Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Boiling Water’

7 minute brew time with boiling water

Very pretty blend. Green and yellow “grass” like cuttings are sprinkled throughout this lemony blend.

Champagne colored brew.

Lemon grass is the dominant flavor. This blend would be great added to another tea for that just right lemon addition.

As I neared the end of my cup, I noticed the astringency of this herbal blend, which makes me really think that using this as a mix in with another tea would really be the best use for this one.

Overall, a good lemony cup of herbal tea.

You can purchase the Lemonade directly from the Shanti Tea website.

So this is an interesting herbal tisane. Of course I’ve heard of a mulberry bush but I’ve never seen one and had no idea people used it for tea. A bit of research and I found that it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Most notably, used in the treatment on Diabetes, sounds like it shares some of the same qualities as Stevia. This particular tisane is organically grown and processed by a small, woman-owned company in Northeastern Thailand.

The dry leaves are whole and very aromatic, they smell just like a roasted Chinese red tea. Prepared the tea using the recommendations on the Tula Teas site, rinsed leaves, “old man” boiling water, steeped for three minutes. It steeps to a nice, light green colour and the scent magically changes from that of a green to a fruity herbal. It tastes like blackberries mixed with salmon berries but with a slightly nutty after taste. Second steep brings out more of a raspberry flavour and it is sweet but not overly so (like Stevia).

Now, Tula Teas suggests icing this tisane with a bit of milk and sugar. I am interested enough to try that later, not sure about it though. I added some milk to the hot brew and it wasn’t for me. I think it is sweet enough without adding anything else.

You can purchase the Green Mulberry Leaf directly from the Tula Teas website.

As I peered into the sample bag, I was struck at the beauty of this blend. It needs to be stored in a glass container just to admire the tapestry of colors. Think miniature potpourri.

The smell of the dry leaves reminds me of spearmint gum.

7 minute brew with boiling water

Burgundy colored brew

The first sip is sweet and minty. I really enjoyed this cup of tea. Sweet, but not too sweet. The mint is nicely balanced with the other flavors.

You can purchase the PITTA BALANCE directly from the Shanti Tea website.

Well, the notes on the website state that this tea will hit maturity in 2010 and peak in 2015. I have enough to try it now, and then hopefully remember to try this four years from now. The dry leaves smell creamy and smooth (I love the smell of cooked Pu’erh), and they have a bit of spice in the aroma. I notice a few stems in amongst the leaves, but the leaves are quite prettily twisted and twirled.

Rinsed, then steeped in a gaiwan for 30 seconds, the wet leaves smell even more creamy, still with a bit of spice, a bit like a nice brandy in a way. The liquor is a very bright and clear amber colour. For what it is worth, this tea looks great. I pour the first cup and sip…and sip…and sip. This tea is great. The flavour profile is not very bold, but it is delicious in its own simple way. There is even a strange hint of sweetness in the background.

The second and third infusions go by quickly as I thoroughly enjoy the simplistic wonder of this tea. I highly recommend it and give it an 87/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the 2005 Xing Hai Cooked Loose Puerh directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Hamstead Teas mentions that saffron was revered in ancient India as medicine sent from the gods. Other sources claim that saffron use actually dates back a staggering 50,000 years. Ancient Persians, Sumerians, and Assyrians cultivated it for pigments and for its apparent medicinal properties. The first documented botanical reference was made by the Assyrians in the 7th century B.C.E.

To this day, I don’t know what actual saffron tastes like, but I’ve had five teas with saffron scenting or strands in them. From what little I could tell – by palately separating the taster notes for the tea base – saffron has a sweet-’n-spicy taste with a floral dryness to it. I could be completely wrong in this assessment, since it is – after all – only based on flavor comparisons between blended teas.

This Saffron Black marked the sixth tea I was trying blended with the over-expensive flower. There was very little information on the package or the Hamstead site as to whether or not actual strands were used. If I had to guess, I would’ve said it was scented with saffron, much like how jasmine green teas are prepared. On dry presention, there wasn’t much I could discern. It was a teabag, so I couldn’t really judge the contents. Nor was I sure how many saffron strands there were per black tea fanning. I can say that it had a really sweet smell to it.

Brewing instructions on the Hamstead site called for boiling water and a three-minute steep. At times, I’m relieved when a review sample is a teabag. I was at work when I tried it. All I had to do was dunk the bag in a 12oz. coffee cup filled with 200F water, then let it steep for three minutes.

The liquor brewed crimson-to-medium-brown with a very dry and floral scent. That was either from the saffron strands/scenting or (more likely) a high-altitude black tea base. Taste-wise, it opened up with a sweet forefront that segued (again rather dryly) to a middle with some medium malt to it. The finish was actually rather pleasantly understated for a bagged black. Whatever the floral contribution was, it helped cut back on any tannic quality this would’ve initially had on its own.

I’m still of the opinion that saffron needs to be treated with the utmost respect, and – as such – be paired with a high-quality tea base. I wasn’t quite sure that was the case here. Hamstead does say that it was blended with Fair Trade black tea, but no details were given as to what kind. I’ve often wondered if saffron might pair well with a first flush Darjeeling or a Nuwara Eliya Ceylon – given those regions’ tendency toward floral-seeming teas. As it stands, though, it’s a decent enough blend.

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