- Unbleached
- Minimalistic (don’t use much material)
- Biodegradable (well, it’s just a thin piece of paper, and tea leaves are compostable)
- Chemical-free
- Glue-free
- Gluten-free
- Without extra packaging like staples, strings, or tags
It’s a very clever design and I really appreciate the effort they put into making eco-friendly tea so accessible.
So anyway. I steeped this tea for four minutes. I enjoyed the steeping process as well as the tasting process, because this tea gives off a wonderful aroma as it brews. It’s actually so good that you might end up worrying that the tea won’t live up to its fragrance when you actually taste it. It smells like an excellent dessert, which of course it should since it’s dessert-flavored, and creates the impression that you’re baking something custardy in your kitchen.
After steeping, it’s become a nice medium-dark color; it’s reddish/orange/brown, and the smell has strong notes of vanilla and cream. The first sip definitely has more black tea flavor than you’d expect from the fragrance. There’s lots of pudding flavor too, especially in the aftertaste. A bit sweet on its own (without sugar), and it’s very, very buttery.
With milk, it tastes like a custardy dessert in liquid form– it doesn’t taste eggy, though (which is probably a good thing, because who would want to drink eggy tea? Although eggnog chai is definitely a thing I drink sometimes, but it tastes more of spices than of egg fortunately).
Four minutes is just the right steeping time. If you wanted it more dessert-like, you could add sugar to boost the sweetness. But I’m having it for breakfast, not dessert, so I’m not doing that because it seems plenty sweet enough the way it is. Milk goes very well with this (and adds a slightly sweet dimension while also boosting the creaminess). Especially whole milk. I don’t vouch for creamless milk though. Anyway, the creaminess plays into the pudding illusion, so that’s another positive.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
This decadent dessert tea has the homemade flavors of vanilla sponge cake drizzled with rich caramel sauce. The full-bodied base of premium black tea lends itself well to a splash of milk, making it a perfect afternoon tea to partner with puddings, scones and shortbread.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bates’ Brambleberry Black Tea from The Republic of Tea
In addition to being a fandom tea that I’m sure everyone who watches Downton Abbey will love, this tea has a wonderful flavor and is an awesome eco-friendly offering from the Republic of Tea. It comes in a round unbleached tea bag with no strings, staples or tags, and can be composted after you use it. It looks insubstantial enough that you could even throw it in your own non-industrial-strength compost pile (I understand some municipalities have compost pickup along with trash and recycling pickup, but mine is not that lucky so I do my own composting).
It smells excellently of berry, so I greatly enjoyed the fragrance as it steeped. I steeped it about five minutes using boiling water and it turned out reddish-brown with that very pleasing fragrance and a wonderful refreshing berry taste. It does, as advertised, remind me of summer and berry-picking. It’s called “brambleberry” so I would have expected mostly blackberry flavor (because those are the type of berry that people call brambles in England, right?), but there’s definitely a serendipitous raspberry tinge in there as well. The tea information says that it also has strawberry and blueberry flavors, but I found those to be less obvious than the raspberry and blackberry flavors.
I considered adding milk but then decided against it. I don’t think this tea is acidic enough to actually curdle the milk (although I could be wrong), but it’s definitely acidic enough to be interesting and I don’t want to dull that edge, which milk is likely to do.
Overall I really enjoyed this tea and wished I had more of it! I’ll definitely consider purchasing it if I ever get around to ordering from The Republic of Tea while they still carry it. (So many tea companies, so little time!)
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
This bold yet smooth premium black tea is perfectly coupled with a handful of summer fruit – blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. A touch of sweetness to this cup will bring out the full, ripe flavor. A casual refreshment served hot or over ice with biscuits or sandwiches.
The award-winning TV series, Downton Abbey® has entranced millions of viewers and become a modern media sensation. Every episode is an explosion of drama, relationships and intrigue. Downton Abbey is home to the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. From the pen of Academy Award® winner Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey is the most watched drama ever on PBS!
This tea is an online exclusive
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Morawaka Ceylon BOPF (Teabags) from KTeas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: KTeas
Product Description:
These teabags contain Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings grade tea from Morawaka Tea Estate’s Low Country Ceylon plantation in Sri Lanka. With the convenience of a teabag, you get the benchmark Ceylon color and flavor in your cup. No stale left-over Dust, here: these teabags were manufactured in February 2011, February & March being the First Flush of the Ceylon tea world, providing the prime quality teas which have been selected to fill these teabags.
Taster’s Review:
This may just be the freshest bagged tea I’ve ever had! The tea in this teabag was harvested in February of this year and immediately processed into teabag form. Now, I really don’t know when the tea on the grocery store shelf was harvested and manufactured, but I suspect it was longer than seven short months ago.
And you know what? The proof of the freshness is in the taste. I’m blown away at just how good this Ceylon from a teabag tastes. It is a bold and bright. It has a good, strong flavor to it … and even some malty undertones. The best way I can describe the flavor that I’m experiencing right now is that it is a cross between a rich Assam and a brisk Ceylon… falling very close to the middle between the two … veering slightly more toward the Ceylon. It has that briskness you might expect from a Ceylon, but a rich, malty undertone that is common with Assam tea.
I steeped my first teabag at 3 1/2 minutes, and I found that it was just a little too astringent for my taste. Still good and certainly very drinkable, but after that cup was gone I decided to brew another bag, this time at just 2 1/2 minutes and found that this was perfect. A deliciously inviting cuppa!
This makes a great breakfast tea and goes great with milk and honey, if you like to add them to your breakfast tea. It is also tasty without any addition if you prefer it that way. It is also good iced with lemon or lime.
This is a wonderful alternative to those store-bought teabags. These teabags provide the convenience of teabags and the freshness of loose leaf. That’s a win-win in my book!
Jasmine Pearls from Adagio Teas
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Product Description:
Exquisite Pearls infused with the sublime aroma of delicate night-blooming jasmine flowers.
Taster’s Review:
This is a bagged jasmine pearl which is part of the Artisan Comfort Collection (box is shown above) from Adagio Teas’ new Travel Tea collection. And while I generally prefer my jasmine pearls loose and steeped in my gaiwan, I have to admit that the idea of being able to enjoy my beloved jasmine pearls while traveling is certainly enough of an incentive to try them as a bagged (or should I say sachet pouched?) tea.
And these “pouched” pearls are definitely not a disappointment. The flavor is fantastic. Lightly vegetative with a strong jasmine presence. The jasmine is sweet and smooth and delicate tasting. It doesn’t taste perfume-y or soapy. It doesn’t have that sharpness that I sometimes experience with jasmine teas. These are perfectly delightful pearls!
This is a very uplifting, luxurious-tasting tea that had I not brewed it myself, I would have never guessed came from a teabag. Usually I experience my jasmine pearls while only at home, but these new travel teas from Adagio will give me the ability to take my jasmine pearls where ever I go!