Sweet Love – 125g

Kusmi Tea Sweet Love. Black tea with spices, licorice, and pink pepper.

Kusmi Tea Sweet Love is a flavored black tea with cardamom, cinnamon, anise, cloves, licorice, pink pepper, and guarana. No plain breakfast tea, no pure black tea, no caffeine-free herbal tea.

Kusmi Tea Sweet Love is a flavored black tea from the French tea house Kusmi Tea, combining a robust tea base with a sweet and spicy blend of spices. The aroma features anise and cloves, supported by the soft sweetness of licorice root. Cardamom and cinnamon join on the palate, while pink pepper adds a bright, slightly fruity finish. The black tea gives the blend body and a malty depth. In the loose leaves, pink berries flash between the dark tea leaves. Sweet Love tastes like a soft, sweet chai, packaged in Kusmi's signature pink tin. It is a tea for an afternoon when you take your time.

Sweet spice on robust black tea

Sweet Love is a sweet and spicy flavored tea that contains no sugar and derives its sweetness solely from licorice root. Anise and cloves give it a warm, almost liquorice-like depth. Cardamom and cinnamon lay softly over it, while pink pepper brings fruity and peppery freshness. Beneath it lies a malty black tea that holds the spices together and gives the blend structure.

On the palate, the infusion is full-bodied, rounded, and lingeringly sweet. The aftertaste recalls liquorice and toasted spices. In the cup, Sweet Love appears dark and clear, with a warm, reddish-brown hue. The sweetness comes solely from the ingredients, not from added sugar.

Those seeking a clear, tart black tea without sweetness will find Sweet Love too aromatic. Anyone who does not like anise and liquorice should choose a different variety. This blend is not intended as a plain breakfast tea. It is deliberately designed to be sweet and spice-forward.

As a chai latte and with dessert

Sweet Love is best made with water at 90°C and steeped for three to five minutes. One heaped teaspoon is enough for a large cup. The longer steeping time intensifies the spices without making the black tea bitter. Those who prefer it milder should stick to three minutes.

With hot, frothed milk and a spoonful of honey, Sweet Love becomes a homemade chai latte. Pure, it pairs well with winter baked goods such as gingerbread, speculoos, or a piece of apple cake. It is also a good companion for dark chocolate or an orange dessert. Those who like it can brew it double-strength and serve it over ice as a spiced iced tea. With a piece of star anise and an orange slice, it becomes a warming infusion for the afternoon.

For a chai latte, steep two heaped teaspoons of Sweet Love for five minutes in 150 milliliters of water. Add 150 milliliters of frothed milk and stir briefly. Thanks to the licorice, this infusion usually requires no additional sugar.

Good to know: Both black tea and guarana contain caffeine—this is something to consider late in the evening for caffeine-sensitive people. If you like the robust, spicy profile, you will also find it in a spicy green mate tea or a classic black tea.

The pink tin and its spices

Kusmi Tea is a French tea house with Russian roots whose colorful metal tins have been part of its brand for decades. Sweet Love bears the bold pink of this family and is one of the house's aromatic, spice-forward blends. The recipes are composed in Normandy, and the tea is packaged in France.

Two ingredients deserve a closer look. Pink pepper is botanically not a true pepper, but the dried berry of the sumac bush. It tastes mild, resinous, and slightly fruity instead of hot. Guarana, in turn, are the seeds of a South American climbing plant, Paullinia cupana, which naturally contains caffeine. Licorice root rounds out the picture: it provides the sweetness that allows Sweet Love to do without added sugar. Cloves and anise contribute the warm, almost Christmassy notes. This combination creates the chai-like, soft character that carries the blend.

A gift in pink

What makes Sweet Love special is the combination of robust black tea and a sweet spice blend that contains no sugar. It tastes like a chai but remains distinctive thanks to licorice, pink pepper, and guarana. The pink tin makes the tea an easy gift, especially for people who like spicy, sweet teas. It contains licorice, which is only suitable in moderation for people with high blood pressure. Those who prefer a plain, clear black tea will be happier with a pure variety. For everyone else, Sweet Love is a warm, aromatic companion through the cool season, from the first cold week until late winter.

A black tea for everyone who likes their cup sweet and spicy—and who brings a smile to their face with a pink tin on the shelf.