Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black … or … Oolong
Where to Buy: T-Oolong Tea
Tea Description:
This high quality Taiwan Honey Black Tea Oolong is all natural, handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Qingxin Dapa varietal, the tea leaves used to produce Oriental Beauty. This tea has an intense honey aroma and taste, very pleasant and enjoyable. The taste is a mixture of black tea and oriental beauty oolong. This tea is very rich, complex, smooth and delectable with almost no bitterness and astringency. The aftertaste is very sweet and long lasting and makes you want another sip.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
At first glance, it might appear that this tea suffers from an identity crisis or perhaps a split personality. At the very least, it probably seems confused.
From what I understand of this tea, the leaves that would generally be used to make an Oriental Beauty Oolong are used to make this tea: fermented to the point of being deemed a black tea. I could be wrong, and if any of my readers know more about this particular tea, please feel free to comment as I’d love to learn a little more about it.
What I do know, though, is that this is delicious! Sweet and rich – with notes of chocolate and caramel throughout the sip. This is reminiscent of a favorite tea that some of us on Steepster probably remember quite fondly: Dawn from the Simple Leaf. The Simple Leaf has since closed shop, but the memories of this tea linger! It was a remarkable tea, and this Honey Black Tea Oolong is, at the very least, equally as remarkable.
The honey notes are profound, and meld deliciously with the caramel-y notes to create a honey-caramel taste that is lip-smackingly delectable. It has a dense richness to it, a creamy sort of mouthfeel with very little astringency. After the first few sips which are indulgently honey-esque, I start to notice hints of fruit and even a floral note somewhere in the distance. These are notes that require a bit of a “slurp” to really detect, because the chocolate-y, caramel-y notes are so forward that the other notes seem quite content to tantalize from afar.
A really delightful tea – if you miss Dawn from The Simple Leaf … try this tea! If you like sweet, naturally chocolate notes in your black tea … try this tea! If you like the mouthfeel of an Oolong but want something richer and deeper … you know what I’m going to say, don’t you? Try this tea!
Sticky Buns Black Tea from Jacqueline’s Tea Room
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Jacqueline’s Tea Room
Tea Description:
Black tea with honey, caramel and vanilla. Sinister!
Learn more about Jacqueline’s Tea Room here.
Taster’s Review:
I purchased this as part of a sampler offered by iHeartTeas a while back, but I’m just now getting around to tasting it. Just as well, though, because, this tea is very autumnal and goes well with this time of year! And as I’ve said before – it’s my favorite time of year, and I just love it when I grab a tea from my stash of samples and find one that fits in perfectly with the season.
Of course, I wouldn’t turn down a sticky bun any time of year. But, really, this doesn’t taste all that much like a sticky bun, at least not to me. It’s lacking that bake-y, cake-y kind of taste to it. That’s not to say it’s not delicious – it IS! The flavors of honey and caramel meld together beautifully to create a very luscious sticky bun topping, even if the bun is not there! The vanilla weaves its way in and out throughout the sip, tantalizing the taste buds. YUM!
The black tea base is pleasant, but, there is part of me that thinks that this combination of flavors might benefit from a slightly stronger base. Something that has that natural freshly baked bread kind of taste in it. Something a little bit malty, a little more powerful. As it is, it is delicious, but not really very strong, which makes this a better afternoon cuppa than a breakfast one, in this taster’s opinion.
So, this one is a little bit disappointing because I think it could be so much more than it is. A stronger, maltier base with a natural “baked goods” kind of taste to it, perhaps, or even some nutty tones might make the idea of “Sticky Buns” come across more in the flavor. But I am enjoying it for the way it is, and I certainly would not refuse a cup if it were offered. Yummy, but capable of so much more, I think!
Honey Malt With Chocolate Malt Tea from Malt Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Grain Tea
Where to Buy: Malt Tea
Tea Description:
This tea mixes the intense sweetness and honey aroma from Honey malt with the extra roasted coffee flavor from the Chocolate Malt. Be Advised: Chocolate Malt gets it’s name from the dark brown color that is similar to the color of dark chocolate. It does not taste like chocolate!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A long time ago I used to do home brewing, so when I saw a tea company offering whole grain teas I had to try it! When I saw the price for this tea, and all the others on the site I was floored at how inexpensive the teas were, and could not help but getting one of their sampler packs! I am so very happy that I did.
I will say this “tea” may not be for everyone. First of all its not technically tea. It is different, and hearty, robust even. This particular grain tea should not be confused with a chocolate flavored tea, be it naturally flavored or otherwise. It does not taste like chocolate. As the tea description says, it is simply called chocolate because of the deep chocolate color of the malt in this tea. It is however decedent, like chocolate.
This tea would be perfect for anyone trying to get off the coffee kick, anyone who appreciates home brewed or crafted beers, or anyone who appreciates a very unusual, sweet, yet savory drink.
I find that this tea is similar for me to genmaicha, which is also sold on the malt-tea site. When I crave it, I CRAVE it and nothing else will satisfy me. I find myself longing for this tea as the weather becomes cooler and cooler heading into autumn, and once winter is here I know I will be keeping a steady supply of this tea around!
