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!
Assam Gold Black Tea from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
This smooth, malty infusion is the perfect alternative to coffee. Assam Gold can be steeped multiple times while retaining its flavor. Golden in color, this import from Northern India is a thick, comfortable black tea brew that warms and energizes after a tough, bitter, cold day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I love this Assam Gold! So much malt in one little mug!
Well, OK, my mug isn’t that small, but there’s a whole lot of malt flavor going on in it right now.
I brewed this Assam in my Breville One-Touch. I know I talk a lot about my tea maker, but seriously, if you drink even half as much tea as I do … even a fourth of the amount of tea that I do (I drink a lot of tea), you really should invest in one of these!
So, yes, I brewed this tea in my Breville, adding 2 bamboo scoops of tea to the basket and pouring 500ml of water into the jug. I set the parameters for 205°F and 2 minutes. I generally go just a little lower with both the temperature and the time when it comes to brewing an Assam in my Breville. Assam teas can be temperamental, and I find that by lowering the temperature just slightly and cutting back on steep time, this reduces the chances of bitterness.
And I don’t know if it’s my brewing, or if this is just one of those Assam teas that is a little less temperamental than others can be, but I’m not even picking up on a hint of bitterness at all with this. This is smooth from start to finish, and there’s very VERY little astringency to this cup. That is to say that unless I’m really focusing on trying to detect astringency in this tea, I’m not noticing any. Only when I’m really focused on it do I pick up on a slight pucker of the inside of my cheeks and a very slight dry sensation.
Mostly what I am experiencing here is MALT! Sweet caramel-y tones. A smooth texture – like silk. (Perhaps spun gold would be a better descriptive for this particular tea?) There are notes of fruit to this, reminiscent of sweet plums (no tartness to the plum notes), dates and dried raisin. I am not really tasting so much “raisin” as I’m tasting the sugary sweetness that you might experience form biting into a piece of dried fruit, and a slight “wine-like” note from the grape-y-ness of the raisin.
There are floral notes to this too – off in the distance. I’m envisioning the gardens where this tea has been grown to be edged by some flowery field and when the breeze comes by and picks up on some of that flowery essence, it delivers that essence to the awaiting tea leaves. Not a strong presence of flower. Just a whisper of it. A breezy note of flower.
This is a really good Assam. If you’re one who yearns for that malty flavor of an Assam, put this on your to-try list, I think you’ll be pleased with the malty character of this one.
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!
Children’s Hospital Vanilla Black Tea from The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
A playful blend of baby rosebuds, vanilla, and bergamot that reminds us of childhood tea parties. Proceeds go to BC Children’s Hospital.
Ingredients: Black tea, rosehip pieces, rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavors.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
After reading the ingredients listed and then opening the sample pouch of this tea, I was a little surprised to immediately recognize a chamomile blossom. I see the rosehips and rose petals and blackberry leaves, but they need to update their ingredient list to also include chamomile.
This is a tasty blend. The black tea base has a robust flavor and it melds nicely with the notes of vanilla to create a really rich, creamy flavor that is both malty and vanilla-y sweet. The sip starts out really smooth yet strong, and it remains smooth to the finish where I pick up on a slightly dry astringency.
The bergamot is a little less distinct than the vanilla and even the floral notes in this blend. When one reads the description of this tea, they might be led to believe that this is a “Earl Grey Creme” type of tea, but I wouldn’t call it that. It’s more of a flowery cream type of tea than it is a creamy bergamot type of tea.
The floral notes are soft and sweet. I like the way they contrast with the silky vanilla tones. I don’t taste a lot from the aforementioned chamomile blossoms, not even that distinct apple-y flavor that I usually pick up on when I drink something with chamomile. The strength of the black tea and other flavors seems to cancel out the chamomile – but that certainly doesn’t disappoint me. What I do taste is the rose and it’s quite a nice flavor. It starts out rather delicate and by the time I made my way to mid-cup, I was noticing more and more rose essence emerge in every sip.
I’m also so pleased to find that this tea is a tea that benefits the BC Children’s Hospital. I like that Secret Garden Tea Company has found a few favorite charities and offers help to them through the sales of their lovely tea blends.
This is a really nice tea. It has many different layers of flavor and what I think I’m realizing now that I’ve just passed the mid-cup point is that every sip seems to be just a little different than the one that preceded it. I might notice a really strong presence of the black tea in the first sip and with the next sip, I pick up on more vanilla. The sips that follow allow my palate to explore other flavors: hints of bright bergamot notes, a rose essence that develops, and the creamy-malty flavor of the vanilla and black tea flavors.
It’s quite an interesting tea – I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for a blend that’s a little less ordinary!
Mango Green Tea from The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Green tea blended with juicy Mango. An exotic complement to a chutney turkey sandwich, vegetable quiche, or other buttery delights.
Ingredients: Green tea, pineapple pieces, mallow petals, natural flavors
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I have really enjoyed the teas that I’ve tried from The Secret Garden. It makes me wish that I lived in Vancouver, British Columbia instead of Vancouver, Washington so that I could visit their tea room and have high tea with them. I mean seriously, take a look at some of these sweets and savories! YUM!
But since I don’t live in the Vancouver of British Columbia and instead live in the Vancouver of Washington State in the U.S., I must be content with enjoying the lovely teas that they offer and sell online. Like this Mango Green Tea, for example.
To brew it, I put 2 bamboo scoops of tea in the basket of my Breville One-Touch tea maker and added 500ml of freshly filtered water to the jug. Then I set the timer for 2 minutes and the temperature for 175° and I let the tea maker do it’s magic. I came back about five minutes later and a perfectly brewed tea waited for me.
It’s really tasty. There is a really delightful balance between the fruit flavor and the sweet green tea. I taste both of these components and neither seems to be competing with the other for the palate’s attention. They work together quite beautifully.
The green tea looks to me a bit like a Chinese Sencha and it tastes quite a bit like it too. It’s sweet and buttery and smooth. I’m picking up on very little to no astringency. There’s a light vegetal note that melds nicely with the fruit notes.
The mango is sweet and has a flavor that reminds me of fresh mango. It has a very authentic fruit flavor. It doesn’t taste overly sweet or artificial.
The fruit bits in the dry leaf are actually dried pineapple rather than dried mango – which was used, I suspect, because dried mango is a little more difficult to come by than dried pineapple. And since the dried fruit in a tea blend like this really adds very little to the finished flavor, the dried fruit is more for appearance sake than for taste.
And the proof of that is in the taste. I have attempted to taste pineapple in this and every once in a while I pick up on the slightest – ever so slight! – note of pineapple’s tart. I can’t even be sure if it’s something I’m actually tasting or if it’s in my head because I’m trying to see if I can taste it. Really, what I’m tasting is mango.
Delicious mango!