Darjeeling is a black tea, not a green tea. Sorry as a tea nerd I had to put that out there first or I couldn’t continue with the review. Though personally I think Darjeeling is unique enough that it should get it’s own tea type or be placed with oolong.
But that’s for another day, let’s discuss this tea.
It’s full on blueberry in your face paroxysm. Which is quickly tempered down with the muscatel Darjeeling. All of the other flavors blend very nicely. Nothing tries to overwhelm and upset the balance.
The aroma is dominated by blueberry but it’s delightful. This is great warm but also good cold.
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Leaf Type: Black/Green Tea
Where to Buy: Wise Ape Tea Co.
Description
A refreshing blend of pure darjeeling green tea, moringa leaf, and two-parts bilberry traverse the time-space continuum, delivering an antioxidant infusion to your cellular defenses. Delicate notes of high-altitude green tea merge with brilliant blueberry to teleport your taste buds into another dimension. Designed to defend, refresh, and renew.
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Cotton Candy/The NecessiTeas- VariaTEA-
I have heard such amazing things about this tea. It seems to be loved by so many people on Instagram and it has taken years for me to get my hands on some since it always seems to be sold out. However, our sister, CuppaGeek came through for me with a sample of this tea.
I brewed the sample per the NecessiTeas recommended steeping parameters. I steeped the tea in boiling water for 5 minutes. The smell of cotton candy filled the air.
I think it is safe to say that given the hype and the smell, I had pretty high expectations going in. Unfortunately, it did fall a bit short for me. It’s top note is definitely a sugary candy. It could be cotton candy but it could also be pixie sticks. It’s a nostalgic flavor. However, it is not the only flavor. There is a lot more fruitiness here that I did not expect. Under the sugary top note, I am getting a lot of the apple flavor. That apple flavor is a touch waxy and thus distracting.
At the end of the day, this has a bunch of potential and I can definitely see why people enjoy it. However, I would want to explore some other steeping parameters and brewing techniques to coax out more of the cotton candy while toning down the fruitier notes.
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Leaf Type: Herbal/Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Ohh Sugar Sugar
Cotton Candy reminds me of the county fair. The long strands of pink and blue spun sugar are a special treat. My kids and I have always been fans of the sugary novelty which inspired me to create a tea blend that would be just as delicious and sweet.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Black Beauty/Mandala Tea -Skysamurai-
NOOOOO!! I thought this was a Lapsang.
It smelled to heavily of campfire smoke I didn’t think it could be anything but Lapsang….
But no… It’s a wonderful black tea And why am I screaming?
Because I dumped a good lot of it in my bone broth that is cooking from yesterdays turkey leftovers. Shame, shame, shame. It really s too bad. This tea is so smooth.
A Keenum style but without the astringency. Aroma of apricots and slightly earthy in the wet leaf. I’m currently on my third steeping and it’s still going strong. I hope my bone broth is amazing.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Description
Black Beauty is a very fitting name for this wonderful tea! If you are a fan of Keemun style black teas, you will want to try this one. Most of our customers and myself, now prefer this over the Keemun black. It is wonderfully sweet, almost chocolatey and little to no astringency present! The tea liquor is clear and longer steepings will give it a slightly red hue.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Vietnam Red Oolong – Kim Tuyen/Simpson & Vail- Skysamurai-
Another advent tea gift. I find it interesting that while this one is a rolled style the others I have come upon are shaped into balls.
So it makes me wonder why the farmer decided to make that change. It is a gorgeous leaf. Dark chocolate in color with light brown flecks here and there. The flavor is mineral, musty, and filled with wet wood notes. There is honey in the after taste. It isn’t strong but the way it lingers is very unique.
My aroma cup doesn’t reveal much for the liquid but the wet leaf is earthy and kinda mineral. I say kinda because it hides. Sometimes you sense it and sometimes you don’t. Some oolongs can last for many steepings but this one seems to have had its limelight in the first and second steepings.
Though as I’m coming upon my 7th? infusion now I’m find some of the sweeter notes are really shining. The instructions also say to brew four minutes, which I assume would be western style. I’ve tried both western and gong fu but so far I prefer the gong fu. It offers the ability to test it out more at more stages, not that you can’t in western but it just doesn’t steep the same.
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
This exquisite oolong comes to us from Northern Vietnam, where some of the old tea plants are still partially grown wild. Local villagers traditionally process these leaves and the resulting tea is unique and delicious.
The large leaves resemble a black tea, however, the brewed cup is distinctively oolong in character. The aroma is bright with slight spice and floral notes. The amber cup imparts a toasty aftertaste with a slight honey sweet flavor.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 4 minutes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
China Keemun First Grade/Upton Tea Imports -Ashmanra-
I received a gift of this tea in the mail from a fellow tea lover. Tea people are THE BEST! And Keemun is one of my favorite tea types, so let’s get down to business!
The package says First Grade China Keemun but the website puts it the other way around as China Keemun First Grade. This is an entry level Keemun with an astonishingly low price, so if you are not overly picky and want a daily drinker, this would be very economical.
The aroma of the dry leaves is very nostalgic for me. It smells just like the tea section of A Southern Season, harkening back to my earliest explorations of tea. This smells like TEA. The aroma is bracing and rich, and very comforting to me.
I erred on the side of caution and made this more like they would in China with a slightly lower temperature and a short three minute first steep, followed by a four minute re-steep.
Wow. I can not imagine taking this to five minutes with boiling water unless you are adding milk and sugar. Strong stuff.
I am getting no cocoa at all, no chocolate. The overwhelming impression is tobacco and wood.
There is a touch of wine or muscatel, like a darjeeling. There is a definite natural smokey flavor, not like lapsang but rather the light smoke often found in daily drinker Chinese black tea.
The aroma had so many layers and was so rich that I really thought the tea was going to blow me away. But it isn’t quite my favorite profile. I enjoyed it without milk or sugar with my breakfast, but this wouldn’t do double duty for me as an afternoon tea or a dessert accompaniment.
What I think it WILL do very well is sweet iced tea. It has the heft and smoothness to carry it off.
UPDATE: I made it as a sweet tea and let it chill overnight because we all know iced tea tastes best after it has had time to meld.
The taste really surprised me. I thought it would be a really classic iced black tea flavor but somehow the fruity aspect really amped up, to the point that it almost tastes like a flavored tea! Interesting!
Not a favorite Keemun type for me, but glad to have tried it. If you like winey Keemuns and are looking for a super economical price point, this is worth checking out.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Description
With its rich flavor profile and smooth mouth feel, this standard grade Keemun represents a great value for a China black tea. Hints of wine and a suggestion of smoke round out the earthy, full-bodied cup.
