Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Our Yunnan Breakfast is a wonderful Chinese black tea with rich awakening flavours. Its invigorating fragrance and glossy red liquor offer a robust taste with a peppery finish. Enjoy this bold tea hot.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I get started in the review of this tea, I just want to remind all my readers out there that the time grows short to take advantage of the free teapot offer from Simple Loose Leaf. Learn more about it here.
Nice! I am in total agreement with the above description, this is indeed a bold, robust tea! It’s invigorating! And I’m enjoying it immensely.
The leaves are a beautiful chocolate brown with some golden tips. They brew up a dark, glistening copper colored liquid that tastes exactly how I expect a good Yunnan tea to taste: rich, full-flavored, warm with pepper-like notes. I love the spice notes to this Yunnan Breakfast Tea!
There is a pleasant sweetness to this as well. There is a thin molasses undertone that contrasts nicely with the warm spice notes. The sip begins with a hint of that sweetness, followed by that bold flavor of black tea. It’s earthy, rich, and beneath those stronger, masculine tones of earth and hints of wood is just a touch of stone fruit. Plum? Maybe a hint of black currant too. Then my palate begins to pick up on the notes of pepper. My taste buds tingle long after the sip is over from the zesty spice notes of this tea.
As the sip nears the finish, I notice some dryness. It has a moderate astringency, nothing too overpowering, nothing that disrupts the sip. The aftertaste is lightly sweet, reminding me of molasses, like the sweetness you’d experience if you were to eat a gingersnap cookie.
This Yunnan Breakfast Tea from Simple Loose Leaf is a really enjoyable way to start the day. It would take the addition of milk and sugar well, if you like to add those to your cup of breakfast tea. If you really want a treat, try adding about half a teaspoon of brown sugar instead of the ordinary table sugar to the cup. This really enhances the molasses tones and gives it just a little something extra special.
Then again, it’s quite good without anything added – I like it straight with no additions. It’s got an edge to it that I need when the morning starts before I want it to! Just what I need!
I just love Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club – it’s a wonderful way to get some great teas delivered to your mailbox every month at an affordable price! Save even more when you use this code: SISTERSELECTION25 Get 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club! (This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.)
Sweet Orange White Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Our delicate Shou Mei white tea is balanced perfectly with a touch of citrus. Dried orange peel results in a sweet and refreshing addition to the citrus flavor dancing amongst the backdrop of the gently floral Shou Mei. Delicious served iced as well as hot, this tea makes an ideal light, summery drink with a twist of citrus.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
I was greeted with a burst of orange when I opened this pouch – the aroma of the dry leaf of this Sweet Orange White Tea from Simple Loose Leaf is STRONG with orange. It smells bright and juicy and … well, orange-y!
The flavor of the orange is not quite as strong as the fragrance suggests. Instead, I find this to be a really pleasing medley of sweet, earthy Shou Mei white tea and the orange notes, and the orange does not overpower the tea. I like that I’m tasting more tea here than I am orange – and when I first experienced the aroma, I had my doubts! I thought this was going to be all about the orange and the white tea was going to be overwhelmed by the powerful, fragrant citrus.
I really like how the Shou Mei and the orange work together. It’s a very harmonious flavor, as if the two were made for one another. It is seamless.
There is a light, airy quality to the white tea. It’s crisp and refreshing, and reminds me of the air when there’s a cool breeze drifting along on a warm summer day.
The orange is sweet, juicy and flavorful, with just a little bit of tangy punch to keep things lively on the palate. That said, it’s a gentle orange flavor so that it doesn’t compete with the delicate notes of the white tea. I like that the flavor of the orange is so subtle, but at the same time, it’s still a flavorful orange note. This is orange done right!
A really enjoyable cuppa that’s tasty served hot, but even better when iced.
Now through June 20th, get a FREE teapot! I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s such a good deal and there’s still a little bit of time to get in on this great offer from Simple Loose Leaf. Don’t miss out!
Assam English Breakfast (2014) from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Assam is home to big, full bodied black teas and this is a classic from the region – a perfect cup right out of bed or for an afternoon pick me up. Our Assam Breakfast is sturdy enough to take milk but is wonderful on its own as well.
Taster’s Review:
This Assam English Breakfast from Steepster – another from their “first flush” Steepster Select box – impresses me as a remarkably smooth Assam tea. Typically, I find Assam teas to be a very rich and hearty tea, but sometimes that rich, robust flavor teeters on the edge of harshness and can be bitter if steeped for even a few seconds too long.
Conversely, I can’t detect even a hint of bitterness with this tea. Granted, I was careful with the steep time (I steeped it for 3 minutes). But, even at that three minutes, I don’t notice even the slightest bitter intonation. It is sweet, a little malty and full-flavored. Even the astringency here is on the mild side.
