Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Williamson Tea
Tea Description:
Our take on the classic English Breakfast. Kenyan Earth is named after the coppery red soils that symbolize Kenya and this bright, brisk cup of tea. Grown on the high altitude slopes of Kapchorua and picked in the early morning sunshine our Kenyan Earth is an awakening, full bodied liquor that stimulates the body and mind.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Before you read my review. You have to take a look at the tea tin this tea comes in. That tin is gorgeous! Makes me want to place several orders for the tins alone. Not sure what I would do with them but who cares, they are stunning 🙂
Ok, the tea geek out is over and we can move on to the tea itself. Ha!
Williamson Tea is a tea I’ve never tried before. I’ve see and heard other reviews and pictures of their tea before but I just haven’t ever ordered from them. I have a feeling that is soon to change.
This particular Snowflake Kenyan Earth tea that I tried was tea bagged form and I have to say, you could see some pretty huge tea leaves hanging out in each tea pyramid. The tea itself has a nice sweetened aroma which I found a little difference since this is supposed to be a breakfast tea. Typically those tend to be a bit more malty and astringent.
Brewed this up with water freshly boiled and allowed the tea to sit a tad too long, totally my bad, multi-tasking failed me! But after what I’m guessing was about a 7 minute steep, I took my first sip.
For being a tea that I oversteeped, you really couldn’t tell at all! This tea was delicious at all fronts. Malty and rich with a slightly earth flavor here and there. This is the kind of tea that kicks your taste buds into gear! So rich and indulging. The tea was on the point of asking for a touch of cream or milk to really drink it proper. Towards the end while it cooled and became astringent (drink this one up hot if you don’t like astringent teas), there seemed to be a need for sweetening but wow. What a lovely tea to really give me a change of pace from the flavored teas I have been drinking. I’m not sure where that sweetness was coming from when I first checked the tea out but I have to say, this cuppa was just fantastic.
This is the kind of tea you want to greet you first thing in the morning!
Lifeboat Tea from Williamson Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Williamson Tea
Tea Description:
Lifeboat Tea is a lovely full-flavoured, family-owned tea that has been created to provide sustainable funding for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) – the charity that saves lives at sea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I had my misgivings about this – especially since I did recently have another Kenyan black bagged tea. I didn’t want to compare the two, because they are two separate teas, from two separate tea companies. Even the bags look different – these are the round tea bags without a “fetch-string” or tag on it, looking a bit like a rescue ring buoy. No, it’s not colored bright orange or anything, it just kind of evoked that image given the name of the tea.
This really isn’t so bad, though. I find it to be quite robust with a pleasant malty tone. A nice sweetness to it too. It is not unpleasantly bitter, but I suspect that had I oversteeped it, it might be. It has just a hint of bitterness to it, suggesting to me that if the teabag had been left in the water a few more seconds I might have a bitter cup of tea. But as it is, it is certainly not unpleasant, and I find the slight bitter tone to it gives a nice contrast to the overall cup.
This is not a bad cup of tea – but again, I must say that I’d rather it be a loose leaf tea rather than a bagged tea. But, because it is bagged, it does make a great choice for cold-brewing for iced tea. Even though it’s getting cooler (autumn is finally here!) I do still enjoy a glass of iced tea in the afternoon and with my meals, and this tea – iced – is really lovely. Particularly nice with a thin slice of lemon.
