Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Description:
After a short summer season in Nepal, the Himalayan monsoon approaches the foothills with a magnanimous rush. The golden red soil of Sandakphu drinks in this moisture, producing a rare artisan tea that reflects all of nature’s goodness. After plucking, the leaves are 25 percent withered, then rolled in mechanical rollers. The tea is then placed in a shaping machine and further dried, producing uniformly curled leaves. The liquor is a distinctive rich golden color, with a cup that is mild yet flavorful, with a lovely balance of stone fruit and honey.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
On my Epic Sipdown, I came across a sample of this tea from Nepali Tea Traders. I was quite excited to see if the description matched the flavor of this tea.
I brewed this up in my new Sei Sei Tumbler. I was really craving those rich stone fruit notes that were described. Brewed this up like a black tea and wow. This tea has it all. Rich smooth notes of honey with an almost bread like background and apricot (?) flavors. So well done.
What I really love about this tea is how smooth it is. There is almost a silk texture to this tea while you drink it. This tea is one of those that feels like it needs to be saved for special occasions. But this one is completely affordable for an extra day sort of tea. I want to try this one as a cold brew for those hot summer days when you need a tea like this. There is a refreshing quality to it that I’m really enjoying.
The description of this tea was spot on and this is another fantastic tea that has been hiding in my cupboard. I’m so glad I pulled this one out today. Loving this fruit malty tea to finish out my day with.
Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui Green Tea by Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
A premium quality green tea, renowned as one of China’s top ten 10’s
- Produced in TaiPing HouKeng(太平猴坑) in Anhui province
- Long, flat leaves of one bud and two leaves
- Tea Liquid: bright and clean in light green color
- Flavor: sweet and smooth with strong aroma, has long-lasting sweet aftertaste
- Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)
Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui grows in Hou Keng on Huangshan Mountain, which is the center producing area of Tai Ping Hou Kui green tea. In China, Tai Ping Hou Kui is famed as one of the most famous ten Chinese teas. Leaves of semi-hand Tai Ping Hou Kui are even in thickness, and have brighter color thanNonpareil Tai Ping Hou Kui. First crafted in 1915, it went on to win gold medal for best tea at the 1915 Panama World Expo. TeaVivre’s TaiPing HouKui is an excellent example of this fantastic tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have moments when I absolutely crave green tea. Crave. I find this amusing since I’m usually a black tea drinker, but I’ve learned not to question it. Some days are green tea days, and on those days I’m lucky to have teas like this. The Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui Green Tea from Teavivre is quite good and unique in many ways.
The leaves of this tea are absolutely beautiful. They’re long, wide and bright green but also flat and thin. Their size and color make them nice to watch while steeping, so if you have a glass teapot this would be a lovely served in it.
The feel of the tea is thick and creamy, but the taste is light and deliciously simple. There’s the flavor of green bean with hints of butter. There is also a bit of a grassy flavor that is more of a background note. It plays well off of the vegetal note giving the tea a bright, clean taste. While this is not an overly sweet tea there is a hint of sweetness throughout the cup that I found pleasant.
I enjoy the juxtaposition of the thickness of the liquid and the subtly of the flavors in this tea. It’s something I will continue to enjoy as summer is winding down, but it’ll also be nice this autumn when I’m looking for thicker, more substantial teas in my cup.
Breakfast Blend Black Tea from Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Description:
Ringtons English Breakfast Tea is a superior black tea blend from Assam and Kenya, with a strong and refreshing taste. With a medium/high caffeine content, this bright and lively blend is strong enough to help wake you up in the morning.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I have to say about this one is that it really surprised me. I don’t drink a lot of bagged tea at the moment, but it generally seems much of a muchness to me when I do. At least in the UK, the flavour profiles of “breakfast blend” style black teas seem very similar – sweet, malty, strong, and otherwise fairly nondescript. Until now. At first glance, Ringtons English Breakfast looks like your typical bagged black tea. It’s in a square paper bag, and is about half full with finely shredded leaf. The scent is typical “black tea”. I used one bag for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up a pretty strong-looking red-brown, so I added a splash of milk.
