearly is. Thanks, Deb!

Anyway…

I actually mostly followed the (rather shocking) recommended steeping parameters for this tea. I did shorten the time a little bit just because (1) I can’t imagine more time making a difference and (2) I didn’t want to wait that long. I did overleaf this a bit just because there were quite a few large chunky bits of apple in the pouch.

So… I don’t think I would call this pumpkin or tart, really. I do get the pumpkin pie spices, especially the clove (unsurprising, since there were whole cloves in the tea). But I don’t get pumpkin, which honestly makes sense given there is no flavoring here, and no dried pumpkin. I do get a light and pleasant apple flavor, which goes well with the spices. Thankfully, I do not taste any coconut.

I’m not sure how I feel about the added sweetness from the maple sugar (or whatever it is). It’s not overwhelmingly sweet or cloying, but I never add sweetener to my teas so it’s still quite a bit sweeter than my teas would normally be. I will say, I do appreciate that it’s restrained, as I still find it very pleasant and drinkable even with the included sugar.

So, tl;dr? It’s perfectly pleasant to sip on, but it’s not special to me. The flavor overall is quite light, and mostly it’s the pumpkin pie spices that take center stage. Will happily sip down the rest of the sample, but certainly not a reorder for me.

Having my second steeping of this. I drank the first one faster than expected while working, but enjoyed the flavors when I’d stop to think about it. The orange is the most present flavor in the cup. The chocolate hides behind a little rounding out the orange. I didn’t see many tea leaves in this mix, it was mostly rooibos, but I’m not getting that awful rooibos woody dry mouth finish. I don’t know that I’m getting much caffeine either, something I’ll have to remedy with my next selection. Not sure about the biscuit cake part of it as it’s mostly a tasty orange chocolate.
Thanks for the sample, VariaTEA!

I was quite excited to try this one, but it didn’t quite deliver as I was hoping. I’m mostly getting saigon cinnamon, with a touch of clove and apple….and coconut, lots of coconut. Not really getting pumpkin, but more of a cinnamon coconut dessert. Still tasty, but not really what I expected.

Mmmm! This is definitely a self-care tea. I could honestly smell this one all day! The aroma stays in the cup after steeping it, and it smells exactly like a bouquet!

It tastes tart (which I am guessing is from the hibiscus), has a strong lavender element, with a slight berry note. I like this one quite a lot.

When I opened my bag, this tea smelled so refreshing, organic, and lovely! Smell-wise, the most prominent note was lavender, with a hint of sweet berries.

This brews up to a pleasant dark purple hue! I steeped this tea hot, and upon first sip, it tastes like lavender with a hint of sweet berries. It is a very soothing blend! I could see myself repurchasing it.

If you like lavender, berries, or light floral blends. You will love this.

Well, it’s a good ginger tea if nothing else.

Similar to last time I got practically zero “creme brulee” from the taste, but at least I had an idea to expect that going into this mug. The ginger was strong but not intense and as it cooled I found it a little more enjoyable. I think I want to try and remember to have this with some type of darker honey – that seems like it would be really well suited.

Oof. This tea is waaayyy more ginger than it is Creme Brulee, but I suppose there are hints of sweetness among all that heavy ginger. It’s a sweet/hot ginger, with a touch of earthiness. Not my thing at all, but I’m glad I took myself out of my comfort zone by trying it. I think a ginger fan would enjoy it, but I don’t think it’s creme brulee at all even if you do like ginger…

I enjoyed this one. The lemongrass really comes through. This is a light and refreshing blend.

I enjoyed this one! It smells like lemon grass, and tastes like it too! I taste little of the jasmine or green tea; however, the lemon grass note really comes through with this one!

Although it has coconut notes, they are not prominent with this blend (which is an issue I have had with some of the Dessert by Deb blends, since the natural coconut when heat releases oils, which can give my cup of tea an oily mouth feel)

Overall, this is a very refreshing, subtle lemongrass tea! This is a nice light tea for when I do not want anything too decedant.I have not tried it cold or with milk. However, it tastes very good hot!

