English Breakfast Black Tea by Steeped Tea

by Sensiblyscript
I steeped this tea for two minutes at 212 degrees, with one heaping teaspoon per cup of water.
So this is another tea company I haven’t tried before, how exciting! Let’s get right to the details of this tea. I guess it’s a blend of black teas, since that ‘s how english breakfast teas are generally made.  It has a nice, hearty, strong fragrance, which is of course exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from a breakfast tea (after all, it’s meant to help you wake up in the morning, right?).
It smells a smidge bitter while steeping, but mainly you notice that strong, robust tea flavor! After steeping, it doesn’t look super dark; instead, there’s a cedar-like, chestnutty color, and it’s very clear rather than opaque. The smell fortunately is less bitter after steeping has ended, and I can detect some malty notes.
The tea itself isn’t noticeably viscous/thickened. At the first sip I notice plenty of astringency combined with a tad of bitterness, but not a lot. It’s not too bitter (not as bitter as you’d expect from how it smelled while steeping), so I’m sure people who like really strong tea (or coffee) would love it, or it would be perfect for if you’re planning to have it with milk and sugar. Or, to avoid the bitterness, I’d consider steeping it a tad cooler next time.
While sipping this I can detect plenty of tannins–it seems to be a highly oxidized tea, which is just what black tea is supposed to be, but it also has an extremely tangy flavor, which I find quite helpful for waking up in the mornings (or even in the afternoons if I’m having a hard time staying awake after lunch).
There’s not much in the way of floral or cocoa notes, although there may be a touch of maltiness deepening the flavor here and there.
Of course I also had to add milk (to test my it-would-be-great-with-milk theory) and discovered that this tea is indeed lovely with milk, and that the milk takes out the bitterness just as I was hoping. With milk this tea has a strong, creamy, and excellent flavor, and I find it to be exactly the sort of tea I enjoy the most. <3

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy:  Steeped Tea
Description
This classic breakfast tea is fresh, full and flavorful. Traditionally served with milk.
Ingredients: Black tea.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Steeped Tea

Black Ruby – Taiwan – Sunmoon Lake from Terroir Tea Merchant. . . .

by teaequalsbliss

I don’t think I have disliked any of the teas I have tried so far from the Sunmoon Lake region of Taiwan! Lucky for me I had another one to examine! This time it was Black Ruby – Sunmoon Lake – Taiwan – from Terroir Tea Merchant!

Back Ruby from Terroir Tea Merchant is a low altitude black tea of Sun Moon Lake origin. It’s an ECO Cert organic certified legendary black tea with a smooth, sweet, and intriguing flavor. There are specs of cinnamon and mint to provide a natural yin and yang of sorts. It’s malty and sugary…naturally-speaking…there is no added sugar to this…it’s a straight-up black tea, folks!

In the product description it says this tea is Harvest Ruby #18 cultivar, Hand picked in small batches in the summer, Certified Organic, and the processing is Hand picked and natural withering for 12 hours in partial sunlight. Black Ruby is grown in a forested area of central Taiwan under natural conditions through organic cultivation.

This tea offers a sweet, smooth, and rich flavor with a deeper and more complex character that develops as you continue to drink it. As I stated before this pure tea has a natural fragrance of cinnamon and mint. PLUS a distinctive sweet malt flavor that is reminiscent of bourbon or even brandy. There is NO astringency and has a lingering taste that is very pleasing!

According to the company website and product description Black Ruby is unique and versatile because it can be enjoyed with any meal at any time of the day. Foods with spices like cinnamon and mint would complement the flavor profile of the tea. For more specific food pairings they suggest a cinnamon bun or pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast or a decadent chocolate mousse served in a brandy snap basket to enhance the tea’s sweet malt flavors.

I LOVE that they offer suggestions and pairing with this tea! What a great all around tea experience!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Terroir Tea Merchant
Description

ECO Cert organic certified legendary black tea with a smooth, sweet and intriguing cinnamon and mint flavour. This tea is guaranteed to excite even the most jaded taste buds.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

teaequalsbliss

Co-Founder/Co-Creator of Sororitea Sisters at Sororitea Sisters Jennifer (TeaEqualsBliss) is in her upper 30s and lives in the eastern snowbelt area of the US with her husband, 3 dogs, and cat (however the number of furkids can change at anytime as she LOVES providing a forever home for many shelter animals. Her several interests include music, movies, veganism, sports, traveling, collecting Baseball Cards and Unicorns, Radio, Computers, Crafting, and of course…TEA. She started drinking tea at the tender age of 3 thanks to her Grandmother and her love for tea has gotten stronger with each year! In addition to being a co-founder/co-creator of Sororitea Sisters - her main site is MyBlissfulJourney.com. Find out more about Jennifer on MyBlissfulJourney.com.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Terroir Tea Merchants

