Definition:

Dessert teas (also known as "dessert blends") are a relatively new phenomenon in which teas are blended with particularly sweet flavors. Some attribute the coining of the term to Art of Tea, a blender and supplier of many dessert teas. Typical dessert tea flavors include:

• Chocolate
• Vanilla
• Caramel
• Fruit (especially berries and tropical fruits)
• Cinnamon and other spices
• Nuts (especially almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts)

• Flowers (especially rose, jasmine, saffron and safflower)
• Cream or milk

These flavors may be used independently (such as blueberry white tea) or in combination (such as chocolate spice rooibos).

Black tea is a more traditional base for these flavors, but rooibos (technically not a tea, but a tisane) has also become widespread as a base for dessert blends because of its naturally sweet, versatile flavor. Other teas (such as green teas, white teas, oolongs and even puers) have also seen a rise in use in dessert blends as the popularity of dessert teas has risen.

Dessert teas are typically seen as a "new tea drinker's tea" because they have mass-appeal flavors that soda drinkers, flavored latte drinkers and other non-tea drinkers can appreciate.
Also Known As: dessert blend

Common Misspellings: desert tea

Examples:

Art of Tea carries a variety of dessert teas, such as Cinnamon Fig and Vanilla Berry Truffle.