Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Irish Breakfast Green is full bodied with the ‘umpf’ of black tea but the gentleness of green tea. Enticing toasty hint of flavour. Massively Irish.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t usually turn to a green tea as a breakfast tea. I usually want the kind of gusto a black tea provides, but this green tea packs a swift kick! Yes, the “kick” is a bit milder than what I’d get if I were drinking a strong Assam black tea, but I could see grabbing this tea as a breakfast tea (even though I’m drinking this as an afternoon tea at the moment.) It has a very satisfying flavor.
Yes, this is a blend, but that doesn’t make it complicated to brew. I grabbed my Kati Tumbler – really, this is one of the greatest tea brewing systems that I own! I turn to it frequently because it works great for teas that I have just enough for 1 serving of. And since I’ll be sharing this sampling with my SororiTea Sister, TeaEqualsBliss, I want to make sure I have enough left to send her way!
I used 1 bamboo scoop of tea for 12 ounces of hot water. I heated the water to 180°F and I steeped the blend for 1 1/2 minutes. And wa-lah! A lovely green tea!
This really is lovely! A very flavorful green tea blend. I knew when I brewed the tea that the teas were from China, Japan and Kenya, but I wasn’t sure which teas from these regions were used int he blend. From looking at the dry blend, I would guess that the Chinese tea is a Gunpowder. It’s a little harder to distinguish which teas from Japan and Kenya were used, but I think that the Kenyan is the larger, rolled green tea (see the photo above) and I think that the Japanese tea is a Houjicha (or a roasted Bancha type tea). Of those three guesses, the only one that I’m pretty confident about is the Gunpowder.
I like the way the flavors come together. The sip starts out sweet. Right away I start to pick up on the toasty, nutty flavors. It’s not an overly vegetal/grassy tasting tea but there certainly is a “green” sort of taste to it that’s a little vegetative. There’s a hint of buttery flavor. After my palate becomes acclimated to the nutty, buttery, and vegetal notes of the tea, I start to notice floral notes. There is also a fruity note that I taste that is vaguely reminiscent of melon. In the distance, I pick up a light “smokiness” to the cup that is quite intriguing.
Overall, I found this tea to be a rather enjoyable cuppa. If you’re looking for a way to start your day with a green tea, this would be a great choice. I wouldn’t add milk to it the way many do with a breakfast blend – I think that milk would really overwhelm the tea.
Plus: Milk + Green Tea usually = ICK. So best not to try that.
Instead, try this one straight up. It’s got a really nice flavor without any additions at all. If you must add something to your breakfast tea, try a dollop of locally harvested, raw honey (added health benefits with that!) or even better: a thin slice of lemon or lime!
Morningtime Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
We don’t have a catchy intro for this tea. But it’s smooth, jolting, and flavorful. We consider this tea to be our flagship blend, perfect for the morning. Extra-strong Ceylon tea, Chinese Dianhong Gong Fu and Keemun tea, and Indian Assam tea: three continents in your cup! This blend is part of the Original 20 M&K’s Blends.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! The above description suggests that this is a jolting blend, and let me tell you, they got that right!
I was happy to find that the sample from M&K’s of this tea is just the right amount to brew 500ml of tea in my Breville One Touch! I poured the sample into the basket of the tea maker and added the water and then set the parameters for 212°F and 2 1/2 minutes.
The result delighted my taste buds! This Morningtime Blend is a great wake-me-up tea. It’s a bold, rich tasting black tea. Full-flavored and well-rounded. The sip starts out sweet yet bold. I notice notes of caramel and molasses mingling with malty tones, earthy notes and flavors of stone fruit and flower. There’s a lot of complexity beneath that robust, jarring flavor of WAKE UP!
Toward the tail, I pick up on light citrus tones and there is some dry astringency at the finish. The tea isn’t bitter, however, I suspect that it could very well become bitter if the tea were oversteeped, so don’t do that. I recommend no longer than 3 minutes brew time for this tea and from there, experiment a bit and find that right time for you and your particular tastes.
