What is better to a tea lover than to have a little extra time in the morning in which one may prepare a simple breakfast and steep the perfect tea pairing for it, taking time to truly experience the cup? I am thus blessed this morning.
While I usually have a sensible breakfast, I am craving waffles this morning, buttered and doused with real maple syrup, warmed. This requires a tea that can cut through the sweetness and assert itself, but I am not a fan of harsh tea that must be tamed with milk and sugar.
Enter Master Matsumoto’s Supernatural Black from Postcard Teas in London. This is a Japanese black tea grown without chemicals, without pesticides or herbicides, even without manure. Thus, “super natural” in the way it is grown.
This is not your average black breakfast tea! While it is a Camellia sinensis sinensis varietal, the taste is of a fruity second flush Darjeeling. There is an aftertaste of light malt with a tingle on the tongue. The flavor lingers for quite a long time, with a little rush of fruity sweet/sour muscat rising with each breath, and finally a rising sweetness in the throat such as often follows a brisk green tea. The briskness persists. The flavor continues. I think a lover of Darjeeling tea owes it to themselves to try this one.
The leaves re-steep very nicely, adding economy to its virtues if the price has you troubled. I like to combine the first and second steep so I really only need a teaspoon of leaf to have a couple of cups of very satisfying tea, plus having both steeps made and on the table means I can enjoy without going back to the kitchen to re-steep.
This is one of those teas that you buy because life is short, and it would be a shame not to experience something fine now and then. This tea will be on my mind for a long time.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Postcard Teas
Description
An unusually aromatic Japanese black tea from Kumamoto area of Kyushu in Japan. The tea is made on a small 8 acre farm in Minamata-shi by 4th generation tea maker Master Matsumoto, who uses his great grandfather’s 90 year old Yabukita ancient tea trees grown without any chemicals, herbicides, fertilisers, or even manure – hence the tea grows ‘supernaturally’.
This is one of the most versatile black teas we have, combining some of the best qualities of Darjeeling, Assam and Chinese teas and adding something extra of its own. The tea has the aromatic qualities of a second flush Darjeeling and a plum/prune sweetness which comes out more when brewed lightly, but when brewed strong it tastes like the richest, smoothest Assam or Breakfast tea without any astringency or tannins. It can also take milk very well if required.
Sufficiently unusual to interest a seasoned tea drinker but familiar and comforting enough for someone just getting into specialty black tea – if we had to recommend just one black tea in our selection to someone overwhelmed by choice then this would be it.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Chiffon from The Love Tea Company. . . .
I am not a fan of plain rooibos, but I have found a few flavored tisanes that use it as the base that are quite good. (I am speaking of red rooibos when I say the cherry flavor is too medicinal for me most of the time. Green rooibos is another animal entirely.)
This blend is really tasty! It smells great and the dominant flavors I get up front are lemon myrtle, lemon, and honeybush. The rooibos really comes as an aftertaste and is not unpleasant. The lavender and marigold are a nice side note, and if I am tasting pomegranate I must be honest and say I wouldn’t recognize it but it isn’t a flavor I am terribly familiar with.
This reminds me a bit of those lemon drops that come in a little tin. Thumbs up for me and I can’t wait to try it iced because it is going to ROCK as an iced tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Company
Description
There’s a reason why we call this a brilliant blend. Remember that Lemon Chiffon cake that Grandma made? It’s like that, without the cleanup or pinches to your cheek. A rooibos blend that smells like you could eat it straight out of the jar. Since it has no caffeine, it’s the perfect compliment to any after dinner treat.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Ye Sheng Hong Cha Wild Style Black Tea from Old Ways Tea . . . . .
It has been a long time since I have had a Wild Style Black tea. I had forgotten just how good – and how unusual – it is.
The first time I had a purple tea, I was a tea noob and made it just like most average black breakfast teas. It was terrible! And it was all my fault. Fortunately I learned how to make it properly very soon after, plus there was a nice reminder of the right way to treat these leaves on the package.
