What's your favorite tea?

What's in your teapot?
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I just heard about a new "competition" called the Tea Bloggers' Choice Awards, and thought it would be fun to participate.  At first I thought I would need to choose my favorite tea blogs (but there are so many!) and nominate them for an award, but the "competition" is actually between tea blends, not companies or blogs.  Here is the explanation from the Association of Tea Bloggers website: 

"What are the TBC Awards?

The TBC Awards are independent awards of the Association of Tea Bloggers (ATB) determined by members of the Association of Tea Bloggers and their readers to celebrate favorite teas of the online tea marketplace.

- The awards showcase favorite teas of the online tea community

- The awards reveal useful info on tea consumer preferences

- It is NOT a list of “best” teas. Awards do not necessarily reflect a tea’s quality

- The awards encourage interaction between bloggers and their readers, strengthening their voice in the tea community

- The awards point new tea drinkers to teas they may also enjoy

Winners are announced once per year. Winning companies receive a formal statement of their tea having won a particular category and an official winner’s seal/logo that can be used in association with that product."

Review of Buccaneer blend loose tea from SerendipiTea.

I recently received a sample of this tea blend and have really been enjoying it. The Buccaneer blend contains Fair Trade certified organic black tea, chocolate, coconut, vanilla and rooibos. The first aroma that I noticed upon opening the foil pouch was the toasted coconut, with a little hint of vanilla and chocolate and the kind of citrusy fragrance of rooibos. When brewed and served hot, the flavor of the tea blend changes slightly; I thought it tasted mostly of toasted coconut and rooibos, and couldn’t really taste the chocolate and vanilla. On a second and third brewing, the chocolate and coconut are very much in the aroma, but the vanilla is still hiding behind them, I suspect. The black tea flavor wasn’t there at all for me, and I had to look at the tea leaves themselves to make sure they were there. Sort of disappointing for me, as I expected the black tea to make the blend taste more substantial. On a second and third brewing, I detected the black tea as a faint presence behind all the other stronger flavors, but not as a distinct flavor in itself. I tend to want my tea – even flavored tea – to taste at least a little bit like “tea”, but I may be alone in my preference. All in all, still a tasty blend, which can withstand 2 infusions per serving. I’m not sure this blend is one of those that tastes equally good as a hot beverage and a cold one; I drank some both freshly brewed and after it had cooled, and I prefer this blend hot, definitely. The chocolate flavor really needs the heat in order to have a presence, I think. But as a hot drink, with a flavor of the tropics, the Buccaneer blend is a good one.

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