Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
A sweet and malty flavor that jolts the taste buds, with a caramel undertone and a floral finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I opened this package of tea. The black tea leaves have been rolled into pellets much like the other teas from Arum Tea that I’ve tried. Why then, did it surprise me to see that this tea has been processed similarly to the others? I guess, mostly, because I’m not accustomed to seeing black tea leaves wound into pellets like this.
The leaves are a dark chocolate-y brown but otherwise look a lot like a Tie Guan Yin type Oolong. The leaves have been wound into small pellets and they have a warm, nutty aroma. Slightly sweet, slightly earthy.
To brew this tea, I used my Breville One-Touch. I measured out 2 bamboo scoops of dry leaf into the basket and added 500ml of water. I set the parameters for 205°F and 2 1/2 minutes. The tea brews up to a rich coppery color. The brewed tea has a sweet, nutty, earthy scent that is similar to the dry leaf, although this is a bit softer.
Mmm! This tastes so good. It’s a very rewarding taste. I am finding it reminiscent of a Nilgiri tea because it has a rich, malty tone to it, although it’s not quite as robust as a Nilgiri would be. It is somewhere between a Nilgiri and an Oriental Beauty Oolong. I’m experiencing some of the texture and nutty flavor of an Oriental Beauty while I’m getting that delightfully smooth, malty flavor and rich, buttery caramel-y note from the Nilgiri.
I’d recommend drinking this straight up. While most black teas take the addition of milk and honey well, I think that this tea would be overwhelmed by the additions and the nuances of this tea should be enjoyed to their fullest! For that reason, I wouldn’t make this that first cup of the day. Instead, this would be an excellent choice for a little later in the morning or early afternoon, when you want a delicious pick me up.
The second infusion of these tea leaves was also quite enjoyable – definitely worth the effort of resteeping! This tea is really delightful. It’s a bit different from the typical black tea and that’s what makes it so remarkable. Everyone should try this.
Organic Green Tea from Arum Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
This gentle green tea has a sweet vegetal aroma. The mild floral flavors are smooth and refreshing.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had limited experience with Indonesian teas. That is to say that I’ve tasted many more Chinese, Japanese and Indian teas than I have Indonesian teas. So, I’m always excited for the opportunity to try more!
The dry leaf of this Organic Green Tea looks very much like I’d expect an Oolong to appear with dark green leaves that have been wound into pellets. (Think about the pellets of a Tie Guan Yin Oolong as an example.) But this tea smells much more “green” than an Oolong typically smells. I believe that the longer oxidation process of the Oolong tea (however long or short that may be) allows other aromas to be developed. The aroma of this tea smells a bit grassy, reminiscent of a freshly cut lawn with the faintest hint of a flowery fragrance in the background.
I noticed the difference in aroma (between this Organic Green Tea from Arum Tea and a greener Oolong) to be especially apparent when the tea was finished brewing. I brewed this tea in my Breville One-Touch tea maker. I measured 2 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket of my tea maker and then poured in 500ml of freshly filtered water into the jug and set the controls for 180°F and 1 1/2 minutes.
The tea brews up light in color: a clear, very pale spring green. And it is very aromatic! I could smell the vibrant, fresh grassy tones. The fragrance reminds me of the aforementioned freshly cut lawn. Imagine the smell of the air after the first lawn cutting of the spring when the grass is new and green. Now imagine how the air would smell if after mowing the lawn you trimmed the flower hedges. There’s a slight floral element in the air along with the fresh grassy notes. That’s the aroma that filled my kitchen after this tea was brewed! What a delight to experience!
The tea is very flavorful! Sweet with notes of vegetable and a light buttery note. There is notes of flower in there too, just as the aroma would suggest. I had kind of expected all those flavors before lifting the cup to my lips but what I wasn’t prepared for was the fruit notes of this tea. I taste sweet notes of melon! A juicy honeydew melon! Nice!
I like that the flavor is sweet but there is a certain savory element that arrives on the palate toward the tail to offer some contrast and complexity to the taste. It’s not overly “kelpy” or “seaweedish” which I like, because I’m not a big seaweed fan.
This is a very light, smooth, pleasantly sweet and refreshing tea. I would highly recommend this to those who are looking for something that is somewhat familiar to the usual green tea but with some really interesting differences too. This is deliciously familiar but intriguingly different!
Organic Light Oolong Tea from Arum Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
Very Smooth. Light golden hue with a fruity and floral fragrance. As the tea develops, the initial earthy flavors transforms into a lingering finish of herbs and flowers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I wanted to try this Light Oolong tea not too long after trying the Medium Oolong Tea from Arum Tea to see if I could describe some of the differences between the two teas.
The appearance of both teas in dry leaf form are very similar. They look very much the way a greener Oolong tea looks (think Tie Guan Yin) with the leaves tightly wound into small pellets. The aroma of the dry leaf of this tea is sweet and fruity, with fragrant floral notes. The brewed tea smells more floral than fruity while the dry leaf smells more fruity than floral. In contrast, the dry leaf aroma of the Medium Oolong tea is nutty and sweet with a slight earthiness.
Parameters: I steeped this tea using my gaiwan as the brewing vessel. I put one bamboo scoop of tea into the bottom of my gaiwan and then poured 180°F water over the leaves – just enough to cover the leaves. I let that steep for 15 seconds and then drained off the liquid and discarded it. (The rinse cycle!) Then I refilled the gaiwan with water (same temperature) and let the leaves steep for 45 seconds. I strained the tea into my teacup and resteeped the leaves for 1 minute. Then I added the newly brewed tea to the teacup with the first infusion. I combine 2 infusions with each cup, and I infused these leaves a total of 8 times for four cups of delicious tea.