That said, I don’t know that this would make a really good breakfast blend. It’s that sturdy and almost harsh character that makes Assam a good tea for the additions of milk and honey. This is so smooth and nicely round that I think milk and honey – or other sweetener – is not only unnecessary but would likely overwhelm the wonderful qualities of this tea. No, I like this tea just the way it is.
It isn’t edgy the way some Assam teas can be. Instead, I get to enjoy the rich, classic malty notes of an Assam without the sometimes bitter bite that comes with Assam.
A really good Assam! Well done, Steepster!
Dhulagiri White Tea from Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Description:
Named for Nepal’s “dazzling, white beautiful mountain,” this delightful first flush white tea releases all of the purity and freshness of our Himalayan highlands. One leaf and a bud are hand-plucked and left overnight in the cool spring air for the mildest form of natural oxidation, then gently hand-rolled. Dhulagiri is a sweet, crispy white tea with a lovely floral aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
According to the above description from the Nepali Tea Traders website, this tea was named after the “dazzling, white beautiful mountain.” And that is the perfect name for this Dhulagiri White Tea from Nepali Tea Traders, because this is indeed a beautiful white tea that is positively dazzling my taste buds!
I’ve tried a lot of white tea during my career as a tea reviewer, but, I can’t recall ever trying a Nepalese White Tea – until tonight, that is! And I’m so glad to finally be trying this! It’s so good. The flavor is sweet and refreshing, with a slight fruit note that reminds me of melon, and a hint of vegetation that reminds me of the freshest, newest leaf buds on a bush. Now imagine those new leaf buds with a droplet of dew on it … yeah!
In the past, I’ve often described the vegetal note of a white tea as “hay-like” but, I think that this has a slightly greener taste than that, and that’s why I used the description of a new leaf bud with a droplet of dew. It is clean and fresh and green, but not overly vegetative.
As I sip this, I feel a gentle re-awakening – not really an invigoration – but more like a replenishing of the body and soul from the inside out. And yet, as I sip, I also can’t help but feel a little bit of sadness, because this tea represents the last tea that I’ll be getting from my monthly tea sampler box from Amoda Tea. What I am happy about though, is that I’m closing this chapter of Amoda Tea on a very high note. This is one of the nicest teas that I’ve received in my Amoda Tea box. There are at least a handful of teas that were very memorable from Amoda Tea, and this one definitely belongs in that handful.
An EXCEPTIONAL tea from Nepali Tea Traders. I’ve tried a few teas from them now, and I highly recommend them! Their teas are excellent! If you do decide to place an order from them, be sure to put some of this tea in your cart. You won’t be sorry! This is wonderful.
2014 High Mountain Ali Shan Oolong from Tearroir
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Tea Description:
This tea was grown high in the famed Ali Shan mountain range of Taiwan. Teas from high elevations grow slower, concentrating the flavor into the leaves and making for a rich, sophisticated brew: some of the finest Oolong available.
To subscribe to Steepster Select, click here.
Taster’s Review:
There are very few teas that I regard higher than an Ali Shan Oolong. The only tea that immediately comes to mind is a yellow tea, and really, I think that my adoration for Ali Shan is right up there with a yellow tea.
As I was brewing this High Mountain Ali Shan Oolong from Tearroir, the thought that popped into my head is this: What’s better than an Ali Shan Oolong? A freshly harvested Ali Shan Oolong! And that’s exactly what I have before me! A first flush Ali Shan Oolong from 2014!
Yay!
I steeped this – not surprisingly! – in my gaiwan and then I filled my Yixing mug with the first five infusions. The fragrance of the brewed liquid reminds me of springtime at my gramma’s house when I was young. One of the rear corners of the house was covered with a vine of honeysuckle, and when the windows were open near this vine, the breezes would pick up the scent and whisk it into the house and the house would smell faintly of honeysuckle. To this day, it is still one of my favorite aromas ever.
The flavor is sweet and buttery/creamy. It’s not a full-on butter flavor, nor is it entirely a milky/creamy flavor, but somewhere in between. The texture is lighter than a “creamy” or “milky” Oolong, it’s more like a soft, velvety texture without the heavy thickness. It doesn’t coat the palate heavily the way some Oolong teas can.
There are notes of flower and a very faint vegetal note that falls somewhere between the freshest, earliest buds of new spring grass and lightly steamed, mild veggies. It’s a very mellow vegetative tone.
Although the aroma suggests a honeysuckle note might be experienced in the sip, I am not picking up on that in the flavor. There is a floral tone, but it isn’t honeysuckle-esque. It’s such a faint floral note that it’s difficult to discern the flavor. On Steepster, it’s suggested that it’s a gardenia, but I don’t know that is quite it either.
I have to admit that I am really liking the faintness of the floral tone here. Ordinarily, a green Oolong like this one has a very heavy floral essence to it and that’s not a bad thing, I find those floral notes enchanting! But, it is nice to taste something a little different now and then, and I like the surprises that this Ali Shan is delivering.
This is a really special Ali Shan, and I’m so happy that I got to experience it! Steepster Select does it again!