I do not normally enjoy vanilla flavored teas. The vanilla added usually tastes and smells like vanilla perfume. This tea, however, was very delicious.
The fragrance of the dry leaf is sweet and very rich with vanilla flavor. I immediately thought of how well this tea would go with desserts from the richness of the vanilla.
I steeped it according to the directions on the envelope in my favorite teapot and cup set that I use for tea reviews. The cup is wide and has a white interior, so it makes allows me to see the color very well as well as appreciate how the tea smells.
The picture does not show it, but the color of the tea liquor is a rich brown with reddish highlights. The aroma coming rising from the cup was more subtle than the fragrance of the dry leaf, but it was still very seductive. I waited very impatiently for the tea to cool enough to be sipped without burning my lips.
I was not at all disappointed. I was, in fact, very surprised at how good it tasted. The tea beneath the flavor of the vanilla was very smooth and very compatible with the vanilla. It would be very good with any dessert that I could think of, from chocolate to fruit to spicy.
It occurred to me after I wrote the review linked above that Rishi Organic Vanilla Black tea would also be a good tea to cook with. I could imagine pulverizing this tea and using it to make shortbread cookies or cupcakes. I also imagined adding it to my popular 4th of July three-chip oatmeal cookies or using it as a tea concentrate to flavor frosting, sauces, or a pudding. Think it would be excellent steeped in cream and then used as a sauce over pears that had been poached in cinnamon. Better yet, the pears could be poached in a good masala chai.
I seem to be obsessed with cooking with tea these days. I recently red Culinary Teas by Cynthia Gold and Lise Stern and I have been consumed with the idea of cooking with tea ever since. That aside, however, it would still be a great tea to drink with dessert or to cook dessert with.
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