Buckingham Palace

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Product Description:

A special blend served at Buckingham Palace, flavorful with brightness and body. An exotic character with soft hints of Earl Grey and Jasmine. Superb for afternoon tea settings.

Taster’s Review:

I was rummaging through my tea stash, looking for a “different” black tea to drink this morning, and I came up with this one. Interestingly enough, when I visited the Culinary Teas website, this one just happened to be the tea of the week! Along with that distinction comes a 20% discount! (But hurry! I don’t know when this offer expires)

This is a great blend. There are so many different tastes going on … one moment, I taste the tangy bergamot from the Earl Grey, the next, I notice the malty tones from the Assam. Then I notice the lingering essence of jasmine. And somehow, all these dynamic flavors work together quite harmoniously.

The black tea base is well-rounded. It is comprised of Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan teas … as well as several others. This blend is full-flav0red with a fair amount of astringency. I taste hints of sweetness as well as a bitter tone that arrives just before mid-sip. There is a nice malty tone to this tea, as well as a biscuit-y kind of flavor … you know that freshly baked bread kind of note that is experienced every once in a while with a good black tea? Yeah, that’s in there too.

And then there are the notes of bergamot and jasmine. The bergamot is a sweet, tart-y kind of taste that plays off of the astringency from the tea very well. It is at the moment that the astringency is recognized that the bergamot comes through the strongest. The jasmine is more like an insinuation. I will take a sip, considering it as my palate explores the flavors it offers, and all of the sudden, my mind says “wait… was that jasmine just now?” I love it when I find a tea that keeps my taste buds guessing.

Such a beautiful, contemplative cup of tea, this Buckingham Palace. And now that my cup is empty, I want more!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea, Earl Grey, Jasmine Tea