Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Dry Tea’

Earl Grey tea is one of the most popular and well-known kinds of tea in the Western world. It was named after the second Earl, Charles Grey, of Britain in the 1830s. Charles Grey was the prime minister at the time the act was passed to abolish slavery in the British Empire. This is quite an accomplishment, yet people know him for his tea instead.

Tea tasting one:

The smell of the dry tea bag is of a classic Earl Grey tea with bergamot oil.

A three minute infusion and the tasting profile are of citrus. No perfume as some EG’s tend to lean. This one needs no milk or other additives. The tea base is smooth, no astringency. Overall, a mild EG teabag with balanced notes.

Tea tasting two:

Brewed the teabag for 4 minutes. First sip and I am getting the same citrus notes as last time I enjoyed this tea. But, as I neared the bottom of my cup bitterness overtook me. The obvious observation to make from this to not overbrew this tea. Three minutes and the EG was smooth and very drinkable. Four minutes and the tea is nearly undrinkable.

I do think that Hampstead tea bags are better than what you might find at your local supermarket. These bags are filled to the brim with quality tea and make an enjoyable cuppa.

You can purchase the Biodynamic, Organic and Fairtrade Earl Grey directly from the Hampstead Tea website.

To be a white tea fan, one must generally appreciate tea that whispers, not shouts. Most white tea is subtle and only hints at having a flavor. Thus, Coconut Vanilla Flavored white is a pleasant surprise to a drinker of louder, bolder flavored teas. It doesn’t exactly shout but it speaks audibly, firmly, and pleasantly!

The dry tea is beautiful–big, long-legged leaves, complemented by white coconut shavings and tiny rosebuds—and would be lovely in an apothecary jar. Its aroma is smooth and sweet, not greenish or grassish.

But don’t spend too much time with your nose in the dry mix–get on with making yourself a cup, because you’re in for a treat. The steeped tea is pale, but don’t let the color fool you. It’s velvety-thick and every bit as coconutty sweet as “advertised” in by dry aroma: very, very similar in character to white chocolate cocoa.

The quality pai mu dan leaves take a second steep well. A good thing: you’ll want seconds!

You can purchase the Jasmine Green Tea directly from the TeaFrog website.

I have two tea bags with which to form a review of this tea. So, I will be sharing my thoughts on this tea as I progressed through both tea tastings.

First tea bag:
The smell from the dry tea bag is minty. The teabags from Hampstead Tea are really full, not your typical tea bag. I brewed the bag for 2 minutes, added a splash of milk and sipped. “What does this remind me of? Dirt? No, mint.” For me the tea has a mint aftertaste. Is this bad? It depends, do you want your breakfast tea to remind you of mint? I decided on this first cup that I did not want mint with breakfast.

Second tea bag:
The smell from the dry tea bag is minty. No denying the mint flavor. As I brewed for two minutes, I braced myself for the previous flavor profile. I sipped my first sip and hum…it seems better to me. Is it a tea that I would pick for breakfast? Probably not. I did read another reviewers take on this tea and they compared it to a Darjeeling. I can see that comparison now that I have drank two full cups of this robust black tea.

Overall, I like Hampstead Tea tea bags, they are full and brew up nicely. This particular EB left me wanting something else. It is just not my cup of tea.

You can purchase the Organic Fairtrade English Breakfast directly from the Hampstead Tea website.

On the package, Hampstead Tea promises the drinker an evening on the beach. So, with that promise in cup, I brewed up this Lime Green tea.

As I look at the dry tea bag, I can see bits of ginger intermingled with an abundance of tea leaves. The smell of the dry tea bag is of limes. Ok, I have never had lime in my tea. A two minute infusion, the tea bag is heavy as I pull it out of the water. This is not your run of the mill grocery store tea bag, these bags are full and the leaves expand into the entire tea bag. My first sip…’you put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up’ hum…sorry I got carried away by the LIME in my tea. Did I mention it had LIME in this tea? The lime is not overpowering, it balances the green tea. Oh my, I have never tasted a green tea that was so refreshing, so different, so totally not grassy or bitter.

OK, so now you know my issues with green teas: bitter, grassy, generally yucky. BUT, Hampstead Tea promises that their green teas are never bitter or grassy and it is all because they grow their Organic Fairtrade green teas at a higher altitude. I say hooray for the higher altitude and for a company that goes that extra mile to bring us good organic affordable teas.

When I first started on my tea journey, I drank green tea. I kept thinking over time I would learn to love it, but I never did. Granted I was not drinking high quality leaves, but I did not like it. Since that feeble attempt at green teas, I have found a few that I can tolerate to drink. This green tea is in a class all by itself in my humble opinion, it is mellow and fresh. I find myself looking forward to the next cup. As you might have guessed by now, I am a fan of this Lime Green tea. It is a perfect after meal tea. I can see myself drinking this throughout the day and night. The caffeine is low on this one, so this can be added to your nighttime tea stash.

Lime zest + Green Tea = Enjoyment.

You can purchase the Lime Green directly from the Hampstead Tea website.

I picked out a couple different Rishi herbal blends to try because I’ve discovered that the only non-caffeinated teas in my cupboard were pretty much exclusively rooibos and honeybush. A little variety wouldn’t hurt.

The dry tea smells liked Christmas dinner in a field of peppermint – no really! The scent is a blend of savory sage and mint with very little bergamot apparent to my nose. The taste of the peppermint is quite dominant in the tea itself, but the sage and thyme provide a strong counterpoint to it. There’s not a lot of bergamot really that I can pick up – a faint, sweet citrusiness is all I get from it; so personally I think the tea’s name is a bit of a misnomer.

I find the whole thing to taste a bit medicinal, like the sort of thing I’d drink if I was sick with the flu. All the same it’s a nice alternative to the typical mint tea and I think it would make a nice drink after a big meal to aid digestion as many of the herbs in the blend are supposed to help with that sort of thing.

I gave this tea a Steepster rating of 71/100.

You can purchase the Bergamot Sage directly from the Rishi Tea website.