Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Queen Mary is a perfect breakfast tea. Good body but not overpowering. Coppery bright and excellent flavor. A traditional favorite.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! Now this is black tea!
This is a very powerful tea. It’s got the gusto to get you up-and-at-’em, but at the same time, I don’t find it too powerful. It has an astringent edge to it, but again, it isn’t too astringent.
The brewing parameters on the package of this tea suggest a 3 – 5 minute steep time, but, I would recommend something closer to the three minute range as it can get a tad bitter if you steep it much longer. While it does have a tannic taste to it (with an ever so slight hint of bitter right towards the middle of the sip), it isn’t off-putting at a short steep time. However, if you’re one who likes a good, stiff cup of tea – brew it longer!
Needless to say, the flavor is bold, but I wouldn’t call it brash or harsh. It is very invigorating – making it a perfect breakfast tea (and it takes the additions of milk and honey quite well!) or an early afternoon pick-me-up if you’re starting to feel sluggish.
I wouldn’t say that this is an incredibly complex tea, it is pretty straight-forward. However, sometimes you just want a good, strong black tea, and this one will fill that need. I’ve been sipping on this for a while now, I’m beginning to pick up on a sweet undertone (I didn’t sweeten this cup for the review) that is almost caramel-like in nature. It has a hint of black currant/wine-like flavor towards the end of the sip. The sip finishes dry with very little aftertaste.
A very pleasant cuppa indeed!
Blackberry Green Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Our Blackberry Green Tea has a sencha green tea base, which adds sweetness to the wonderful fruity blackberry flavor.
Made with all natural flavorings.
Taster’s Review:
Here in the Pacific Northwest, Blackberries grow EVERYWHERE! Seriously, we even have wild Blackberry vines growing along the highways (although I wouldn’t recommend picking berries from those vines). They are also my youngest daughter’s favorite fruit, so it is a good thing that they are so prolific!
But even though blackberries are easy to find in fruit form up here, it isn’t as easy to find blackberry flavored tea. There are lots of strawberry teas, and some raspberry teas and blueberry teas… but when it comes to blackberry teas, they just don’t seem to be nearly as popular. So I was very pleased to find that Culinary Teas has a blackberry flavored green tea.
And it is delicious! The green tea base is a Sencha tea – which brings a fresh flavor and buttery tone to the cup. It isn’t overly grassy, but there is a faint hint of vegetation which gradually builds on the palate. By the time I was finished with the cup, I could notice the vegetal taste a little more than when I first started, but it never became very noticeably strong.
The blackberry flavor is on the sweet side. There are notes of true berry flavor in there, mixed in with a blackberry flavored candy-like (or bubblegum-like) taste. It isn’t too confectionery, though, it seems to fall somewhere in between the two … not quite true fruit, not quite candy-esque.
It has a very refreshing flavor, and the true test … my daughter gave it a big thumbs up! I steeped my first cup to enjoy as a hot tea, and enjoyed it so much that I brewed up a half gallon of it for the fridge immediately afterward.
This has a sweetness to it (as I’ve already mentioned), so it doesn’t really require sweetening, but it is quite nice with a little lemon (this helps to bring out some of the tart tones of the berry) or a bit of mint. The mint addition makes for an especially refreshing tea!
Cochin Masala Chai from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
This traditional Indian Chai is named for the city that is the birthplace of chai. Cochin Masala includes Ceylon black tea, ginger, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, and black pepper. When brewed this full body tea produces a spicy aromatic flavor. Superb with milk and sugar.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf is interesting – the leaves look almost like granules. They are very small, and as a result, you may find this is a bit difficult to strain because the fine leaves tend to congest the mesh in a strainer. But it is certainly worth the effort, because this is a really delicious chai.
The spices in this chai are quite bold and on the peppery side, as the ginger and black pepper are a little more prominent than the other spices. The others hold their own, though, and I can taste each individual spice – and I like that! The cinnamon offers a warm, zesty background note, and I like how the cardamom and coriander compliment each other. The spices are spicy-warm, but not what I would consider spicy-hot. There is a certain intriguing sweetness to these spices as well. It’s a very well-conceived masala blend.
