Tea Description:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Basilur Tea
Product Description:
Basilur is an expression of the art of drinking tea. Each range of Basilur depicts its own story related to the rich Sri Lankan heritage. Each product is a unique tea drinking experience which transports its discerning tea drinkers to another time and place. Basilur tea takes you through this long journey of tea, with innovative blends and packaging yet, keeping the 5000 year old traditions intact. This Tea Book is a gift from Basilur tea family to the connoisseurs of tea.
Ingredients: 100% Pure Ceylon black tea, cornflower, jasmine buds, blue malva and flavour roasted almond.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
From a tea enthusiast’s and consumer’s prospective, this Tea Book Volume 1 with Black Tea from Basilur Tea has got to be one of the coolest products I’ve come across in a long time! It’s a book shaped tin (LOVE it!) and tucked inside the tin is a 3.5 ounce resealable pouch of almond flavored black tea!
I love the tin. It’s one of the neatest tins I’ve ever seen! It’s visually stunning, and it’s just a really unique way to package tea! It would make a great gift for your favorite tea drinker (even if that tea drinker is you!)
And the tea inside is really good too. The blend is visually stunning with its beautiful blossoms of blue cornflower and white jasmine along with pieces of roasted almond tossed with the black tea leaves. It smells of sweet almond and flower. The brewed tea is especially delightful to the nose. The warm almond notes evoke thoughts of something freshly baked.
The flavor is quite nice too. The black tea base is a Ceylon, and it is a mild, even tempered sort of taste. Nothing too bold or harsh, instead, it’s smooth and brisk and mellow. It isn’t an aggressive or overstimulating type of tea, making this a nice choice for afternoon sipping. (And I can’t help but think that this would be excellent with a piece of almond biscotti!)
While the tea is piping hot, the almond flavor is a little difficult to discern. I recommend allowing the tea to cool to a drinkable temperature (give it about four minutes after you’ve poured the tea), and this time allows the flavors to develop properly. I can taste the almond now! It’s a pleasing flavor, not so strong that it overpowers the flavor of the tea. This is definitely a tea that I’m drinking here, and the flavoring lets you know that the tea plays the starring role in this cup.
It’s sweet and nutty, and I can taste hints of flower in the distance. This isn’t a jasmine tea. While the jasmine blossoms do add a touch of jasmine essence to the cup, it is not a significant enough flavor – in my opinion – to deem this a “jasmine” tea. I think that the jasmine elevates the almond a little bit. Interesting … that was kind of unexpected how the light, exotic sweetness of the jasmine helps to accentuate the sweet, nutty flavors of the almond. I like that.
I found this to be a really delightful and tasty cup of tea. It definitely has a winter-y sort of flavor to it (this “book” is Volume 1 of the winter series), so I can see why they’d include it in the winter series. It tastes best served hot, but it also makes a nice iced tea.
1919 Lapsang Zhivago from Pekko Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Pekko Teas
Tea Description:
Lapsang Souchong is produced in Fujian province in China. The process begins with freshly picked tea that is withered over pine or cedar fires, pan-fired, and then rolled by hand. Once rolled, the leaves are pressed into wooden barrels and covered with cloth and allowed to ferment until they begin to emit a pleasant aroma. Once fermented, the leaves are rolled again into tight strips and then placed in bamboo baskets which are hung over burning pine boughs. As the leaves dry, they further develop their smoky flavor. The Lapsang process results in a tea with leaves that are thick, black, and glossy.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Not long ago, Pekko Teas introduced themselves to the members of Steepster by offering us free tea! Well, I wasn’t about to pass up such a generous offer! This is the tea that I received (it was a random selection), and while it is not a tea I would have selected for myself (I’m not big on Lapsang Souchong as some of you may already be well aware), I am glad that this was the tea that was randomly selected for that very reason. Well, that and the fact that this is a really good Lapsang Souchong!
I prepared this the same way I would normally prepare a Lapsang Souchong, with a quick preliminary rinse before steeping for 2 1/2 minutes. The result is a smoky-sweet cup that is actually rather delightful. I find that this initial rinse is especially important with Lapsang Souchong (at least for me it is!), it helps tone down the smokiness just enough so that I don’t feel like I’m drinking pine ash. This allows me to fully enjoy the wonderful notes of the Lapsang.
And this is really a wonderful cup. Smoky, yes, and as I mentioned, sweet. The caramel-y sweetness melded together with the smoke is quite delicious. The smoke is strong, but it doesn’t overpower the cup. I can taste delicate notes of pine, and a rich earthy undertone. It is an aggressive cup and would make a good choice for a morning tea – especially good for those mornings when you’re just not ready to wake up but you have to anyway.
I’m really quite delighted with this tea … the first that I’ve had the opportunity to try from Pekko Teas, but I daresay not the last!
Pure Black Tea/Ji Hong Men Tea from In Nature
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: In Nature
Production Description:
Ji Hong Men
The best Black Tea in the market. Superior taste and aroma. One can drink at any time and even during meals. Unlike with most Chinese Teas, people will often add sugar and milk. It is also known as Red Tea (hong cha).
This tea brews to a reddish-brown colour with an exquisite rich soothing taste and aroma. An Hui region
Pack size: 50g
Servings: 50 cups or more. Full instructions on how to prepare the perfect cup of tea inside each box
Tasters Review:
Recently I received a shipment of tea from the UK. I always LOVE getting tea from different countries! In Nature or innteas.com has a very attractive website, great customer service with wonderful email correspondence, and their packaging is unique and very reminsicent of Nature and it has their Nature-Themed Feel to it.
The first tea I tried was their Pure Black Tea also known as Ji Hong Men. At first I thought…oh…ANOTHER “Pure Black Tea’…BUT…this is NOT your average tasting black tea! This is fantastic! The taste is so full and so bold!
I’m truly amazed! It infused pretty dark and smells almost ‘baked’. The taste is a magnified black – not a bitter black but a cakey, bakey, chewy type black!
It’s very memorable and I am already telling my friends about it!
