This The Tea Centre Apple Pie Black Tea is something I picked up a few years ago when D made a rare trip into the CBD to run some errands and I took the chance to take him with me to The Tea Centre.

This was one of the teas on the back wall that caught my eye. I love apple pie but was wary of overly prominent cinnamon notes in apple pie flavoured products. The staff were exceedingly helpful, though. After giving me a smell of the tea she explained that the cinnamon was masked by the other flavours in this tea, and offered alternatives where cinnamon was more pronounced. The staff definitely know their products.

The loose leaf black tea is scented with apple and has cubes of caramel and crushed almonds throughout.

Steeping 3 g of tea leaf in water at 90°C for 2 minutes the infusion was a clear amber colour with a sweet caramel aroma. Served hot, sweet notes of cooked apple came through at the head of each sip before a nutty caramel flavour with the subtlest hint of cinnamon emerged in the body to recall the cooked innards of an apple pie. A light acidity and gentle astringency develop at the back of the body, to bring a darker caramel flavour in the finish. Subtle cinnamon notes linger briefly followed by a moderate astringency in the aftertaste.

ThisThe Tea Centre Apple Pie Black Tea contained 50 g. The tea originated in Sri Lanka was purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2015.