Tale of Two Teas (Tantalizing Teas’ Ribbons of Hope and Gingerbread House)

(The good folks over at Tantalizing Tea were kind enough to send me some samples. Here is a review of two of them, and there are more to come!)

Name: Gingerbread House, Ribbons of Hope

Brand: Tantalizing Tea

Type: Black tea, flavored

Cost: Gingerbread House is $4.25 for 2 ounces, Pink Ribbons is $4.50 for 2 ounces.

Review: Each tea is a flavored China black with little candies added, to a remarkably cute effect. Gingerbread House has little gingerbread men in, while Ribbons of Hope (part of the proceeds from the sale of this tea go to breast cancer research) has little pink ribbons. Both teas are very pretty to look at.

I liked the way Gingerbread House smelled of strong black tea and spicy gingerbread, but was at first taken aback by Ribbons of Hope, which is a chocolate/cherry flavored tea.  The cherry scent dominated and reminded me of cough syrup. (Subsequent sniffs, however, did reveal some chocolate notes.)

Unfortunately, Gingerbread House did not live up to its promise: The tea isn’t bad, but it smells a lot better than it tastes. There wasn’t much spiciness to the blend and it just fell flat.

The Ribbons of Hope, on the other hand, was a most pleasant surprise. The “medicinal” quality of the cherry scent dissipated upon brewing, and what I got was a lovely cup of black tea with a cherry backnote (I didn’t pick up much chocolate.). I tried this iced as well, and found it delicious.

(Moral of the story: You can’t tell a tea by its nose!)

Affiliate links in this post?: No

Samples provided by retailer?: Yes

Tagged as: Gingerbread House, Ribbons of Hope, Tantalizing Tea, tea