Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Big Tea House
Chai Description:
Enjoy the fun and spiced infusion of chai gourmet loose leaf tea infused with the exotic flavor of coconut!
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! The name of this tea led me to believe that I’d be enjoying a somewhat tame version of a masala spice chai but this tisane has got some kick to it! Sure, it’s got the sweet, creamy coconut notes to soften the flavors a little but I’m still getting a lot of zesty flavor from this chai blend.
I love the coconut’s role in this blend. It’s a creamy note and together with the spices, it evokes thoughts of a chai latte without the addition of dairy. The coconut adds a pleasant sweetness too and I like the way the sweetness contrasts with the spices.
The spices are lively. The ginger and pepper are the most prominent of the spices and the heat seems to bring out the spicy side of the cinnamon, making it more of a ‘hot’ cinnamon than a sweet cinnamon. The cloves and cardamom add depth to the flavor.
The flavor of the rooibos is not easy to discern here, but I’m alright with that. I do taste a very delicate earthiness from the rooibos and this complements the earthiness of the spices.
To steep: I used 195°F water and steeped the leaves for 10 minutes. I usually use a little extra leaf with a chai, so I used a scoop and a half for a 12 ounce cup. A warm and flavorful chai. If you want to go latte, use a little more leaf and a little less water so that the infusion is strong and doesn’t become to diluted by the addition of milk or cream. But I found that with the coconut flavor, this doesn’t really need milk or cream to taste latte-ish! A little bit of raw sugar does enhance the flavor of the spices nicely though, so I recommend adding just a half teaspoon of sugar to your cup!
Organic Light Oolong Tea from Arum Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
Very Smooth. Light golden hue with a fruity and floral fragrance. As the tea develops, the initial earthy flavors transforms into a lingering finish of herbs and flowers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I wanted to try this Light Oolong tea not too long after trying the Medium Oolong Tea from Arum Tea to see if I could describe some of the differences between the two teas.
The appearance of both teas in dry leaf form are very similar. They look very much the way a greener Oolong tea looks (think Tie Guan Yin) with the leaves tightly wound into small pellets. The aroma of the dry leaf of this tea is sweet and fruity, with fragrant floral notes. The brewed tea smells more floral than fruity while the dry leaf smells more fruity than floral. In contrast, the dry leaf aroma of the Medium Oolong tea is nutty and sweet with a slight earthiness.
Parameters: I steeped this tea using my gaiwan as the brewing vessel. I put one bamboo scoop of tea into the bottom of my gaiwan and then poured 180°F water over the leaves – just enough to cover the leaves. I let that steep for 15 seconds and then drained off the liquid and discarded it. (The rinse cycle!) Then I refilled the gaiwan with water (same temperature) and let the leaves steep for 45 seconds. I strained the tea into my teacup and resteeped the leaves for 1 minute. Then I added the newly brewed tea to the teacup with the first infusion. I combine 2 infusions with each cup, and I infused these leaves a total of 8 times for four cups of delicious tea.
The brewed tea here is lighter in color than the Medium Oolong. This cup is a very pale golden yellow, and the flavor is lighter too.
The first few sips were very delicate, but after two or three sips, the flavors began to develop. As the above description suggests, those initial two or three sips were light and earthy. Now, I’m tasting more of an herbaceous floral note and this flavor stays on the palate long after the sip. For as light in color as this tea is and as light in flavor as the first couple of sips were, I was really taken by surprise by just how flavorful this tea has become.
This tea is quite smooth but not so much buttery or creamy like you might expect a greener Oolong like this to be, however, as the tea cools slightly, I find that some creamy taste and texture develops. The floral notes are profound. There is a very distant background note of earth, and equally as distant is a fruity tone. These flavors are off in the distance as if to beckon to the palate, saying, hey! Keep on steeping so you can experience us!
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) was stronger in color and flavor. The floral notes of the first cup are still present but they’re not quite as sharp as they were toward mid-cup of the first cup. Smooth and sweet! The fruity notes are making their way out of the distance. I find that the flavors here taste less focused and distinct, although the overall flavor is stronger, the notes have become more unified.
Later infusions became smoother tasting. I found the third cup (infusions 5 and 6) to be the strongest in flavor. The flavors at this point are really quite seamless. The individual flavors are less focused than they were in the first cup, but the flavor is richer with this cup. The fourth cup started to become softer in flavor, reminding me a bit of the first cup, although with the fourth cup I could taste more of the fruit and earth notes that were mere insinuations in that cup.
As I promised, I offer the following comparison between the Medium and Light Oolong teas from Arum Tea: while the Medium Oolong has more of a honey and nutty flavor, the Light Oolong is flowery with notes of fruit. There are certainly some similarities to the two teas, but they are two very distinctly different teas, and I think that both deserve to be experienced by those that want to experience Oolong teas from Indonesia!
