Tags
food, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea photography, tea review, tea time, vanilla
Yesterday, I was sitting by the worship leader waiting for the pre-service meeting to start, when she started apologizing to me for her “stinky” hand lotion.
To be honest, I hadn’t noticed. I was lost in my own thoughts; it had been a particular discouraging morning!
But sure enough, sweet vanilla whispered in my nose.
It reminded me that I had recently discovered one lonely Cinnamon Vanilla sachet in my tea drawer at home. So this morning, I rooted around like a pig in mud, until I found it.
This morning’s tea comes from Stash Tea, a company that was founded in 1972 in Oregon, and is a subsidiary of Yamamotoyama Tea Company.
This particular blend is made of up cinnamon, chamomile, rooibos, sarsaparilla, and vanilla extract. The colour was an inviting honey brown and the aroma, intoxicating. Even Youngest Son, with little sense of smell, was drawn to it! Vanilla was the predominant scent but there was also something floral that lingered.
I couldn’t wait to start sipping.
The best way to really describe the flavour is “warmth”. Bright vanilla washed over my tongue, followed by a hint of spicyness at the back of the tongue and in my nose. Finally, there was a faint grassy note from the chamomile and a slight numbness on my tongue, as if I had just eaten a piece of black licorice.
That isn’t so surprising. Sarsaparilla is an herb that tastes like a mixture of licorice, wintergreen and vanilla. It’s the same herb used to make root beer! Sarsparilla vines produce starchy, edible roots and small berries. In the 1800’s, Sarsparilla was also soda!
Vanilla is also an edible fruit, the only one in the orchid family, the largest family of flowering plants in the world. Every vanilla bean has a unique colour, flavour and aroma.
Cinnamon and vanilla fit together like warm socks on snowy days. At first glance, it’s not really a logical pairing but it does make sense to combine 2 great flavours. I’m glad the tea sommelier’s at Stash made this match. It’s also an herbal tea, so perfect for a evening cup.

Might as well go for a soda
Kim Mitchell
Nobody hurts and nobody cries
Happy Monday!