Another thing that I’m appreciating about the blend is that it really is a blend. A culmination of the four teas used to create the blend: I can taste notes of malt from the Assam, a wine-like flavor and hints of smoke from the Keemun, citrus-like flavors from the Ceylon and a rich Chinese DianHong rounds everything out with its rich, satisfying flavor. I can taste each of the components but they unite in this blend so well that it becomes almost seamless.
A really lovely breakfast blend type tea. It would take the additions of milk and honey well, but I like it straight up! It’s got just a little bit of edge to it that I like, but it isn’t too aggressive. It gives me the alertness I need and the smooth, rich, roundness I love from a well-crafted tea.
So far, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve tried from this new-to-me company. They have excellent customer service – they promptly reply to questions and my order arrived very quickly. And I love these samplers!
Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Although Taiwan originates from Fujian, China, its flavor is quite distinct with Fujian Oolong tea. Like this Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea, it is recommended for beginners of Taiwan oolong. Different from the high aroma of Fujian Oolong, this tea has light floral fragrance. When sip the liquid, you can feel the sweet taste. If you want to taste new flavor, or try Taiwan Oolong, you can start with this Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea, by experiencing its flower scent and sweet flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Based on the description above, this Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea from Teavivre sounds like it’s a “beginner” Oolong. But that doesn’t mean that those of us who are more acquainted with Oolong teas can’t enjoy it too! This is a lovely Oolong.
I brewed this the way I would ordinarily brew an Oolong: in my gaiwan, of course! I added 1 bamboo scoop to the bowl of the gaiwan, added water heated to 180°F and allowed the tea to “rinse” for 15 seconds. I strained off the liquid and then steeped the leaves for 45 seconds. I strained the tea into my teacup and then resteeped the leaves for 1 minute. (For each subsequent infusion, I add 15 seconds.)
My trusty gaiwan is one that I’ve been using for years now, it has suffered a minor ‘chip’ on the spout (it’s one of those “easy” gaiwans and looks a lot like this one.) But the gaiwan is still quite functional and since I don’t have to drink out of the gaiwan, the little chip doesn’t bother me.
As I said before, this is a lovely Taiwan Oolong. It’s not as creamy as some Oolong teas and certainly not as floral as many greener Oolong teas I’ve tasted in the past. But I like the delicate qualities of this tea.
It’s sweet but it isn’t a heavy or overwhelming sweetness. The tea is soft and subtle. The flavors are more delicate. And I get what Teavivre meant by saying that this is a good starter Oolong, because the floral notes of some green Oolong teas can be rather overwhelming for a palate that isn’t familiar with those flowery essences. The floral notes are beautifully gentle here.
It’s a mildly sweet Oolong with a nice, silky texture. The vegetal notes are subdued, the floral notes are mellow, and there is a hint of sweet melon in the background.
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4, combined) is a little creamier than the first, but it still isn’t a heavy creamy note. The floral notes are slightly stronger than in the first cup, but they are not sharp. This cup is still quite smooth and sweet and pleasant.
The third cup (infusions 5 and 6, combined) is very much like the second cup. This still has a pleasant, light creamy note. The floral notes are a wee bit stronger than previous cups and I notice just a hint of sharpness. Still a remarkably smooth, light and refreshing cup of tea.
As I said at the start, this is a really lovely Oolong. It is one I’d recommend to those who are new to Oolong teas, definitely, and also to those who are familiar with Oolong teas for a refreshing change of pace. It’s almost like cleansing the palate, drinking this Oolong!
GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY!
Teavivre has offered us several $5. gift cards to give away to our readers! Yay! These are just the thing for Black Friday and I’ll be giving the next five away just in time for Black Friday Shopping! Here’s the fine print on the gift cards:
- It can be used to purchase any teas or teawares on the Teavivre website.
- By using this particular gift card, the customer can also get an extra sampler pack which includes 2 kinds of our premium grade flower teas.
- The card can also be used to pay the shipping fee.
- One gift card per order, please.
- It can be applied on international.
- No minimum purchase required.
By now you’re wondering, COOL! What do I have to do to enter? Am I right?
Well, we like to make things easy around here, so, you can earn your first entry by simply commenting on this review/contest announcement post. Just post a comment and be sure to include a way to contact you if you’ve won. If you’re already registered with TeaTra.de – cool! I can contact you via PM on TeaTra.de If you prefer a Steepster PM, that’s fine too, just tell me who you are on Steepster. If you prefer a private email contact, then you need to register when you comment and be sure to include your email with the registration and tell us that’s how you want us to contact you.