Organic Earl Grey Black Tea from White Lion
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: White Lion
Tea Description:
Natural Italian oil of Bergamot gives this tea its crisp citrusy bouquet. An all time classic, this tea is Sir Aubrey’s favorite.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yay! Earl Grey!
The dry leaf aroma is intensely bergamot with notes of bold top citrus notes and and undertone of a slightly floral note. The aroma of an Earl Grey tea is one of the things I love most about this traditional favorite, and so I was eager to taste this new-to-me Earl Grey!
To brew this tea, I used my Breville One-Touch tea maker and poured 500ml of water into the jug. Then I measured out two bamboo scoops of the tea into the basket and set the controls for 205°F and 2 1/2 minutes. The brewed tea is dark in color with a considerably softer fragrance than the dry leaf, but I can still detect the bergamot very clearly.
The bergamot flavor is much more subtle than I usually desire from an Earl Grey tea, but I can still taste the distinct notes of bergamot. Sharp, tangy notes of citrus that are much more focused if I slurp the cup to aerate the tea as it hits the palate. The aftertaste has a clear citrus note. This tea gets bonus points for a low astringency, as I find that many Earl Grey (or other citrus teas, for that matter) tend to have astringency. Here, the astringency is mild.
The black tea has a pleasing robustness to it. It’s very smooth in flavor from start to finish. It’s a little bit earthy and a little bit malty, and the malty notes meld with the bergamot in a very favorable way. The tea is strong and rich in flavor. It’s a medium to full bodied tea that would make a good late morning cuppa or early afternoon cuppa.
This would be a good Earl Grey for those who are timid when it comes to their bergamot. The bergamot is flavorful but not overdone. It is mellow enough for those who find a strong bergamot flavor to be too overpowering for them, but there is enough bergamot here to know that you’re drinking an Earl Grey.
Personally speaking, I prefer my Earl Grey to have a stronger bergamot essence, but I am enjoying this cup. I like that the tea is organic and it has a very satisfying flavor. It’s a good Earl Grey and it’s of good quality.
That said … this tea is best iced! I usually prefer my Earl Grey the same way that Captain Picard does … hot. But, this particular Earl Grey tastes best iced. The bergamot really pops as the tea cools!
Organic Rose Ginger Oolong Tea from Aftelier Perfumed Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Aftelier Perfumed Teas
Product Description:
Organic Muzha Tieguanyin oolong tea, from Taiwan, is a rare tea that is oxidized and roasted for two days by a traditional tea master. This full-bodied oolong opens with ripe fruit notes and finishes with a smooth aftertaste, blending beautifully with the spicy rose flavor that Mandy creates with our Aftelier Chef’s Essences: Fresh Ginger and Turkish Rose. These tightly rolled leaves unfurl during the first steeping, and may be re-infused up to 4 times, retaining their fragrance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I reviewed this tea previously – well, no, not exactly. I reviewed a tea that is similar, but since writing that review, Mandy from Aftelier Perfumes changed her recipe for the tea blend slightly to use an organic Muzha Tieguanyin Oolong tea rather than the Tieguanyin she used for the tea that I sampled for that first review.
And I’ve come to learn (and greatly appreciate!) that organic definitely DOES make a difference. It is especially noticeable (by taste) with tea bases (tisane bases) like rooibos, but I have also noticed differences between conventionally grown Oolong teas versus organically grown Oolong teas. Yes, the possibility exists that the differences are only mentally imposed differences – that is to say, I think, “Oh, this is organic and therefore it is better,” but even with that mentally imposed difference, I still taste something better.
Hey, let’s face it, organic IS better. It’s better for the earth and I believe it’s better for the tea drinker as well.
But really, I don’t need to justify revisiting this tea, because it’s a remarkable tea and I love the teas that are crafted by Aftelier.
I steeped this the way I typically steep an Oolong – in my gaiwan – performing a 15 second rinse and then I steeped the first infusion for 1 minute and added 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. I combine two infusions in each cup, so therefore the first cup was composed of the first two infusions and the second cup was composed of the third and fourth infusion, and so on.
I love the way the rose and ginger play together on the palate. It is sweet, floral and just a little zesty from the peppery notes of the ginger. The ginger does not bring a strong, heavily spiced presence to the sip, just a gentle, peppery warmth. However, after sip is gone, the ginger lingers in the aftertaste and I can taste (and feel!) the ginger on my palate. It’s still a fairly mild heat. I really like it because I generally think of rose to be a summery type of tea essence, it seems to bring a sense of summer to the cup, but the ginger gives this a cozy sort of flavor that is distinctly autumnal.
