Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: KTeas
Product Description:
picked 10 June 2011
Direct from the Glenburn Tea Estate in Khongea, Assam, India!
10 June 2011 harvest pouches contain 8oz (227g). At Glenburn’s recommended 2.5g in 200ml (7 fl-oz) water, each pouch yields about 90 teacups at 26¢ per teacup.
2010 harvest tins contain 3.5oz (100g). At Glenburn’s recommended 2.5g in 200ml (7 fl-oz) water, each tin yields about 40 teacups at 43¢ per teacup.
Taster’s Review:
This is OH-SO-GOOD! Like fabulously fantastically good.
The picture above does not deceive, there really are a bunch of golden tips in this tea. I know that sometimes with “tip” teas, there are relatively few tips. Not so here. This tea is loaded with golden tips. It’s beautiful!
This tea produces such a rich, delicious cup of tea. It is robust and possesses a beautiful malty tone. I can really taste the freshness with this tea, and it makes all the difference!
There is a very pleasing undercurrent of sweetness to this tea, it is caramel-y in flavor with a subtle burnt-sugar taste. That subtle burnt-sugar flavor emits a very delicate bitter note. This is a savory bitterness, not the “Oh no! I over-steeped the Assam” bitterness, and it lends a delightful depth of flavor to the cup.
It is a smooth Assam with a moderate amount of cleansing astringency at the tail. I don’t find this astringency to be particularly drying in nature, but, it imparts a clean feeling allowing this taster to enjoy the sweet aftertaste.
Tea connoisseurs take note: this Assam is exquisite. You really must try it!
Tippy South Cloud from The Tao of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tao of Tea
Product Description:
Made at a 100% organic tea garden with a mix of black and gold tipped leaves. The golden color emerges during processing and after accurate withering, moisture drying of the leaves. Few areas in Yunnan contain these type of plants. Other areas known to have golden tipped varietals Hunan and Fujian in China and Assam in India.
Taster’s Review:
This is an incredible Yunnan!
The aroma is delightful. This is one of those teas that you want to take a moment to inhale the fragrance of the tea before taking a sip, allowing the aroma to permeate the senses.
The flavor is rich and smooth. There is a delicious malty overtone. There is a beautiful sweetness as well as a savory note that hits just before the tail-end of the sip. The aftertaste is both sweet and savory.
This is a tea that I would recommend sipping on a Saturday morning (perhaps for brunch?) It has a strength that is good for morning (or possibly early afternoon), but it isn’t one of those “get-up-and-go” kind of teas, it’s one of those “sit-back-and-enjoy-life” kind of teas.
Another amazing tea from The Tao of Tea!
Douglas Fir Tip Tea from Juniper Ridge
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Juniper Ridge
Product Description:
When my first herbal-medicine teacher had us try Douglas Fir tea on a class camping trip, I thought it would taste, well, like a tree. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by its refreshing, lemony flavor and sweet, forest-like aroma. This tea is made from 100% Douglas Fir spring tips from the coastal mountains of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Nothing else has been added to it, so you can experience the pure, wild taste and foresty aroma of this distinctly Northwestern wild herb delicacy.
Taster’s Review:
This is definitely one of the more unusual teas that I’ve encountered in a long time. It is so unusual – at least to me! – that I was quite unsure if I really wanted to try it. I am glad that my hesitancy finally gave way though, because, I am really enjoying this tisane.
This tea smells like outside. I mean… seriously, it smells like my back yard! I live in the Pacific Northwest and the Douglas Fir Tips that were harvested to make this tea were harvested in this area (as well as Northern California). I’m surrounded by Douglas Fir trees!
But it doesn’t taste the way I expected it to taste. Not that I really knew what I expected it to taste like. I guess I expected it to taste like wood. Like smoke, maybe? Or perhaps even a little damp (it sometimes gets a little damp up here) But it doesn’t taste woody, or smoky or even damp.
The overall taste is light. It has a sweet lemony taste to it as well as a background of a mint-like flavor. But… it isn’t quite mint, if that makes sense. It is as though someone attempted to duplicate the taste of peppermint and wintergreen and didn’t quite make it, but got real close. It tastes winter-y and fresh.
What this really tastes like to me is the way the air feels when my husband and I visit the Columbia Gorge. We get out, walk among the trees and enjoy the crisp, clean air. And that is what this tastes like. Crisp, clean and fresh. Slightly sweet and invigorating – like a walk through the woods!
I like this tisane, and it is one I am very glad I had the opportunity to taste. I like it so much, in fact, that it is one that I could see myself keeping in stock – it has such a refreshingly different flavor!