This tea emits an earthy, malty smell from the dry leaves.

3 minutes at boiling yielded a bready-yeasty flavor.

I attempted to add milk and sugar to get the Keeman experience I had grown to expect from china keemans, the result was a cup of milk and sugar. The tea completely disappeared with the additions!

The overall feel for this tea was lack luster. It lacked the true maltiness of a Keeman. I was expecting a really great cup of Keeman, but I was truly disappointed with this selection from Tula Teas.

You can purchase the Keemun Mao Feng directly from the Tula Teas website.

So this is an interesting herbal tisane. Of course I’ve heard of a mulberry bush but I’ve never seen one and had no idea people used it for tea. A bit of research and I found that it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Most notably, used in the treatment on Diabetes, sounds like it shares some of the same qualities as Stevia. This particular tisane is organically grown and processed by a small, woman-owned company in Northeastern Thailand.

The dry leaves are whole and very aromatic, they smell just like a roasted Chinese red tea. Prepared the tea using the recommendations on the Tula Teas site, rinsed leaves, “old man” boiling water, steeped for three minutes. It steeps to a nice, light green colour and the scent magically changes from that of a green to a fruity herbal. It tastes like blackberries mixed with salmon berries but with a slightly nutty after taste. Second steep brings out more of a raspberry flavour and it is sweet but not overly so (like Stevia).

Now, Tula Teas suggests icing this tisane with a bit of milk and sugar. I am interested enough to try that later, not sure about it though. I added some milk to the hot brew and it wasn’t for me. I think it is sweet enough without adding anything else.

You can purchase the Green Mulberry Leaf directly from the Tula Teas website.

My uneducated acronym for Assam is A Specially Strong Awakening Morning tea, and this selection from Tea Forte’ fits perfectly.

You’ll find it in Tea Forte’s organic filterbag selections, although my sample was loose, which gave me the opportunity to really enjoy the bready aroma of the small loose leaves.

Steeped toward the five-minute edge, Forte’ Breakfast is a beautiful red-brown color and has the strong and hefty kick you need to boot yourself out the door on a cold morning.  It lives up to the malty and full-bodied adjectives typically connected to an Assam. Need a little milk and sugar? It’ll take it.

Should you feel a need to procrastinate and drink a second steep, you may be glad you did (little less water, little more time). Minus the “boot prints” of the first strong cup, you’ll pick up some lighter, nuttier notes that continue to coax you up and around: “Come on, dear, it really isn’t that bad; take off the ratty bathrobe, splash a little warm water on your face and you’ll be fine, just fine.”

This is a good one: a tea you can spend a whole morning with.

You can purchase the Forte Breakfast directly from the Tea Forte website.

I’ve had Tea forte before and consider it a premium tea. This whole leaf organic tea comes from a single estate Assam. Assam tea from India is known for its exceptional malt flavours. The packaging indicated that the bergamot oil used in the manufacturing is a 1st pressed Italian bergamot. Like a good olive oil, forst pressed offers higher quality and more desireable flavour. The package temps you with words of ” citricy and lightly floral infusion” and prints a single word “caffeine” on the front to let you know this tea is not a caffeine-free. The ingrediatent listed areblack tea, corn flower petals and natural flavours. Both the Fair Trade and USDA Organic seals were printed on the package. After opening the package, I could smell the bergamot and citricy oils I weighed the sample in at 5 grams. The packaged direction were 12 0z. Boiling water and 5 minutes steep time. Milk and sugar were a compliment for this tea, I read.

When I opened the package I was suprized that the leaf was whole and not in a tea bag . The Broken Orange Pekoe looked uniformly dark and the intense dark blue cornflowers provided an interesting visual depth. I grabbed my teaball and found the 5 grams fit perfectly. I prepared boiling water and pre-heated a traditional porcelain tea pot, noting the line for 12 oz. I also knew 5 minutes was a long time for tea to steep, so I prepared a burner on my stove with a protective ring to maintain the heat. A tea light on a tea stand or trivet could also have been used, but I was in a hurry to get the tea at 5:30 to revive my spirit after a stressful day at work. I noted a strong chlorophyll rim in the tea pot.

