Tea Type:
Black Tea
Where To Buy:
Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Pungent flowery character with good body. Takes milk well, highlighting the coppery cup. St Coombs is from the Dimbula District one of Ceylon’s premiere tea estates
St. Coombs. If the name sounds anything but Sri Lankan to you, you’d be on to something. This exceptional tea estate is actually named after a small fishing village in Scotland, probably the birthplace of one of the original planters. During the peak years of the British Empire homesick settlers from the UK frequently bestowed their new homes with the names of the ones they left behind. Somewhere along the line a proud St. Coombsian decided to trade in his fishing nets for pruning shears, board a steamer, head for the Far East and stake a claim. The rest as they say, is history. He could never have known that more than 120 years later the estate he helped plant would still be producing tea – and fantastic tea at that.
Simply put, St. Coombs, situated 1328 meters above sea level in the western Dimbula highlands of Sri Lanka, is an exceptional tea garden. The estate is ISO 9001 certified and year after year produces some of Sri Lanka’s finest export teas, consistently fetching high prices at the Colombo auctions. St. Coombs’ success is in part attributed to an ace in the hole in the form of the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka, the headquarters and laboratory of which are located on the estate. (The institute was established at St. Coombs in 1938.) That said, it is impossible to discount the influence of the exceptional regional climactic conditions on the estate’s output. (Conditions made the estate the perfect choice when the Institute was looking for a location to set up shop.)
From January to March, the Western Quality season, Monsoon rains interspersed with dry periods and cool nights combine to produce a large leaf with high sap content. The leaf blooms vigorously each morning ripe for the plucking, a phenomenon known as the flush. It is during this time that St. Coombs’ finest teas are produced. These tend to be exceptionally aromatic, light in the cup with a thick medium body and long finish. St. Coombs’ Flowery Pekoe is a shining example of this excellent quality. In general, FP teas are laborious to produce and require hand sorting in order to ensure an even grade. As such, they are produced in limited quantity and can be difficult to obtain. Our long-term relationship with the estate allows us to secure a good supply year after year. We can confidently say that a freshly brewed cup of St. Coombs’ stands alone as one of Sri Lanka’s premiere tea offerings.
Tasters Review:
This FB Flowery Pekoe Black Tea from the Dimbula, Sri Lanka Region really fits the bills as a Luxury Black Tea in their ever-growing catalog of tea offerings over at Culinary Teas!
I drink all of my teas ‘straight-up’ with no milk or additives and from what I have read it’s completely acceptable to drink this luxury black tea this way but it also takes well to milk or non-dairy milks if you wish. I infused the tea leaves for about 3 minutes – but – the product description says you can infusion them for up to 7 minutes if that is your preference. The post-infusion liquor color is that of a yellow-brown tending towards golden.
Once I started sipping this tea – I KNEW it was for me! A nice, solid black tea with sweet florally notes and a more perfume-like flower flavor on the end sip. It’s slightly astringent and overall well rounded. This is a great black tea to have on hand for any time of day!
Buckingham Palace Garden Party Tea Blend from English Tea Store
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green
Where to Buy: English Tea Store
Tea Description:
The Buckingham Palace Garden Party tea loose leaf blend from English Tea Store is a delicate medium tea with a hint of Earl Grey and Jasmine. This is a lighter afternoon tea.
Every May, the Queen holds a garden party at Buckingham Palace, a lovely English springtime tradition. The tea that is served is a long time favorite, a delicious Palace medley specially selected for this occasion. Intriguing hints of high-grown pure Ceylon Earl Grey blend effortlessly with the soft jasmine from Fujian Province. Couple this with malty Assam (from the estate of Borengajuli) flavory Dimbula Ceylon (from Hatton), brisk and golden cup East of Rift Kenya (from Kambaa and Kagwe) and you have one of the most flavorful teas to come from the British Isles. Each cup is a cup of mystery – the flavors all come to the fore at separate times – one minute you taste the Earl Grey, the next second you can almost feel the soft floral notes of jasmine and finally you get the satisfying fullness of the Assam Ceylon and Kenya blend. Enjoy this tea and be a part of the annual tradition in the west gardens of Buckingham Palace, without having to dress up.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Buckingham Palace Garden Party Tea is an example of a tea that I should have read the description of before I brewed it, because by simply looking at the loose leaf, it is difficult to tell that it’s a blend of black and green teas. I should have used a slightly lower temperature to steep this tea! And there is some bitterness as a result. I steeped this for 3 minutes using boiling water, and I think I should have used water that was closer to 180°F. Even with the bitterness, it isn’t a bad tasting tea, but I think it could be better. Unfortunately, I don’t have more of this tea to experiment with it.
