Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Black Leaves’

Beautiful black leaves with bright orange shavings and large cranberries.

The smell from the bag is of perfume. I almost shunned away from this blend, but decided to forge ahead. I am so glad that I did!

After a 4 minute infusion, the perfume is gone and all that is left are berry notes. It reminds me of warm cranberry juice infused with black tea.

I drink this iced later and WOW! Iced is where this tea really shines through with the berry wonderfulness that I tasted before hot, but now those same notes are crisp and bright. I am really looking forward to summer and this tea. Good job Boston Tea Co.

You can purchase the Berry Medley directly from the Boston Tea Company website.

I’ve never had a plain Assam before. The closest I’ve come is the Irish Breakfast by Twinings which is a blend of Ceylon and Assam. I’m always fascinated by the string of letters found in the names of many teas, but I really have no clue what they were supposed to mean for me. I did a bit of research and apparently STGFOP stands for “Special Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.” Since that still doesn’t tell you much, I continued to peruse the internet looking for more information and from what I have read the letters refer to the leaf size. With STGFOP being the second largest leaf behind the FTGFOP designation.

I expected the dry leaves to be plain black leaves, but there is a fair amount of golden hay colored leaves as well. The scent of the dry tea is earthy and malty. While steeping, the aroma takes on a heavier malty aspect which I love. The brewed tea is a medium-brown in color.

I tried the tea plain at first and was surprised to find a very robust cup with little astringency. The additions of milk and sugar were handled nicely and encouraged the malty aspect of the tea to shine. As the tea cools, a slightly sweet honey flavor creeps in for a pleasant surprise.

This is a great example of what a plain black tea should taste like. Smooth and bold with a bit of sweetness thrown in.

You can purchase the Rani STGFOP 1st Flush 2010 Assam directly from the Lochan Tea website.

A blend of China and Sri Lankan teas.

Dry leaf appearance: teeny black leaves with a brown leaves intermingled throughout the blend. The smell of the dry leaves reminds me of grapes that are over ripe.

As the hot water enters the stage, the leaves are dancing in my glass tea cup. As the leaves unfurl, they are moving up and down in my cup. The bottom of my cup is now filled with leaves. As I pull the glass infuser basket out of the cup, I notice that a few leaves escape through the tiny holes, then I remember how small I thought dry leaves were in the package.

The color in my tea cup is burnt orange. The smell wafting from my cup is of grapes on the vine that have just arrived at that perfect moment of ripeness. I did not enjoy this tea, too bitter for me. This is one tea that makes me think that my tastes are not refined enough to find enjoyment with this tea.

You can purchase the Connoisseur directly from the Grace Tea Company website.

Oolongs come from primarily 3 regions Fujian & Guandong provinces PRC, and Tiawan. The mainland oolongs tend to have a savoriness to them – some describe this as a buttery feel. The Taiwan produced Oolongs, tend to be more delicate, and have a sweetness to them. Oolongs are teas that undergo a fermentation step during their processing. This process converts between 10% and 80% of the available sugars in the leaf, which produce the unique flavor and aroma characteristics of oolongs. These are some of the most complex, most inviting teas produced anywhere.

This Formosa Oolong Finest from Teafrog is a great example of a Taiwanese Oolong. Short reddish-black leaves with a faintly sweet aroma, with some broken leaf.

1St Steep: 3g (2tsp) tea in 6oz of 190F water, in my for Oolong Xing teapot for 4 minutes. Bright brown in cup, with a pleasantly strong spicy/perfume nose expected from Taiwanese Oolong. Spice with a bit of citrus sourness to the taste, with a nice smooth mouthfeel. The astringency is balanced and the dry aftertaste lingers.

Wet leaf shows good leaf shape, short leaf with a brown green color, and a musky smell.

2nd Steep (190F for 4.5 min) – Still a good spicy aroma, flavor much more balanced, and a slight sweetness to it. There is a bit more dryness to the aftertaste. This is a refreshing cup.

This is an excellent, every day Oolong. If you are looking for a Oolong to try, this is a good one to start with.

You can purchase the Formosa Oolong Finest directly from the TeaFrog website.