I don’t think I have disliked any of the teas I have tried so far from the Sunmoon Lake region of Taiwan! Lucky for me I had another one to examine! This time it was Black Ruby – Sunmoon Lake – Taiwan – from Terroir Tea Merchant!
Back Ruby from Terroir Tea Merchant is a low altitude black tea of Sun Moon Lake origin. It’s an ECO Cert organic certified legendary black tea with a smooth, sweet, and intriguing flavor. There are specs of cinnamon and mint to provide a natural yin and yang of sorts. It’s malty and sugary…naturally-speaking…there is no added sugar to this…it’s a straight-up black tea, folks!
In the product description it says this tea is Harvest Ruby #18 cultivar, Hand picked in small batches in the summer, Certified Organic, and the processing is Hand picked and natural withering for 12 hours in partial sunlight. Black Ruby is grown in a forested area of central Taiwan under natural conditions through organic cultivation.
This tea offers a sweet, smooth, and rich flavor with a deeper and more complex character that develops as you continue to drink it. As I stated before this pure tea has a natural fragrance of cinnamon and mint. PLUS a distinctive sweet malt flavor that is reminiscent of bourbon or even brandy. There is NO astringency and has a lingering taste that is very pleasing!
According to the company website and product description Black Ruby is unique and versatile because it can be enjoyed with any meal at any time of the day. Foods with spices like cinnamon and mint would complement the flavor profile of the tea. For more specific food pairings they suggest a cinnamon bun or pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast or a decadent chocolate mousse served in a brandy snap basket to enhance the tea’s sweet malt flavors.
I LOVE that they offer suggestions and pairing with this tea! What a great all around tea experience!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Terroir Tea Merchant
Description
ECO Cert organic certified legendary black tea with a smooth, sweet and intriguing cinnamon and mint flavour. This tea is guaranteed to excite even the most jaded taste buds.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
COME BACK, PIN TEA!
My heart weeps for my inability to purchase more Pin Tea. Their Etsy site has little available at this time, so I hesitate to tell you how much I adore this tea. It might sound like rubbing it in. “Nyah, nyah, I have this wonderful tea and you will be thirsty for it until you die.”
Their fruity tea is juicy and delicious, guys. And the pinup artwork to go with it is so very saucy.
I first tried The Flirt, which is, to the best of my knowledge, some sort of apricot/fruit infused black tea. If it were a lady, it would be a 1950s winky-face kinda gal with magenta lipstick. The kind of woman whom one might call a “dame” or a “skirt.” It’s a flavor-pow, a sock-it-to-ya wham-bam kind of flavor.
I followed it up this morning with “Something Blue,” a gentler green-and-blueberry infusion. This is the wedding day of the Flirt. She’s still very flavorful and cool, but she’s mellowed somewhat. She found the greaser-boy of her dreams and they’re going to settle in to a pre-fab house with a pink kitchen and a poodle dyed blue. She’s going to run a custom-sewn fancy-dress shop. Every dress will have a fluffy tulle under-skirt. Every one of their vacations will be a road trip to somewhere schlocky, and they will fill their fridge with Polaroids of themselves in front of roadside attractions.
We need to petition Pin Tea to come back. . . .
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Pin Tea Shop
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for the teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
