Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Black tea’

I think that one of the best things that ever happened to Earl Grey tea was meeting the vanilla bean.  It must have been movie magic.  I can see it now…

INT: A Parisian Salon.

Various teas and flavorings lounge about, chatting, discussing worldly matters and current gossip.  VANILLA sits in the corner, alone, draped across a chaise longue.   She is long, lean and highly sweetly scented.

The camera pans to the door where EARL GREY, a dark, swarthy yet citrus scented tea enters.  He scans the room until his eyes fall on VANILLA.  He beelines to her, drops to one knee, grabs her hand, and looks deeply into her eyes while kissing her hand.

EARL GREY (huskily): ‘Allo.  I find myself inexplicibly drawn to you.  I feel we could make amazing brews together.

VANILLA: (swoons)

Music swells.

….and scene.  Only problem is that just like movie magic, there are frequent copycats that just don’t have the verve and je ne sais qua of the original.  I’ve had varied luck with the different Earl Grey de la Cremes out there on the market.

Luckily, Distinctly Tea has got a pretty good version of this classic couple.  The black tea base of ceylon and assam is sturdy and the flavoring agents blend beautifuly.  The vanilla is creamy, and the bergamot avoids the trap of tasting like perfume.  Highly scented, highly flavorful.  Lovely tea.  I reccomend it.

Yum.

You can purchase the Earl Grey de la Crème directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

This tea emits an earthy, malty smell from the dry leaves.

3 minutes at boiling yielded a bready-yeasty flavor.

I attempted to add milk and sugar to get the Keeman experience I had grown to expect from china keemans, the result was a cup of milk and sugar. The tea completely disappeared with the additions!

The overall feel for this tea was lack luster. It lacked the true maltiness of a Keeman. I was expecting a really great cup of Keeman, but I was truly disappointed with this selection from Tula Teas.

You can purchase the Keemun Mao Feng directly from the Tula Teas website.

East Pacific Tea Co. are an op out of Maryland that specializes in bringing high-quality tea to the consumer. Their emphasis is not on creating the best deal for the drinker, but providing the best beverage experience. They know they supply top-of-the-line stuff, and they’re willing to put their money where their cup is. Given what I’ve seen of their selection, I can believe it. How many vendors out there carry both a Chinese yellow tea and a Darjeeling white? Answer: Not many.

I was elated to have received a sample of their Gold Flake. It was actually one I was eyeing for some time once their name came to my attention. It’s no secret that any tea with the word “gold” in the title instantly makes my ears perk. (My ears shouldn’t be able to do that.) To date, my absolute favorite black tea is Yunnan Golden Needles – the younger, the better. While this didn’t look like a smattering of tippy gold buds, it wasn’t an ordinary Dian Hong (Yunnan black) either.  There was an almost-even distribution between dark, curled leaves and gold-tipped ones. That and the luscious smell – oh my! It was like freebasing honey off an oak tree covered in muscatel spice. I found no difference between its aroma and some Golden Needles I’ve tried.

Brewing instructions called for a five-minute steep in 212F water (basically boiling). I was at work when I tried this, so I didn’t adhere to a rigid preparation. Usually, with a finer black tea, I only steeped for three minutes. With “gold” varieties, I lowered the water temp to 190F-195F. The hot water I had access to was about what I preferred, but I had no way of properly eyeing the time. So, I guessed as best I could. It seemed like five-or-so minutes.

Unlike Yunnan Gold Bud (or Jin Cha) tea, this brewed up rather dark; I would almost say red-brown. The scent echoed the dry scent, though – a woody, earthy, smoky, somewhat malty, and honey-like aroma. While it smelled characteristically Yunnan, there was also a robust, Assam-like profile to it. This definitely showed in the taste. I expected the usual nectary excellence like Yunnans of yore, but I wasn’t anticipating the sheer kick to the tongue that came after. Malt was there in force followed by an astringent kick at the finish line. More often than not, I don’t care for dryness in black teas. I usually associate that sensation with lower-quality products. That wasn’t the case here. Like with a hearty Assam, the astringent trail added to its already-masculine character. And also like an Assam, it packed a caffeinated wallop that’d roust even the most stubborn of sleepers. This is a meaty, morning tea if ever there was one.

You can purchase the Gold Flake directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

I may have mentioned this before, but one of my ever increasing number of hobbies* is researching and recreating Medieval cooking.  Much like today, medieval people were very into conspicious consumption.  They liked using expensive pricy ingredients to show off to their guests – “See!  Look how much money I can spend – just on dinner!”  Spices were always one of the most popular ways to show off wealth.  They were very expensive and very highly valued, and saffron was one of the more popular spices.

In the cooking I do saffron is mostly a coloring agent, as it turns the food a lovely golden color, and not used for flavor.  I find the flavor very light and subtle.  So I was very curious about what affect it would have on the tea.

The teabag smelled like generic tea.  Pouring water over the bag, it did turn bright yellow for a moment – then turned into a normal tea color.  The brewed aroma again smelled like a normal tea.  In drinking, I’m getting a bitter high note – like I over-brewed the tea, but it didn’t have the tannic drying effect that normally goes along with the bitterness.    I prefer my tea sweetened, so after a few sips of the tea unsweetened, I added my favorite sweetening agent.  It toned down the bitterness, and turned it into a very bright flavor.

Either way, I don’t think I like the addition of the saffron.  The tea behind the saffron tastes quite nice, and would have likely been a very nice cuppa on it’s own.  But as it is, it’s not really for me.

*My craft room is crying from from too much stuff and too many projects. You can almost hear it crying from the street, “no more stuff, take the yarn away!  I don’t need any more embroidery floss!”

You can purchase the BLACK SAFFRON directly from the Hampstead Tea website.

These teabags are adorable; little bendy strings with the leaf, the pyramid shape leaving room for the leaves to dance, the packaging.  They’re highly engineered and very cute.

However, it’s what’s inside that counts, and as a chai, it didn’t really stand out.  Chai should be bold and brave and spicy.  This is a delicate chai.  A demure chai.  Not quite a wall-flower chai, but definitely not the belle of the ball.  Nice to drink, but not something I’d actively seek out.

What I found that I really liked using this tea for was making cocktails with it.  I originally got this idea from a class I took at a local tea shop.  They had gotten the Tea Forte tea cocktails set in, and this is a modification of one of those recipes.  This is a LOVELY decadent drink, to replace dessert when you feel like laying about and being pampered.

1 Bombay Chai Tea Pyramid
Double shot of Whipped Cream flavored vodka (can be done with regular vodka, but this adds an extra dimension of yum)
ice
simple syrup
whole milk (or half and half if you feel REALLY decadent)

Take the bombay chai tea pyramid and put in a small cup.  Pour the vodka in, let sit approx. 5-8 minutes. Remove tea pyramid. Take a large juice or highball glass, fill with ice.  Pour in steeped vodka.  Then add at least 2 tbsp of simple syrup, more if you like things sweet (you can adjust after finishing the drink).  Fill the glass with milk.  Taste, adjust the sweetness with more simple syrup as needed.  Then enjoy.

The tea pyramid can be resteeped two to three times for more drinks.  (For you, or your friends - if you want to share.)  It’s amazingly yummy.  Completely decadent.  Lovely.

You can purchase the Bombay Chai directly from the Tea Forte website.