Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Description:
We’ve been around the world in 80 teas with this one! On a mission to get our nation of tea lovers, THE BEST cuppa. Good news… Mission accomplished! Fantastic with your fry up, perfect with a Paddington (marmalade on toast, obviously!) The Great British Cuppa is right here!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m feeling a little under the weather at the moment, so a straightforward breakfast-style tea is just the thing to cure what ails me. This is such a go-to kind of blend – an easy to drink, easy to brew, no fuss, crowd pleaser. I gave one teaspoon of leaf 4 minutes in boiling water, and added a splash of milk.
The resulting brew is a pretty solid example of an English breakfast tea. It combines an Assam, a Ceylon, and a Chinese Yunnan black, and the result is sweet and malty, with a hint of citrus brightness. The citrus, to me, is lemon, and it emerges primarily at the end of the sip. For the most part, this has a characteristic potato flavour, with an almost starchy element reminiscent of crispy, roasted white potato which emerges in the mid-sip. It’s hugely malty, with that wonderfully deep, molasses-like flavour that a really good malty black can take on. No sugar required here!
I’m not too surprised that I like this one – it contains my three favourite varieties of black tea, after all! It’s well balanced, with none of the three varieties dominating. Instead, it’s like each of the individual teas has contributed one of the elements which characterises it best – maltiness from the Assam, a light citrus note from the Ceylon, and a glorious potato flavour from the Chinese Yunnan. It’s such a good, solid cup of plain black tea. A no-nonsense, full-bodied blend with plenty of flavour – there’s nothing not to love here! Well done, Bluebird!
Druid’s Magic Tea Black Green from Tea Desire
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Green
Where to Buy: Tea Desire
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Ceylon black tea, Sencha green tea, Java black tea, pink rose petals, bucco leaves, natural flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Tea Desire is a smaller Canadian chain primarily based in British Columbia; I just happen to be fortunate enough to live in a city that has one of their branches so over the few years I’ve lived here I’ve frequented the store often and tried a sizable range of their teas – still there’s always more to try! The service feels a lot more personalized, and the feel of the store is certainly a lot less commercial that larger Canadian chains such as DAVIDsTEA.
One thing I do dislike about the company is the 50g minimum purchase – however because I do have a local store I can always purchase a To Go cup and try something that way; and that’s exactly what I did when I grabbed this newer Tea Desire blend. It’s one I wanted to try a few months ago, but my branch hadn’t received a shipment of it yet so when the associate today recommended it I was pretty on board.
Based on her recommendation I got it iced, and trying it now I definitely think that probably was a more appropriate way to try it than hot would have been. This is a very floral blend; it’s supposed to be rose and while I did taste rose I definitely thought the floral notes seemed a lot more like peony. There was a light, pleasant vegetal taste from the green tea but mostly the black tea came through; it was smooth softer with floral notes of its own; very characteristic of a good ceylon. For those familiar with DAVIDsTEA’s Elderflower Spritz I’d say this one tastes similar, but has a base with more backbone. Same sort of fruitier elderberry notes, too.
About halfway through I started to pick up on sort of weird buttery notes. I actually don’t have a clue where they were coming from, but it was weird and slightly jarring. Buttery flowers is definitely not something I’d normally pick for myself; but I actually didn’t hate it. All in all, I thought this was pretty good and DEFINITELY a well put together tea for what it’s named after: sweeter floral, natural flavours that definitely evoke the image of fairies, nymphs and yes, druids too.
I’d totally revisit this one!
Tequila Sunrise Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
A double dose of Tequila Sunrise this week. I couldn’t decide whether I liked it best as a black tea or a green tea, so I did both! Here’s our premium Pettaiagala Extra Long Leaf OP from Sri Lanka blended with freeze-dried oranges and cherries; and organic tequila-, orange- and cherry flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a mighty long time since I’ve had a Tequila Sunrise (longer than I care to admit to!) so I don’t have any recent memories to compare the flavoring of this black tea blend from 52Teas to.
And I have to say that this tastes a lot better than I remember a Tequila Sunrise tasting. Hey, I liked them alright. They just weren’t my favorite cocktail. I preferred rum-based cocktails over tequila-based cocktails.
But this is really tasty!
I taste all the elements here: I taste the orange, I taste the cherry and I even taste notes of tequila. And, most importantly, I taste the black tea. I really like the way the Pettaiagala tea goes with these flavors – it’s very smooth! No bitterness and no astringency.
I’m not always really crazy about the cocktail inspired tea blends, but this one is really nice. And the best part? I can drink a couple cups of this without feeling hung over tomorrow.
Amba Tea Flower Tea by Single Origin Teas
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.
Windsor Castle Black Tea Blend from Queen’s Pantry
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Queen’s Pantry
Tea Description:
Full bodied flavoury tea with toast notes from Darjeeling, maltiness from Assam and lively flavour from Ceylon. Worthy of royal households.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about the MidWest Tea Fest here.
Taster’s Review:
This is another tea that I was sent by one of the organizers of the MidWest Tea Fest! Queen’s Pantry Tea is one of the vendors that will be featured at the Tea Festival, and I’m so happy to be tasting their Windsor Castle Black Tea Blend today!
This is a very pleasant blend of three black teas: Assam, Ceylon and Darjeeling. I like that I can taste elements from all three teas. I’m tasting a rich, malty character from the Assam, a brisk note from the Ceylon as well as a note of citrus which is a typical Ceylon trait, and a crisp lightness and notes of grape from the Darjeeling.
The combination of these three teas produces a tea that is well-rounded with a medium body. It’s not too heavy or aggressive. I’m not getting any bitterness from the tea – although I would still caution you not to oversteep it and because Darjeeling is in the mix, I went with a slightly lower temperature (200°F) to steep the tea. While there is some astringency to this, it’s rather slight.
This would make a really nice mid-morning or mid-day tea. It’s got a really lively, brisk flavor to it that will give you that perk-me-up that you might need as the day wears on, but it isn’t so stimulating that you’ll be bouncing off the walls!
And with the nicely round flavor that this tea offers, it would be a very nice choice to serve to guests. It’d make a great iced tea too, try serving with a thin slice of lemon or a mint sprig!
Hey! Don’t forget about the MidWest Tea Fest! It’s a great event that will offer you the opportunity to try some amazing teas from Queen’s Pantry as well as other tea companies and you’ll also have the opportunity to attend demonstrations and classes from experts in the tea industry! Sounds like an amazing weekend!