Strawberry Cupcake Black Tea

Here’s Hoping TTB

This is nice! I’m not really getting the chocolate, but it has an enjoyable creamy strawberry flavor. Not a standout, but I would certainly drink it again.

My first Simpson & Vail order arrived! Even though I got home late, I was too excited to go to sleep without trying something, especially since I was hit by a wave of delicious smells as soon as I opened the box.

Now I understand AllanK’s warning about the huge bags. I think these are coffee bags, really? I think I’ll follow his example and start transferring these to tins, because among other things, I don’t want all these great smells to go wafting away through the paper bags.

So, first up, strawberry cupcake. My first impression while sipping this was that it actually tasted much more like chocolate, but after awhile the strawberry started coming through, and it became a chocolate-covered strawberry experience.

Which is really a pretty brilliant idea for a dessert tea. Looking forward to trying everything else in the box!

With the addition of milk along with sugar it tastes less like a cupcake and more like strawberry milk. Tasty either way, but I prefer it without milk.

Also the second steep brews up pretty much the same as the first.

First thing I get is strawberry and then a hint of chocolate comes through. This is pretty light for a black tea. I’m not tasting much of the base, mostly just strawberry. It gets a little bitter as it cools. It is a decent tea, but not one that I will seek out.

Another surprise in the tea swap from Marcel Duchamp! Thank you so much! This tastes basically exactly how I was thinking it would, so I obviously I love it.

Steep #1 // 10 mins after boiling (accidentally waited that long) // 3-4 min
The black tea base suits this perfectly – it’s mild enough, yet it pairs well with the flavors. First, there is an odd flavor from the strawberry leaves, but that is thankfully only at the top of the cup. There is definitely something here that makes this taste like CUPCAKE. A bit of strawberry and I thiiinnk a hint of chocolate. There should really be some more strawberry, but it might take away from the cupcake flavor. I love it – it’s perfect because I was craving a tea that was cakey today.

Steep #2 // just boiled // 4-5 min
This cup was also nice, but a little light on the flavor which was surprising since I accidentally waited 10 mins for the first steep. I love this though!

Sorry for the absence, Steepster, I haven’t had much time between work and my social life lately. Also, I’ve been blending my own chai and drinking that most mornings, so I haven’t had much to write about.

Anyway, I got this in a trade with JustJames a while back. It’s a pretty tea. Short, dark leaves with flakes of pale strawberry leaf and pink strawberry pieces. The aroma is just gorgeous. Tempting chocolate cake scent mixed with a hint of sweet-tart fruit. It really does smell like a cupcake.

Steeped, it starts to get a less-than-realistic, Tootsie Roll sort of smell. It looks lovely in the glass pot, however. Beautiful ambery red. From the aroma, I expected chocolate to be the most prominent flavor, but actually, it’s the strawberry! It reminds me of strawberry preserves, not strawberry candy, which is nice. Also, I can actually taste the black tea base. It’s mild and Assam-like with just a touch of astringency, but no bitterness. The chocolate is most noticable at the end, but I still feel like I’m smelling it more than I’m tasting it.

While chocolate teas aren’t really my thing, this one would be nice to revisit every once in a while.

Thanks Courtney for the sample! I still have one more cup worth left after this too!

This smells amazing and incredibly aromatic; sort of like a strawberry shortcake (plus black tea) – however my concern making it would be that like the Rootbeer I had earlier today the flavour would fall incredibly short to the delicious aromatic smell. However, steeped up it’s not too bad. I mean, yeah it doesn’t quite live up to the smell but it’s still a really nice strawberry flavour with a fudgey cake like (not shortcake) layer underneath and a nice enough black base (no bitterness or astringency). It reminds me of DT’s Love Tea #7 with a bit of a step up in strawberry flavour.

That said, I have lots of Love Tea #7 so I wouldn’t consider getting more of this one until I was out of Love Tea #7 – which could be awhile.

Thanks Courtney!