Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: MK’s Tea Co.
Tea Description:
The basis of Earl Grey tea! Ceylon tea is a sweet, brightly orange colored (once-brewed) black tea harvested in the lush hills of the island of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon). This is a fantastic introductory tea, a great tea for the black tea lover, and an extraordinary tea for blending purposes. Ceylon tea is just brisk enough to be uplifting, but light enough to not be bitter or off-putting. It truly is a remarkable black tea that belongs in every tea-lover’s collection.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I started the day with this tea, hoping that it would be clean and refreshing. Thankfully I was right, and it made a great choice in lieu of breakfast. The dry leaf is straight and pretty long (I’d say an average of 2cm), and a fairly uniform black-brown with just a few lighter brown leaves. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a vibrant red-brown, and the leaf itself has also taken on an impressive red-brown hue. It’s very autumnal looking! The scent is sweet and a little chocolatey, which wasn’t something I was expecting from a Ceylon.
To taste, this is pretty much a classic Ceylon in many respects. It’s very fresh and clean tasting, with a bright edge of citrus running throughout. It comes across as a “light” tasting tea, to me. There are no thick or heavy flavours that are cloying on the palate, just the delicate, refreshing sweet/citrus play off. There is a touch of maltiness towards the end of the sip, but it doesn’t dominate the flavour or drown out the fresher notes. I can also detect just the tiniest bit of chocolate, which shifts the balance of the aftertaste away from citrus and more towards the generically sweet. It’s almost like it’s a tea of two halves, but they’re two very good halves so I’m not going to complain.
This tea is delightfully smooth and creamy, with no bitterness or astringency at all. It’s a real joy to drink, and I’m finding it an especially good choice this morning with its bright, citrusy “wake up” profile and edge of comforting sweetness. Delicious!
Green Rooibos from M&K’s Tea Co
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal.
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Co
Tea Description:
The non-oxidized, green counterpart to the redbush rooibos you may have heard everyone talking about! Less red, more green, less autumn, more spring! Green rooibos tastes much more vegetal and refreshing and less robust than regular rooibos.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The weather is getting warmer and the spring bug is starting to set in. I’ve noticed that my iced tea intake has gone way up. My kids have the bug too. Everyday they ask me if they HAVE to go to school. My five year old who goes to a pre-K program has already declared himself as being done with learning and school. I had to inform him that he has many years ahead of him and that next year he will be going all day next year versus the half day he currently goes now.
This tea reminds me of springtime. The dry leaves smell very vegetal and have a hay/grass like smell to them. Brewed up (212F-3tbsp-5 minutes in my Breville-then poured into a tumbler of ice) this is honey goodness.
Beautifully done. Smooth and honey like. A well done yet simple tea. I’m not picking up any kind of vegetal flavor like the description had said. That is fine with me. This hit the spot. Just wish I would have brought more along with me. I could drink this all day. Yum!
Dark Roast Gunpowder from M&K’s Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Co.
Tea Description:
An M&K’s exclusive! Simply made, we take the famous gunpowder tea of China and roast it in our own quarters, creating a truly unique green tea that is very nutty and reminiscent of a lighter cup of coffee if brewed correctly. This is a great tea if you want something stronger or if you enjoy roasted oolong teas, smokey teas, dark teas (pu-erh tea), or even roasted yerba mate!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I had never had anything like this Dark Roast Gunpowder so I thought I’d give it a shot. I really like the teas that I have had previously from M&K’s Tea Co. They are one of my favorite companies to order from. They have even added honey to their site that are flavored. They sound fantastic. One or two bottles might find their way into my next order.
On to the tea. . . I am glad I took a chance on this one. Nutty, rich, smooth, malty with a side note of honey and smoke? This is a very unique tasting tea! I’m digging this one. This reminds me of a dark roasted coffee without that bitter after taste you sometimes get. I can see this one replacing my daily cup of joe I do enjoy each morning. The roasted nutty flavor with a hint of sweetness really works. The more I drink it, the more I am reminded of a sweet and salty snack where you get the best of both worlds so to speak. Dark roasted sweet goodness.
Highly recommend this one if you enjoy coffee or roasted teas.
Premium Dian Hong Gong Fu Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
A young tea (first crafted in 1938), Dianhong Gong Fu tea is a fantastic, full-bodied tea of Yunnan. For a black tea, it is distinctly mellow with subtle fruity notes and a slight maltiness. In the context of tea making, “Gong Fu” can roughly be translated to mean “great skill”, or the skill required to craft the tea, while “Dian Hong” (or Dianhong) means “Yunnan Red” (Dian being short for Yunnan and hong meaning red (as in red tea)).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Premium Dian Hong Gong Fu Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company is wonderful!
It’s a smooth, flavorful tea with a note of tangy astringency toward the finish. I notice that the astringency starts out rather faint but as I continue to sip, the astringency builds. It doesn’t become really strong or anything, but, it is definitely stronger now than when I first started sipping on this cup. It’s a drier finish now than when I first started drinking this tea.
It’s a full-flavored tea but it’s not an overly aggressive tea, as the description above implies, it has a mellowness to it that I quite like. This would be a great tea to serve in the afternoon as a pick-me-up, but not a tea that I’d reach for in the morning when I want that boost of gusto.
Nice fruity notes – I taste plum! There are notes of malt but not a strong ‘sweetness’ to this tea. There is a balance between sweet and savory.
Overall, a really enjoyable cup of tea. I don’t know that this is the best Dian Hong black tea that I’ve tried, but it’s a mighty fine one.
Lavender Daze Herbal Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Soothing lavender, sweet cinnamon, adjective ingredient! You get the idea. But this herbal infusion is a special one, with a taste that is all its own. You’ll have to try it to describe it! But, as far as we can tell, it tastes something like lavender, chamomile, licorice, and a hint of cinnamon. This blend is part of the Original 20 M&K’s Blends. Additionally, this is the first M&K’s blend officially invented.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Usually when I find a lavender tisane like this Lavender Daze Herbal Tea from M&K’s Tea Company, I expect it to be a combination of lavender and chamomile – and this is such a blend. But what makes it different from other blends is that M&K’s didn’t stop at just lavender and chamomile. They added honey roasted licorice root, star anise, ginger, lemon verbena and cinnamon! Most of these ingredients are not ones you’d find in the average “nighttime” lavender and chamomile blend.
So I didn’t know what to expect with this tea. I brewed it in my Kati Tumbler, using 1 1/2 bamboo scoops of tisane and 12 ounces of near boiling (195°F) water and steeping for 8 minutes.
As I surmised based on the list of ingredients, this isn’t the typical nighttime lavender/chamomile blend, and it certainly doesn’t taste like it either.
The licorice is really strong with this blend. Maybe too strong. I love licorice, but the licorice notes here overpower the other flavors a bit too much because I’m tasting mostly just licorice. The sip starts out with a soft cinnamon-y note, and then the licorice hits and it lingers throughout the rest of the sip and into the aftertaste.
Just after I notice the cinnamon, I pick up on the subtlest of hints of lavender, ginger and citrus. But again, they are so faint because bam! The licorice hits and overpowers the rest of the blend. I do taste whispers of honey, but mostly, I taste licorice.
And as I’ve said, I LOVE licorice, but I think that with this combination of ingredients and what seemed to promise a really interesting fusion of flavors, I find myself just a wee bit disappointed because I would have liked to experience a more balanced cup.
It’s good, don’t get me wrong. If you like licorice, you’re bound to enjoy this and I am enjoying the licorice notes here. I just think it would have been more interesting to taste more of the other components to this blend.