Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
From the famed Makaibari tea estate we bring you the highest grade of green tea. Appearing like streaks of silver on a canvas of green, these leaves when brewed produce a gentle golden liquor. The Silver green liquor transports you into a world full of the symphony created by the jingle of the bangles of beautiful tea pickers and the rustle of the green tea leaves as their hands brush against it. This rare green tea is made exclusively for connoisseurs who are enthralled by a sweet tasting green tea without the overpowering grassy and chlorophyllic overtones. It has a dry finish and no lingering aftertaste.
Makaibari tea estate is one of the first organically certified tea gardens of Darjeeling. It is located in the foothills of the Himalayas in the town of Kurseong where the tea is grown at an altitude of around 4500ft.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the green and white teas that come from the Darjeeling region, and this Makaibari Silver Green Tea from Tea People is an excellent example of why I enjoy these teas so much. This is lovely!
The flavor is vegetative with a taste that is a little grassy and a little bit like steamed vegetables. There are even some notes of seaweed to this. One of the more vegetative green teas that I’ve had in a while. It’s a very invigorating sort of vegetal taste … it is as if it’s nourishing my very soul.
And I love that even though it does have a strong vegetal tone to it, it’s not a bitter or overpowering “green” taste. It has a really pleasant sweetness to it too. I like the balance between sweet and savory to this cup. It has a slightly dry astringency at the tail with a clean aftertaste.
I like this one served hot, but, it’s also quite nice chilled too – try brewing it with some fresh mint and then chilling it – amazing! A very refreshing beverage.
Don’t forget to check out Tea People’s indiegogo fundraising campaign to help tea garden workers! This fundraiser is ending soon, so please consider contributing.
Assam Earl Grey Black Tea from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
In the early 1800s cheap tea was flavoured with bergamot by unscrupulous tea merchants and sold as expensive tea. Little did they know then that they were giving birth to one of the most popular flavoured teas of Britain. Not to worry, there is nothing remotely cheap about our Earl grey. We bring you the finest blends of Assam tea with the best of Italian bergamot to transport you straight into your own little Earldom. Earl Grey with the Queen anyone?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yay! Earl Grey! I do a mental happy dance every time I encounter a new-to-me Earl Grey tea. And given as happy as I have been with the teas that I’ve tried thus far from Tea People, I was very excited to try this Assam Earl Grey Black Tea from them.
When I opened the pouch, I could smell the strong, distinct aroma of bergamot. The bergamot fragrance here is strong, but, not quite as strong as some other Earl Grey teas I’ve had … If I had a scale on which I judged the bergamot levels, with five being the strongest I’ve ever experienced and 1 being next to no noticeable bergamot scent, I’d rate this one a three. A medium amount of bergamot bouquet.
And I think that is right about where the bergamot flavor rates here too. Maybe a wee bit higher… closer to 3 1/2. It’s not an overpowering bergamot essence. It’s tangy and bright, with some hints of citrus-y sweetness. I do like the way the bergamot melds with the notes of the Assam … I think that Assam is one of the best black tea base choices for bergamot because the two complement each other very well.
The real star here is the malty, rich Assam tea. It is a bold, robust tasting tea with lots of pleasing malty notes. I’m only guessing here, but, I think it’s a pretty safe guess that the people at the Tea People company used this Assam as the base for this tea. This tastes as smooth and rounded as I remember that tea tasting, although I’m experiencing fewer of those “wine-like” qualities here, perhaps the presence of the bergamot melds with those wine-y fruit notes? I don’t know.
What I do know is that this cup vanished before I knew it … which is a pretty good indicator that the tea is the good stuff. If I finish a cup well before I finish writing the review – that tells me that I just had a really good cup of tea that I couldn’t put down long enough to type out a few words. It also tells me that it’s time for another cup of tea!
And not only does Tea People offer some of the best teas I’ve tasted lately, but they also are currently hosting an indiegogo campaign to raise funds to assist the tea garden workers of Darjeeling and their families. What a great cause! Please consider contributing, time is running out!
Vanilla Rooibos Herbal Tisane from Tea People
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tisane Description:
Dubbed ‘Rooibos’ meaning ‘red bush’ by the speakers of the Dutch Afrikaans language, this “tea” is only produced in South Africa. This one is from Cederberg mountains in South Africa, the home of rooibos where it is grown at an altitude of 1500 – 2500 ft.
Don’t be fooled by the name, the plant itself is green but the leaves turn red after processing. This flavourful relaxing tea has a creamy vanilla scent and is caffeine free, perfect as a nightcap, or any time of the day!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Vanilla Rooibos Herbal Tisane from Tea People has a really yummy vanilla flavor, and it has a wonderful creamy texture too – something that’s a little unusual when it comes to rooibos blends!
I tend to find most rooibos blends to be a little “thin” in texture, but I’m not experiencing that with this blend. It has a nice creaminess to it that complements the creamy, sweet vanilla flavor.