After 5 minutes, I poured off 10 oz into a large porcelain tea mug and had a sip of the clear brew. I noted a low astringency to the tea and soft bergamot and floral flavours. Lets stop for a moment and look at what cornflowers do for tea. First, they are decorative. In Victorian times, adding fresh flowers to food provided a lift from gloom and celebrated the floral tones of the tea. There is a slight clove-like flavour to the flowers. Secondly, the flowers are an aid to digestion, aid in healing wounds and scrapes, and are used to treat ailments of the eyes.

I added milk and took a sip. Milk cuts astringency. As this tea is already low in astringency, the milk enhances the malt flavours but now they come in secondary to the citrus high notes. There is more fullness in the mouth. Amazingly, despite the addition of milk, there is a very long lingering taste of the bergamot, an aftertaste of bitter orange. If you were having an afternoon tea, this flavouring would easily last through two tea scones loaded with jam and clotted cream.

I know there are many who need more “earl” in the earl grey, so I’d recommend this tea to those wanting those citrus notes and that bitter orange bite. Enjoy then, as this tea is forte!!

You can purchase the Earl Grey directly from the Tea Forte website.

English breakfast labels are slapped on such a wide variety of teas–from blecchy generic bagged leaf clippings to good quality full-leaf Ceylons and Assams–that you never really know what to expect when you try one. Even the commonly accepted definition of English breakfast is a little vague: “full, robust, takes milk and sugar well.” Fortunately, with Tea Forte’s translation of that definition, you are getting a nice, hefty blend of Assam teas instead of generic hot leaf juice.

My sample came in Tea Forte’s trademark pyramid linen filterbag, which masked the appearance and aroma of the dry leaves a little bit. (Only as I type this do I remember reading on Steepster.com about somebody who actually cut the bag open and brewed its contents loose-leaf; duh–why didn’t I think of that?) Though the leaves were small, I noted some little gold tippy pieces–a good sign that what you’re about to drink has some quality to it.

Didn’t take long, with boiling water, for the liquid to turn a beautiful garnet red-brown. Steeped aroma was dark and red and rooty with what reminded me of sasparilla dancing around in the background. Steeped flavor was rich with a little bitter bite. The bite lingers on the tongue if you prefer your EB’s straight up; if not, a teeny bit of milk tames it without dulling the flavor.

All in all, a jolly good premium blend for a tea-ophile’s collection.

You can purchase the English Breakfast directly from the Tea Forte website.

I’ve never had a plain Assam before. The closest I’ve come is the Irish Breakfast by Twinings which is a blend of Ceylon and Assam. I’m always fascinated by the string of letters found in the names of many teas, but I really have no clue what they were supposed to mean for me. I did a bit of research and apparently STGFOP stands for “Special Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.” Since that still doesn’t tell you much, I continued to peruse the internet looking for more information and from what I have read the letters refer to the leaf size. With STGFOP being the second largest leaf behind the FTGFOP designation.

I expected the dry leaves to be plain black leaves, but there is a fair amount of golden hay colored leaves as well. The scent of the dry tea is earthy and malty. While steeping, the aroma takes on a heavier malty aspect which I love. The brewed tea is a medium-brown in color.

I tried the tea plain at first and was surprised to find a very robust cup with little astringency. The additions of milk and sugar were handled nicely and encouraged the malty aspect of the tea to shine. As the tea cools, a slightly sweet honey flavor creeps in for a pleasant surprise.

This is a great example of what a plain black tea should taste like. Smooth and bold with a bit of sweetness thrown in.

You can purchase the Rani STGFOP 1st Flush 2010 Assam directly from the Lochan Tea website.