I enjoyed this one! It smells like lemon grass, and tastes like it too! I taste little of the jasmine or green tea; however, the lemon grass note really comes through with this one!

Although it has coconut notes, they are not prominent with this blend (which is an issue I have had with some of the Dessert by Deb blends, since the natural coconut when heat releases oils, which can give my cup of tea an oily mouth feel)

Overall, this is a very refreshing, subtle lemongrass tea! It is citrus, but not tart in any way.I have not tried it cold or with milk. However, it tastes very good hot!

I requested this tea as a sample because “Tea with Jann”, a lovely Canadian tea vlogger, recommended it! She said it was one of her favourites from the Dessert by Deb collection.

Unfortunately, I was not the biggest fan of this tea (despite wanting to like it!). Although this might come down to my personal preferences, since I normally dislike red rooibos. To me, this tea tasted buttery with hints of rooibos and coconut.

However, Deb is a wonderful person, and has some other fantastic blends that I adore. I think this one was just not for me.

Sipdown 89-2021
Still a bit behind where I’d like to be on my sipdowns, but still making progress!
I liked this less and less as I drank more cups. This last cup tasted particularly musty. Not very sad to see it go.

I added a good amount of honey to this cup, but it’s still weirdly lacking enough sweetness to balance out the sharpness in the lavender and bergamot. I’m not loving this cup nearly as much as the previous ones, and definitely not as much as Deb’s Spiced Earl Grey Muffin.

I really like the lavender Deb uses- it’s sharp and intense. This blend is no exception. The bergamot works really well with the lavender and maple.

I’m really enjoying the couple EG blends I’ve tried from Deb. I’m liking the bergamot she’s using, especially combined with the strong, herbal lavender. The honey/maple/brown sugar surprisingly don’t take the sweetness over the top, but balance the strong herbaceous qualities of the berg and lavender.

Just finished my full length blog review of this tea (scheduled to go live late next week), and figured I’d reiterate my thoughts here.

Pumpkin Pie Tart has a very warm, inviting scent to it. Though once steeped, the flavour doesn’t exactly translate the way I would have hoped. It has a light to medium body and tastes a lot like sweet, spiced apple, at least for a majority of the sip. It finishes with a pleasant creaminess and more of the pumpkin spice. Because it doesn’t totally scream pumpkin pie in my mind, I likely won’t be re-purchasing it, but it’s enjoyable enough that I’ll have no issues finishing off what I have left of it!

This smells just like Fanta! It has a lovely orange smell! I steeped this hot. When I drank it, I did not get much of the ginger. Maybe it has a slight ginger note? However, it tastes mostly like a lovely, warm orange tea!

I love sweet orange teas. I am not a huge fan of rooibos, but I do not taste the red rooibos at all in this! Which is wonderful for me. Although I liked the blood orange cider more, I still enjoyed this tea.

Overall, I think where Deb excels is her citrus flavours! And this tea was no exception; a nice and refreshing drink. I wish it was a tad stronger on the ginger note, but I still loved it!

I tested out my theory that this needed more maple to balance out the overwhelming coconut flavour, so I mixed some David’s Tea maple matcha into this, and I think it helped balance out the heavy coconut taste. I think I should have steeped this for a shorter amount of time or at a lower temperature because it also tasted kind of bitter. I think I need to keep experimenting with this tea to get it right.

No… Sadly, this tea is just too oily for me. It is not the coconut flavour that is throwing me off (I love some of Deb’s teas that have coconut in them). But this one, even when I tried steeping it at a lower temperature, just tastes like coconut oil. Maybe I should steep it for less time next time?

I wanted to love this one since I love matcha and cream puffs. I think perhaps if this tea had less coconut and more maple flakes, it would taste a lot better. However, a matcha blend that I would highly recommend (and love) is her minty matcha meringue; so good!