After reviewing two plain teas from the Great Mississippi Tea Company I was really looking forward to trying some of the flavored versions (which they shared in part for review, but also tied to Jason being kind enough to offer them to try, after visiting in a video meetup talk). Their plain teas were quite good, a lot better than blending material needs to be, but the blends sounded especially novel.
One of these is chocolate flavored mixed with black tea and the other a variation of Earl Grey, just with floral input (lavender) and sage. Both sound like they go a big step beyond mixing black tea and flowers.
I've become a little more open to tisanes and some blending lately. Not so much; I still drink plain tea every morning, but once in awhile I'll mix chrysanthemum or a lemongrass and pandan tea bag (that someone gave me) in with sheng pu'er to drink grandpa style while driving around. Trying some nice Moychay (Russian vendor) compressed tisane bars not long ago brought the tisane theme up again, which reminds me that I've still only tried 2 of the 6 of those. High quality plain tea is still definitely the way to go, but there's something to be said for variation, and an option that involves less caffeine (which isn't how these mainly black tea versions go).
A main reason they've developed flavored versions, according to talking to Jason, was to suit American tea preferences, which don't focus on plain teas so much. The average person in a Facebook tea group would be into plain teas, or people likely to read this blog, but it can tap into a broader potential audience to offer a range of novel flavored teas too. They wouldn't necessarily need to be that novel, since conventional jasmine green tea or typical Earl Grey probably aren't familiar to most Americans either, but going a little further couldn't hurt. It's one more differentiator, and a way to add something to the experience.
It was hard to get myself to brew these Western style, since I tend to only use that approach to speed things along or when I have lower quality tea around to use up. In some cases a Western approach works just as well though, for example for most green teas or for broken versions of black tea. For flavored tea Gongfu brewing probably wouldn't work as well, because any flavoring would extract faster than the natural tea leaf flavors. Or so I would expect; I'm almost never confirming that by checking. Years back I would drink Earl Grey from time to time but I don't even remember when I did last. I kind of like it but it somehow never comes up. Onto how these worked out then.
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not the same as the clean look in a gaiwan, using an infuser mug and small glass teapot |
Review:
Mississippi Mud: it's good. Good is all relative; I'll try to be clearer about how good, and good in what way. The ingredients are black tea (the Black Magnolia version), chocolate extract, and hazelnut extract, and I guess it tastes like those things, like a mild black tea, chocolate, and hazelnut. It's a good combination. Someone was asking online for suggestions about Christmas tea blends and this is pretty much there already, or perfect for a bit of extra messing around with, adding some candy cane, pine needle, or orange peel to it. If there was any way to add dark cherry flavor it would be drifting closer to chocolate covered cherry, maybe even nicer for that with a small dash of brandy or cognac.
It's probably as well that I'm doing a simple review form of these, only checking two infusion rounds, related to that flavored tea form. For as good as this tea quality is (I've already reviewed the plain black version) it won't get quite woody, astringent, and unpleasant in later rounds, so it would be fine for a second, but the extract might not be present at the same level.
Fiscussion of relative flavor balance is in order. Hazelnut is kind of on the same intensity level as the chocolate, which works well. Chocolate flavor could be a lot stronger and this would still work, but it's a significant input at this level, a decent balance. It doesn't taste like chocolate with tea, instead the opposite. I've got a high tolerance for chocolate, so mixing this half and half with cacao husks would still be pleasant to me, or probably even better.
In trying this Black Magnolia again brewed Western style versus Gongfu (which I didn't write about here) a yam / sweet potato flavor came out a lot stronger, which is probably adding balance to this blend. Somehow it almost comes across as a hint of vanilla or citrus, not that I'm noticing those specific flavors, but the the complex effect makes it hard to pin down exactly what it is. It seems creamy, which I guess ties back to matching that chocolate covered cherry effect. A dash of cherry brandy might make this really addictive. It's strange to think about a Christmas party full of people getting hammered on a tea cocktail, like a festive older adult version of vodka and Red Bull. I don't drink alcohol, for what that's worth, so I never try tea cocktails, just saying. I don't have any problem with drinking, I just don't get around to it.
Nothing is really negative, although I guess if someone wanted to identify some aspect as potentially limiting it could be described as slightly woody. There's really no astringency edge of black tea in this; I suppose that would be more naturally interpreted as not matching someone's personal preference. Since I mostly drink Dian Hong, soft, flavorful, and complex Yunnan black teas, I don't miss that.
