Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Afternoon Tea’

Product Description:
Madagascar mixes rich black tea with slices of real vanilla bean to produce a deep flavor that incorporates notes of dark rum, sweet earth and tropical flowers. Both smooth and exotic, this loose leaf tea is great served with buttered toast as a special morning treat.

Tasters Review:
Although this one isn’t my favorite offering from Golden Moon I didn’t think Madagascar Vanilla was bad either. I did find some interesting traits and characteristics that I would like to share! First…the aroma! It smells nice both before, during, and after infusion. It ‘brews’ dark brown and is quite mellow in taste. I’m more of a “In Your Face” Bold and Black Tea Drinker for the first cup of the day and when I first sampled this it was my first cup of the day. I didn’t think it was overly strong but it makes a nice mid morning or afternoon flavored Black Tea. Overall it was an ‘alright cup’ but I was looking for something stronger for first thing in the morning. If you like a mellower black tea…this one might be right up your alley!

You can purchase the Madagascar directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

I’ve said in the past I have enjoyed Mark T. Wendell’s Hu-Kwa and have found that to be one of the best smoky teas out there!  Well, this one is like Hu-Kwa’s younger, prettier sister!  It’s a great pick-me-up and has an oh-so-slightly smoky flavor. If you are scared of smoky teas try this one! She’s the girl-next-door!

You can purchase the Victorian Afternoon directly from the Mark T. Wendell website.

I wish I was at home, reading a book on a nice summer afternoon, because this tea deserves that. Or at least it deserves a little more than sitting in my boring cube at work in the middle of winter. A nice light tea, with strong ginger and lemon tones. While mild, this cloudy sage-green brew is not subtle. It is definitely GINGER and Lemon. Ginger is the strongest element, and comes out more in the flavor while the lemon flavor comes out more in the scent. The herbal element here is more to the fore than the tea element; it really feels more like a herbal than a flavored green tea. The blend works well both sweetened and unsweetened. I also bet this would be lovely iced.

You can purchase the Lemon Ginger Snap directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

The dry leaves are black, small and wiry.
The smell of the dry leaves…smoke.
This is my first experience with a smoky tea. The smell from the bag reminds me of cigars.

This smoky smell is now very faint, almost pleasant. The wet leaves have unfurled quite a bit, you can see larger leaves that look brown-green in color and smaller leaf segments that are one tone brown. Looking at the wet leaves reminds me of a melted brown crayon. The texture begs you to touch the leaves, they are soft and velvety.

The brew is a reddish liquid that looks like velvet in my glass tea cup. Smooth taste with no bitterness, but that smoke is still there in the background waving his hand at my taste buds. If you like smoke in teas, then this could your tea. As for me, I am still on the hunt for that one perfect “gotta have it” tea for my cupboard.

You can purchase the Victorian Afternoon directly from the Mark T. Wendell website.

I’ll start off by saying I wasn’t exactly sure how to brew this tea. The sample packaging had no steeping parameters on it, so I tried the website and didn’t find any suggestions. I decided to brew this a little on the safe side and stick to 2 minutes at 195 F and used 16oz of water to 2 teaspoons of tea leaves.

Steeping with these parameters allowed for a vibrant red-orange liquor. I stopped at 2 minutes because of the darkness of the brew. I’m enjoying the aroma of this tea. It has a deep berry scent, possibly blackberries or currants, and I can still smell the black tea in it.

I taste sweet strawberries as I sip this tea. Similar to a strawberry cream scone we have at a nearby bakery; a sweet bakery strawberry rather than a ripe fresh strawberry. There is a hint of darker berry to the undertones of this tea. Something that makes it more complex than just strawberry black tea.

I would serve this tea over brunch with pastries and other sweet treats, or maybe as an afternoon tea. I enjoyed this sample, and am going back for a second mug.

You can purchase the Silver Star directly from the Red Leaf Tea website.