Maker: New Mexico Tea Company
Flavors: Cinnamon Spice, Scottish Breakfast, Black Ginger, Sandia Spice, Cream Earl Grey, Hazelnut
My name’s Alma, and I’m a tea geek.
I found what would become New Mexico Tea Company six years ago, at a flight instructor refresher meeting in Albuquerque. They had a storefront down the street from the hotel where I was staying, and I encountered their blends there. Now they have a different store and an excellent web-site. Once Kusmi Tea stopped carrying my preferred flavors, I shifted over the NMTC.
NOTE: These are all loose-leaf black teas. You need a strainer or a tea ball. Or conveniently-spaced teeth.
I started with the cinnamon. It is a black with bits of orange and lots of cinnamon with a bit of clove. I love it. It is sweet without adding sweetener, and is a great winter tea. The flavor doesn’t last as long as some but I get at least four 8-oz cups out of two heaping teaspoons.
Sandia Spice – not bad, not as spicy as the cinnamon and the flavors are more subtle.
Scottish Breakfast – a blend of black teas. Pretty strong, on par with Russian teas, and not for evening drinking if you are sensitive to caffeine. I drink it with milk, in the morning. Think English or Irish breakfast, but for Calvinists in a wet, chilly climate.
Cream Earl Grey – I’m in love. Earl Grey, but with a creamy undertone. Add a touch of milk and a drop of honey, and it is the perfect settling-down tea. Or omit the milk if so inclined. Very smooth compared to a good, plain Earl Grey.
Black Ginger – a sweet after-dinner tea with ginger for digestion. Or not for after dinner. It is not as strong as the cinnamon in terms of spice, but has a good flavor that stands up well to multiple cups/pot. Doesn’t really need much sweetener at all.
Hazelnut – I wasn’t sure about this one, but it’s growing on me. It is very sweet and has a strong hazelnut/chocolate taste. Think Nutella™ as a tea. Absolutely a desert tea, or if you really want chocolate with nuts but can’t/shouldn’t.
They have a lot of other flavors. New Mexico Tea Company also has decaf, herbal, and green teas for those so inclined.
I make tea by the pot, and I usually use two flat to two heaping teaspoons (as in, a kitchen spoon, not measuring spoon) of tea leaves pr pot. I’ll usually get two pots worth out of those two teaspoons, so loose leaf works well cost wise for me. I know, the purists out there are whimpering quietly. I’m an uncivilized American. We do things differently over here. 🙂
I boil water, put the leaves in the pot, add water to the pot, let steep for the first cup (3-5 min), pour a cup, add water, turn the heat on under said pot*, and go from there, adding water each time I pour out a cup of tea. Yes, the last few cups are, ahem, rather mild.
*I use a CorningWare pot that allows you to keep it on the burner over low heat. Many newer pots are not set up for this, so be aware.
FTC Notice: I purchased these teas for my own use and received no compensation for this review.
Cat Rotator's Quarterly 
Sounds great. Not into loose leaf myself, never had any luck getting strainers the right size to both not pass leaves and not gum up and clog.
I drink tea with cream and sugar. Except the Grey family, which gets honey. And Prince of Wales, which is perfect exactly as it is. Any addition ruins the flavor.
Nice recommendation. I’ll try a couple as my leaf supply gets used up. Hazelnut sounds great, and much lower calorie than the layered fudge made by a local shop.
I’d recommend the little bag for samples. It is good for four or five pots.
Coffee… 🙂 I can never figure out which tea I’m supposed to drink when… sigh
Blink, blink. You do what tastes good, man. Which generally means heavy-bodied stuff to peel your eyelids back in the morning, and lighter fare to not send your heart into arrhythmia in the afternoon, when the system has already been booted up and run.
‘Course, for old navy guys, you probably could down the blackest of black strong-brewed stuff all day and still fall asleep when the boat’s corkscrewing around in heavy weather, just because you’re navy. So, whatever you like, whenever, really. Except not most of the herbal stuff in the morning – most herbal has no caffeine, it’s just a delivery system for sterilized water with a little taste.