DavidsTea introduced their Coffee Cake black tea as a part of their winter seasonal collection several years ago. I believe it might have been a part of the winter 2013 or 2014 assortment of teas. Now, unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to try it until the following winter, when it showed up - not as a part of any of their seasonal collection boxes - in their individual, one-ounce grab-bags. (If you have been to a DavidsTea location and seen the assortment of one-ounce bags, where you can buy a certain number for a set price, that was where I found it. Those bags often come from parted-out seasonal collection boxes from past seasons.) To me, the tea sounded tasty, and at that time I had more of an interest in sweet, flavored blends than I probably do now. I remember returning home, brewing some of this Coffee Cake black tea, and being amazed at the flavor. It was absolutely delicious! I found this black tea blend to be so tasty that I went back to DavidsTea and bought every last one of the one-ounce bags of Coffee Cake that that they had available. The sales clerks even looked in the back storage room to see if they had more that they could sell me. I will come back to the story at the end, but I want to share my thoughts on the tea itself and what I found to be so delicious.
Truly, I have done Coffee Cake a disservice by not reviewing it sooner than now! Of all the one-ounce bags I purchased, the tea I just brewed is from my just-opened, second-to-last bag. Over the past couple of years, I have drank through the other five to ten bags. It was great that they were in individually-sealed one-ounce bags, as it kept the tea very fresh.
Even though my taste in flavored black teas has diminished over the years, I still really enjoy this tea. Simply reading the description from the package is enough to make my mouth water: "This sweet, fragrant black tea blend has all the aroma of a fresh baked coffee cake..." And that description is absolutely right. Along with the coffee cake comes the addition of pineapple and cherries, mixed into the black tea. Smelling an open bag of this tea hits the nose with a sweet, bready, fruity blend of aromas. The pineapple and cherry aromas are surprisingly not very tart, nor does the whole blend smell overly-sweet or cloying.
Having brewed two teaspoons of tea in twelve ounces of just-boiled water for five minutes, I breathe the aroma of the fresh cup, while waiting for it to cool. Here, the bready and cherry aromas are more prominent; they smell warm (and not just because it is a hot tea). The aroma's softness gives the impression that the flavor is going to be just as smooth. I find the sweetness to be a bit comforting. When finally cooled enough to drink, I take a sip.
The flavors do not actually flood over me. I almost wish that they would, but that is the magic of this tea. Instead, just as the aromas suggested, the tea slides smoothly over the tongue. And the smoothness makes me want to close my eyes, smile, and sigh with happiness. (In fact, I just did.) Yes, this is delicious. The sweetness does not overpower the flavor. Hints of cherry are prominent with the coffee cake flavors on the beginning of the sip, transitioning to more-rounded body where sweet and fruit and bread combine. From a five-minute steep, the finish has just the slightest touch of sharpness from the tea, but it is very, very slight. Coffee Cake leaves an aftertaste of sweetness, mild fruit (more the pineapple), and some of the cake aspect.
On my personal enjoyment scale, I would absolutely give this tea a 5. If you have the chance, I highly recommend trying it. Earlier I mentioned how the aromas were warm not only due to it being a hot tea; I had also tried cold-brewing it, and my experience was much the same and equally delicious.
To continue with my story, I bought all the Coffee Cake that the store had remaining. Then I asked when they would get more. Here is the bad news: This tea is no longer available from DavidsTea. (Hint, hint, DavidsTea, please bring this back!) In fact, when I bought it originally, it was leftover stock from the previous year and already unavailable. Remember how I said I just opened my second-to-last bag? I want you to have the chance to try this tea! So...the good news is that my last bag of Coffee Cake could be yours! The first person to message me through the "Questions or Comments?" link (or click here to message me) will receive this last bag.
Edit: The tea has been claimed! Thank you for the responses.
Thank you all for reading. I am looking forward to sharing this tea with someone, soon!
Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
DavidsTea's Coffee Cake is no longer available.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
You can read more about my Personal Enjoyment Scale, here.
Text is copyright 2016, Built from Ink and Tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment