Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Golden Tips
Tea Description:
An excellent second flush Darjeeling with an abundance of natural muscatel. A handpicked tea from the Giddhpahar tea estate in Darjeeling with gentle fruity notes, a rich aroma and a complete rounded flavor which is a defining characteristic of premium summer Darjeeling teas. A must-have for anytime of the day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh, love! LOVE! This has the muscatel that I adore!
This is an excellent Darjeeling, one of the best that I’ve tried. The flavor is strong – this is a stronger tasting Darjeeling than the typical light-to-medium bodied Darjeeling. I’d categorize this as a medium-to-full bodied Darjeeling!
It has a really nice, well rounded flavor. It almost tastes too strong and well rounded for a Darjeeling because I typically think of them as crisper and lighter teas. This is much more robust and satisfying. I daresay, it would make a nice morning cuppa. Typically, I think of Darjeeling as an afternoon tea.
And it’s remarkably smooth too! This doesn’t have the astringency that I normally experience with a Darjeeling.
So, if the first few paragraphs of this review indicate anything to you, it should be that this is NOT your typical Darjeeling! Not by a long shot.
The flavor starts off sweet with notes of wood and grape. There is some of that Darjeeling ‘crispness’ right at the start, but as it moves to mid-sip, the flavor develops and becomes a richer experience for the palate. The grape flavor intensifies! By the finish, I’m getting a really lovely muscatel finish, but without a strong astringency. This has all that is really GREAT about a 2nd flush Darjeeling and none of the bad!
This is best hot. I think that this is true of most Darjeeling tea. However, I do recommend letting it cool for a few minutes before you start sipping. I find that the muscatel really shines through best after it’s had time to cool for about three or four minutes.
This Darjeeling is one that EVERY tea drinker should try.
Etambagahawila Estate Ceylon OP1 Black Tea from Capital Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Tea Limited
Tea Description:
Well made beautiful even and neat black wiry leaves with good sheen from Sri Lanka’s Galle region. These aromatic leaves produce a medium to strong tasting tea liquor with ample body and prominent sweet flavour and aroma notes reminiscent of sugar candy.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a really flavorful, strong Ceylon! I’m not used to a Ceylon being as full-flavored as this! But it’s a bold, flavorful Ceylon with a really lovely burnt sugar caramel sweetness.
It’s a pleasantly smooth Ceylon too. It has some astringency to it, but it’s more like the tangy-tart qualities of a citrus fruit than a really jarring astringent tone.
There are some notes of malt to this cup too. The way the malt notes meld with the caramel notes is quite lovely and makes for a really enjoyable tea experience.
This has many of the qualities I expect from a Ceylon – a smooth, even flavor, for example. But I like the unexpected qualities that I’m discovering – the rich, bold flavor! It’s an invigorating tea that would take to the additions of milk and honey well if you’re looking to make this your next breakfast tea. This would be a good breakfast tea for those days when you’re looking for that gentle shake awake. It’s got a robust flavor but a non-aggressive attitude.
A really nice tea. I enjoyed about half my cup and then I was distracted from my tea for a while and when I came back to the cup, it was cold (yes, this does happen a lot, that’s the way it works when you’re a mom!) but even as a cold tea, it’s quite delicious!
Tezpur Estate Assam Black FBOP Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
India Assam region is home to some of the world’s grandest teas. Our Tezpur estate Assam tea is a great, brisk, and malty tea. It’s great for the morning and relaxing in the evening, try it any time.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh … lovely. (Imagine satisfied sigh here.)
This is the kind of Assam that I absolutely adore. It’s bold and malty. It’s smooth. It’s not bitter. (I’m sure it would be bitter if it were brewed too long, it’s always important to watch the brew time with Assam teas, it’s been my experience that they’re not a very forgiving sort of tea.)
It’s mildly sweet yet it has a certain invigorating, bracing flavor that I want as my first cup of the day!
To brew this tea, I used my Kati Tumbler. I tend to like my teas a little on the stronger side, and the amount of tea that was in my sampler from M&K’s appeared to be enough for a weak brewing in my Breville or a strong brewing in my Kati, and I opted for the strong brewing in my Kati.
I poured the contents of the sampler into the basket (save just under 1/2 teaspoon which I added to my “breakfast tea” tin – a tin that I keep with small remnants of black tea that are too much to throw away but not enough to brew a cuppa, so I put the small amount of tea into the tin until there’s enough for a pot of tea). Then I heat the water to 205°F (I tend to go with a slightly lower temperature with Assam – remember, they’re a little finicky) and poured 12 ounces of water into the tumbler and let it steep for 2 1/2 minutes. Perfection!
The rich tasting tea doesn’t need additions – it tastes great served straight! But, if you’re one who likes a little honey or sugar and milk in your breakfast tea, this tea would certainly take those additions well. It would make a marvelously rewarding latte!
To brew a latte, I recommend steeping it a little strong – instead of taking out that aforementioned just under 1/2 teaspoon of tea to add to the breakfast tea tin, keep it in the basket so that you have a strong brewed tea. The key for stronger tea that tastes great isn’t to steep it longer, it’s to add more leaf. Steeping it longer will produce a stronger tea, but it will also produce a more tannic brew: tannic = bitter. Use a little extra leaf and steep for the 2 1/2 minutes. Then add the dollop of honey or other sweetener of your choice and some steamed milk for a yummy morning latte!
The sip starts out strong and I taste the sweet, caramel-y notes immediately. Then I start to taste some of the stronger, more rugged earthy notes, hints of leather and fruit notes. The fruit notes remind me of raisin and dried stone fruit – like the sugary sweetness from a dried plum.
As I continue to sip on this tea, the astringency does build. It started out with barely any astringency, but now I am getting a distinct dryness on my palate at the very tail of the sip and in the aftertaste, my palate feels like it’s been patted dry with a soft cloth. Like it’s preparing me for another sip.
The description above suggests that this would make a good evening tea, but, I don’t know that this is a tea that I could drink very late into the evening. It would keep me awake and alert for a couple of hours. It’s got some gusto!
For a breakfast tea though – this is the stuff! It’s awesome!
Dejoo Estate Assam STGFOP1 Black Tea from Capital Tea Limited
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Tea Limited
Tea Description:
Wiry brown leaves with ample golden tips. These leaves produce a smooth and rich tasting tea liquor with a particularly sweet honey-malt flavour. A very well rounded flavour profile and balanced full body makes this an excellent tea to drink with milk for any time of day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I received a sampling of this tea from a friend. Her experience with the tea wasn’t as positive as my first few sips of this tea seemed to be and I thought at first that the reason may be because of steep time. I find that Assam teas are quite finicky and temperamental. I don’t usually use boiling water for an Assam tea, I go with just slightly under (205°F) and steep the tea for not more than 2 1/2 minutes. If I’m steeping the tea in my Kati tumbler or a teapot, then I go with 2 1/2 minutes. If I’m brewing the tea in my Breville One-Touch, I go with 2 minutes.
The reason for the different brew time in my Breville? Because the tea maker will keep the liquid warmer than the act of heating the water and pouring it into a separate vessel. Even though the temperature change may be very slight, with an Assam it does make a difference.
My first few sips of this tea were pleasant enough. I picked up on sweeter notes of malt as well as a honey-like sweetness and these two flavors melded together in a nice way.
But as I continued to sip, I started to pick up on this bitter note toward mid-sip. It wasn’t that “oops, I oversteeped the tea” sort of bitterness. At first, I thought it was a savory element to contrast with the sweeter notes. However, I noticed that some of the sweetness that I picked up on early on was beginning to wane and the tannic qualities of this tea were taking over.
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a tea like this, where I would have a positive experience with it at first and as I continued to sip the experience grew less and less enjoyable, but that’s what I’m getting from this. What started out with a pleasant, mild sweetness has become something more like something that’s gone bad. It was fine for the first five sips or so but as I progressed with this cup, I found that the flavors became less sweet and pleasurable and more tannic.
And now that this cup sits in front of me, I can’t really offer any redeeming words about it. I wish I could.
I do thank my friend, though, for sending me the sampling. I do appreciate it.
North Pole Estate Tea from Tippy’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tippy’s Tea
Tea Description:
A magical tea. Reindeer bitten and handpicked by elves in their off season, this tea is beloved by Santa Claus himself!
Our North Pole estate is a dark, malty black tea blend with hints of cinnamon, gingerbread, cloves, and a touch of chocolate. A delicious holiday tea to keep you warm. Recommended to slightly sweeten. Adding milk or brewing as a latte will add an extra dreamy creaminess.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yeah, I know that the holiday has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still be enjoying holiday tea blends! I, for one, love the warm, spicy flavors that seem to be a consistent theme for the holiday teas and I think they’re perfectly relevant to be sipping any time you want to feel that warm, cozy feeling!
This is the first tea from this new-to-me company that I’ve tried and I’m trying it in a brand new teacup! Last year, I broke my beloved Starry Night (Van Gogh) teacup and I’ve been using others that I have but I really needed a new big mug teacup that I loved as much as that Starry Night because I love tea – you know I do! But tea tastes so much better when it’s served in something you love to drink out of!
And yes … I’m a Harry Potter nerd. And while there are many parts of the books/movies that bring tears to my eyes, no five words from the Harry Potter world bring tears to my eyes more effectively than these:
“After all this time?” “Always.”
Yep, I’m tearing up right now.
So, let’s talk about this tea.
My initial couple of sips were not quite as spiced as I expected them to be. I let the cup cool for a few minutes, hoping that some time would help bring the flavors forward.
And it does! I am tasting more spice now. I taste subtle notes of cinnamon. The clove is even more subtle. I taste a background note of gingerbread and a hint of chocolate. The spices are not strong here – this isn’t a chai! – it’s an “estate” tea. A North Pole Estate.
Single Estate teas tend to take on the flavors that surround the estate, but usually subtly. The leaves absorb the essences that fill the air. In the North Pole, I’d imagine the scent of warm spice, gingerbread and chocolate permeate the air. And that’s what this cup brings to this cup.
The black tea is a strong blend of black teas from India and China (Assam and Keemun teas). Bold, malty, rich. There are wine-like notes to it along with the notes of malt. The finish is dry.
The cinnamon is the most pronounced of the flavors, with hints of clove dancing in the background. The chocolate is subtle but every now and again, it weaves its way into the sip in a very pleasing way. The gingerbread becomes more noticeable when I slurp the sip and aerate the liquid on the palate.
A really interesting cuppa. I like it.