The naturally sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos melds nicely with the vanilla notes, and there is a hint of almond to this cup as well. The flavors marry very well together to create a decadent sweet treat that would make a tasty dessert substitution (with far fewer calories and no fat!) This is the kind of tisane I like to curl up to late at night – it’s cozy, it’s comforting and it’s very yummy!
Currently, the fine people at Tea People are hosting a campaign on indiegogo to help the tea garden workers of Darjeeling and their families. I hope you’ll consider donating to this very worthy cause!
Desi Masala Chai Blend from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
A robust, full flavoured malty Assam blended with traditional spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and ginger.
When tea was first grown in India to break Chinese monopoly on tea, it was not a popular beverage among the locals. The usual practice was to drink ‘kadha’ instead which was water and milk boiled with spices (as was recommended according to the Ayurveda, an ancient alternative medicinal system based in India). The Indian Tea association (at that time under the British) promoted tea among them in the preferred British way by adding a little milk and sugar. However Indian vendors began adding tea to the kadha they drank already. Although the Tea association at that time frowned at this practice as this reduced the usage (and thus the purchase) of tea leaves, the practice stuck and Chai tea was born! A perfect morning tea or a tea for a busy day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Desi Masala Chai Blend from Tea People smells amazing! Even before I started brewing it … the dry leaf smells so spicy and enticing!
And it tastes even better than it smells!
The ingredients of this chai are the “usual” suspects:
Premium Assam black tea, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves .
But they are blended perfectly! The black tea base is an Assam, and it is rich and malty. It has a full, robust flavor that provides a perfect platform for the spices to express themselves. I love that I can taste notes of each spice in each sip and that it’s not all about one spice or the other. They aren’t competing with one another, they’re complementing each other.
The spices are strong and flavorful, but it isn’t TOO spicy. It’s spicy … but this cup isn’t all about the heat. I can taste the complexity of the spices. I’m getting the peppery tones … but I can even taste some of the sweeter notes of the ginger! The cinnamon is a sweeter cinnamon but I get some heat from it too. But this isn’t that red-hot candy cinnamon flavor. It tastes true to the spice. I’m tasting some of the eucalyptus notes of the cardamom and some of the warm, zesty flavor of the clove.
It’s a collective of all the spices, but even though I can taste the individual notes, there is a seamlessness about the flavor too. It is a very beautiful marriage of warm and sweet spices.
This chai tastes amazing served straight up with no additions, but it also makes an amazing latte. You can brew it stovetop in a 1:1 ratio of milk and water, or you can brew it at a concentrated strength in water and then add a splash of warmed milk after the brewing process is complete. I prefer the latter because it means less mess in the kitchen and I’m all for that!
I do recommend a little bit of sweetener to accentuate the spices. I recommend using either raw honey or turbinado sugar (I prefer the turbinado sugar because I love how the hints of molasses to the sugar meld with the sweeter tones of the spices!) You don’t NEED the sweetener to experience the spices, though, but, I find that sugar and spice is very nice!
A really great chai! I’m loving the teas from Tea People!
Also, please check out Tea People’s indiegogo fundraising campaign to help tea garden workers!
Makaibari Bai Mu Dan White Tea from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
Makaibari tea estate is situated in a town called Kurseong in the district of Darjeeling. Kurseong means the land of the ‘white orchid’ in the local language. From the land of the white orchid is produced the exquisite ‘White Magnolia’. This tea is made from the delicate unopened leaves of the plant and undergoes the least processing among all the teas. This is the reason why the infused leaves seem to come alive again yielding the palest liquor yearning to be sipped. When it touches your lips, your palate comes alive with a light chestnut flavour. The sweet aftertaste lingers on forever.
Makaibari tea estate located in the foothills of the Himalayas is an organically certified tea estate where the tea is grown at an altitude of around 4500ft.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Bai Mu Dan tea is one of those teas that when I drink it … I think to myself: it’s been a long time since I’ve had a Bai Mu Dan. It may not actually have been that long, but, it’s one of those teas that I miss when a day or two has passed and I haven’t had it.
I love the sweet, delicate quality of a good Bai Mu Dan. And what makes this Makaibari Bai Mu Dan White Tea from Tea People different is that it is grown in the Darjeeling district, so I think that technically makes it a “Darjeeling” white tea, even though the leaves resemble a very high quality Bai Mu Dan. These aren’t those crumbly, brown leaves that some companies pass off as a Bai Mu Dan. These leaves are a gorgeous pale green, and if you look closely, you can see the soft, fuzzy down on these leaves. The leaves are large and beautiful.
My first sip of this tea evoked thoughts of the taste of a dewdrop, like what I might taste if I were to drink the dew off a fresh, new spring leaf. After that initial sip, I started to notice other flavors developing.
As the above description suggests, there is a light nutty flavor to this white tea, reminiscent of that creamy taste of a freshly roasted chestnut. There are slight notes of earth to this as well as a hay-like note and a background of delicious melon.
The overall taste is light and refreshing. It is sweet and relaxing to sip. A really beautiful white tea! If I were asked to list my all time favorite Bai Mu Dan teas, this one would land at the top of the list. It’s one I’d recommend to all the white tea fans out there.