Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Tea Review Tuesday - A Review of DavidsTea's Mulled Wine Oolong Tea

Welcome to March! As summer approaches, I find myself looking back toward winter (which was unseasonably warm in my part of the world). Released in the Winter 2015 collection, DavidsTea's Mulled Wine pays tribute to a classic alcohol beverage without the alcohol content or taste. Ideal for a winter evening or morning (or any cool time of day!), Mulled Wine brings spices and citrus together in a combination of savory flavors.


Using the recommended amounts of tea blend and steep time, I steeped two teaspoons of Mulled Wine in twelve ounces of water for five minutes. The water had been heated to boiling and then allowed to cool for a few minutes - ideal for an oolong, whose leaves do no need just-boiled temperature water but can withstand more heat than those of a green tea.


It often interests me to see how many of the advertised ingredients can be identified in the smell of the dry tea blend versus in the prepared tea itself. Here, the orange peel is the most prominent ingredient in the dry tea blend, along with cinnamon, clove, and apple. I feel as though the ginger might be there, but the smell is very faint. Overall, the aroma reminds me of the orange slice gummy candy, covered in sugar. It smells very sweet. In other tea blends that I have tried, apple is often added to naturally enhance the sweetness of the blend.


Once the cup has been brewed and prepared (and cooled enough to drink), I sniff and sip. The aroma of the cup is a lot darker than that of the dry tea blend. I think this is on account of the oolong, though the citrus and spices are much more prominent now, too. The sweetness of the aroma has diminished, some, and the citrus seems more balanced with the spices. The citrus smell may actually be a bit more subdued, now, and not as sharp. The flavors are delectable and not overwhelming, as I feared they might be (based on the dry leaf aroma). There is a bit of sweetness, but not too much. In fact, the sweetness goes quite nicely with the citrus and spice. Speaking of spices, the cloves and cinnamon have infused the cup with spicy warmth. The aftertaste holds a slight bite, which I believe is from the cloves and ginger.


Overall, my cup of DavidsTea's Mulled Wine tasted delicious, smelled amazing, and provided a warming and very pleasant experience. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate DavidsTea's Mulled Wine a 93/100.



Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
DavidsTea's Mulled Wine is available from their website, here.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
Text is copyright 2016, Built from Ink and Tea.

No comments:

Post a Comment