Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Fairness’

The first thing I noticed when I went to drink this tea were the directions on the side of the sample package I had. They said to empty the contents of the package into eight ounces of water and steep for three to four minutes. I have to raise issue with this as there is enough leaf in the sample package to satisfy an eight cup teapot at three to four minute steepings. That being said, I chose to not follow the directions and instead used about half a teaspoon of leaf in my small gaiwan (six ounces or so).

Boil water, rinse the leaves, steep for thirty seconds, pour into the fairness cup, serve. Repeat. I was pleasantly surprised by this tea. Based on past experiences with coconut flavoured teas, including other companies’ coconut oolongs, I did not have high expectations. In general, it seems that most companies take a mediocre oolong or black tea and douse it in artificial coconut flavouring. This one, on the other hand, got it right. The initial taste is of oolong. Plain and simple. But then the flavour of coconut kicks in, and it does not taste fake! Rather, it tastes a bit like coconut oil, and provides and delightfully sweet aftertaste.

I enjoyed this tea very much. On my personal enjoyment scale, I give it an 85/100 and would definitely recommend it to lovers of coconut flavoured tea.

You can purchase the Coconut Oolong directly from the Rishi Tea website.

I began by preparing this tea (in my Tea Forte Cafe Cup), following the directions given on the Tea Forte (steep 3-5 minutes using just-boiled water).

When I first opened the cardboard package containing the pyramid-shaped tea bag, I was immediately struck by the very sweet vanilla smell. It was delectable. The website lists that this tea also contains coconut slivers, and, indeed, traces of coconut were certainly evident in the aroma.

After steeping for three minutes, I decided to remove the tea bag and test the flavour. Upon removing the lid, I noticed the colour was an unremarkable brownish-red of black tea. Then I smelled the tea. The scent of coconut had all but disappeared, and the aroma of vanilla had actually deepened and taken on more muted tones.

With the first sip, I was disappointed. The taste of the vanilla was barely there. I suspected this might have something to do with the length of steeping time, so I put the tea bag back in for another minute. (On a side note, something I really appreciate about the tea bag design is the stiff string, making it easy to move the tea bag around.)

This additional steep complete, I tried the tea again. This time, the vanilla was much more prominent, almost spicy. The liquid itself remained wonderfully smooth. The spiciness was actually a delightful treat, tingling a bit at the back of one’s throat as the tea is swallowed.

Sadly, the coconut that was originally smelled when the tea bag was first brought out is nowhere to be found. This could just be on account of the fact that my taste buds are not very familiar with the actual taste of coconut (which, in all fairness, I have only tasted on rare occasions). The vanilla, however, completely makes up for this lack of coconut, in my opinion. It is certainly one of the best vanilla loose leaf teas I have ever had (out of a total of perhaps three to five, as my vanilla tea explorations have not ranged very far).

I would not call the flavour itself rich, but it is certainly not mellow. This seems to be the sort of tea that could be drunk, cup after cup, all throughout one’s day. And, with the caffeine it contains, would be an excellent stimulant during long work hours.

To test the stamina of the tea, I decided to steep another cup, increasing the steep time by one minute (to bring it to 5 minutes total). The aroma is less intense than before, as was to be expected, but the vanilla smell is still deliciously pleasing. The taste is still quite good as well, albeit not as intense as the first cup. The spiciness is gone, but the smooth vanilla flavour remains.

Over all this was a very good tea. If I were to purchase it in large quantities, I think I would opt for buying the loose leaf in a canister, to allow me to vary the amount of tea used per steeping (and also allow me to more easily steep a large pot of it at once). On my personal enjoyment scale of 0-100, I rate Tea Forte’s Orchid Vanilla black tea a 75/100.

I just have one final question, that perhaps a fellow drinker, or even Tea Forte could answer… “Why orchid, and where is it?”

You can purchase the Orchid Vanilla directly from the Tea Forte website.