Tea of the Week for October 19, 2015!
This takes an ordinary toffee bar up a notch or two! I used my black tea base of organic Chinese & Indian teas and flavored them with buttery toffee flavors and then added some cardamom, ginger, clove and black pepper just to spice things up a bit. And just to make sure those chocolate-y flavors come out and play, I added cacao nibs & cacao shells!
Really good. Really REALLY good!
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OK, so I’m really liking this. I’m not at all surprised since I do love those toffee candy bars! And this takes those yummy confections one step further because TEA.
The chocolate here is well defined, and there’s a nice buttery toffee flavor to it. The ginger and cardamom are strong notes but not overly spicy. Just enough to perk up the taste buds and add some savory contrast to the sweeter flavors. The black tea isn’t overpowered. It’s good and strong without being too astringent. The earthy notes of the black tea add some depth to the chocolate.
I find that as I continue to sip, the spice flavors do develop somewhat – but I like that the other flavors don’t reduce their impact to make way for the spice. A really nice cuppa. I hope that Kelly likes it as much as I do!
To brew, I measured a bamboo scoop of tea into the basket of my Kati and poured water heated to 205°F over the leaves. Then I let it steep for 2 1/2 minutes and let it cool for 10 minutes. The second time I tested it, I made it a wee bit stronger so that I could go latte with it – and if you like a latte, I highly recommend it for this tea! Absolutely YUM!
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: Before you open your pouch to measure out your tea, turn the pouch upside down and give it a gentle shake to redistribute the spices and the cacao shells and nibs.
Organic Ingredients: black teas, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper, cacao nibs, cacao shells & all-natural flavors.
Steep: 1 1/2 of tea to 12 oz. 205°F water. Steep 2 1/2 – 5 minutes. Allow tea to cool 10 minutes after brewing for best flavor.