Have you ever had a cup of tea that made you sigh and whisper “thank you” to no one in particular?
No? Prepare to.
This tea is a buttery, creamy, decadent romp through Earl Grey’s castle. You walk barefoot on lush, oriental carpets. You admire vibrant paintings of rosy-cheeked angels. You wear a robe of crushed velvet.
You taste bergamot, you taste flowers, and good heavens, you taste cream.
You are fancy. No, more than fancy. You are reckless in your bourgeois ways. You are DECADENT.
I don’t really have any complaints about this tea. I almost want a drawback, so I look like an Objective Journalist. Alas, I am not a Serious Writer or a Great Thinker. I am a girl who wears mostly slippers. I pet every dog I see on the street. I want to live in a Rococo painting. And I like this tea. So there.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tigerlily Teas
Description
A remarkably heady Earl Grey tempered with wickedly delicious cream flavour. One cup is not enough!
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all photo credits/logo credits: Tigerlily Teas
This tea was purchased for personal use and was not recieved to review.
Nepali Breakfast/Nepal Tea
When prepping breakfast, I learned that I can’t use my toaster oven and kettle at the same time. That was an interesting discovery that made for a two-step breakfast: bagel first (since the toaster oven was already on) and tea second.
Another discovery: Nepali Breakfast by Nepal Tea is not a straight black tea like I thought it was. When I opened the package, I immediately got a big whiff of masala spices which surprised me. Upon closer inspection of the package, it turns out the package says black tea + spices so I guess this confusion is just on me. Oops.
Anyways, when brewing this up, I did so according to the company suggestion on the package which is to steep the tea in boiling water for 5 minutes. That is against my usual steeping parameters but hopefully Nepal Tea knows best.
After steeping the tea I brought up the Nepali Breakfast page on the Nepal Tea website only to notice that the site says to use not quite boiling water for 4-5 minutes. I also noticed on the Nepal Tea website they recommend steeping this with milk and/or sugar. Again, I did not see this until after I steeped the tea so I did not do this.
Trying the tea, the first thing I noticed is how much sugar probably would have helped this tea. I normally don’t add anything to my tea (unless I am having a latte or smoothie, etc.) but this tea is more bland than the scent of the dry leaf would have you expect. I think perhaps sugar might coax out those spices nicely since nothing really stands out. With that said, despite the fairly harsh steeping parameters, there is no bitterness or astringency here. Mostly just some cinnamon, a touch of clove, maybe a little pepper and a smooth black tea that doesn’t really impart much flavor.
I think this tea has potential but for me it fell short. The smell of the tea really had me thinking I was in store for a punch of spice but barely got a tap on the shoulder.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nepal Tea
Description
Start the day the Nepalese way with our unique Masala Chiyah.
A blend of Orthodox, CTC teas and our special masala spice mix. Experience the color of CTC, flavors of Orthodox with the ‘zing’ of the home-made spice mix.
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Mist Valley Estate TGBOP1/Upton Tea
I usually drink black tea from China, but today I am making a little excursion to Nepalese black tea! My expectation is that it will taste more similar to tea from India than from China, and I was correct. It even had a tiny darjeeling vibe!
This is a high-grown tea from an estate that has been in operation since 1989 and has been processing their own tea since 2004. They are currently converting their operations to all organic, so I am looking forward to trying it again in the future!
This is indeed a broken orange pekoe with shades ranging from golden tan to deep brown. In the photo online it shows a lot of green like a darjeeling but my own sample is more tan and almost a cream color mixed with the darker leaves.
I kept the steep on the short side (two minutes) in case this was more reminiscent of an Assam, a tea that is tasty but wreaks havoc on my tender tummy, but I must say it was very well-behaved and perfectly drinkable without additions.
Being high-grown, I thought it might be a bit on the astringent side, but it is only pleasantly brisk. It has a truly classic black tea aroma and taste, mild but not wimpy, lightly brisk but not tart and puckery, and I would call it all around a good basic black tea. It is not overly complex drinking it western style as I am, but at this price I do not expect complex tea. It was a very good accompaniment to my lunch.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Upton Tea
Description
In hues ranging from light to dark brown, the small, neatly made leaves of this Nepal black tea offering are sprinkled with silver tips. The golden amber liquor is fragrant with a light, fresh aroma. The flavor is rich with floral notes and a sweet, lingering finish.
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Victorian London Fog/Harney and Sons
This Earl Grey variation won Harney’s customer creation contest! And I see why, because it’s super-tasty.
Imagine, if you will, Earl Grey — with lavender, oolong, and vanilla added. The contents of this tea SOUND like a sock drawer, but they work together well. The oolong adds a gentler, rounded-out tea note, and the lavender & vanilla sweeten up the citrus of the bergamot.
I’ve never BEEN to London, but I like to imagine it’s classy, rounded-out, and fun like this. Everyone’s tastefully, liberally dressed; there are fun activities like art museums and bookstores; and the breeze is always crisp. Oh, and I’m dating one of the Queen’s Guard with the fuzzy hats. (In this vision, my husband is just himself, with an accent, and, of course, the hat. I can’t even have a fantasy without him intruding. Go. AWAY. Ugh. Married life.)
SO ANYWAY. I’m glad this tea won the prize, because it’s tasty and fun. Next time you want to pretend you’re in London with your fuzzy-hatted partner, get on a double-decker bus with this one
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Leaf Type: Black/Oolong
Where to Buy: Harney and Sons
Description
Victorian London Fog was the winning blend in our customer creation contest! Thousands of blends were submitted and we let you all choose between the top 5 flavors!
The beverage called London Fog originated during the Victorian era. Traditionally, it is an Earl Grey served with steamed milk.
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Muguru Ceylon/Lumbini Tea Valley
Take a large tea leaf, processes it, roll the leaf in twisted fashion length-wise, tie one end, and you end up with this unique looking large leaf ceylon tea. If Liu An Gua Pian had a brother, this would be him.
Even after steeping past the directed 30 seconds, which I thought was too light, I found that the flavor is incredibly subtle. Almost to the point that if you don’t swish it in your mouth a few times you miss some real unique honey and malt notes.
It must have taken some very sturdy, very careful hands in order to craft this tea. To tie each tip must be incredibly time consuming. As we come around to the second steeping the tea becomes somewhat floral with very sweet overtones. Almost like someone added sugar. The malt still remains. The sweetness continues into the third steeping. No astringency after steeping over 4 minutes.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lumbini Tea Valley
Description
Natural malt with a hint of lingering sweetness
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