Our Tea of the Week for the Week of July 30, 2012
My wife and I have a favorite Chinese restaurant here in Wichita (if you live here or plan to visit, you HAVE to check out Oh Yeah; It really is awesome. Tell Shu that Frank sent you).
Anyway, the food there is amazing, but I think my wife’s favorite part is the Mango ice cream. It does strike me as the perfect, sweet, creamy ending to a fabulous meal. Anyway, it inspired me to make this week’s Tea of the Week. I hope you enjoy it.
(Reblend)
From our 2021 12 Teas of Christmas box!
Rich black teas (a blend of Assam, Ceylon & Yunnan) combined with lots of freeze-dried mango bits & vanilla bean. There’s also a touch of “ice cream” essence to it so that it tastes a bit like ice cream. To me, what it tastes like is that someone melted some mango ice cream & added it to my black tea. I get notes of mango & vanilla – but my black tea flavors come shining through as well – it’s a nice balance between black tea, mango & vanilla
It’s organic, vegan, gluten-free, allergen-free & all natural!
more about this tea: This is my first time reblending this tea since my first few months as the mad tea artist of 52Teas – this was one of the reblends requested as a campaign reward when we took over 52Teas as part of our Kickstarter Startup & it’s every bit as good as I remember it.
This tea is amazing iced – but it’s also really good hot. On the label of this tea, I suggest a 3 minute steep time, but after a couple more test steeps (part of the job, you understand? Just doing my job!) I find that if you shave 15 seconds off the steep time – for a 2 minute & 45 second steep, followed by a 10 minute ‘rest’ before you start sipping – the flavor is even smoother & tastier. So, I do recommend setting a timer & not leave it – this is one of our more finicky teas & likes the high maintenance treatment. Giving it what it wants will result in a more delicious cuppa.
organic ingredients: black teas, mango, vanilla bean & natural flavors
to brew: shake the pouch. Use between 3 grams of tea to 12oz of nearly boiling water (205°F) & steep for just over 2 ½ minutes – but not quite three minutes. the label on this tea suggests 3 minutes, but after testing this a few more times, I find that I prefer the tea if I steep it for closer to 2 minutes and 45 seconds. the flavor comes out smoother with just 15 seconds cut off the steep time.
serving suggestions: If you’re drinking this hot, I would recommend going latte with this by adding a splash of milk or cream – it will give you an even creamier taste & texture. Still fantastic without the dairy, but even better with it. When cool, the softer “ice cream-y” flavors pop a little more – so you don’t need to go latte with the chilled tea.
A teensy bit of sugar will bring out more of the vanilla tones to the cup as well as the sweeter notes of mango – without the sweetener, I get a more tangy mango flavor.
Again, it’s important to note that this tea definitely benefits from the cool time – it is not the same cuppa straight from the teapot hot as it is after it’s been poured and had a chance to cool for about 10 minutes. The flavor not only intensifies as it cools.
Whichever way you decide to drink it, it’s really very good. An invigorating yet tasty cuppa without addition, a sweeter, dessert-y cup with additions.
