Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Morning Tea’

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.

Grace Tea Company’s product line is not large, but it is clear from their offerings that they prefer to highlight the quality and complexity of the various teas themselves—not multiple flavorings and blend-ins.

In the case of Grace’s Connoisseur Master Blend, I was amazed a simple blend of leaves could produce this flavor without extra help. The dry leaves smell a little sharp and astringent—I’m pretty sure there’s some Keemun in there—but steeped according to Grace’s recommendations, the color is deeper (nearly mahogany) and the flavor is fruitier than you’d expect.

When I did a blind taste before checking out the ingredients, I was sure there were some winey, grape-y additives. (If you’ve ever tasted Culinary Teas’ Canadian Ice Wine, this is its cousin.)  Though I’ve been told Keemuns are OK with milk, I think milk would just tone down the fruity notes that seem to be this tea’s selling point.

If you’re looking for a hearty, stout, kick-you-out-of-bed morning tea, Connoisseur Master Blend probably isn’t it. This one is better for a rainy and philosophical afternoon when you have time and the mental capacity to mull over the character of this interesting combination.

You can purchase the Connoisseur directly from the Grace Tea Company website.

Leaf Spa’s Organic loose leaf “Bi Luo Chun” green tea is a delight. The dry aroma evokes a strongly wooded vegetation–almost like a green vegetable garden with fragrant grasses that abuts right against a forest of trees.  In the distance one can detect a tertiary floral aroma–perhaps some light jasmine.  It’s most certainly an inviting, even alluring fragrance. The dry leaves are a medium  curly length;  they are not the coiled or tightly rolled balls that I’ve seen with some Bi Luo Chun teas.  

Steeped, the leaves unfurl into the typical bright green color.  The tea liquor is very brisk and bright. It does not have a lot of the buttery taste of some greens, but I’m not missing the butter here because this is more of a woodsy journey.  This astringent green tea is less delicate than many greens but the compensation is in the deep, robust flavor.  It would be a great morning tea for those who drink only green teas. It is delicious and drinking it evokes a walk in the fragrant  woods instead of a more genteel visit to a solarium or a small greenhouse. I’ve just enjoyed my third steeping and I think that this tea is good for at least one more, so it’s also an economical tea.

You can purchase the Organic Bi Luo Chun Tea directly from the Leaf Spa Tea website.

Dawn, by Simple Leaf Co, is one of my favorite orthodox black teas for its distinct chocolate taste making it a perfect treat in the afternoon. Dawn has no added flavorings (no cocoa nibs or chocolate chips) and is sourced from a single plantation estate that expertly coaxes the tea’s inherent chocolate flavors via the farm’s cultivation methods, processing, and geographic location. So, I say “Bravo!” to the farmers of Dawn for growing such a fantastic tea. On the Simple Leaf website is an interview of the plantation owner and lots of photos of the farm, farmers, and its tea making.

Simple Leaf identifies each tea by strength: bold, mild, and delicate. Dawn is designated as a mild black tea as this is not a brisk morning tea to be smothered in milk. On the other hand, don’t be misled, the flavors of this tea are powerful. Opening the package, my nose is greeted by a powerful cocoa aroma. Each leaf is well-formed, long and beautifully hand-rolled. Immediately, I am impressed by the quality. As directed by the package, I steep this tea for 5 minutes and it brews to a tan liquor with a definitive chocolate fragrance. Upon tasting this tea, no astringency or bitterness is noted, but instead, I note smooth flavors of chocolate with subtle caramel undertones. In fact, this tea tastes very similar to one of my favorite chocolate blended teas. How is it possible that Dawn, a humble tea leaf, can mimic the flavors of chocolate?

The Simple Leaf Tea Co. sources its limited (with only 14 teas, including Dawn) but high-quality line directly from Indian and Nepalese tea farmers. When cultivating single estate teas, growing conditions, such as altitude, soil, and temperature, directly impact flavor. To experience this, I would recommend sampling a specific tea type (such as Indian darjeeling) from two different estates and noting the taste differences. To facilitate tastings, Simple Leaf sells 1 oz. packages in re-sealable ziploc bags at an affordable price of around $5.

You can purchase the Dawn directly from the The Simple Leaf website.