The aroma is lovely! I can smell the bergamot and the jasmine, but neither offers an overpowering fragrance. This seems to be nicely balanced between the two classic ingredients of jasmine and bergamot.
The black tea is rich and flavorful. I can taste the malty notes of Assam and the aforementioned bitterness may be a result of the Assam’s presence in the blend. The bitterness is not something that I find off-putting as it’s not an intrusive flavor. It doesn’t get in the way of me tasting the other flavors of the tea nor does it get in the way of the enjoyment of the overall cup. I’d rather the bitterness not be there, of course, and if I had a little more of this tea, I’d experiment with it a little to figure out a better way to brew it so that the bitterness wasn’t present.
The green tea is a little less discernible than the black tea. This isn’t surprising, as green tea tends to have a lighter flavor than black tea. However, that isn’t to say that the green tea can’t be tasted because I definitely taste it’s softer, somewhat vegetal taste and a silky texture that is unmistakably green tea-ish.
The jasmine is a sweet, exotic note that compliments the tangy bergamot. The bergamot it not as strong as I typically like a bergamot in an Earl Grey blend, however, since this is a “garden party” blend (for Buckingham Palace, no less), I can let the softer bergamot slide because a stronger bergamot essence may very well overpower the delicate notes of jasmine and a good balance between the two has been achieved here. It’s a pleasantly floral, tangy cup that is very satisfying.
Overall, an enjoyable cup that I’d suggest as an afternoon cuppa. It’s not quite robust enough – in my opinion – to serve as a breakfast blend or that first cup of the day when you need that jump start. This is ideal to serve to guests though, and makes a lovely cup of tea to enjoy in the afternoon, even if your garden party is a party of one.
English Breakfast Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tea Description:
A Fine Black Tea from the World renown Dimbula Tea Growing District of the Central Ceylon. Enjoy this wonderful tea to a healthier life overall.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I notice about this English Breakfast Tea from Tea of Life isn’t the tea itself but the packaging. As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for eye-catching packaging, and these “Pop Art” tins from Tea of Life are gorgeous! This particular tin has an Indian Floral style print on it. Beautiful!
And this is a really nice English Breakfast tea. It has a hearty, robust flavor that would take to the additions of milk and honey well, if you care to add them, or if you want something with a little more edge to it, take it straight!
It is a full-flavored tea with hints of malty tones. The sip starts off with a sweet note, followed by some earthy tones that evoke thoughts of leather. About mid-sip there is a hint of citrus that comes through, and this citrus-y note offers a slight “tang” in the aftertaste. It’s an enjoyable tea.
There is a moderate amount of astringency to this tea, but there is no bitterness – although, I’d take care not to oversteep it. Because it’s a bagged tea, I recommend steeping it for not longer than 2 1/2 minutes. But, even though this is a bagged tea, it’s very tasty, and while I’m not usually crazy for a bagged tea, this one impresses me.
This is my first tea that I’ve tasted from this company, but it won’t be the last. The cool artwork on the tin drew me in to this tea … but the flavor will keep me coming back.
Ceylon Dimbula from McNulty’s Tea and Coffee
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: McNulty’s Tea and Coffee
About McNulty’s:
Since 1895, McNulty’s has been this country’s leading purveyor of choice coffees and rare teas. Our tradition of careful selection of only the finest is still true today.
A visit to our store is like a journey into another age. Located in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village, the aura of a century long gone is timelessly preserved. Immediately upon entering the shop, one’s senses are delighted by the many aromas of coffees and teas from around the world. Sacks of coffee and chests of tea with obscure markings from far away lands are visible everywhere. Even the bins, chests, and scales, with which these products are stored and handled, date back to the previous century.
Taster’s Review:
This is a surprising Ceylon. Normally, when I think of a Ceylon, I think of a fairly even-tempered, moderate kind of black tea. This tea is a bit more finicky than what I expected, and not what I would call “moderate” in any way.
But that isn’t a bad thing … just different. Surprising. It has that “briskness” that I look for in a Ceylon, and it possesses a bit more complexity than I usually notice in a Ceylon. There is a background of fruit (citrus-y) and flowery (evoking thoughts of wildflowers). It has a smooth, honey-like sweetness and a hint of bitterness that hits about mid-sip. That bitterness was definitely unexpected. It has a savory quality to the bitterness, but it also seems to say “if you over-steep me, I will get harsh on you.” Fortunately, I did not over-steep!
There is a fair amount of astringency at the tail of the sip, it plays to the tangy flavor of the aforementioned citrus tones, but it also has a palate cleansing effect.
Overall, a very pleasant cup of Ceylon. I enjoyed it.