Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
f you’re new to pu-erh, this is a great introductory tea. If you’re not new, you’ll still enjoy its vanilla chocolate goodness. This is slightly earthy and woody, as you might expect from an aged tea. The taste is smooth, rich (there’s mini chocolate chips in this afterall) with a lingering sweetness. Go ahead and try this hot with milk or even as an iced latte.
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Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said on several occasions, I’m usually hesitant when it comes to sampling pu-erh. I actually have enjoyed most of the pu-erh that I’ve tasted over the years but if I had to choose between pu-erh and most other tea types, I’d probably go with something else. I’m not a big fan of the earthiness that seems to go along with most pu-erh and especially with shou pu-erh. And as the name of the tea indicates, shou pu-erh is the base tea used for this Choco Shou Pu-erh Tea from Camellia Sinensis which is the last of the four teas that I’m sampling from this month’s Amoda Box.
And while I don’t usually like that earthy flavor of pu-erh, it works with this particular blend. The earthiness actually enhances the flavor of the chocolate and gives it a deeper, richer flavor. So while I may not be all excited about a shou pu-erh, I do get excited about a tea that complements the flavor of chocolate.
Yay chocolate!
So, yes, this is earthy. But not so much that it knocks me upside the head with a flavor that makes me think that I steeped soil instead of tea. This tastes much better than I would assume the steeped soil would taste – I’m going to go with that assumption because I’m not going to steep soil and drink it. Just not gonna do it.
The chocolate flavor here tastes dark and decadent, like an expensive chocolate bar that says 70% cacao on it. If you prefer your expensive chocolate bar to say “milk chocolate” on it, add a splash of milk to make a latte because this tea tastes amazing as a latte!
To steep: I used my Kati Tumbler rather than my gaiwan to steep this tea because of the little chocolate chips in the blend. I felt like the Kati was the better way to go. I did rinse the tea for 15 seconds before infusing though – you’ll want to do this with any shou to help wash away some of those stronger earthy notes. After the rinse, I infused the first cup for 2 1/2 minutes in 190°F. I added 30 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
I resteeped twice – creating three very flavorful cups of tea – with the first two much more chocolate-y than the third. The third was still quite nice, just not as much chocolate flavor.
So smooth! No bitterness (not even from the chocolate!) and no astringency. Just a deep, mellow, luxuriously chocolate flavor that I would happily drink on a regular basis. As I said before: the chocolate flavor lasts through a couple of steeps – I got two very chocolate-y steeps out of the tea before the chocolate notes began to wane.
This tea gets a thumbs up from me. Quite good!
Nilgiri Coonoor Black Tea from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Grown in the hills of the Nilgiris district of Southern India, this is a highly aromatic and light black tea that is characteristic of the region. On the nose, you’ll smell stone fruits and flowers as this steeps. On the palate, you will taste a ton of character: it’s smooth, a little malty, fruity, spicy, floral and slightly green.
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Taster’s Review:
I fell in love at first sight with these leaves! Oh my, they’re gorgeous! Beautiful, whole leaves that have been rolled into long, curly, chocolate-y brown wires. You can really see the quality of this Nilgiri Coonoor Black Tea from Camellia Sinensis – these leaves are exquisite!
And the flavor is just as exquisite as the leaves!
Nilgiri is one of my favorite black teas because it has some of that malty character that I love in an Assam tea but a Nilgiri is smoother. There’s no bitterness and it’s not as astringent as an Assam can be. It’s a little lighter in body/texture than a hearty Assam, but this is still a delightfully robust cuppa.
It’s smooth. It’s fruity (I taste notes of stone fruit and raisin!) There are some floral notes that offer a pleasant contrast to the sweet, fruity tastes. I also taste a honeyed undertone that plays well to the floral notes.
The description above suggests a “green” taste to it and I get that too, it’s like a hint of vegetation to the background. Nothing strong or intrusive to the ‘black’ flavors of this cup. It’s more of another layer of flavor rather than something that distracts the palate.
About mid-cup, I start to notice a spice note to this as well. Slightly peppery, evocative of a Yunnan. Interesting!
Overall, a stunning Nilgiri, one of the most interesting Nilgiri teas I’ve yet to try. All you black tea fans out there, this is one you should put on your must try list!
Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Roiboos
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
What makes this extra good? One, it’s organic. Two, the coconut is subtle, rather than being the main note. Three… is that banana I taste? How unusual, but very pleasant. Together with the green rooibos, this is a fantastic combo. Soft, sweet and creamy. You can try it hot or iced.
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Taster’s Review:
Rooibos blends just aren’t my favorite. They just aren’t. But I do enjoy green rooibos more than I do red rooibos – I find that light, fruity note of the green rooibos to be appealing, especially when it’s part of a fruit flavored blend like this Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis.
I think that the above description from Amoda Tea to be pretty spot on: the coconut notes are soft and unassuming, and the banana adds a pleasant flavor to this delightful tropical fruit flavored tisane. The overall flavor is indeed “soft, sweet and creamy.”