The water temperature is lower and the steep time is even shorter than the last Wild Style I made. It made me wonder if I was really going to get all the flavor out of these leaves. It is pretty light in color for a black tea when steeped, but have no fear. It is not light on flavor.
The first thought when I sipped was, “Wow, what is that? It is so familiar but I can’t pin it down.” After lots of soul searching, I came up with…a warm and mellow citrus, not sharp like lemon but more like orange, plus a light cassia cinnamon flavor. Honey. And a hint of floral notes. So many layers of flavor dancing and sparkling in this cup! Not heavy at any time, light bodied, and complex.
This is one to be enjoyed, paid attention to, not to be downed with an onion bagel while you rush out the door. Treat it like a tea experience, and really get to know all the flavors! I would love to hear what other people get out of it.
It is a real champion in the re-steeping department, too, delivering quite a few excellent steeps with good flavor before weakening.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Old Ways Tea
Description
This wild style black tea is from high mountains above Tongmu village located in the Wuyishan Biodiversity Protection area. A strong but clean floral fragrance is present. The tea is described as wild style due to the conditions in which the trees are allowed to grow. The trees are by no means wild, they are still intentionally grown from known cultivars, but are spaced more widely and allowed to grow more how they please. They are not forced into the neat rows that make cutting more efficient.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Yunnan Gongfu Fragrant Black Tea from Teavivre. . . .
It is gray and overcast with rain threatening to move in and stay a while. That’s a real tea day in my book!
But my breakfast tea caused extreme pain to my delicate esophagus, which has endured years of reflux. I have tossed out that cup and moved on to try this.
I love Teavivre’s Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Tip tea. It is a staple in this house. I am betting this one will be good, too!
First, the dry leaves live up to that title – fragrant, indeed!
Steeped western style, I have a hearty, rich cup. I used 190F water and steeped for three minutes, but this is still strong enough that if left in the cup, you would have a ring. The taste starts out almost too mild for me. The sweet potato flavor of Dian Hong Golden is there, but there is also a flavor of roasted sweet potato with a little crispy burnt edge and fruitiness as well. The fruitiness is a really a brisk tingle that lingers on and on. The flavor builds with each sip.
The best part is that my esophagus is happy and I can enjoy the view out the window as I wait for the rain to begin with my warm cuppa!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Gong Fu fragrance black tea is a tasty spring tea with infusion-enduring taste. The first two infusions have soft, mellow mouthfeel with slight sugar cane sweetness in the throat and at the bottom of cup a hint of milky flavor remains. But from the third infusion it presents a flavor, reminiscent of raw pu-erh tea, helping produce saliva.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Golden Tips Black Tea from Chai Safari. . . .
It’s almost midnight and I’m in the mood for tea! What to pick? What to pick? I want something delicious. I want a tea experience, not just any old cuppa.
Ah, this fits the bill.
Chai Safari has their tea grouped by mood on their website and I must say this one is spot on. This Golden Tips Black Tea is listed in the Fresh and Vibrant categories. An odd choice for late at night, but I am intrigued. Besides, I LOVE golden tip teas!
The medium length leaves are twisted and golden tan in color with some very light brown ones. Instructions call for less than boiling temperature water and a three minute steep. I would normally experiment and go with my standard black tea parameters, but I stuck with the company recommendation on this one and I am glad I did.
The tea has such beautiful clarity. And while it has light body, it nevertheless has a complex flavor, beginning with a golden raisin aroma that hits as the cup draws near to your lips, and on the sip develops into honey and malt and a wisp of rye bread. The tea is brisk and a little dry and the flavor lingers on for a long while. This gives it the vibrancy that earned its classification. Those golden tips are packed with sweetness.
We are re-steeping the leaves and the second steep is possibly more fragrant than the first. The third steep has almost as much color as the first two, but the dryness is a little abated and this is a “wetter” tasting cup. I find it slightly sweeter, as well.
This would be fabulous with a good cheddar. Next time. Next time…
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Chai Safari
Description
A brief peak harvest between mid-May and early August yields this renowned black tea with golden tips that denotes buds. Colorful golden tips mingle with full leaves to create rich flavors and aromas.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!