Monthly Archives: June 2014

Single Origin Teas: Candied Chestnut

Dry Leaves
Brewed Tea
Wet Leaves

Tasting Notes

The dry leaves smell of rum and sugared nuts (think of those roasted nut stands in Asia).

The smell of the brewed tea is of roasted nuts and smokiness with a hit of sweetness at the end. The liquor is a light amber. The sip starts buttery and sweet and finishes with a woodsy smoke reminiscent of tobacco. The finish is brought back to an earthy sweetness.

I enjoy this tea and its complexity. It is great as an “oolong” because black tea would be too astringent (it is a black tea made in an oolong style). This tea borders on being almost too astringent, but it pulls itself back from the edge with the sweetness and smokiness. From the leaf I thought it would be much sweeter, but it is actually quite well balanced. I could see this becoming more indulgent with sugar and cream, but I like it just the way it is.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Brown Sugar, Chestnut, Earth, Rum, Tobacco

Description

Candied Chestnut is one of our holiday teas! Made with candied chestnut pieces on a black tea base, this sweet tea is perfect for the season (or any time of the year). Made using marron glace pieces, French chestnuts that undergo a candying process, our Candied Chestnut tea is one of a kind.

This Chinese black tea is made in an oolong style. The tea brings out a delicious nutty taste many people associate with an oolong (despite the fact that this tea was fully oxidized)!

Available through Single Origin Teas (Limited Edition).

Packaging

Disclaimer: This tea was sent to me by Single Origin Teas. All notes & opinions are my own.

Banoffee Danger Pie

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Banoffee Pie is one of my favorite desserts. It’s a simple combination of bananas and toffee that together taste, as a whole, more than their parts. I’ve only seen a few banoffee “in the wild”, and whenever I see it I snatch it up.

That’s why when I was browsing Christie’s site “A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures” for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I knew I had to make the Bannoffee Danger Pie. Not only do I get to eat one of my favorite desserts, but I also get to learn how to make it. Calling it a recipe is a bit of a misnomer. I took some shortcuts and what follows below is more similar to assembly instructions.

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Wondering why it’s called “Danger Pie?” From the source:

Why “danger”? Glad you asked. Danger is this pies middle name not only because is it tasty and calorically sinful but its also incredibly easy to make! A dangerous combination. If you are on a diet, avert your eyes.

You would think pouring a whole jar of caramel into a pie would make it far too sweet, but this is a case of “sum of its parts is greater than it whole.” The bananas and cream cut the caramel to the perfect level of richness.

I attempted to make a non-dairy whipped cream topping using coconut cream and it worked perfectly – except I let it continue to whip while I poured the caramel and it separated. I left half of the pie plain for my friends and family that are dairy sensitive. I also baked up a few of these as mini-pies and they were irresistible.

Head on over to A Kitchen Hoor to see what else she has, including: Emeril-famous Sweet Potato Skins, Creamy Jambalaya Pasta, Vanilla Cupcakes with Blackberry Curd, and Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies.
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Quick & Healthy Energy Bites

These energy bites are super easy to whip up and are ready in about five minutes. I always have oats on hand and whenever I’m in the mood for something sweet but not too bad for you, we make these tasty “balls”.

The flax seed adds a great roasty toasty flavor, especially if you grind your own from flax seeds. If you don’t have peanut butter, you can substitute it with any other nut butter. Sometimes I like to throw in a tablespoon or two of spiced speculoos cookie butter too. Because I can’t leave anything *too* healthy.

Tea at Sea: Mountain Organic Indonesian Green Tea

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One of the great things about the Steepster community is not only keeping tracking of the teas I have in my cupboard but also finding out about new teas and tea companies.

One of the new companies I’ve discovered is Tea At Sea, a Canadian loose leaf tea company with a nautical theme with offices in Vancouver & Montreal. They source their tea directly from the farmers so that they can guarantee the quality and freshness of their teas.

Tea At Sea was nice enough to send me a sample of their Mountain Organic Indonesian Green Tea which is “grown in the Halimun Mountains of Indonesia at 800m above Sea-Level [and] treated with natural spring water and fresh mountain air. The lightly oxidized tea leaves have a seaweed aroma, slight fruity taste of superior freshness.”

This tea is delightfully smooth and pleasant. The taste is very clean and smells sweet and vegetal. The sip opens with sweet grassiness and finishes with roasted rice. It has a nice, creamy mouth-feel and reminds me more of an oolong than a green. The aftertaste brings it back to a nice sophisticated green tea, similar to a green tea bread. It has no bitterness or astringency. I’m sad that I was only able to get two cups out of this sample package since this is a great tea.

While drinking I picked up on flavors of  baked bread, grass, minerals, plant stems, and roasted barley.

Image from tea-at-sea.com
Image from tea-at-sea.com