Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Just.Organic.Tea
Tea Description:
A smooth, balanced black tea with a long leaf. Blends perfectly with milk and sugar, but flavorful enough to stand alone. Also makes a great iced tea. Our Oothu tea is bio-dynamically produced in South India. Fair trade & organic certified.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Just.Organic.Tea has impressed me with their vision of being a socially responsible company. I appreciate that their teas are all organic and that they only select fair trade certified teas. And I really like that their teas – like this Black Oothu – is really GOOD tea too!
The flavor is really smooth and even-tempered, and nicely round. It’s got a rich, malty flavor but it’s not an overly aggressive or robust tea. It has a pleasing, medium body that would take the addition of milk and honey well, but I’m quite enjoying it with no additions. It’s got a hint of fruit and floral sweetness in the background, and a nice, earthy taste that’s satisfying when I find myself wanting a smooth black tea.
It’s also one of those very “adaptable” type of teas. It would be ideal to serve at an afternoon tea party, and would also work nicely as an iced tea, perhaps with a thin slice of lemon or lime. It’s moderately astringent and there is a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste.
This is Just.A.Really.Lovely.Tea. OK … that was kind of corny, right? Sorry. But it is really nice, and just what I need on an afternoon when I want to sit back and relax for a few moments and not worry about everything else that’s going on around me. It’s the good stuff.
Organic Singampatti Oothu Black Tea from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
This very fine black tea hails from the Oothu estate in the Indian state of Kerala, just miles from the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. Isolated from the rest of the country by the Western Ghats, tea grows at the Oothu Estate amid lush green rainforest and stunning natural beauty. In fact, Oothu translates to “spring of water.” The Singampatti group of estates produce the largest amount of organic tea in the world. This organic, Fair Trade Certified black tea is full-bodied, smooth, and subtly sweet with light to medium astringency.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Organic Singampatti Oothu Black Tea from Arbor Teas – while the name is quite a twisted mouthful! – the tea itself is so smooth and rich and absolutely delightful to sip!
This is a very pleasantly smooth tea. It starts out with a sweet note that is reminiscent of a caramel note – a light caramel note. Throughout the sip, I notice hints of fruit and flower. There are very subtle spice tones to the tea as well as a touch of malt. It has a sort of “chewy” bake-y flavor that evokes thoughts of the chewy crust of a warm, freshly baked French Bread.
It is a warm, robust tea, but I like that it is not a bitter tea. No, I didn’t over-steep the tea, but, sometimes, with Indian teas there are very subtle notes of something there that suggest to me that if I had over-steeped the tea that I would have a bitter tasting brew. There is no inclination of that with this tea. Just smooth, sweet, delicious flavor.
There is some astringency that is slightly dry. I notice this dry sensation on my palate toward the finish, but it isn’t an overbearingly dry tea either. The dryness reminds me of a fine wine, with notes of black currant toward the finish, and a slight dryness on the palate as the sip concludes.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable tea! It is one that I’d like as that all-important first cup of the day (in fact, that is what it is today!) because it’s strong enough to provide a that little kick of gusto that I need to get going. But it is not an aggressive tea, and it would also make an agreeable afternoon pick-me-up kind of tea as well. Nice with milk and honey (or other sweetener) but, equally as nice without!
And I really can’t say enough good things about Arbor Teas as a company. They are definitely tops in my book. I love that all their teas are organic and fair trade – and that they are dedicated to providing the best quality organic and fair trade teas to their customers. I also LOVE that they are devoted to the environment, using biodegradable packaging and focusing their efforts toward a greener planet. These things are important to me, and I love that they are also important to Arbor Teas!
Oothu Garden Green Tea from Choice Organic Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Choice Organic Teas
Product Description:
Brighten your day with this sophisticated, single estate tea from one of India’s first organic tea gardens. Nestled in the Western Ghats Mountains, Oothu’s surrounding rainforest is home to a tiger reserve and many other endangered species. The taste is crisp and lively with a sunny color sure to inspire.
Taster’s Review:
This is a really decent, bagged green tea.
This single state green tea from India has a sweet, vegetative taste. I would classify this vegetative taste as more grassy than steamed vegetable, although I can taste a slight “steamed spinach” kind of flavor as well. It is a very pleasant taste with no bitterness, and very little astringency.
As the tea cools, I notice that the grassy flavor intensifies, although it never becomes a bitter grassy taste. It remains sweet, but as the grassy flavor grows stronger I notice it becoming slightly sharper as well. Still a pleasant cup, but, I think I prefer it when it’s hot.
Besides the obvious convenience of the tea bag, I like that Choice Organic Teas supports the Jane Goodall Institute, and that some of the proceeds of the sale of this tea is donated to the institute. And of course, I love that this is organic.
A good tea that is also good for the earth!