Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘specialtea brew’

The common stereotype of an Assam tea is a  heavy, hefty, malty breakfast beverage. With a little milk, a good Assam should stick to your ribs more effectively than a morning bowl of Raisin Bran. This particular Assam, tagged as a 2009 World Tea Champion, doesn’t fit the common denominator, but it’s still a pleasant exception.

Couldn’t get much of a scent from the little cellophane-pack sample, but the leaves are full with about a third of them golden tips. With boiling water and more than four minutes steep time, it was more coppery than dark brown; more sharp and peppery than smooth and malty. A little more astringent than expected, too. In this case, milk and sweetener would interfere with the flavor, not accentuate it.

A second steep was OK, but a little lackluster. This one is best fresh.

You can purchase the Assam Reserve directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

SpecialTea Brew is an online outfit out of my neck of the woods – the Pacific Northwest (of the U.S.). According to their origin story, the op was inspired by tea with a grandmother. This is the third “tea with grandma” foundation tale I’d heard, and – you know what? – it works on me every damn time. I never had tea with my grandparents, so I feel like I missed out on something growing up. Perhaps my tea exploration would’ve begun sooner had I a “tea with grandma” story of my very own. But I digress.

Their Mountain Berry herbal blend consisted of hibiscus, rosehips, orange peel, cornflowers, and blueberries. The last bit, they did NOT skimp on. There were big, plump pieces in the medley; same with the rosehips. Usually, freeze-dried fruit additives are small or cut-up in blends like this. Not so here.  My only nitpick was the fragrance; it was dry and tart, usually a sign of too much hibiscus. However, there was a citrusy follow-up thanks to the many chunks of orange peel present.

Brewing instructions per the vendor site recommended a four-to-five-minute steep in 208F water – 1.5 tsp. per cup. I did about a tablespoon in 8oz. for the full five. It was a berry blend, so naturally it could take a lot of infused abuse.

The liquor brewed up cherry red – as is to be expected from anything with hibiscus. The nose was, oddly enough, mostly berry and citrus – hibiscus tartness was a distant second. There seemed to be sweetness to the scent as well. Hibiscus did rear its red-tart head in the taste, dominating the forefront, although I welcomed it. The fruity aspects picked up right after, and the flavor lingered to a rind-like finish. Other than the blunt introduction, I rather liked this blend. I’m certain that the best way to have it would be sweetened and/or iced. On its own, though, it holds up well enough.

You can purchase the Mountain Berry directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

Dry smell is nice and minty.

A 4 minute brew time yields a light straw colored brew.

My first sip leaves me screaming, “where is the mint?”

This is blasphemy. The Moroccan mint police need to called! Someone stole the mint out of this blend!

The dry smell was to die for, the brewed up tea was a total failure.

I was greatly disappointed with this sample.

You can purchase the Moroccan Mint directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

The leaves are rich black with a sweet waft of vanilla.

Three minute infusion…first sip…ummm…the black base is not what I was expecting. It leaves me wanting a more robust black tea in its place. The vanilla while it had a sweet smell is not sweet on my tongue, the taste is unnatural. This tea does not take milk well. It is too mild for any additions.

I had high hopes for this tea, vanilla notes in a black tea. I pictured creaminess and robustness. What I got was a cup of tea that is ok to drink IF you have absolutely no other tea choices. The black base is mediocre. The vanilla flavoring will leave you wanting something else to drink.

You can purchase the Vanilla Bean directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

The cold weather always makes me reach from stronger blends so today I’m trying a nice black tea blend from SpecialTea Brew. It’s called Pink Grapefruit and you can see pieces of citrus mixed in with the dark leaves. The dry leaves smell amazingly rich and fresh, really inviting.

Steeped it in almost boiling water (195 degrees) for just over two minutes and it brewed up to a nice red color. It smells really good while it’s steeping, not a grapefruit scent though, more orange than anything. It’s a nice clean brew with very little dust. Tastes really smooth but a little bit on the bitter side, thinking I may have to steep it in slightly cooler water next time. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to warm up and wake up on cool morning.

You can purchase the Pink Grapefruit directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.