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.

The smell of the dry tea bag is ginger-y but sort of a candied ginger rather than straight-up, freshly-chopped gingerroot. Adding water brought out a delicious pear fragrance that reminded me of pear-flavoured hard candies with a hint of warm, spicy ginger.

Tea Fort’s teas have (in my personal opinion) a reputation for looking and sounding fancy but not really having much actual flavour or substance to them. But this tea proved me wrong. It tastes exactly like what it says it will – pear and ginger. The fruity pear dominates with the ginger complimenting it subtly rather than trying to compete with it for my taste buds’ attention. The whole thing is surprisingly sweet, almost like I’d added some sugar or agave nectar to it, and has a faint herbal-floral aftertaste.

I have to say that I REALLY enjoyed this tea and I think it would be a good one to convert someone who’s used to drinking Celestial Seasonings or Lipton to finer teas.

I gave this tea a Steepster rating of 90/100.

You can purchase Tea forte white ginger pear directly from their website.

One of the famous signature teas from the Mark Wendell Tea Company since 1904 has been the Hu-Kwa Lapsang Souchong. This black large leaf tea from Formosa (Taiwan) is distinctly smoky, taking flavours from the smoke of pine fires used in the tea processing. The history of this company is substantial and if you’d like more, check out this link. Since this tea has been well established, I was definitely expecting a superior tea and was looking for expert handling of the firing. This was all before I found out that this tea was mostly sold to the Boston elite. Now we can sample what finer families have known for years, that Hu-Kwa is excellent tea. And, it is what it has been called, a standard to measure all other Lapsang Souchong teas by.

In examining the dry leaf, I noted there was a lot of stem, some of which was partially charred. Tea stems actually carry a mellow nutty flavour, reminding me of the Kuckicha twig tea from Japan. The smoke scent of the dry tea is is little overpowering at first however. Smoke is a flavour used often in specialty salt, paprika, fish such as salmon, meats and cheese. Smoke flavours should not be a flavour unfamiliar to many.

Although instructions on the Wendell web site for Hu-Kwa were lacking in terms of quantity of tea and amount of water to use, it was recommended to give 5 ½ minutes to the steep. I was a bit chicken and decided on 2.5 g. (1 heaping tsp.) of Lapsang Souchong would steep for 4 minutes in 120ml (about 5 oz) water. There was a deeper, more true bronze liquor colour than with the Golden Moon I tried the day before. There was soft, sweet smoke taste that it was less intense than Golden Moon. I was more aware of a pine flavour with the Hu-Kwa, with less “smoke” and maybe less “ash”. After a few sips, I was amazed that when I really focussed, there was a sensation like a perfume – the soft smoke flavours fills the nasal passage and head. This is what the allure of Lapsang Souchong tea is!

There was not only the flavour of smoke on the tongue, but also an astringency on the middle of the tongue. It is intriguing to taste this tea over and over again to enjoy the nuances. The Hu-Kwa is almost the same as the Golden Moon but has a deeper range of flavours despite the odd pine tar note on the tongue. I tried some soft cheese and found that the fats tempered the smoke and didn’t hide the flavour of the cheese. The tea didn’t really enhance the cheese I selected and I think with some more searching, one could find the right pairing with a goat cheese, an aged gouda, sharp cheddar, or blue cheese. You may think it odd, but this would make a great iced tea!

The 2nd steep was taken at a full 5 minutes and the flavours held true. I tried the second cup with chocolate-coconut almond bar because I’m adventurous, and found it was a very pleasant experience. When I looked at the brewed leaf, it was steamed open fully. So, I am eager to show this Hu-Kwa to friends and see what they think. It will certainly be a great Lapsang Souchong for anyone to begin with or for a master of tastes to enjoy.

You can purchase the Hu-Kwa Lapsang Souchong directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.

Moroccan Mint is one of my all time favorites – first discovered it by accidently making some. Had bought some gunpowder when I was in Chinatown, got home and brewed some up but found it boring. Added some Adagio Mintastic, perfection. It was my morning drink for years and now I have been reintroduced to it and I’m thrilled to try it.