Everest Sunrise from Conundrum Tea

by CuppaGeek

EverestSunriseTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Conundrum Tea

Tea Description:

This double-roasted black tea has almost no astringency or dryness to it but it contains some very complex, full flavors.  It tastes of molasses, raisin, and sweet potato with more subtle hints of grape and caramelized sugar.  It has an incredibly sweet aftertaste for a black tea.  The orange color of the brewed tea reminds us of a fire and the leaves have a strong, sweet fragrance along with a root vegetable smell which is common for the high-altitude teas of Nepal.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’ve only had a few Conundrum Teas in the past but what I have tried has been amazing! Right from the start I knew this tea was going to be different and a nice change of pace. The dry leaf had such a lovely robust feel to it.

Brewed this up like a black tea -212F prepped water with about a 4 minute steeping time. Never having this tea before, I wanted to error on the side of caution.  I didn’t want to oversteep.

Took my first sip and the description of this tea fits this tea perfectly.  Sweet with hints of a sweet potato like finish.  Almost and I hate to say it, dirt like? But take that as a good thing.  This tea is delicious.  The sweetness really mixes well with this malty note that is going on.  I didn’t so much get the grape flavor but all the rest I did.  Such a cool tea.  So many different notes and flavors going on.  Each sip I take I sit here and try to figure out exactly what I’m picking up.

This is why I started to drink tea.  It is just such an adventure. . .especially when you are drinking a delight like this one. So good with so many different attributes. I think I need another cuppa!

CuppaGeek

I am a late 30s something mom who loves her family, will be getting married to a wonderful guy and has 4 kids (2 mine-2 his). We have a beautiful life together and I wouldn't change a thing. Tea is a passion that quickly turned into an obsession, very similar to my love for polka dots, the horror genre, and anything that is geeky and fun. I drink all kinds of tea and will try a tea twice to make sure I didn't bumble the first infusion. Besides SororiTea Sisters, I'm also the blogger and genius (I use that word very loosely) behind CuppaGeek, where I review tea, books, and the horror genre.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Conundrum Teas, Tea Company, Type Of Tea

The Full English from Twinings

by CuppaGeek

TheFullEnglishTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Twinings

Tea Description:

This tea is not available on the US Twinings website. 

Learn more about Twinings Black Tea options for the US here

Taster’s Review:

I am on a quest.  A quest to drink down some tea.  My tea cupboard has gotten outrageously out of control.  So I am now honor and duty bound to drink some up before this coming fall season when there will be pumpkin spice and apple pie teas tempting me to gobble and snatch them up!

The first one I grab is one that isn’t available in the US.  This is something that I have always been confused about. Twinings has a US store and an international store.  The international store has an amazing selection of teas that make me drool thinking about them.  But alas,the same selection isn’t available on the US site.  Eventually one of these days, I’ll order form the international store and deal with the higher shipper cost.  For now, I’m happy I was able to try this one.

The Full English is a tea I believe I picked up from a Steepster member who was putting together some pretty amazing boxes from her travels.  I couldn’t resist.  I kept reading these amazing reviews from teas she had picked up from other Steepsterites and I wanted to be part of the club!

I say this with my head low but this is the first time I’ve even cracked into the box.  I know! Shame on me.  Like I said, my tea cupboard is getting out of control.

I brewed this up like a traditional black-212F-3 minutes and pulled the tea bag out.  I didn’t want to leave this one in which turned out to be a good thing.  At 3 minutes this tea was already turning bitter.  The first few sips were just plain lovely black unadulterated black tea.  Nothing fancy, just good. But as this starts to cool, the bitterness is swooping in.

For a tea at work, this one would do, but I would be afraid that I would constantly have an issue with the bitterness.  This is definitely one you don’t want to forget about. I can just picture this one being lovely when at a tea party or enjoying a spot of milk in it along with a treat.  Yum!

CuppaGeek

I am a late 30s something mom who loves her family, will be getting married to a wonderful guy and has 4 kids (2 mine-2 his). We have a beautiful life together and I wouldn't change a thing. Tea is a passion that quickly turned into an obsession, very similar to my love for polka dots, the horror genre, and anything that is geeky and fun. I drink all kinds of tea and will try a tea twice to make sure I didn't bumble the first infusion. Besides SororiTea Sisters, I'm also the blogger and genius (I use that word very loosely) behind CuppaGeek, where I review tea, books, and the horror genre.

This post was posted in Black Tea, Tea Company, Twinings, Type Of Tea