In search of vanilla black tea

 Every once in a while I get an itch for something different. Nothing too ‘blended’, I’ve never been able to get into teas with lots of non-tea flavoring ingredients like bits of fruit and nuts, colorful flower petals, etc. But the simple addition of vanilla to a good black tea has always struck me as having the potential for real yumminess. Grocery store shelves are always stocked with a couple of vanilla black teas from the big brands but I decided to search out some lesser-known ones in the hope of finding a black tea base of higher quality. There are plenty more vanilla black teas out there than what I’ve sampled here, but as usual whenever I start dipping into flavored teas I’m quickly reminded how much more I enjoy a great UN-flavored tea. But here’s what I’ve tried so far. I’ll list them from my least favorite to my most favorite. 

Kusmi Tea, Vanilla Black Tea

Ingredients: black tea, bourbon vanilla extract. 

This one comes in little muslin sachets for easy brewing. The taste is chemically with a bitter aftertaste. I didn’t find this one enjoyable at all. 

Golden Moon Tea, Madagascar Vanilla

Ingredients: black tea (organic Indian tea base), vanilla flavor, organic vanilla pieces. 

I like Golden Moon’s Coconut Pouchong. It's always a hit when I’m having tea with friends who like grocery store tea and aren’t into “tea geekery”. The Coconut Pouchong is full of great aroma and flavor (clearly a flavored tea, and one of the few I like) but the Madagascar Vanilla, in contrast, doesn’t pull through for me in the same way. It’s a decent black tea, nothing fancy, but not a lot of vanilla scent or flavor. (no photos of this one, sorry)

Theodor,  The’ a la Vanille 

Ingredients: Black teas, vanilla flavor. 

This is a French tea company that specializes in flavored and blended teas, though they also offer “plain teas”. The dry leaf smells distinctly peachy, while the wet leaf gives off an initial peach-strawberry aroma with no vanilla detected. The taste is round and smooth with no tanginess or bitterness, but I get more peach and berry notes from this tea than vanilla. The closest vanilla scent I can find is in the dry-down in the bottom of the cup which has a sort of “peaches and cream” scent. This is a fine tea for someone who simply enjoys black tea and isn’t into the geekery of whole leaf tea with all its nuance, but this is more of a peach and strawberry note tea. I don’t get any vanilla from this one.

Mariage Freres, Vanille des Iles

Ingredients: “black tea flavored with the sweet Bourbon vanilla” (from the label, sort of vague)

Pictures of this tea online show large pieces of cut vanilla beans exposing the seedy interior mixed in with the leaves but I couldn’t find anything even closely resembling that in the tea I received. The ingredient list is vague but I’m pretty sure this is flavored with extract and not actual beans.  The aroma is smooth with a berry-like vanilla note (most closely blueberry). As the leaves dry down the aroma takes on more of a soft vanilla scent. The taste is a little tangy like some black teas can be, but smooth overall with a nice, light vanilla aftertaste. This is a fine and enjoyable vanilla black tea for someone who simply enjoys black tea and isn’t into the geekery of whole leaf tea with all its nuance. 

Whispering Pines Tea, Cocoa Amore

Ingredients: spring harvest black tea, hand-cut Tahitian vanilla beans. 

I discovered this tea company while searching Steepster’s tea rankings. It’s no wonder they get high praise. Brendan, the owner of Whispering Pines Tea, really knows his black teas and offers a great and quality variety on the website. I’ve tried many of their offerings (most of them unflavored) and have been very impressed. Whispering Pines has become my go-to company now for excellent black tea. The tasting notes on the website are thorough and accurate, too, which I appreciate. Although this particular tea is called “Cocoa Amore” it’s a blend of black tea and Tahitian vanilla beans, which have more of a chocolate-cherry vibe than Madagascar beans. There's no vanilla extract involved, but it doesn’t need it. Somehow the combination of a carefully chosen whole-leaf black tea and the slightly less common Tahitian vanilla bean really DOES result in the most chocolately black tea I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried a few). The aroma is closest to a dry milk chocolate, not too sweet. The taste carries a fruity bittersweet chocolate flavor. If you’ve ever geeked out on single-origin dark chocolate bars, this tea really mimics the fruitier dark chocolates although it’s not quite as dark in scent or flavor as really dark chocolate. The leaf in this tea appears to be all tips, fine and thin, interspersed with equally finely cut vanilla bean. The beans have been carefully cut into short, fine threads that blend perfectly with the tea leaves, instead of the big chunky bean pieces you find in other teas (the ones that have actual beans and not just flavoring).

Whispering Pines Tea,
Cocoa Amore

Whispering Pines Tea, Golden Orchid

Ingredients: blend of black teas, hand-cut Madagascar vanilla beans. 

THIS is what vanilla black teas should all aspire to. Once I found this tea my search ended. If you’ve already gone to the Whispering Pines Tea website in search of this tea or the Cocoa Amore, you probably won’t find it. The reason is that these teas sell out extremely fast. My best advice is to get on their mailing list and jump on purchasing as soon as they come available. The last time I saw this one for sale was August of last year. Onto the tasting notes: The aroma is a beautiful, deep, rounded malty vanilla scent. The taste is less fruity than Cocoa Amore, more smooth and rounded. The leaf is whole and of good quality. The ingredients note this is a blend of black teas and you can see the mix of different kinds of leaf, some a lighter brown color, some finer and some thicker leaves, all thoughtfully chosen and blended to perfectly complement the Madagascar vanilla. Again, the hand-cut beans are carefully cut into long thin strands of about 1” (give or take). In fact, it appears to me the threads of vanilla bean are left longer and a little thicker in this blend presumably to complement the longer leaf size, and cut shorter in the Cocoa Amore the match the shorter leaves of that one. I really love this tea. It’s my favorite of the two and the best vanilla black tea I've tried, full and satisfying, a great tea for those who appreciate quality whole-leaf tea and dream of what magic could result with the addition of pure vanilla bean. This is the real deal. 

Whispering Pines Tea, Golden Orchid