Trick or Treat! I decided to switch things up for my Doctor Who episode viewing today and instead of making English Breakfast, make something else that was decidedly a bit British, but also fit with my October dessert theme… Afternoon Tea in a tea, Tea & Scones!
The dry leaf smells incredibly sweet and fruity, with a very strong raisin aroma and a little honey sweet. I steeped 3.5g of tea leaf (removing the raisins and orange peel from the weight and adding them back in afterwards) for three minutes in 16 oz. of 205F water. I nursed my little teapot throughout the episode while munching on McVities biscuits… mmm!
The brewed tea was a nice reddish hue, and had a strong grapey aroma from the raisins, very sweet and fruity like the dry leaf. This was a very sweet tea! It had a strong flavor of raisins, very juicy and a honeyed sort of sweet, with a grape note that was more natural that I typically find in teas (whenever I taste grape it is always that “Kool-Aid” sort of grape flavor rather than actual grapes). There was a very subtle raisin bread/oat note to the base of the tea, which reminded me a lot more of grapenuts cereal than scones, since I didn’t really pick up on any buttery notes. There was a very subtle hint of citrus right at the finish, which I think may have had a lot more to do with the base leaf than the added orange, since there wasn’t much of a distinct orange flavor; the sweet raisin flavor was very dominant. The tea also brewed quite smooth; the sweetness meant there was no room for any bitterness from the black base and I didn’t notice much, if any, astringency lingering after the sip.
It was nice, but definitely a very sweet cuppa. I think this may be the sweetest tea I’ve tried for my Treat or Treat October that wasn’t a chocolate tea!
Flavors: Bread, Citrus, Fruity, Grapes, Honey, Oats, Raisins, Smooth, Sweet
