Blackberry Dumpling

Hahaha! I’ve posted about THREE blackberry teas from 52teas today! Do you see a trend?!

And it’s another sipdown!

#long time ago internet hiatus sipdown

The first time I tried this tea, I found it a bit thin and boring, even bitter. Next time, I made sure to overleaf and steep it properly. I’m not a huge fan without adding milk, but with milk, it can be nice. It’s a sort of berries and cream flavor. I don’t get any pastry notes. I accidentally spilled the rest of the bag on the floor, so unfortunately, I won’t be having more of this one. But I did like the black base and found the whole combination to be rather pleasing.

On the Eighth day of Christmas . . . this is one of my faves, so I am happy that it won the votes to be in this year’s box. Bold black teas, sweet blackberries, tasty pastry notes. The note of warm cinnamon. It’s all there. Yummy!

On a recent trip to Georgia, we stopped at a farm that sold turnovers and pies. Blackberry has always been one of my favorite flavors, so we opted for a blackberry turnover. It was more like a donut stuffed with fresh blackberry compote, and was served with vanilla ice cream. Absolutely decadent and wonderful. This tastes just like that! It has a jammy blackberry flavor, with a bit of cinnamon. The pastry note is distinct as well. I absolutely loved this tea.

For the sipdown prompt, “A tea with honey added.”

This packet is from the 2018 Advent Box, so it is overdue for a sipdown. I had worked my way to the last serving, and figured I’d add honey this morning to tick that sipdown prompt box. I don’t normally put additions in tea, but I recognize that sometimes doing so can really elevate a cup, too.

While this cup is perfectly fine plain, it is a good one for a little added sweetness, too. The black base can hold up to it, and the bit of extra sweetness brings out a jamminess from the blackberry and a sweeter pastry element from the bread notes in the base.

I had grand plans to clean my house over the holiday weekend, but I’ve come down with Shingles and the new plan is laying on the couch with the cat and trying to move as little as possible. And sip tea, of course. So nice to have a comforting cuppa when feeling like hell.

Hot cuppa drank while working from home earlier this week – I’ve said it before and will say it again but, the blackberry flavouring that Anne uses is really remarkable and it doesn’t get enough love! This was smooth and malty black tea, a kiss of cinnamon, and that gooey and warm blackberry jam note I love!

I finished a bunch of 52Teas blends this week, and that had me looking at the site to try and see if by chance any of them were still available for sale. None of them were, but I found a ton of other teas that interested me and so I ended up placing a sample order.

I want to say that VariaTEA did a really good job presenting a STRONG argument for what I shouldn’t order given the grandeur of my tea stash. If I was logical at all, I would have listened. In fact, she did talk me out of it for a solid 48 hours – but I kept coming back to some of the appetizing sounding blends on the site and I couldn’t risk not having the chance to try them… So I ignored her arguments entirely.

Sorry.

(I’m looking forward to the Blackberry Oolong though! Among many others)

Sipdown (257)

I have no idea what a blackberry dumpling is so I have no idea if this is accurate. It tastes good though. Sil was super kind and shared a serving and this is a whole lot of delicious blackberry flavor. Actual blackberry flavor, true to the fruit and distinct. It is also a warming cup thanks to the cinnamon and maltiness of the base. It tastes like a blackberry dumpling of sorts. Whether it is a dumpling or not, I do not know. Still I enjoyed trying this one a lot and would happily revisit it should it be reblended and I were placing a 52 Teas order.

Very nice, “solid” tea. I would actually love a little more blackberry, but I can definitely taste it and I do get a hint of buttery pastry, too. The base is smooth and strong. This makes a really nice morning tea. I do like it better with a little sugar or sweetener, but it just needs a touch to bring out the berry.

Tea from this morning. Wanted something extra specially delicious since last night was not a great kiddo night – cluster feeding and refusing to sleep anywhere but on mama! plus the realities of her coming early in terms of income etc are starting to sink in. bah! Nurse home visit today – so wanted to make sure i was functional when she was here. So this was the tea i pulled out. So glad i could sneak another package of this one in my last order. I really do enjoy the black teas with fruits that anne creates – especially blueberry/blackberry bolder fruits. Happy to have this one for a while longer.