Colonel Grey: that first hit of bergamot is nice; it's been a long time since I've had any Earl Grey. To skip ahead to ingredients this includes Black Magnolia black tea (their version), bergamot oil, orange peel, lavender flower, and sage. I suppose to some extent it must taste like those things.
Sage is noticeable if you try to pick it up but I doubt anyone would flag it as an input in blind tasting at this level. That's my favorite overall tisane, from back when I drank a lot of those. I would usually blend other tisanes then, but not usually sage, which I liked best alone, in order to fully experience it. I think it adds a nice edge, or maybe a little depth. Lavender flower is similar to the corn flower input in versions sold as Lady Grey. It's hard to distinguish an orange peel input from bergamot but the level and type of citrus is pleasant; it really works. I could brew this twice as strong and experience it as a nearly harsh bergamot blast and still love it.
Bergamot is strong enough that it stands out in the experience, and wafts into your nasal passages, and gives a nice aftertaste effect. This isn't even really brewed strong, although I used a lot more than what I would consider a teaspoon of tea, maybe two or three fully heaped up, just with a good bit more water too (maybe 300 ml).
From there it seems odd going further with discussion of other effect or relative balance. It's Earl Grey, just a complex version of one. The black tea input is better than those usually use, just a lot less edgy in terms of astringency and sharp flavors. A Twinings version might be hit a little harder with bergamot, but this is comparable in input. I think all the flavors together add up to the same level, it's just more complex.
I had a maxed-out version from the Cordon Bleu culinary training organization once, so heavy on that input that brewing it a bit strong resulted in a palate shocking level of bergamot flavor. So that's how I would brew it, every time. If I had known that tea was going out of production I probably would've bought a half dozen of those tins. I'm not saying that this is too weak, or should be stronger, but I suspect that half the people who love Earl Grey and bergamot flavor experience have a preference for it quite strong.
I would recommend brewing this a bit stronger than the package directions suggest (both of them, really). There is nothing to become harsh or out of balance from the mild black tea input, and for everything blending nicely as an experience but being subtle dialing it all up makes sense (to me). I could've brewed both of these nearly twice as strong and they would probably be slightly better. They worked as I made them though; they are nice.
For the right person messing around with Gongfu brewing would be more or less necessary, even with expectations that wouldn't work out as well. Probably those first 3 infusions would be really nice, for the extracts being so strong in them, and then stretched out versions after 5 or so would probably still be ok, but likely closer to the herbs and tea input, with the extracts wearing off.
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this was that first infusion, but the second looked about the same |
Second infusion: notes stopped there, so I'm writing a bit more from memory later. The flavors weren't really "rinsed off" in that first round, and for them being brewed stronger they were even more intense in the second round. I don't remember if there was much difference related to aspects not being as pleasant; I think they were just shifted slightly.
Using less tea and going with one long infusion probably wouldn't be better or worse, again just different. For teaware that tends to soak up heat (the infuser mug but not the glass teapot) pre-warming the device would probably help, since hotter brewing would seem optimum, to me.
Which brings to mind the question of their input about that, which I can cite from a sales page description:
Mississippi Mud: This is a Black Magnolia based tea that is flavored with chocolate and hazelnut extract. The hazelnut and chocolate bring out the natural cocoa/maltiness of the Black Magnolia in the most brilliant way. It is a guilty pleasure without the calories of a Mississippi Mud Pie!
1 rounded tsp per 8 oz. of 200F water. Steep for 5 minutes.
Using water a bit off boiling for brewing a black tea is kind of typical, but I wouldn't for one as soft in character as this one, since there is no significant astringency edge to even consider, never mind brew around. Let's check the other one, which should list the same brewing approach, so more for their description:
Colonel Grey: Since Jason is a Kentucky Colonel, our version is named Colonel Grey. This is a Black Magnolia based tea that is flavored with premium bergamot oil then blended with orange peel, lavender flowers, and sage.
1 rounded tsp per 8 oz. of 212 F water. Steep for 5 minutes.
Nope, they recommend full boiling point for that one instead. It is conventional to use that for tisanes; maybe the reasoning was that extracting full flavor from those required it.
All in all really nice. I like good quality, basic tea blends, and it's interesting trying versions that reinterpret that kind of range and go a step further.
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