caramel apple explosion, blue raven tea

It's snowing here.

Way to get my hopes up with those 50 degree days, Wisconsin.

 Rah rah go chives go!

Of course it got up the hopes of the chives in my little herb pot too. So, I'm rooting them on. It looks a little bit like everything else gave up. Not that I blame them. I'm ready to toss in the towel and smuggle myself south, too!


So, after having a couple what I'll call wishful thinking cups of tea this morning (fruity white teas that reminded of somewhere warmer), I decided to drink something that fit the weather better a rich creamy cup of apples and cinnamon sounded just about right.

These are some of the nicer black leaves
I've seen in flavored black tea.

The very first thing I noticed is that it didn't smell nearly as sweet or apple-y as I was expecting especially considering the big chunks of apple in there.

Then I added the 212 degree water and there was my apple!

I steeped for 3 minutes and was welcomed with a really warming cinnamon and apple smell, highlighted with sweetness.

The tea itself brewed a really rich red-brown and had a nice creamy mouthfeel. The initial taste that hit me was the apple, followed by some cinnamon and sweetness then ended off on a milky note. While some tea tastes better once it's cooled, as you can taste it better, this one tasted best piping hot.

It doesn't have a great second steep as most of the flavor comes out in the first cup and you just end up with a sadder, weaker version of the first.

Hello winter comfort in a cup.

I really like this tea. It's creamy, it's dessert, it's got this really awesome warming quality to it, but I'm not quite sure about the Caramel Apple Explosion bit. This tea tasted more like apple pie and ice cream rolled into my cup, which is a combination I like even more but wasn't banking on here.

My next experiment with the tea will probably be one of the most delicious tea lattes I've ever had. I only wish I thought of that first :9

Blue Raven Tea