As has been said many times before this, all good things must come to an end, and so ends our National Hot Tea Month. I’m trying to wrap my mind around that realization actually. How could a whole month come and go, while I feel as if I’ve been left somewhere back at the end of December (actually more like May, but I kinda hate to admit that)? I truly do not like this winged time that I seem to be experiencing in the latter half my life.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about, and discovering, new teas to try. I have definitely enjoyed sharing with you and having a valid reason, for a change, to buy a few new teas to share. I’d hoped to share more of my teacup collection as well, but time this month was a bit more limited than I thought it would be. Once I get the Hooked on Tea site up and running it might free up some time to plan and photograph more of my tea stash as well as my teacups, teapots, and other miscellaneous items that I’ve collected over the years to go along with the obsession. Because, as they also say, if a thing’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. I think I can honestly say I’ve done the collecting of tea and tea paraphernalia quite well. Just ask my husband…
The last tea that I’ll review for you this month is Angel’s Dream from English Tea Store. I gave this tea to our eldest daughter, Julia, for her birthday. Of course, I had to buy one for myself as well, you know how you do. She sent me a note the other night saying she’d tried the tea and it “…was so good. It tastes like maple syrup.” Since I hadn’t tried it I decided to let it be the last one to review for the month. I really wish I could honestly say it was an awesome way to end this awesome month, but I cannot.
Angel’s Dream contains both black (Assam) and (a mystery) green tea along with cornflower petals, mallow blossoms, and the natural flavours of maple and wild 
blackberry. The teas used in its making come from Sri Lanka, Formosa and Assam (India) with 98% or more coming from estates that are part of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP). Upon opening the bag, the aroma was sweet and familiar but one I couldn’t quite place. Once steeped it smelled much like one of Victoria’s flavoured coffees, but it kind of tasted like one of the Simmer Snap wax melts I’ve bought in the past from Colonial Candle. I just can’t figure out which one and didn’t feel up to going downstairs where they are stored to satisfy my curiosity, especially since I wasn’t really curious enough to figure it out.
I kept trying to taste the maple flavour as well as the blackberry flavour but was never quite able to distinguish or separate the two. Then again, I only made one cup as it was later in the evening than I like to drink caffeinated tea. I also only steeped it for three minutes while the package says you can go up to five minutes. I did warm my teacup before adding my T-Sac containing the loose leaf tea, and I did add a teaspoon of honey. Perhaps if I make it again one day in my little teapot and have my usual three cups, which means the second and third cups will have had a longer time to steep, I’ll have more luck in distinguishing/separating the flavours.
All in all it was a nice enough tea but not a knock-my-socks off tea as some of the others reviewed this month have been. At this point, it’s not one that I will reorder unless my next experiment, as mentioned above, gives me better results. Not to worry though. I have plenty other still-to-be-tried teas in my stash, so I’m confident that I’ll find others that I like well enough that the future absence of this blend will not be noticed.
Until next month…
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