Aug 23
Vanessa’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "The maple flavor of this tea was really delightful, though the black tea base went bitter very quickly. Some additional sugar helps to round it out."
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If I reviewed teas solely on the basis of aroma, then TeaGuys' Maple Sugar Black Tea would have scored an 11 out of 10. They have perfectly captured the sweet and inviting scent of maple syrup in the scent of their tea leaves. If I closed my eyes while smelling this, I could easily be tricked into thinking that there was a stack of maple syrup-smothered pancakes in front of me. Needless to say, after smelling this tea, I was more than excited to taste the brewed product. I brewed the tea as instructed, infusing the leaves for 3 minutes in boiling water. The brewed tea still has a maple essence to its aroma, however it is not as hearty as it was in the dried leaves. The tea tastes just like it smells, only in an even more subdued form. The maple is definitely present in the flavor, although truthfully I wish I could have tasted just a little bit more. The tea also has an interesting kick at the end, perhaps the result of the addition of pink peppercorns (?!!?) to this blend. I must admit that I initially struggled to see how adding pink peppercorns to a maple tea would be a good thing, but trust me, it works. The peppercorns seem to be added sparingly so that they do not over-power the maple flavor. While the maple flavor of this tea was really delightful, there were two factors that resulted in my lowered rating of this tea. First, it seems that the black tea base is a little too strong, and perhaps not of the highest quality. In my first cup, I could detect a bit of a bitter/over-brewed aftertaste. For my second cup, I steeped the leaves for two and a half minutes and still noticed this aftertaste. While the aftertaste didn't negate all of the maple tastiness of the tea, it did detract from the experience as a whole. I am not sure if the tea leaves were over-steeped (even at just two and a half minutes) or if the tea leaves, regardless of steeping time, are just lower quality and produce this unpleasant aftertaste. My second issue with this tea is that despite its name "Maple Sugar" and the primary ingredient (besides tea leaves) being maple brittle, I found this tea was not sweet enough (and this could very likely just be in response to the bitterness of the black tea base). I added a small amount of sugar and some milk to the tea, which really let the tea shine. The sugar really enhances the maple flavor and the milk helped cover up that bitter aftertaste. In all, I really did like this tea, and I can see myself drinking it again. I will stress, however, that one needs to prevent over-steeping this tea to keep it drinkable, and that milk and sugar bring out this tea's best.
— To purchase Tea Guys Maple Sugar, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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