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“A very nice vanilla bean tea! A good black base that is fairly strong with a lovely french vanilla flavor! I really do love The Persimmon Tree Tea Company. I have only sampled a few flavors that...” Read full tasting note
“Thank you Azzrian for your awesome kindness in the holiday tea package you sent me! This was the first tea I tried. Interestingly, it reminds me of coffee. Which is not a bad thing because I have...” Read full tasting note
“Vanilla is probably one of the most basic tea flavors, but surprisingly I’ve tried almost no vanilla teas! In fact, my first was Della Terra’s Cafe Vanilla in the 12 days of Christmas swap. I don’t...” Read full tasting note
“I received this sample from the Persimmon Tree today and figured I’d get right down to business with checking it out. I love a good black and rather enjoy vanilla teas as well these days! I...” Read full tasting note
A wonderfully smooth blend of organic black loose leaf tea and sweet vanilla bean. This creamy tea is great hot or cold with a spoonful of honey or rock sugar.
Organic Black Loose Leaf Tea, Vanilla Beans
Company description not available.
Loose
Appearance: Deep black tea, bright vanilla bits
Aroma when Dry: desserty sweet (western), nutty, earthy
After water is first poured: vanilla pound cake
At end of first steep: creamy vanilla
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: light meadow brown
Staple? No, but would drink again
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening
Taste:
At first?: light crisp creamy vanilla notes
As it cools?: Vanilla notes open up greatly, tea gets bodied
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, buttery crisp vanilla, no sweetness in aftertaste
I’m amazingly tired out. I had all these plans with a couple cold-steep teas to review and savor this morning, but instead I had an early start to take my rabbit to the vet. So instead, on the drive to the vet I inhaled all that cold-steeped tea without thought or noticing taste, booo!
So drinking black tea, now later in this morning. I would prefer mate but I got an order from The Persimmon Tree yesterday and another package from another place coming today so I need to try these out!
On that note, shout out to the Persimmon Tree for great customer service. There was a mix up on my order and they emailed me back right away and were fast in fixing it. Plus upped my Coconut Cacao to 6oz in apology. /love love love. All I need now is to get my post lady to stop brutalizing my tea packages – not sure theres some post challenge to see if they can cram packages through a mail slot, ripping the package open and spilling tea samplers out. GRRR!
Onto: French Vanilla Bean (FVB)
DRY: Sweet vanilla smell, kinda nutty. Lots of big mystery chunks… almonds? But isn’t listed on their website – Just tea + vanilla beans.
STEEPED: Sweet again and slightly vanillay. Steeps up a dark brown.
TASTE: Creamy smooth taste right up front with a delicious black tea in the background. Starting to get bitter – I should of steeped it to 3 minutes, not 4.
I added rock sugar and soymilk halfway through which upped the ante making FVB very smooth and ultra creamy.
WHO’D LIKE THIS TEA: Black tea drinkers and vanilla lovers. Especially someone who likes adding cream and sugar to tea.
COMMENTS: My first sip I was brought to that similar creamy reminder of their other creamy teas but this one is for the black tea drinker. Very nicely balanced creamyness. FVB is the bomb with milk and sugar added.
I was hoping I would get vanilla punched to the face, but instead got an amazing sweet creamy tea. FVB would make a killer vanilla latte. A nice tea to show off to fellow black tea drinkers. I personally like more crazyness in my teas, but this is delicious, best straight up vanilla tea I’ve had in awhile.
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Water: 750ml 195°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 4 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell:
AmazonV: vanilla bean ice cream
MilitiaJim: Yup, vanilla, a bit of bean in there
Steeped Tea Smell:
AmazonV: vanilla bean ice cream
MilitiaJim: tea with some vanilla
Flavor:
AmazonV: vanilla, black tea
MilitiaJim: Wow. Oversteeped bitter. Nice vanilla flavor though.
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: astringent
Liquor: translucent dark brown
Next time it needs to be steeped on the lower end of the parameters.
Post-Steep Additives: cream, sugar
Much better, less astringent, more of the vanilla flavor comes out as well.
Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/01/persimmon-tree-tea-company-loose-leaf.html
Thanks for the sample Azzrian. I like vanilla quite a bit in foods, but I don’t tend to favor it in teas unless it’s part of a more complex tea, such as vanilla caramel. So, for my taste, this is nothing special. I was a little put off by the dry leaf smell. For most teas, other than chais, I don’t add dairy, but based on other’s tasting notes, I added some cream and stevia which made it acceptable, but nothing I’d go out of my way to have again. For those that like vanilla teas, this may hit the spot nicely.
I steeped this tea in my single serving cup that has a built in infuser. I put about 1.5 tsp of the leaves into it and let it steep for 5 minutes so I can get the maximum of flavours.
Packaging: The tea arrived in a tall and skinny air tight container. Great to keep the tea fresh for a longer period of time. I actually prefer this style tin over others because it doesn’t take up too much room in when storing it away. From what I saw, it doesn’t have the size on the label, but after looking it up online I believe it is 2.5 oz. It’s a standard label with a very appealing look to it. Standard steeping instructions are on the back as well.
Smell: Strong but not overpowering for both – before steep and after. The scent fills the air the moment you open the air tight container. I can distinguish the sweet vanilla aroma from the the beans, as well as the hint of coconuts. Definitely filled my kitchen with an awakening scent.
Taste: I would say this blend had a great smooth and calming flavour. Again, the vanilla bean hints are a perfect touch. It wasn’t too bold, which I was surprised about because I expected it to be for sure. It’s hard to not dislike this creamy blend. The flavours all taste real, and not artificial. I also especially enjoyed that the tea leaves weren’t too small. A great size that was able to not sneak through my infuser. For those that enjoy vanilla blends, this will hit the spot nicely. I had this tea in the late afternoon with a bit of milk and sugar as a dessert tea but I would definitely recommend this for a perfect wake up brew in the morning (minus the milk + sugar).
First Sip Thought: “I must make this into a latte next time!”
I can’t not give this tea a perfect score…I’m in love!!
Brought this in my travel tumbler to class today. There was a weird smell after the initial vanilla smell that translated to a funky taste. Odd because I didn’t taste/smell that at all the last time I drank this. My amateur guess would be that maybe the oils or something in the tea went bad? Or it might have to do with my tumbler. In either case, I had to dump a lot of it out :( I’ll be sure to get to the bottom of this when I get back home.
I had this this morning. And I have to say the loose leaf looked like it would be this wonderful creamy vanilla-y tea! The almonds, and vanilla pods, and vanilla scent. It had a really earthy smell as well. The black tea base was a good choice but I have to say, it was not what I expected. Hot and unsweetened it just tasted like a morning black tea. So I let it sit to cool a little bit and it was still bland. So I added sugar and it got a little better and brought out the almond flavor. Then I let it sit for a little longer and added milk. Aaahhhhh hahhhh! I found the vanilla. The cooler it gets the sweeter and stronger it gets! This was definitely a nice blend but I’m going to have to continue searching for the perfect vanilla tea for me:) thank you to the persimmon tree tea company though!
Hey Kasumi, what do you mean when you describe a tea/flavour as western?
it has to do with the types of and degrees of sweetness and subtlety involved, in relation to cultural palate.