Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Leaf Tea’

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.

Today I decided to review a herbal tea from Distinctly Tea, a new tea shop in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The tea is Ginger-peach Supreme. To the eye, the tea contains black leaf tea with white tea buds, sunflower petals and some other white flower petal that I could not identify. Upon reading the ingredients I found out that the black leaf is Ceylon tea and the white flower petal is Calendula petal. You can definitely smell the spicyness of the ginger and the sweetness of the peach from the dried leaf.

This steeps quite a satisfying beverage that is easy to drink. It has a gingery spicy-ness to it, you know that sort of sting-y feeling you get from ginger, so there was something to hold on to, yet it was smooth enough to go down easily. The initial sting-yness sort of dissipates as the tea cools but the gingery taste is still always there. I think the peach and Ceylon tea acts as a good counter-balance to soften the taste of the ginger.

It can withstand a second steeping, although a little less sweet. I taste less of the peach and more of the ginger this time around. The taste of the Ceylon is also more apparent. As I reach the bottom of my gaiwan, the dregs make the liquor taste very, very gingery but I notice that even with extended steeping although the infusion gets dark orange it does not get too overly bitter. This is a very nice tea, I’m glad I chose it.

You can purchase the Ginger Peach Supreme directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

This smells like black tea, fruit, and floral. It’s a nice Reddish-dark brown. Taste-wise it is really good… a sugary-sweet tasting flavored black. It reminds me of Rose Marzipan from Teavana without the Rose…you know that candied-sugar cube in that blend…that is what the sugar-sweet taste reminds me of.  There is a floral back-end to it but NOT an intense rose…it’s a delicate type floral…very nice!  I would rate this one VERY HIGH on my LIKE to LOVE scale ANY day of the week!  What a great Flavored Black Tea!

You can purchase the Red Sunset directly from the Red Leaf Tea website.

I’ll start off by saying I wasn’t exactly sure how to brew this tea. The sample packaging had no steeping parameters on it, so I tried the website and didn’t find any suggestions. I decided to brew this a little on the safe side and stick to 2 minutes at 195 F and used 16oz of water to 2 teaspoons of tea leaves.

Steeping with these parameters allowed for a vibrant red-orange liquor. I stopped at 2 minutes because of the darkness of the brew. I’m enjoying the aroma of this tea. It has a deep berry scent, possibly blackberries or currants, and I can still smell the black tea in it.

I taste sweet strawberries as I sip this tea. Similar to a strawberry cream scone we have at a nearby bakery; a sweet bakery strawberry rather than a ripe fresh strawberry. There is a hint of darker berry to the undertones of this tea. Something that makes it more complex than just strawberry black tea.

I would serve this tea over brunch with pastries and other sweet treats, or maybe as an afternoon tea. I enjoyed this sample, and am going back for a second mug.

You can purchase the Silver Star directly from the Red Leaf Tea website.

Ginger Peach is a popular flavor combination.  It’s also a very difficult one to pull off.   Too much ginger and the peach will disappear.   Too much peach and any discernible ginger is gone.  Sometimes popular dessert combinations do not translate well to tea blends.   Red Leaf does a better job than most with their Ginger Peach offering.

The dry leaves have a distinct peach aroma and it’s very difficult to pick up traces of ginger.   But that’s a good sign:  the ginger should not overwhelm the peach in the tea liquor.  After a three minute brew, the leaves looked bright green and I wondered if Red Leaf had mixed some green in with the black tea.   The underlying tea is certainly black, but the short, choppy green leaves were attractive.   The dried peach and ginger bits had expanded, of course, and looked quite nice.  The scent of the steeped tea proved a contrast to the dry tea in that the ginger stepped forward and claimed its primacy.  It was not a very strong or tangy ginger.  The aroma was more subdued and not at all piquant.

The tea is a pleasure to drink.  The ginger and peach seem to be engaged in a stately gavotte in which each flavor takes the lead by turns and then politely turns over the position of primacy to the other.  I’ve never experienced a ginger peach that was as successful in allowing each flavor to shine so distinctly.  

I recommend this tea for a quiet afternoon drink or as an accompaniment to a meal that includes some ginger components.  It would also be a great choice to serve as a dessert tea and would be brilliant for a themed dessert.  Whip up some Ginger Peach Pandowdy or Ginger Peach crumble and serve this tea with it.   You will have a sensational hosting moment!  The tea does not need sugar, but I added some for my second steep and the sugar did not overcome the tea at all but enhanced it nicely.   Red Leaf has another success to add to its already impressive resumé of teas.

You can purchase the Ginger Peach directly from the Red Leaf Tea website.