The black tea is robust. Much more robust than I would expect from a Ceylon, which I often consider to be on the mellow side. But the word “mellow” certainly doesn’t come to mind when considering this Ceylon. It has a strong character! It is full of flavor and provides ample body to support the masala spices.
I added a dollop of honey to my cup and found that this helped to soften the edge just a little (if you prefer your chai to be on the edgy side, though, don’t add the sweetener), and a splash of milk makes this a very delicious chai latte. If you want to go the traditional route, you can also prepare this stovetop – although I prefer to steep my chai in water.
However you choose to steep and serve your chai – this one is certainly worth a try!
Earl Grey Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
An unbelievable aroma that portends an unbelievable taste. A correct balance of flavoring that results in a piquant and refreshing true Earl Grey taste that goes well with pastries and cakes. The true taste from the natural flavoring oils creates an Earl Grey that calls you back for more.
Taster’s Review:
Having previously tasted their Cream Earl Grey and thoroughly enjoying it, I was quite excited for the opportunity to try Culinary Teas’ Earl Grey. And I am very happy to report that I am not disappointed!
When I opened the package, I was overcome with the citrus-y scent – I could smell not only the typical bergamot notes, but also hints of grapefruit and lemon. This is one seriously fragrant Earl Grey, but even though it is extraordinarily aromatic, it doesn’t come across as perfume-y. It smells citrus-y, yes. Like a man’s cologne, no.
The brewed liquor possesses a softer scent and loses some of the more distinct citrus tones I mentioned earlier. It still smells like bergamot, of course, but I don’t smell the grapefruit and lemon anymore. But that’s OK, this is an Earl Grey tea, after all!
The flavor is delightful. The blend of Orange Pekoe leaves is strong yet pliant, offering a delicious background flavor without overpowering the bergamot. When one drinks Earl Grey, they want that bergamot flavor, and this tea delivers.
The bergamot is tangy and fruity. Some of the floral tones of the bergamot are there, but they seem to be off in the distance, only peeking through occasionally. This Earl Grey is the real deal with a very authentic bergamot flavor.
This is a celebration of the fruit that is bergamot! I love it!
Cream Earl Grey from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Earl Grey is world reknown as a classic English tea – probably as famous as Tower Bridge or Big Ben, and if you are fan of Earl Grey and have not tried this, you are in for a treat. Cream Earl Grey has a taste that is smooth with vanilla overtones, which stand out above the premium bergamot flavor – the signature taste of Earl Grey. This is a tea that would complement a meal or any aristocratic occasion for that matter! One has to think that Charles Grey (1764-1845) would have approved of this delicacy.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love Earl Grey tea! I also enjoy the modern variations of this classic, such as this Cream Earl Grey from Culinary Teas. The light touch of vanilla softens the sharp tones of the bergamot, making for a sweet, creamy tasting tea with that distinct Earl Grey background. Nice!
The black tea base is pleasant. It is not aggressive nor would I consider it to be a particularly bold tea, but it is strong enough to hold its own. It is mild and smooth and melds nicely with the creamy, calming tone of the overall cup.
In most Earl Grey teas, the bergamot flavor is front and center, but with this Cream Earl Grey, it steps back a bit and lets the creamy vanilla flavors play the lead. The vanilla is sweet and smooth and lends a decadent flavor to the blend, while the bergamot weaves its way in and out of the sip, never disappearing for too long. That is to say, as I sip this cup, I am continuously reminded by the bergamot flavor that this IS an Earl Grey tea. A deliciously different Earl Grey Tea!
As with most Earl Grey teas, I prefer this one served hot. I find that the flavors present themselves more distinctly when the tea is hot, and as it cools the flavors become slightly blurred. It is still quite nice as a chilled tea, but to get the full enjoyment from this cup, I recommend drinking it while its hot.