I recently reacquainted myself with flavoured teas and I was ever so tea-lighted to have come across another flavoured tea (specifically, a vanilla tea) that I like.

A flavoured tea in the true sense of the term is a tea that has had a fruit, herb or spice added to it. How to tell that you have a good flavoured tea? My recommendations would be to look on the back of the packet. If the ingredients indicate that artificial or “natural” flavouring has been added, then I personally would drop the packet and run the other way, but that’s just me.

A good flavoured tea should be a balance of tea and fruit, herb, or spice in the dry leaf. There should be an aroma that comes from both the tea and the fruit, herb, or spice in the dry leaf (one shouldn’t overpower the other; and the all-important test is, of course, in the tasting itself.

Many flavoured teas on the market mask the flavour of the tea and are often overpowered with the strong flavours that have been added to the tea. Unfortunately I’ve had many vanilla teas in the past where it’s been like chewing on perfume as the artificial flavours of the vanilla masked the flavour of the tea itself. The quality of the tea was often called into question and it wasn’t until I added milk to the tea that it was able to pass my lips. I haven’t been very luck with vanilla teas in the past.

That all changed, when I was extremely privileged to have been given a very generous sample of a locally grown flavoured (vanilla) tea recently. What was especially exciting was that both parts that made up the tea were locally grown in Daintree which is in North Queensland in Australia.

This tea from Daintree was quite different.  The Daintree tea was a subtle black tea and the flavour of vanilla bean was subtle but they both complimented each other extremely well.  I was able to discern the mellow gentle black tea notes from the beau-tea-ful aroma and flavour of the natural vanilla pod. They were a perfect balance, thoroughly enjoyable and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this tea is given greater recognition because it is an excellent example of a vanilla tea.

See also:
Vanilla — A Tea Favorite
Tea Blends vs Tea Flavourings
5 No-No’s When Storing Your Flavored Teas
The Real Issue with Flavored Teas
These Are a Few of My Favorite Flavored Teas
Vanilla Tea
Some Australian Grown Black Teas
Some Australian Grown Green Teas

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