As does the Tieguanyin, which has a delicate earthiness and wisps of smoke in the background. The Tieguanyin has a light creaminess to it and a slight buttery taste that with the roasted notes offers more of a sweet, browned butter flavor rather than a fresh cream buttery type of taste. I also like how the roasted notes seem to diminish the presence of a strong floral and vegetal tone to the Tieguanyin, because it allows the rose to really shine through without competing with other strong floral notes. This roasting process also allows the natural fruit tones of the tea to develop and intermingle with the essences of Turkish Rose and Fresh Ginger!
The slightly smoky, roasty-toasty notes emerged a little more prominently in the second cup (infusions 3 and 4), and I was very pleased to find that the rose and ginger notes remained for these infusions. The rose notes are softening somewhat in this cup and is more reminiscent of the taste of the air that surrounds while strolling through a garden of roses. The smell and flavor of the rose is distinct and definitely there. 
The ginger is warming on the palate, especially in the aftertaste. The Tieguanyin is sweet, not quite as creamy as the first cup, but still quite toasty tasting with wonderful notes of stone fruit. Warm and sweet and beautifully fragrant, just like summer, but also cozy and comforting like autumn. A really beautiful cup.
I was surprised to find that those wonderful rose and ginger notes were still present in the third cup (infusions 5 and 6)! With many flavored Oolong teas, the flavoring tends to be indistinguishable by the time I’ve reached the fifth and sixth infusion. The tea is still delicious, of course, because the Oolong is still flavorful on its own, but usually the flavors have softened to the point of barely noticeable. That is definitely NOT the case with this tea, though.
The rose is still lovely and the ginger still warm and peppery. Sure, these flavors are softer now than they were with the first cup, but, that’s alright, because I am getting plenty of flavor from the Tieguanyin – sweet, fruity, toasty, nutty flavors – but I can also still taste sweet floral notes from the rose and zesty notes of ginger.
This is a really lovely and unique flavored Oolong – you’re not going to find another one like this anywhere!
Organic Medium Oolong Tea from Arum Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
Full sweet taste with floral fragrance with the hint of honey.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tasted several different Indonesian teas over the years, but most of the teas from Indonesia that I’ve tried have been either green or black teas, I can’t recall having tried an Oolong from Indonesia! So when my package from Arum Tea arrived today, this was the first tea that I tried.
The tea is packaged in tins with simple yet handsome labeling. I like that the tin has a tight fitting lid and inside the tea was in a vacuum sealed pouch, ensuring a fresh product.
The dry leaf looks a lot like a Tie Guan Yin (perhaps a lightly roasted Tie Guan Yin). The individual leaves have been tightly wound into pellets. I measured out one bamboo scoop of the leaves into my gaiwan and using 180°F water, I performed a 15 second rinse before I infused the leaves for 45 seconds. I strained the tea and then infused the leaves a second time for 1 minute. Both of these infusions were combined into one teacup.
The leaves seem to open similarly to a Tie Guan Yin as well – that is to say, they open very slowly! These leaves are waiting for more infusions!
But first, I need to sit back and enjoy this first cup.
The aroma wafting from my cup is floral, reminiscent of orchid. The flavor is sweet – like honey! The honey is a top note, and just below that sweet honey taste I taste notes of roasted nuts and hints of flower. The sweetness remains on the palate from start to finish and lingers into the aftertaste.
It’s a very satisfying taste. The floral notes are not sharp and they are more like a note in the distance … like the air that filters through a far off meadow and then is delivered to you through a gentle breeze. You can experience those flowers but that essence mingles with a fresh airiness.
Those floral notes emerged in the second cup (the combination of infusions 3 and 4). The tea is still sweet but a bit more crisp and slightly astringent. This cup is not so much honey-esque, the sweetness comes from the flower and the sweet nutty tones that are still very much a part of the flavor of this tea. As the cup cools slightly, the honey notes begin to come forward.
Interestingly enough, I found the honey notes to be at their sweetest for the third cup (infusions 5 and 6). With this cup, the floral notes begin to meld with the nutty flavors and this creates a rather sweet taste as well. The flavors are not sharp. The astringency is mild. This cup is smooth and sweet, sweet, sweet!
Given how much I enjoyed the third cup, I decided to try for one more cup to see how it goes. The fourth cup (infusions 7 and 8) was quite similar to the second cup. The honey notes seemed somewhat muted until the cup cooled a bit, but that gave me a chance to explore the floral notes and the nutty flavors that are now much more a unified flavor. Sweet with both floral and nutty tones and the honey notes coming out to play as the temperature dropped a little. This cup was still so flavorful and refreshing!
This tea is absolutely lovely and I’m really glad that I had this amazing opportunity to try it. I would recommend this to any Oolong lover (especially those of you who love Tie Guan Yin) because it’s a little different … a change of pace. It is familiar enough to a Tie Guan Yin but also deliciously different to keep things exciting for the palate.