There is a very distinct honey flavor to this tea. You can’t get away from that so if you do not care for honey this would not be the best tea to select, however there are other non-honey grain teas you can choose from. The mouthfeel is full and broth-y and reminds me of an asian soup I had recently in a very nice Japanese restaurant – a mushroom like flavor. Of course it also tastes like malt, very good malt. While some may reckon this malt flavor to say, Ovaltine, and I have had my share of Ovaltine flavored teas, from pure experience I have to say this malt is by far superior to that malt taste.
As you swirl the tea in the mouth you find the honey notes dancing playfully around your palate while the malt notes sit more politely and well behaved on the top of the tongue carpeting it in warmth. The after taste is not very lingering which only makes you want to hurry to the next sip.
I will be headed out to the Renaissance Festival over the weekend and this tea makes me feel like taking it along with me! It would fit perfectly into that atmosphere and I fear I won’t find a better drink while there since I don’t indulge in alcohol anymore.
I do feel this tea would also be excellent iced in the summer.
This is the second tea I have tired out of my sampler pack which by the way is adorable! It comes with two samples, in bags, of five different teas. All of their materials are recycled. The box is cute and wrapped in thin twine. The labeling is very simplistic and they include a nice quote as well.
My quote said: “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evently, without rushing toward the future. – Thich Nat Hahn
I like this quote and will drink my Honey Malt with Chocolate Tea as such.
Heritage Honey Oolong from The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Description: This oolong was picked at an altitude of 1300m above sea level. Smooth and sweet with notes of peach, citrus, and sugarcane.
Origin: Nantou, Taiwan
Learn more about this tea here
Taster’s Review:
If you love oolong as I do, then Mountain Tea is the site you need to be looking at!
Their oolongs are categorized into Green, Medium, and Dark and Roasted. Within each category are many wonderful selections!
Shipping was fast and furious as well.
The tea arrived with a survey regarding their shipping, customer service, and a pre-stamped envelope to send it back in! I love good customer service! Things like this show a company cares about you and your experience with them!
I love the packaging of the teas as well. Granted the bags are not resealable but the colors are vibrant with Chinese writing on them. I love pretty things.
However, the tea of course is what you want to know about so with that I am sitting here with a fragrant cup of lovely honey toned tea. Its a clear beautiful golden color that looks light and innocent but upon the sip my mouth is filled with a rich thick sensation!
There are distinct peach notes that dance off the tongue especially int he after taste – seriously fresh ripe peach! I know a lot of companies say you will pick up tasting notes in their teas and often they are accurate but often you also really have to search for them. This is something I easily detected right off the bat and it was only after I detected it that I went and read what the company said about this tea and it did mention the peach notes. I can validate the integrity of this description 100%. The citrus notes seem to be more detectable in the sides of the mouth but the peach stands out more than the citrus. As for the sugarcane notes mentioned, I feel this resonates through out the entire experience in the natural and light sweetness of the tea.
Be sure to follow steeping parameters closely. I found this tea to easily get bitter if steeped even 30 seconds too long or in improper water temperature.
Overall this is one of my new favorite oolongs, and I absolutely love oolong tea! This one has a thick mouthfeel that you could almost chew on and a deep complexity that surprises on each sip. I even get a little bit of a spice note behind the peach which reminds me of a lovely autumn peach cobbler.
Jacqueline’s Tea from Jacqueline’s Tea Room (available from iHeartTeas)
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy:
This tea is part of the Sweet Set Sampler from iHeartTeas.
Learn more about Jacqueline’s Tea Room here.
Tea Description:
Black tea with Lavender flowers and honey bee pollen.
Taster’s Review:
There were a couple of teas in this sampler that prompted my purchase, but, I have to admit that this wasn’t one of them. I think it was the English Garden that really struck my fancy, and it was the name of the tea, really, that made me want to try it. I find it somewhat amusing and even a little disturbing that after all this time, and after all the teas I’ve tasted, that I am still swayed by something as cosmetic as the name of a tea.
As far as this tea goes, I don’t think I even read the description of this one before I brewed it! I don’t know, “Jacqueline’s Tea” just didn’t sound all that exciting to me. I just happened to grab a black tea from my pile of samples that I need to try. If I had taken the time to read the description, I probably would have been much more eager to try it. Lavender and pollen? AWESOME!
Normally, I associate pollen with the stuff that makes me feel icky in the spring and summer months. But, when it’s used for culinary purposes, I really love pollen. I was absolutely blown away by these Fennel Pollen Shortbread Cookies. Pollen offers a sweetness like honey, but with more complexity. Here, it has some lovely floral intonations, which enhance the flavor of the lavender quite nicely.
The black tea is mild and smooth. On Steepster, I compared this tea to an impressionist painting. If you stand up close to most impressionist art, it looks muddled, like a confused set of brush strokes. But if you take a few steps back, the subject matter comes in to focus, and you see the brilliant beauty of the artwork. This tea is like that. The first couple of sips, the flavors seem kind of blurry. I tasted the black tea and I tasted sweetness, but, my palate seemed a little confused by it all. Then, after a couple of sips, the flavors come in to focus. The black tea: mellow and unassuming. The lavender and the pollen: sweet and floral, with the pollen notes highlighting the lavender in a way that I don’t think I’ve experienced lavender before.
This is not a tea that I’d recommend for the “gotta-get-moving” first thing in the morning cup of tea. This is more like a tea you want to sip when you just want to sit back and contemplate.
If you’re a fan of lavender, this is a tea I recommend trying. It is a different way to experience lavender, and it’s definitely worth experiencing!