Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Loose Tea’

Product Description:
Madagascar mixes rich black tea with slices of real vanilla bean to produce a deep flavor that incorporates notes of dark rum, sweet earth and tropical flowers. Both smooth and exotic, this loose leaf tea is great served with buttered toast as a special morning treat.

Tasters Review:
Although this one isn’t my favorite offering from Golden Moon I didn’t think Madagascar Vanilla was bad either. I did find some interesting traits and characteristics that I would like to share! First…the aroma! It smells nice both before, during, and after infusion. It ‘brews’ dark brown and is quite mellow in taste. I’m more of a “In Your Face” Bold and Black Tea Drinker for the first cup of the day and when I first sampled this it was my first cup of the day. I didn’t think it was overly strong but it makes a nice mid morning or afternoon flavored Black Tea. Overall it was an ‘alright cup’ but I was looking for something stronger for first thing in the morning. If you like a mellower black tea…this one might be right up your alley!

You can purchase the Madagascar directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

Product Description:
As the most gentle among green loose leaf tea, Snow Sprout delivers tender young buds that give a light infusion of serene clarity. Delicate herbal notes are followed by a lingering sweetness.

Tasters Review:
Snow Sprout from Golden Moon is just yummy and sweet and juicy and Delicious!  It’s very sweet and very refreshing…thirst quenching, even!  I would have to say this is one of my FAVORITES from Golden Moon so far!  It has almost a slight minty aftertaste to it to that I really like! 

You can purchase the Snow Sprout directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

Loose tea blend of lemongrass and ginger.

The ginger was a bit mild for my liking. The lemon seemed to take a back seat to the other flavors in this blend. As I sipped this tea, I was continually hit with the sensation that I was drinking hay. It was drinkable, but will I choose this particular tea again from my cupboard, probably not.

Well, I did choose this tea again and I liked it better, I let it steep longer and that seemed to overcome the hay sensation I experienced with tasting number one.

Overall, a good caffeine free choice from Tea Forte.

You can purchase the Ginger Lemongrass directly from the Tea Forte 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.

The sample of Sunrise in Tibet from TSalon came in a two-part clear plastic package. The lower compartment sealed in 25 grams of loose tea from the upper compartment that contained 2-10 gram servings of loose tea in organic fold-type tea bags that were also sealed to prevent the leaves from falling about. I liked the clear plastic because you can see the quality of the loose un-bagged tea. There were strands of orange-coloured safflower petals and chunks of mandarin orange peel among chopped black tea leaves and stems.

I checked the TSalon web site but found errors in the listing for this tea. The tea description promised notes of vanilla, cocoa, mandarin orange and thistle with an aroma like freshly baked cookies. Gamesters will know that Thistle Tea is used as a quest reward to immediately restore energy. As it turns up as an ingredient in Sunrise in Tibet Tea from TSalon, this may surely be a sign to drink this tea after your game quest.

I weighed the sample and the tea bags and then slipped the loose tea into another tea bag to enjoy at a later time. As I prefer my tea strong, I used the 10 gram tea bag in 400 ml boiled water at 212 F. for a 4 minute steep. As a standard measure for most flavoured black teas, use 2.5 grams in 200 ml of 100 degrees Celsius water for 3-4 minutes. I used a glass tea pot as I wanted to see the colour of the tea, and also I wanted to keep the tea warm during the full steep to ensure the flavours would be extracted. When making a flavoured black tea that requires a longer steep, use a teapot that holds the warmth well and use a tea cozy. If using glassware, set your tea pot over a trivet and candle warmer. Do not use a tea cosy near a open flame due to the risk of fire.

What does the sunrise look like? In a white tea cup, the brilliant golden-red tones of the liquor beam out at you, inviting you to sip in the good morning vibes. See photo. This is a bright cup of tea that gives off tantalizing scents of spice and vanilla. The chocolate tones were a bit lost. The taste is naturally sweet but there was a bitterness, surely not from the steeped tea? No, that would be mandarin orange and thistle bringing a tartness to this smooth in-the-mouth blend. Your taste buds will be stimulated and your taste-sight-feel-smell-senses become alert. This tea would cut through peanut butter and jam or even a bagel and cheese. There is a lingering astringency, a dryness in the mouth that would go well with the fats serves in a breakfast such as butter, cheese, home fries or bacon.

Dare I try a drop of milk in this morning brew? Yes, the bitterness rounded out and after adding sugar, I sensed a balance of sweet and bitterness. I wanted to have a Peach Danish pastry to compliment this tea.

Is there anything Tibetan to this? Probably not, but it is romantic and congers up visions of orange-red morning skylight over rugged mountains. You’d need a brisk tea to get you started in the morning there too. The thistle will certainly help get your energy going. This tea is very pleasant overall and is well suited as a compliment to a breakfast meal or with a sweet rather than as a stand-alone tea.

You can purchase the Sunrise in Tibet directly from the T-Salon website.