The dry aroma and the visual aspect of this tea scream Darjeeling.
The way Darjeeling smells, the slightly mineral, fresh, like a clean rainfall. It is a unique smell that I can only attribute to Darjeeling. Kinda like saying something tastes like chicken.
But what is the taste of chicken? I Don’t Know it just is! Oh, fudge… Now I’m tasting chicken. That’s a weird mix with tea.
Speaking of taste considering how it smells I don’t quite get those muscatel notes I’m looking for. And the aroma Darjeeling aroma disappears completely. This one is utterly perplexing.
I have tried both infuser in cup style and gong fu style but I feel both lack the Darjeeling punch I was looking for. If steeped too little there is no flavor. Steeped too long and it’s astringent with a bitter woods flavor.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: teakruthi
Description
Grown in the hub of the largest Dimbulla tea-growing area in Sri Lanka, our Island Heritage tea offers a flowery, mild taste and boasts an orange appearance. This tea was plucked from tea bushes that were planted during the coffee era, around 1884-1885, so you can taste true Dimbulla tea-growing history in your cup. The blend features two distinctive leaves and a bud subjected to natural withering and then gently rolled in a well-type miniature roller. Afterwards, the tea is sun-dried and passed through a conventional dryer to eliminate moisture. The last step, of course, is finding its way to your cup.
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Lumbini Tipsy Eve Ceylon FBOPF SP/Lumbini Tea Valley
Twigs or perhaps larger dried out branches.
Go bite one and that is what this dry leaf smells like.
The wet aroma turns to wet twig, big surprise, compost, and wet forest floor. Silky mouthfeel.
So far no astringency, just wonderful earthy hints of wet wood and slight citrus hints. For a CTC, cut, tear, crush tea this is very satisfying but at the same time soothing.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lumbini Tea Valley
Description
Make your evenings more stimulating with Lumbini Tipsy Eve, a robust – full-bodied tea, richly aromatic of the many compounds infused into it. Finely crafted from the rare tiny apical tea buds fresh from the valley, the unique tip and broken leaf combination contains plenty of zest. The flowery tones accompanying the main notes of a touch of caramelised butterscotch are infused by the tender apical buds, along with the lingering hint of citrus. The ‘slow-release’ nature reveal different elements across multiple infusions; from flavor, aroma and health-boosting antioxidants to the essential minerals. Made in extremely limited quantities by the ‘Dalu’ Master Tea Makers, Tipsy Eve is a ‘strong’ testament to the diverse craftsmanship abilities of Lumbini Tea Valley.
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Jin Kong Que/Masters by Adagio Teas
Lately I’ve found myself skipping over the flavored teas and going straight to my straight teas. Flavored teas just haven’t been hitting it for me and so this am while I was setting up my tea tray with my tea for the day, I grabbed this delight- Jin Kong Que from Masters by Adagio Teas. Reading the description the mention of roasted sweet potato caught my eye and my tastebuds.
Brewed with freshly boild water and allowed to steep just for about 30 seconds or so, this tea delivers spot on flavors that keep you reaching for your cuppa. Lovely soft roasted notes with a sweetness that does remind you of a sweet potato are definetly coming through strong. In the background you are getting this beautiful malty touch that levels each sip out along with a roasted/toasted finish. Smooth, simple, yet so on point and so delicoiusly addictive. I did under steep the tea and the parameters on the site indicate 2-3 minutes but since I used a bit more leaf, I wanted to be conservative without overbrewing.
Next steeping, I did allow the tea to properly steep and I think I preferred doing a shorter steep. The light delicate flavors I was really enjoying before are still enjoyable but there is a harsher after taste of astrigency that I’m not 100% loving. I could have also over steeped by a moment or two so that harshness could be my bumbling of steeping.
Regardless, this tea shows how simply smooth, rich, and beautiful a black tea really can be. I’m quite in love with this tea and sad that I no longer have this tea to enjoy but happy the tea is still available on the site so I have a feeling this tea will be a future buy quite soon.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Masters by Adagio Teas
Description
Jin Kong Que is a remarkable tea handmade in the Yunnan Province of China. It has a rare ability to balance bold flavor without giving off bitterness. Its name, which translates to Golden Peacock, is as flashy as its namesake with fairly large, very golden leaves and leaf buds. The liquor does not disappoint as it boasts intricate notes of honey, toastiness, cocoa, and roasted sweet potato.
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Mango Black Tea/Capital Teas Ltd
Anyone else feel that when they drink tea on an empty stomach that it doesn’t always feel great? Sometimes I am totally fine and others it just makes me nauseous. Yet I tend to go to my kettle first thing in the morning anyways and then stress about what to make for breakfast. Well today I decided to do something a little different with my tea and ended up adding it to a breakfast smoothie.
I made a concentrate of Mango Black Tea by Capital Tea Limited by steeping 3 teaspoons of leaf in 4 ounces of 200F water for 2 minutes. The concentrate got added to a mixture of 2 frozen bananas, 200 g of honey greek yogurt and a cup of milk. I put half the mixture into a glass and got to drinking, figuring that this would allow the other ingredients to serve as breakfast while still getting my tea fix. Two birds…one stone.
The good news is I have no nausea and I have a nice comfortable full feeling. The bad news is the mango flavor was almost entirely drowned out by the other ingredients. I taste some of the tea base which I think is playing off the tartness of the greek yogurt. In addition, it is clear there is something more than honeyed banana contributing to the sweetness but its a little difficult to discern anything specifically mango.
Since I got this tea in a tea swap and am unsure how old it is, I thought perhaps there was some flavor deterioration which could account for the lack of its flavor in my smoothie. To test out my theory, I brewed up a cup of this tea just as a plain tea and got to sipping only to find a whole lot of fresh, ripe mango juiciness atop a slightly metallic ceylon base. A really nice mango breakfast tea actually because it tastes like a mango flavored tea as opposed to just mango.
At the end of the day, both beverages were good. I believe the tea did add to the flavor of the smoothie though not as much as I hoped. Next time I will play around with the ingredients to try and coax out more tea flavor.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Teas Ltd
Description
This tea does not appear to be on the website anymore but click below for teas that are.
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Poobong FTGFOP 1 CH Black Tea/Tea Swan
According to Tea Swan…Poobong Black Tea is organic production (that began) several years ago and now produces characteristic, expressive teas. They also state on their website that Poobong Black Tea picking is floral and delicate and says it’s perfect for a late afternoon break. I tend to agree.
The leaves offer a sunny yellow brew and the flavor is light and refreshing, with beautiful notes of peach and legume with soft, smooth, velvety notes and a slightly sweet, citrusy finish.
If you are into tea pairings – they also say it’s an perfect accompaniment for desserts or fruit parfaits.
The tea itself hails from the Darjeeling Region and the leaf type is a hand plucked, whole leaf. The tea I’m sampling is the 2017 – First Flush. And I’m actually just finishing up my personal stash of this wonderful brew. I will surely miss it when it’s gone. It’s memorable, that’s for sure!
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Swan
Description
This tea appears to no longer be available but click below for teas that are.
