Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Adjectives’

When the average American first learns of tea, then tend to learn about black tea (often Lipton-eqsue types of black tea) or herbals. If they’re lucky enough to start to explore the genre of tea, then the worlds of greens, whites and oolongs come into focus, but the pu-erhs often remain uncharted territory. Of all types of tea, pu-erhs seem the most mis-understood and mysterious teas out there. I often see people new to tea mention that they are *scared* of them. And, that can be understandable; some of the adjectives often associated with pu-erhs are big, strong, bold words like “leathery,” “earthy,” and in worst case scenarios “fish-tank-y.” I don’t want to drink a fish tank. Ew!

Personally, I’ve only started to stratch the surface of pu-erhs. And even in this small sampling I’ve had some that I’ve spit out, and some that I’ve absolutely adored. So I went into this tea with a very open mind – this one could be anything. It came in cute little mini-cakes smelling vaguely of rose. But it wasn’t as scented as the name suggested – I was expecting more floral On brewing, it steeped at a rich carmely brown – a little lighter than I’d expected. And the flavor was very smooth with a hint of a sweet finish. Not as much of the earthy strong characteristics I’ve come to associate with pu-erhs, but rather a medium-bodied brew. And again, not much floral, either in the scent or the flavor.

This is a rich and soft brew. Don’t come to this tea expecting lots of rose. You won’t find it. But you will find a nice mellow pu-erh. This would be a good springboard pu-erh for those afraid or hesitant to try them.

You can purchase the Rose Scenter directly from the Chicago Tea Garden website.

My uneducated acronym for Assam is A Specially Strong Awakening Morning tea, and this selection from Tea Forte’ fits perfectly.

You’ll find it in Tea Forte’s organic filterbag selections, although my sample was loose, which gave me the opportunity to really enjoy the bready aroma of the small loose leaves.

Steeped toward the five-minute edge, Forte’ Breakfast is a beautiful red-brown color and has the strong and hefty kick you need to boot yourself out the door on a cold morning.  It lives up to the malty and full-bodied adjectives typically connected to an Assam. Need a little milk and sugar? It’ll take it.

Should you feel a need to procrastinate and drink a second steep, you may be glad you did (little less water, little more time). Minus the “boot prints” of the first strong cup, you’ll pick up some lighter, nuttier notes that continue to coax you up and around: “Come on, dear, it really isn’t that bad; take off the ratty bathrobe, splash a little warm water on your face and you’ll be fine, just fine.”

This is a good one: a tea you can spend a whole morning with.

You can purchase the Forte Breakfast directly from the Tea Forte website.

Irish breakfast tea should need no mollycoddlin’; it should be a tea that will allow you to stagger into the kitchen on a weekday morning with your eyes half closed and throw an indiscriminate amount of leaf into the cleanest cup you can find in the sink, dump in water at the first hint of a kettle whistle, and there! Bob’s yer uncle.

I’m not sure Golden Moon’s take on Irish Breakfast can handle that kind of mistreatment, but it’s definitely tasty. I made my first test cup on a leisurely weekend so I had time to fully open my eyes and give it a good look. The first thing I noticed was that, even at a full five minutes, the color was lighter than I expected. Taking a second look at the dry leaves, that’s not a surprise—there’s a generous amount of blonde golden tips in the mix.

While rolling around possible adjectives for this tea, stout and robust didn’t make the list at all. Golden Moon Irish Breakfast is more malty and fruity than one would expect, but still has enough character to stand up to the “breakfast” category. No milk needed, but a.m. additives don’t weaken its taste or personality.

According to Golden Moon’s website, the type of Irish Breakfast I described in the opening paragraph might be considered “too bitter for the faint of heart.” Thus, their blend, hand-picked from a market in Cork, England, has toned down the kick to make a cup that says “top o’the mornin’ to ya.”

You can purchase the Irish Breakfast directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

The name of this tea is somewhat misleading—it represents the accurately, but doesn’t convey its character well at all. With sugar and caramel as the leading adjectives, I expected a heavy, sweet tea with the flavor of Sugar Daddies that would be fine alongside a doughnut or work well as a dessert tea.

If that’s what you’re looking for, best move on.

With that said, this is a sweet and sophisticated tea. The dry leaves are rolled into nuggets and smell like heavenly butterscotch drops. The liquid itself is gorgeous, clear, and gold. The flavor is delicate and champagne-y (typical of really good oolongs). The sugar and caramel—they’re there, just in a “Where’s Waldo” sort of way—hit you as you swallow, not as you sip.

Even the spent leaves are huge and lovely. I made mine in a little tea-for-one pot so I could reserve the leaves for a second round. Steeped an extra minute, the second cup was as good as the first.

Golden Moon’s Sugar Caramel Oolong is not a casual tea for when you need a quick shot of caffeine and sugar. Reserve this one for an afternoon when you have time to drink from your best porcelain cup and ponder the complexities of a really fine oolong.

You can purchase the Sugar Caramel Oolong directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

I have had this tea for a few weeks but wanted to wait for the perfect occasion to try it.  Mark T. Wendell has a reputation for exquisite teas and seems to import only the very best.  In business for over a hundred years, it wins customer loyalty by superb service and quality.  I’ve long been a fan of their black teas but have yet to try one of the oolongs.  Today was a grey and gloomy day which called for a special tea to provide sunshine within.   Mark T. Wendell’s Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong  was a much more than satisfying compensation for a dank chilly afternoon.

The leaves are long, slightly twistes, and have a magnificent dark chestnut color  with some pearly silver tips.  They slowly unfurled and majestically filled the tea pot, creating a dark golden liquor.  Although the odor and aroma was not pronounced, the taste of the tea was simply lovely.  The best adjectives that sprang to mind were  regal and stately.   By that, I mean that the tea is clearly a “king” or “queen” of the oolong family.  The taste is both self-assured and a little bit playful in that it can smoothly segue from a woodsy taste to a floral one to a fruity one.   The different waves of flavor are typical of a leaf that has been exposed to sophisticated and careful growing methods.  

The multiple layers of taste and flavor assure that you will have a remarkable tea experience with Mark T. Wendell’s Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong.  I had several infusions.  Although the tea does not need sugar at all, I experimented with adding some on the third infusion and it did not spoil the tea at all–the Demerara sugar added a bit of a jam-on-toast affect to the tea which was delicious and it did not take away from the strong elements of the tea.  I than added some milk and the tea stands up very well to the milk.  For those who like a milky or creamy tea, this tea’s wealth of flavors are not diluted by the milk.

Mark T. Wendell’s Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong tea is a splendid investment if you want some impressive flavors to brighten your day.  If it were a liquor, I would call it a champagne.  If it were a painting, I would call it a classical Dutch master.  If it were music, I would call it Mozart.  

You can purchase the Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.