Violet Cream

Homemade Advent Calendar from Arby: Day 2

I really enjoy violet as a flavor but I rarely remember to dig out the one or two violet teas in my stash, so I was pleased when this one emerged as my random selection today. And I was equally as pleased once I steeped it up! It was straight-up violet at first, but as it cooled, a bit of creaminess emerged to round it out. I only got a hint or two of chocolate, but I think I’m OK with that. All in all, I enjoyed this one!

TTB
I didn’t know this was supposed to be a chocolate blend, mostly I got cream, floral violet and an ok black base underneath. Glad I got to try, but it’s not for me.

TeaTiff Traveling Tea Box | No. 1

Ever since Amanda introduced me to violet tea and candies a few years back, I’ve been on the lookout for anything violet-flavored to add to my cupboard, cart, or wishlist. Violet Cream has been on my wishlist for a while now since I haven’t made a Bird & Blend order for quite some time. Only once have I been able to bring myself to spend enough there to qualify for free shipping. One day I’ll try it again! I’m glad to see a few Bird & Blend teas in the TTB this time around, so I’ll be able to try some new-to-me blends. I was a little surprised that the first aroma I noticed when I opened the bag of Violet Cream was chocolate followed closely, of course, by the violet. I hadn’t realized this was a chocolate tea and wouldn’t have expected those two flavors to go well together but they really do. It’s a seamless combination. Thanks to Skysamurai for including it!

I really enjoy violet tea, but both that I have tried from Bird & Blend (this one and “Purple Rain”) have both been a miss for me. In both, the black tea in the base just came across really bitter, even with the most careful of measures during the steeping process.

This one isn’t quite as abrasive as “Purple Rain,” since the added chocolate flavor does add a bit of sweetness, but it also doesn’t really seamlessly mesh with the floral violet, either. I love chocolate paired with lavender and rose, but this just tastes a little weird to me? The fact the chocolate note is coming off really artificial probably doesn’t help. Having “cream” in the title, I’d expect more of a vanilla note in the flavor rather than chocolate, and I wonder if that would’ve improved it a bit more.

It’s not so bad that I won’t finish this off, but I wouldn’t order violet tea from Bird & Blend again.

TTB Review #18: Yummy! The violet flavor is quite strong but not overpowering. I could definitely see this being marketed as a dessert tea. I can also distinguish the chocolate and vanilla notes. Overall very enjoyable.

I’m back! I have had the best week and really enjoyed my much needed holiday, but I did miss my tea while I was away. Still, sightseeing around London, seeing 10 shows in 6 days and meeting some very cool celebrities (including David Tennant and George Takei, who was an absolute sweetheart) didn’t leave me much time to drink tea! I have laughed, I have cried, I have gasped in amazement, and I have spent a lot of money that was not necessarily in the budget for the trip.

Soooo… about my no-buy. Here’s the thing. I have been buying tea from Bird & Blend since their infancy, when they were a new company with a small online presence, no physical stores you could go to, and the orders were hand-packed by the founders/owners of the company themselves and sent out with little hand-written notes and hand-written stickers on the packets. You get the idea. It’s been nearly a decade since I placed my first order. Well… the company is doing fantastically well. Going from strength to strength, creating many new blends, employing a large staff and opening several brick and mortar stores. It’s fantastic to see! But being from the North East, there are none near me, and I haven’t had the chance to visit a store in person yet. So when I saw there was one only a single tube stop away from my hotel, I had to visit! I dragged my friends along and I was like a kid in a candy store, chatting to the staff and accidentally becoming a sales advisor and enabling other customers to pick up some of my favourites. My friend initially picked up 1 box of tea bags, and ended up leaving with a strainer and 10 small packets of loose leaf tea instead! So, it’s safe to say, I did some damage… My cupboard is now up 24 teas, but I don’t mind because I’m just so happy to have restocked on some old favourites and to have picked up some wishlist teas to try, including this one. I’m definitely going to have to work hard on my sipdowns now, though!

This was the first tea I made myself this afternoon when I arrived back home, picked at random from the pile of new teas, and it was a good choice! The scent of the dry leaf reminded my instantly of Parma Violets, a favourite childhood sweet of mine, and I was happy to find that this carried through to the sip. The front is all sweet powdery violet, and the creamy chocolate comes through at the back of the sip. I drank this cup plain, and found it sweet enough, but I bet with a pinch of sugar it would be very reminiscent of a violet cream chocolate. Yum.

Now to shamefully update my cupboard…

Flavouring. Never was anything so nondescript in ingredients as this word. And flavoring can contain who knows what. And you know what? I find that really annoying. Because allergies. And furthermore, did they actually taste violets before naming this? Or are they just…. Oh. OH. Okay. I don’t know what violets taste like, raw or otherwise, but somehow the name fits. It is creamy and floral. I know I was being really negative to start but the flavoring thing always gets me. But then I smelled it and I was like Well… now I have to try it. And here we are sitting with this nice creamy cup with woodsy undertones. It coats the mouth nicely.

Another B&B tea from the TTB! It tastes super strongly of violet. The black tea is all right. There’s not a lot of nuance here, mostly just floral flavor. It’s not my favorite sort of flavor profile, but it’s decent. I wish I tasted some cream. I didn’t get to finish the mug because my cat knocked it over on top of our whole d&d setup.

I found the bright base kind of lacklustre and meh (Sri Lankan/Ceylon black tea) but I did enjoy how much this one reminded me of a “chocolate” covered Turkish Delight candy bar (but a twist of violet instead of dusty rose). I think Big Turk is a Canadian candy bar but this tea does a good impression.

Thought it was satisfying with or without milk.

Had a little teacup of this one yesterday afternoon. There was such a clear divide in the flavours to me as I sipped this. All chocolate in the top notes and front end of the sip and then really full force into the violet in the back end and finish. The chocolate is more of a chocolate liqueur note over actual milk chocolate, which is actually preferable for me. The best part is that sweet, sweet parma violet though. I fucking love violet teas and I think B&B really stepped up their floral tea game with this one.