Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Milk And Sugar’

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.