Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black, Ceylon

Where to Buy: Single Origin Teas

Tea Description:

Amba Tea Flower Tea comes from one of two artisanal tea producers in Sri Lanka.  Along with representing the Uva climate in this diverse country, Beverly the tea manager, has added camellia blossoms; giving a honey like sweetness to the wintergreen and maraschino cherry black tea that the Uva region is famous for.  This innovative blend is one of the first of its kind. (We drink a lot of tea…and had never even thought of this!).  The Amba tea estate has high altitude and harsh drought conditions that create a unique and unrivaled quality in their tea.  These stressful growing conditions are then complimented with a fine level of plucking: one leaf and one bud.  Hand rolled, fermented and dried, this tea receives a level of care that is close to devotion.  

Amba is prized because of the unique, menthol almost eucalyptus aroma from the leaves.  Add a maraschino cherry sweetness with the classic citrus undertones of Sri lanka and you experience a very complex cup of tea!  Not your standard flavored tea, this tea has been carefully blended to ensure the taste is not over-powered but yet distinct.  Beverly carefully blends and tastes each hand-rolled batch guaranteeing a high level of quality.  

 

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have been craving spring, and while the weather has teased the East Coast with a few warm days and some sunshine the temperature here has still been relatively cool. This is keeping me in long sleeves and (mostly) away from my garden, but it’s not keeping springtime out of my tea cup. I find myself reaching for fresh, fruity teas, and the Amba Flower Tea from Single Origin Teas has been a recent delight.

This tea made me stop, sip, and just enjoy all of the flavors it has to offer. There is a fruity – almost candy like – cherry note as well as a bright, clean eucalyptus flavor. It might seem like these two flavors shouldn’t work together, but trust me, they do.  The eucalyptus note is light enough that it doesn’t overpower the tea. Instead, it heightens the tea’s fruity cherry note and natural sweetness, and it leaves a clean feeling on the tongue. There is also an orange note that is most apparent at the end of the sip and as the tea cools. I find the citrus note both surprising and pleasant, and I think it brings a fullness and bit of sparkle to the cup. I thoroughly enjoy the mix of flavors and am so impressed by this truly lovely Ceylon.

I prepared this tea using one teaspoon of tea per eight ounces of water, 200°F water, and steeped the leaves for three minutes and thirty seconds. This is a tea that can be steeped multiple times. I did not add sugar or cream to my cup. I found the natural sweetness of the tea to be enough for me. I do think this tea can handle some sugar, but cream might mute the flavors.

Amba Flower Tea is unique enough to make life long tea drinkers do a double take at their tea cups, but it is also something I can see first time tea drinkers enjoying. It was certainly what I needed to remind me that a cup of tea can be just the thing to brighten my day while I wait for the warmer days of spring to finally arrive.