The dry tea smells and looks fresh, with a generous amount of spearmint mixed in with small and shiny pellets of Gunpowder. Looks perfect and today is the perfect day for some Moroccan Mint – definite winter chill in the air. Steeped the leaves in boiling water for three minutes, the pellets exploded and unrolled and the water turned a nice, light orange yellow color. The taste is slightly peppery with a bit of a grassy flavor.

This is definitely one of the better Moroccan Mints that I’ve had and I’ll be recommending it to people when they’re struggling to find a source of warmth this winter.

You can purchase the Moroccan Mint directly from the Boston Tea Company website.

One of the perks of being married 25 years come September is the marital right to stick just about anything under your spouse’s nose and say, “Smell that!” without getting clobbered. In the case of nice tea from India, the response was “Wow! There’s something clove-y going on, isn’t there?”

While neither of us have a professionally trained tea nose, we did pick up some nice spicy, fruity notes in the dark dry tea. I suspect it has something to do with the area in which Banaspaty tea is grown — evidently the perfect greenhouse environment for teas.

The fruity tones come through loud and clear when this tea is brewed. Because I prefer my Assams on the meatier side, I let it steep a full four minutes before a taste test. Assam Banaspaty has the nice thick heft you’d expect from an Assam tea, but was surprisingly mild in flavor. While I don’t think milk and sweetener would harm this gentle brew, it certainly doesn’t need to be toned down any.  This would be a good introductory selection for someone new to the world of fine loose leaf tea.

You can purchase the Assam Banaspaty Organic directly from the TeaFrog website.

What an incredible tea!   The aroma of the  dry tea leaves instantly transported me to an orange grove where the blossoms are sweet and the fruit is mature and ready to pick.   This orange grove also has some very “meadow-y” undertones which is one of the characteristic aromas of a good green tea.  I love an aromatic dry tea and I am always deeply curious as to what will become of the aroma when the tea is steeped.   The aroma typically transmogrifies under the alchemy of very hot water I have noticed.  This is a good phenomenon and means that the tea is multifaceted and opens itself up to complexity throughout its various stages from dry, to steeping, to being consumed.

I allowed the water to come to a boil and then I allowed it to cool down to approximately 175 degrees.  The tea had suddenly transformed!  No longer was I in an orange grove but I felt as if I were in the middle of a lemon grove where the trees were heavy with ripe citrus fruit and the grass was green and smelled freshly mown.  The orange aroma, however, had not gone away.  At this point it was deferring to the greater tartness of the lemons.   The taste, however, brought my back to the supremacy of the orange.    Because the ingredients include lemongrass and natural essential oils of rose, orange, lime, and tangerine, I am not surprised that the lemon made a strong secondary appearance because another ingredient is “lemon myrtle”.   I was not certain what the “lemon myrtle” is, but just spent some delightful time researching it.  It’s like lemon without the tartness and is used in a lot of Pacific cuisines.

This absolutely delightful tea seems to be more of a general “citrus” tea than a specifically orange blossom one. True, the orange provides the primary aroma for the dry tea, but the lemon sweetly dominates the wet aroma and the taste.  I might have named it “Sweet Lemon Organic Tea”.  It’s a  medley of citrus blends with the lemon taking the harmonic lead after an  orange overture.  I hope that my notes convey my general delight with this tea.   I absolutely plan to buy more.   I enjoyed it hot and think it will be a fantastic iced tea as well.   I also can see it as a soothing tea for a cold winter day; as a healing tea for any respiratory problems, and as a delightful tea for entertaining.  Rishi Tea Organic Orange Blossom will bring out the flavors of snacks sweet and savoury and will create a great atmosphere for a private conversation or a large party.  Just because this tea presents itself with a slightly confusing identity is no reason not to rush out and buy some.  If you like orange or lemon you will love this tea.

You can purchase Rishi Tea Orange Blossom directly from their website. ]]> http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1526/tea-review-rishi-tea-orange-blossom-take-3/feed/ 0