Well, that’s the first entry, but, how about bonus entries? You can earn them too! Here are a few easy ways to earn more entries:
- Like Teavivre on Facebook.
- Follow Teavivre on Twitter.
- Post the contest information on Facebook *Be sure to give us a link!*
- Tweet about this contest! *Be sure to give us the link of the tweet!*
See that? That’s five easy ways to get a cool five bucks off your next purchase from Teavivre! How awesome is that?
This contest is over. Please check with our giveaway link to see what’s next!
Sweet Violet Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Flower
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Sweet Chinese violets, creamy and sweet with just a hint of floral flavor! If you enjoy the lighter side of life (chamomile, rose buds, green tea) you will love this tea. Just throw a couple of flowers in some boiling water, and–viola! You have some sweet violet tea. Although this isn’t a rare flower, it is a difficult tea to locate, which makes us extra happy to offer it to our customers.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Every once in a while, I’ll shop around on Etsy. As an artist myself, I like supporting other artists. And also, every once in a while, I’ll come across a new-to-me tea company whose offerings are too enticing to pass up. Such is the case last week when I was looking around on Etsy and I found M&K’s Tea Company.
I was thrilled with the prices of their samplers. The one I ultimately decided upon was just $4.99 for a custom five tea sampler, but there are several other samplers to choose from as well. The order turnaround time is speedy: I placed the order and the next business day, my order was already in transit!
I really like the packaging of the samples from M&K’s Tea Company. The outer “sleeve” is a small Kraft envelope that is about the size of a coin envelope. it has a “window” cut out of it to offer a visual of the tea which has been sealed in a small zipper pouch that’s been sealed inside the Kraft envelope. The front outer label has the M&K’s logo and the name of the tea. The back outer label offers brewing parameters, ingredients and harvest information.
Under the sealed flap of the Kraft envelope is “Your Lucky Tea Symbol.” For this particular tea, my symbol is The Fox. I’m not sure exactly what that means. But it adds a little whimsy to the whole thing.
A lot of thought has gone into packaging and I like that. I like that it has a certain “small company” type feel to it but some time and effort was invested in it to give it a quality appearance while also providing the customer with the information needed to properly brew a cup of tea!
So, this Sweet Violet Tea is the first of the teas that I’ll be trying from this new to me company! Not actually a “tea” because it contains no camellia sinensis, this flower tisane is crafted from Sweet Violets. The flowers are gorgeous, colorful, whole and beautifully fragrant.
To brew this, I emptied the sample into the basket of my Kati Tumbler. The other samples from M&K’s hold enough for 500ml in my Breville One-Touch, but because these flowers are so large and bulky, the sample envelope looks like it’s just the right size for my tumbler. There are four whole flowers in the sample package, which seems about right for the size of the tumbler. Maybe one flower too many, but I’d rather go a little more on the leaf than a little less.
I filled the tumbler with water heated to 195°F and steeped the flowers for 8 minutes. (Incidentally, I didn’t follow the parameters as suggested on the packet, which called for 2 whole flowers per cup of boiling water, steeped for 2 – 5 minutes.)
Wow! I like this! I can’t think of another time that I’ve consumed a “pure Sweet Violet” tea/tisane such as this. I’ve had other flower teas, of course, but no Sweet Violets. I like this a lot.
The above description compares it to “the lighter side” and uses Chamomile, Rose Buds and Green Tea as examples. I think I like this better than chamomile. I like green tea better, but I think this would make a really good blend with green tea, I think. Perhaps a Dragon Well. As for rosebuds, this reminds me a bit of a rosebud tisane. The floral notes of a rosebud tea are maybe a little sharper – here, they’re soft and … well, the word I want to use is “fluffy.” There is a creaminess to this that I don’t experience with a rosebud tisane and that’s what’s giving it the fluffy taste.
So, I think I might actually like this better than a rosebud tisane. Or at least just as much.