The dry leaves of this tea are very thin, medium in length, and consist of both dark and golden hay colored leaves. The scent of the dry leaf is very earthy with only a slight hint of malt. When brewed, this tea is very red in color for a black tea and has an intensified earthy characteristic.

When taken plain, this tea is very astringent and a tad bitter. After adding milk and sugar, the bitterness is gone but the tea still has a bit of a sharp bite. This isn’t good or bad, but I can see how it may be too much for some people to stand. I was hoping the malty aspect would be more pronounced, but this tea is geared towards those that love the earthy flavors. As it cools, a slight sweetness begins to develop but the sharpness is still the most noticeable feature of this tea for me.

Overall, this is a good, strong black tea but I like for the malty flavors to be big and bold in my tea. The sharp bite of the tea is also preventing this from becoming my favorite Assam.

You can purchase the Mokalbari STGFOP 1st Flush 2010 Assam directly from the Lochan Tea website.

I love tea. I love wine. So it goes to reason that when I saw this tea, I really just had to try it. The dry leaf is various sizes of black and brown leaves and smells rich. There is another aspect of the scent that is familiar, but I can’t place it. I brewed 2tsp in boiling water for 5 minutes per the vendor’s instructions. The tea brews up a brown-red shade. Very red for a black tea, but hey, it is supposed to be like wine. The taste of the tea is very interesting….astringent yet smooth. Very much like a good red wine.

But since this is an English Breakfast blend, it needs to pass the test of additives. Taken with a pinch of sugar and a dab of milk, the winey qualities are still able to come through but the astringency is a bit subdued There is a fruity character to it (again, with the wine). I like this. I have to say that this is the most unique English Breakfast I’ve had. In fact, it may be the most unique tea I’ve had.

As an added bonus, the second infusion is much smoother than the first. I did end up adding milk and sugar to it, but honestly, it doesn’t need anything.

I was beginning to think that I would never find an English Breakfast blend that I HAD to keep around because every other one I’ve tried is so plain and bland. This tea, however, is different enough that it may earn a permanent place in my cupboard.

You can purchase the Winey Keemun English Breakfast directly from the Grace Tea Company website.

For Sinharaja we use rich, dark loose leaf tea leaves that are nourished by fertile rain forest streams in the hills of Ceylon. …from the Golden Moon website.

This dark loose leaf tea has become my favorite tea. I drink it morning, noon and night. What makes it different from all the other teas that I have had the privilege of tasting? Sinharaja tastes like tea. The way tea should taste, not with a bunch of other flavors crowding out the tea taste. It is not bitter nor is it mouth puckering. According to the Golden Moon, you cannot over brew this tea. I have not personally tested this because when I make a pot of this tea, it is gone in a matter of minutes.

Brewing directions from the Golden Moon:
Brew 1 tsp of leaves per cup in boiling water 3-5 minutes. I brew this tea for 3 minutes. This tea stands up well to milk and sugar.

If you are looking for a good basic black tea, Sinharaja may be the answer.

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

The dry leaf smells like cinnamon and star anise, though predominately of star anise. Through the bag I could distinguish long black tea leaves mixed with small bits of what appeared to be the ginger and cloves. I’ve never had a tea with star anise, but apparently it is a licorice type flavor, so here goes.

I brewed this tea using 6 oz. of almost boiling water for 4 minutes as suggested on the package. Taken plain, the tea tastes unsurprisingly like black tea flavored with licorice. If you like licorice, then you will like this but I’m not a licorice fan. I added milk and sugar to make it more chai-like which seemed to even out the licorice slightly. The cinnamon was also more noticeable but I could not distinguish any of the other chai spices that were included in this blend.

Overall, this is a decent tea for licorice fans who like black tea but is not my idea of a chai since the majority of the chai spices aren’t present in the taste.

You can purchase the Bombay Chai directly from the Mighty Leaf Tea website.