The creaminess is kind of a surprise for me, because I haven’t had a lot of green rooibos blends that have been what I’d categorize as “creamy.” Usually, they’re light and crisp and have almost a ‘bubbly’ type of character to them. I suspect the coconut and banana flavors brings a bit of creaminess to the party.
The pineapple adds a little bit of brightness to the cup. The apple is not particularly distinguishable, but I do note a little bit of apple-like sweetness that enhances the overall cup.
I really like this: it’s a soothing, gentle kind of flavor, the kind of tisane you want to curl up to late at night. And because it’s naturally caffeine-free, you can do just that. It’s sweet and it’s fruity without tasting like a cloying fruit punch concoction. It’s quite tasty, really.
One Night in Rio Black Tea Blend from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
This tea is so hard to resist! The coconut is prominent, but not overpowering. You can still taste the malty black tea at the base. Sweet, juicy pineapple first, creamy coconut second, and a lingering note that tastes oddly like cookies. A new flavoured favourite of ours.
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Taster’s Review:
One Night in Rio Black Tea Blend from Camellia Sinensis had my mouth watering from the moment I opened the pouch! The combined aroma of pineapple and coconut was strong and oh-so-delightful! And what I think I appreciated most about it was that this was an authentic fragrance – it smelled like REAL pineapple and coconut.
I brewed the tea in my Breville One-Touch, using 500 ml of water and the entire contents of the sampler pouch that was in this month’s Amoda Tea box. I set the parameters for boiling (212°F) and 2 1/2 minutes. As I stood there – eagerly awaiting – I noticed that the fragrance of coconut and pineapple had filled my kitchen.
And now that same fragrance is wafting from my teacup. I waited another few minutes – leading me to realize that the hardest part when it comes to drinking tea is waiting for the tea to be ready to drink! But finally – my first sip! YUM!
I find myself in slight disagreement with the above description from Amoda Tea – I am tasting the black tea as the prominent flavor profile of this cup. The coconut is a close second with the pineapple lingering in the background until the finish, when the pineapple flavor pops.
I like how all three sets of flavors are present throughout the sip, though. I’m not waiting for one of the flavors to shine through. From the very start, I taste notes of black tea, coconut and pineapple.
The black tea, although it is the strongest flavor for me, is not an overly strong or aggressive tasting tea. It’s a mellow, medium-bodied black tea: sweet with notes of malt and I taste hints of flower. It’s a pleasant black tea base. Not one I’d choose as a breakfast tea (at least, not in this presentation) but it would make a really nice afternoon or dessert tea.
The coconut flavor starts out strong in this cup and continues to develop. By the time I reached mid-cup, I could really taste and feel the soft, creamy texture of the coconut. It never really becomes a ‘slick’ coconut texture though – I know that some of the fans of coconut teas want that slickery texture from the coconut. This doesn’t really have that but it does have a genuine coconut flavor that I really enjoyed.
The pineapple is a more subdued flavor, as I mentioned previously, and while the pineapple isn’t the star of the show, it does add a bright, uplifting note to the cup that invigorates the palate.
A really enjoyable blend – a big thanks to Amoda Tea for including this tea in the box this month!
Green Passion Fruit from Tea & All It’s Splendor
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea & All It’s Splendor
Tea Description:
If there could be one fruit that best represents a bright summer day it would be passionfruit! So naturally this green tea and passionfruit blend was the perfect fit for this edition.
The light grassy green tea is perfect for carrying the sweet and sour passionfruit floral flavours in a cup. If you’re the type that needs a sweetened cuppa, we recommend a drizzle of agave in this one. The agave flavour is gentle and pairs well with this tea.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Green Passion Fruit from Tea & All It’s Splendor is the third and final tea that I received as part of edition 11 from Postal Teas. And it’s a good one!
The tea leaves appeared to me to be a Chinese Sencha – long, dark green spears that looked almost like blades of grass – and there were some yellow flower petals in the blend. Probably marigold petals. I didn’t see any dried passion fruit pieces but I could definitely smell the passion fruit!
I brewed this in my Breville One-Touch. I measured 2 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket of the tea maker and added 500ml of freshly filtered water to the jug. Then I set the parameters: 180°F for 2 minutes.
The tea is sweet and fruity. The Passion Fruit flavor is well-defined without hitting me over the head. I like the way the flavor is represented here. It’s a strong, distinct flavor of passion fruit but the green tea flavor is the star of the show. I am enjoying a nice balance between sweet, slightly vegetative green tea and juicy passion fruit flavors. Delicious!
I also like that this is a very tropical tasting tea without tasting like every other tropical tea out there. It’s got that tropical flair without tasting like a muddled recipe of mixed fruit.
The tea tasted great served hot but I liked it even better as it cooled – this would be a great refresher for the summer months ahead! If you’re a fan of passion fruit, try this tea!