The flowery notes are not sharp, they’re soft and sweet. And like the description above suggests, the floral notes are delicate. They don’t taste perfume-y or soapy at all. And the cup has a barely there floral aroma which kind of surprised me (I did, after all, steep flowers!) There really isn’t much aroma to the liquid at all. But the flavor is really enjoyable. I don’t generally get all excited over tisanes – I prefer my camellia sinensis – but this is actually one that I could see myself wanting to keep in my pantry. It’s really quite lovely!
And as it represent my first tea experience with M&K’s Tea Company, I’d say that we’re off to a really good start!
Organic Ancient Phoenix Pu-erh Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Organic Ancient Phoenix Puerh originates from a sustainable farm on Wuliang Mountain in China and is handpicked by the Yi tribe of Yunnan. This Shou (ripe) puerh was harvested in 2011 from organic ancient trees. The tea is pressed into cakes using only skilled hands and a unique fragrant wood. Organic Ancient Phoenix Puerh is smooth and rich with raw cocoa, oak, and sweet tobacco notes. This high quality tea can handle a substantial amount of infusions.
Read more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
A few weeks ago, Butiki Teas announced on Steepster that it was closing permanently very soon. I was very sad about this announcement because Butiki Teas is one of my favorite purveyors. So, I started sorting through my stash to see if I had any teas on hand from Butiki that I had not yet reviewed so that I could offer a goodbye to one of my favorite tea companies here on SororiTea Sisters – and this is the tea that I found. So, yeah, this tea is no longer available from Butiki Teas, but this review is less about the tea for me and more about offering a heartfelt farewell to a wonderful tea company.
And this Ancient Phoenix Pu-erh is absolutely lovely. It doesn’t surprise me, because I can’t say that I’ve had anything from Butiki that I wasn’t impressed with! (Which is why I’m sad to see them go!)
These tiny Pu-erh cakes are about the size (in diameter) of a quarter although they’re a bit thicker than a coin. It makes portioning rather simple, I just dropped one of the “coins” into my gaiwan and covered it with hot water (190°F) for 15 seconds to awaken the leaves. Then I strained and discarded the liquid. I poured the water over the coin – which is already starting to break apart – and infused it for a minute. Then I poured the tea into my teacup and enjoyed. Pu-erh offers multiple infusions and this was just the first of many cups that I’d enjoy this evening.
My first cup is sweet. It’s almost a sugary sweetness. There are notes of earth to the cup as well, but the sweetness is stronger than the earthy qualities. (I like that in a pu-erh!) It’s a very soft tasting tea, this first cup. Much softer than I’m used to from a pu-erh. There are light spice notes.
The second cup was also steeped for 1 minute. Usually, I add 15 seconds onto the steep time but that wasn’t needed here. This has a much deeper flavor. Some of the earthy notes have emerged now. I’m still getting those spice notes I mentioned with the first cup, as well as the sweetness. I taste notes of leather and cacao and wood. This is a very complex cup. Very smooth. No astringency. No bitterness.
The third cup – well, the third cup and I didn’t really agree. I steeped it for a full minute again and I found it to be a little reminiscent of a thick cup of coffee. Not a good coffee either. Kind of like a tar-like coffee you might find in one of those 24-hour truck stop diners that don’t get a lot of traffic so the coffee’s been sitting there for the last six or seven hours. I found it interesting that at least one of the tasters of this tea on Steepster experienced a less than favorable third infusion as well. Weird.
So, I tossed that cup and went for infusion #4. This time, rather than setting a timer, I just watched the color and when the color was dark I poured it. I would estimate that the fourth infusion was about 20 seconds. Much better than infusion #3, this is earthy, kind of mushroom-y, with notes of leather and cacao. I am picking up an undertone of molasses-like sweetness. A very smooth, mellow and deeply flavored cup.
I kept on steeping. I found that by the fifth cup, this had become a very pleasant tea. This is a tea that you can’t really set a timer – you just need to watch it. When the color becomes dark, it’s time to pour and enjoy. Sweet with notes of spice. Cacao! The earthy notes are starting to become less prominent and allowing the sweeter characteristics to come forward.
As I sip this tea, I raise my cup to the greatness that is Butiki Teas. I recommend to all of you – if you haven’t yet tried any of this company’s teas, shop now before you lose that opportunity. I will miss you, Butiki Teas!