The brewed tea here is lighter in color than the Medium Oolong. This cup is a very pale golden yellow, and the flavor is lighter too.
The first few sips were very delicate, but after two or three sips, the flavors began to develop. As the above description suggests, those initial two or three sips were light and earthy. Now, I’m tasting more of an herbaceous floral note and this flavor stays on the palate long after the sip. For as light in color as this tea is and as light in flavor as the first couple of sips were, I was really taken by surprise by just how flavorful this tea has become.
This tea is quite smooth but not so much buttery or creamy like you might expect a greener Oolong like this to be, however, as the tea cools slightly, I find that some creamy taste and texture develops. The floral notes are profound. There is a very distant background note of earth, and equally as distant is a fruity tone. These flavors are off in the distance as if to beckon to the palate, saying, hey! Keep on steeping so you can experience us!
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) was stronger in color and flavor. The floral notes of the first cup are still present but they’re not quite as sharp as they were toward mid-cup of the first cup. Smooth and sweet! The fruity notes are making their way out of the distance. I find that the flavors here taste less focused and distinct, although the overall flavor is stronger, the notes have become more unified.
Later infusions became smoother tasting. I found the third cup (infusions 5 and 6) to be the strongest in flavor. The flavors at this point are really quite seamless. The individual flavors are less focused than they were in the first cup, but the flavor is richer with this cup. The fourth cup started to become softer in flavor, reminding me a bit of the first cup, although with the fourth cup I could taste more of the fruit and earth notes that were mere insinuations in that cup.
As I promised, I offer the following comparison between the Medium and Light Oolong teas from Arum Tea: while the Medium Oolong has more of a honey and nutty flavor, the Light Oolong is flowery with notes of fruit. There are certainly some similarities to the two teas, but they are two very distinctly different teas, and I think that both deserve to be experienced by those that want to experience Oolong teas from Indonesia!
Organic Mountain Indonesian Black Tea from Tea At Sea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea At Sea
Tea Description:
Grown in the Halimun Mountains of Indonesia at 800m above Sea-Level, treated with natural spring water and fresh mountain air. The fully oxidized tea leaves have a complex smoky aroma and a rich, smooth, malty taste of deep forest with hints of cedar.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had a few different Indonesian black teas, but, I can’t recall having one that I liked more than I’m enjoying this Organic Mountain Indonesian Black Tea from Tea At Sea. It’s so good!
The first thing that I notice is the malty notes. It’s almost “thick” with malt taste. And unlike other malty teas (Assam, for example) I detect no bitterness with this tea. Just smooth, sweet, rich flavor with a delectable sweet caramel note that complements the malty flavor well. It reminds me of the sweet, caramelized crust of a freshly baked loaf of bread.
Then I start to notice the complexity of this tea. It’s not just sweet and malty and richly full-flavored. It has lovely woodsy notes to it as well as a far-off smoky note, evoking thoughts of walking through the woods and smelling the smoke billowing out of a chimney from a log cabin in the distance. It tastes warm and earthy and cozy.
This is the kind of tea that I’d like to curl up to on a chilly afternoon. Then again, it does taste quite nice as it cools, making a tasty iced tea. However, with the chill comes less of the complexity, so if you want to enjoy the many flavors this tea has to offer, I recommend trying it hot first!
Organic Mountain Indonesian Green Tea from Tea At Sea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea At Sea
Tea Description:
Grown in the Halimun Mountains of Indonesia at 800m above Sea-Level, this tea is treated with natural spring water and fresh mountain air. The lightly oxidized tea leaves have a seaweed aroma, slight fruity taste of superior freshness. Steep at 85°C and observe the leaves slowly unfolding to extract their natural flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve not tried a lot of teas from Indonesia, but I’ve had the good fortune to be able to try a few. This Organic Mountain Indonesian Green Tea from Tea At Sea is one of the most impressive teas I’ve tasted from the region.
The leaves of this are wound into pellets resembling a greener Oolong like Tie Guan Yin. This has a very fresh, uplifting flavor that is soft and smooth, with some buttery notes and a texture that is similar to butter too. There is a mild vegetative taste to this, and together with the buttery taste, it’s reminiscent of freshly steamed, lightly buttered spinach. There are floral mid-notes, and delicate nutty tones and fruit notes in the distance.
But mostly what I taste from this tea is sweetness! It’s a beautifully sweet green tea – no bitterness and next to no astringency. There is a hint of citrus-y taste toward the finish which is very, very lightly astringent.
These leaves barely opened in the first infusion. They are just begging me to infuse them again! I must comply!
The second infusion was even more flavorful than the first. I found stronger floral and vegetative notes, and the distant nutty tones started to become more distinct. This is still sweet and creamy. I am noticing a little more astringency with this cup.
I infused the leaves a third time, and found that the flavors began to wane with this cup. It’s still sweet but not as creamy. The flavors were more subdued with the third cup, but it still is a very pleasing cup – and it’s certainly worth the effort to infuse this tea at least three times (it could probably go a fourth!)
Tea At Sea is a new company, and this is my first time sampling one of their products – and this tea is definitely one worth exploring! I love this company’s thoughtful packaging – it’s very fun and has a definite nautical theme in keeping with the company name. The labels are tags (shown above!) that are tied onto the packages with white string and in my envelope of samples I also received a cute little cork ship! Neat!