Tahitian Vanilla Winds
Tempest Tea
Out of Africa
The Spotted Leopard Teas
Tea Guy is not averse to a bit of dark chocolate now and then and I'm fairly neutral when it comes to vanilla, but the notion of a tea flavored with either of these substances was not a concept that made me sit up and take notice.
But I went ahead and brewed a cup of Tempest's Tahitian Vanilla Winds anyway. It's described as an "organic Indian tea" and is obviously flavored with vanilla. The leaves are small and very dark and have a nice aroma, as does the finished brew. As for the taste - not bad at all, though the vanilla is very subtle.
Vanilla and black tea are also melded together in Spotted Leopard's Out of Africa blend, but the mixing doesn't stop there. Out of Africa also contain rooibos, chocolate and coconut.
Chocolate is the dominant aroma and flavor here, with just a hint of vanilla and coconut though, once again, the flavors were considerably more understated than the aromas.
What surprised me most of all was that I actually liked both of these teas. Admittedly I didn't like them so much that I'll be likely to choose them over straight up tea too often, but they are worth a try.
1 comment:
Hi, Tea Guy, What a timely entry on vanilla...
I am letting all my foodie blogging friends (especially those who feature baking on their blogs) know about a very special entry on my blog. Yesterday, Patricia Rain, aka "The Vanilla Queen," wrote a piece about the importance of real vanilla, which is threatened with extinction due to some pretty crappy business and governmental practices. Please come check it out, and help spread the word about real vanilla, if you feel as strongly about it as I do.
It's here: The Vanilla Queen Speaks.
Many thanks, and please forgive the cookie-cutter alert. I subscribe to nearly 200 blogs!
Tana
P.S. Tahitian Vanilla is my favorite kind, but never in tea. Just in chocolate!
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