Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Apricot’

I found myself in the mood for some Chinese red tea and reached for this one. The loose leaves are full and black, mixed with bits of ginger. The smell of apricot was the first to hit me when I opened this bag, then came the scent of peach, then ginger. Perfect scents to fight off the rainy night. The brew turned red as soon as the water touched it and the apricot smell intensified. Steeped for three minutes in boiling water then I set it down to let it cool while I enjoyed the scented steam.

The taste is smooth like you’d expect with a red tea, unfortunately, the smell that drew me in is just a bit too intense for my tastes. I would have loved it if this tea had more ginger to balance out the stronger fruity taste. Looking forward to brewing this one up with some added fresh ginger….

You can purchase the Ginger, Peach and Apricot Black Tea directly from the Boston Tea Company website.

Inside my sample I find small, broken leaves with a few yellow marigold petals.

The dry smell reminds me of black tea with a hint of something sweet.

Two teaspoons in boiling water with a three minute infusion produces a rich brownish red tea. The taste is smooth but could use something sweet. My Mother’s apple cake fits the bill and greatly enhances my enjoyment of this tea.

The tea itself is pretty one dimensional. I think if it had more of the apricot pieces, the tea would be better.

The package that my sample came in was a plain brown wrapper. No markings what so ever. I brew most of my black teas for three minutes, so I took a guess for this particular tea. It is not the star of the show, but paired with something mildly sweet the end result is satisfying.

You can purchase products directly from the Shanti Tea website.

This tea is one of the most celebrated white teas and the drinking proves it.  The dry leaf is exceptionally long, tippy, and silvery (just like a silver needle).  Clearly a lovely tea, the dry leaves glow with the promise of an exceptional brew.   The promise is more than fulfilled.  The flavor is phenomenally delicate and sweet.   The pale but lovely brew unfolds in waves of apricot, pear and melon with a simple, yet elegant, base of what can only be described as a naturally delicate freshness.  The tea’s aroma and taste evokes a fruit orchard in early spring, when the flavors and odors are young, delicate, and intoxicatingly seductive.  The bright fruitiness is the keynote here and if there is a slight green or hay-like taste, it is a back-up player to the delicacy of newly ripened fruit.

This tea is best consumed with careful consideration of its innate beauty and delicacy.  I would not drink it with anything but the lightest of foods:  you would not want it overwhelmed.  I think that the natural grace of this tea might be overwhelmed by milk.  The natural flavors could probably sustain and even be enhanced by some sweetener.  I chose not to use sweetener, because the fruity taste of the tea itself added a kind of honey.

Grace Tea Company’s Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle is one of the very finest teas I have consumed and can stand up nicely to multiple infusions.  I paid careful attention to the brewing instructions and was well-rewarded with one of the very best cups of tea.   It would be a triumph to serve this as the opening or closing course to a dinner party if your guests are paying close and careful attention to flavor and taste.

You can purchase the Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle directly from the Grace Tea Company website.

Vendor Description and Ingredients: One of our most flavorful teas. Light fruity grenadine lifts exotic caramel vanilla creating a unique heavenly flavor. Excellent smooth and mellow finish.

Review: I recently received this from a friend.  Apparently she lives near the Tea House where this came from.

The Pre-Infusion/Dry Loose Leaf smell is like Vanilla, Apricot, and a hint of chocolate… which is interesting because I don’t think 2 out of those 3 are even in there! But it smells really nice!  My nose can also pick up on a slight cookie or pastry speck of something, too.

While this loose leaf tea is infusing I can smell a little caramel, a little vanilla, a little grenadine, and of course, a little black tea.  The aroma is quite unique and the more I breath in the scents the more intrigued I am by it.

After infusing the wet leaves smell almost candied.  They also smell a little bit like wood.  The liquid itself certainly hits me as grenadine and black tea.

Organic Monks Sacred Blend by the Path of Tea has a handsome medium-dark brown color to it.

Much of the actual ingredients seem to play nice with each other and there isn’t any one ingredient that seems to be too over the top.  As far as I can taste – the grenadine – is in the forefront a bit more than the other ingredients – but it’s sweet and juicy and a great contribution to the flavor instead of being distracting.

You can purchase the Organic Monks Sacred Blend directly from the The Path of Tea website.

What a beautiful tea!

The dark green dry leaves are tightly twisted. There are only whole leaves in the bag.

This is a green oolong, in case you were wondering.

I brewed the tea for 3 minutes, 1 tsp per 6 ounce cup.

The notes that I taste are Buttery flavors. Apricot undertones.

The smell is slightly vegetal.

Overall, a good green oolong.

You can purchase the Pouchong directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.