Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Tea Description:
One of the very few green teas from Sri Lanka. This tea is harvested from China Jat leaves in the high elevation region of Nuwara Eliya. The dried leaves are large and well twisted and capable of multiple infusions. Liquor is flavorful because of the elevation.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really like Mao Feng teas, and this Mao Feng from the Oliphant Estate is spectacular.
There is virtually no vegetative taste to this whatsoever (there is just a slight hint of vegetative taste … ever so slight!) and that means none of that grassy undertone that is often part of the flavor profile of a green tea. Instead, this has that sweet, smooth taste that is easily recognizable as a green tea without the grassiness.
Instead, this tastes of sweet cream, fresh mountain air, fruit and flower. These individual notes create a very seamless flavor that entices the taste buds and keep me sipping.
This is the kind of green tea I’d recommend to someone who is new to green tea and has found the vegetative/grassy tones of other green teas to be somewhat off-putting. This one is sure to win them over!
Ceylon Silver Tips from Empire Tea Services
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Product Description:
Carefully hand picked tender buds from Glentilt Estate in Sri-Lanka (Ceylon).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is one of the nicest white teas I’ve encountered. From start to finish, it is such a joy! The leaves are just like the picture above: long needles, and that same silvery-white color! They are covered in fuzz. They have a light scent that is slightly grassy, reminding me of a freshly cut grass smell in spring.
The color of the liquor is very pale – in fact, had I not measured the tea myself, I would have thought maybe someone to put tea in the teapot. In fact, everything about this tea is light: the color, the scent, and the flavor.
But, don’t mistake that for being flavorless, because it isn’t. Delicate, yes … but, it is also so delicious. It tastes fresh with hints of flower in the distance. It has a creamy taste and texture to it. It is crisp and soothing. It is delicious sipped hot, and it even tastes great as it cools.
What I like best about this tea is that it has a very relaxing quality to it, I sipped it later in the evening and found that it let me just enjoy my evening, but I also find my thoughts traveling back to the thoughts of this tea. It has that memorable kind of quality to it.
If you love white tea, you really should try this one. You’ll be glad you did.
Fruit De Bois from Empire Tea Services
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Product Description:
Flavored high elevation Ceylon black tea. Fruits from the wood. A scintillating flavor with a lingering taste. Excellent!
Taster’s Review:
This is a very interesting blend. I don’t think I’ve tried one quite like this.
The black tea base is a medium-strength Ceylon, brisk but not overwhelmingly bold. There is a fair amount of astringency, but no bitterness to the tea itself.
I do notice a faint bitter tone that doesn’t taste like “tea bitterness” though, and I attribute this bitterness to the fruit. The fruit is both sweet and tart, and just before mid-sip, I notice the faintest bitter tone. The finish is sweet and the aftertaste has a berry tartness to it.
What is most interesting to me about this blend, is that other than the berry tartness in the aftertaste, it is difficult to discern which fruits I’m actually tasting. The best way I can describe it as a homogenous kind of fruit taste, like a fruit smoothie made with a bunch of different fruits and blended in such a way that it becomes like a hybrid fruit of sorts. Even though it’s difficult to determine just what I’m tasting… I’m finding it tasty.
I like this best iced!
Clouds & Mist from Empire Tea Services
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Product Description:
China green tea grown in the misty mountains. Well twisted long leaves, delicate flavor and makes a pale bright cup. One of the best!
Taster’s Review:
It is fun to watch this tea steep. The dry leaves are long and thin, curly and twisted. As the “agony of the tea leaves” commences, I watch these leaves toss and turn in the hot water, slowly opening to reveal tiny, delicate leaves, and producing a gorgeous clear green liquor.
The flavor of this Clouds & Mist green is sweet and vegetative. The vegetative taste is somewhat grassy, and yet I taste notes of vegetables as well. It has a wonderful savory taste to it with hints of spice tones in the background. I can also taste a hint of citrus-y flavor in the background.
This is not your typical “sweet and buttery” green tea, it doesn’t have that buttery, thick mouthfeel that you might experience with a Chinese Sencha. Instead, I consider this to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. The flavor is more savory, as I mentioned previously.
There are sweet tones to this tea, and they are contrasted well with the savory notes. The sweetness arrives at the start of the sip; a sour note that hits about mid-sip; while the bitterness reveals itself briefly just after the sour note washes over the palate..
This is a wonderfully complex green tea that I would recommend to all green tea enthusiasts.
Chai with Vanilla from Empire Tea Services
Tea Type: Chai Tea (Black Tea Base)
Where To Buy: Empire Tea Services
Product Description:
The same authentic Chai with added Vanilla flavor.
Tasters Review:
I LOVE Chai…but it has to be something that stands out…something different…something versatile.
Chai with Vanilla from Empire Tea Services has all of those qualities and more!
I really like this chai! And here’s why…
The spices are nice and even and not over powering and the vanilla is an awesome accompaniment to everything! I can pick up on a bit of a citrus note but the aroma is wonderful!
For kicks I tried a 2nd infusion with this one and here is what I found…it’s still yummy! A little less vanilla but still very aromatic and tasty!
This is one chai I LOVE!