I wasn’t expecting much, except perhaps a quality black bagged tea – an everyday sort of experience, I thought. Not at all. It’s delicious! The first thing I picked up on is the strong baked bread flavour, which I’ve never before experienced except in fairly premium loose leaf varieties. It’s sweet and malty through the mid-sip, perfectly smooth with no bitterness or astringency at all. Right at the end of the sip, there’s the tiniest hint of milk chocolate. I don’t know what varieties of tea went into this blend specifically, but I’m guessing there must be an Assam, probably a Chinese black, and something else that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s not floral, exactly, although that was my first thought, so I don’t think it’s a Darjeeling. Maybe a Ceylon, or something Kenyan? It’s certainly intriguing!
I thoroughly enjoyed this cup. It has a real depth of flavour, and it’s almost completely unique amongst the bagged breakfast teas I’ve tried in my time. I’d happily drink this one again – I actually think it might be replacing my normal breakfast tea for a while. It’s just too delicious to pass up!
Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
The original blend was a black tea base with marigold petals and organic flavors. We can do that!
Our black tea base IS different from the original. We spent months developing a black tea base that is well rounded and flavorful. To learn more about it, click here.
So we took our all-new, go-to black tea base and blended it with organic marigold petals and all-natural, organic flavors. As the original description states; “It’s a guilt-free (vegan even) caramelly, cheesecakey, pumpkiny feast for your sweet-tooth all wrapped up in the hug of a great cuppa premium black tea.” And it is!
Learn more about this tea here.
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Taster’s Review:
52Teas recently had a grab bag on sale of a mix of their teas and who am I to say no to that. I jumped on the opportunity and picked up two grab bags. I couldn’t wait to try some of the new takes on old favorites. 52Teas has recently gone thru a much needed (IMO) management shake up and I’m thrilled with what Anne has put out for us so far. To be as transparent as possible with this review, I did purchase this tea from 52Teas and it wasn’t a sample from Anne. This review is 100% my own honest review of what I thought of this tea.
I was excited to try this one. I distantly remember enjoying the original version of this tea and was looking forward to the reboot. I brewed this black tea up with water that was at 212F and allowed it to steep for a 3 minutes. I was picking up some lovely caramel notes and a certain sweetness but nothing that I would say translated into caramel pumpkin cheesecake.
I took my first sip and the lovely caramel notes that I was picking up translated into a lovely caramel flavor. I loved the caramel flavoring that 52Teas has used. Rich and creamy. But I do have to say, I am missing any of the other flavors like the pumpkin or the cheesecake. I tried steeping this tea a few different ways and always came away with this being more of a caramel flavored black tea than the pumpkin cheesecake.
Now, I did have a friend try this tea and they loved the combination of the pumpkin and caramel flavors. She said that the more she drank the tea, the more she picked up those pumpkin notes. She really liked it and said it was helping her sore throat.
As far as a flavored tea goes, this tea was quite delicious. Like I said, those caramel flavors were very good. But this tea is supposed to be a caramel pumpkin cheesecake tea. So yes it is really tasty but it seems the title doesn’t exactly match up. Regardless this tea found a home with someone who really enjoys it and to me that is a winning combination!
Now to see what other lovely teas are awaiting me from my grab bag!
Sunshine Cottage from Sunshine Cottage
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Sunshine Cottage
Tea Description:
Good Morning Sunshine! Start every morning off with this bright and happy, citrus and tropical fruit blend, and you’ll start every day with a smile. Lovely as is, with a drizzle of honey, even a splash of milk. Great iced when the weather heats up!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Good morning sunshine is right! This tea starts your morning off right!
This lovely tea is from the amazing Sunshine Cottage Etsy store, a store for all those flavored black tea fans out there. Sunshine Cottage tea is a take on a tropical tea and a happy way to wake up in the morning with a bright colored tea to add to your tea spot.
I brewed this tea up with boiling water and let it steep for about 4 minutes. Allowed it to cool for a moment and then indulged myself in the tropical citrus aroma that was delighting me.
First sip and yes! This tea is a tropical citrus tea for sure. The citrus is almost like a juicy tangerine flavor while the tropical flavors are more subtle in the background. There are hints of this tea becoming astringent but I’m not picking that up right away. It is more of a lingering aftertaste from drinking the tea for a few moments.
On the package of the tea there was also a note about jasmine being in the blend and I’m sad that I’m not picking up those notes. I can’t say what a jasmine tropical citrus tea would taste like and honestly it may not go well together but I kind of want to try it.
As the tea sits now it was a delight and one that I would have no probably making up for the family to enjoy. I bet this would make an incredible iced tea and I have plans to try this as a cold brew to enjoy in the morning.