Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘specialtea brew’

I’ve been saving this particular blend for just the right day. I love the smell and taste of vanilla – in everything. The dry leaves are dark yet shiny fresh, I can’t see the vanilla pieces in the blend but I can definitely smell them. Beautiful scent.

Pre-warmed my favorite teapot, steeped the tea according to the directions on the SpecialTea site – 195 degrees for 2-3 minutes (I leaned closer to the 3 minute mark). It steeped to a really dark orange/red color and the scent of vanilla intensified with every minute that I had to wait. The first sip I had was really mellow with just a slight vanilla after taste. It’s as good as I expected it would be, vanilla without any artificial taste that I’ve found in other teas. The last sip was stronger but still no bitterness and no dryness.

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

The name of this blend is really inviting, who doesn’t love lemon, ginger and snap? Really. The only concern I have with this one is whether or not the herbs will balance with the Chinese green tea. The dry blend is really pretty with the bright lemon grass contrasting with the dark green tea. The dominant scent is definitely the lemon myrtle, having trouble isolating the scent from the tea and the other herbs.

Ready to steep this tea but I’m a bit torn about how to steep it because it appears to be mostly herbal but it’s categorized as a green tea… Going with green tea method, guessing that steeping it any longer or with hotter water will ruin the green tea in it. So it’s brewing up at 175 degrees for two minutes.

The scent of the lemon myrtle didn’t mellow but that’s okay because I love lemon myrtle. It’s an almost clear brew, just slightly golden. Tastes wonderfully tangy with the spicy hint of ginger. The green tea is crisp and fresh with no bitterness.

You can purchase the Lemon Ginger Snap directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

This Assam Reserve tea was a World Tea Champion in 2009 and was manufactured for SpecialTea Brew of Redmond, Washington. The 5.6 gram sample shows a golden tippy, beautifully curled and twisted loose leaf Assam. For a black tea, the leaf is large and typical of a good whole leaf black Indian tea. I can imagine what the panellists were expecting. I am expecting a mellow malt, dense texture and malty cup of dark brew.

I checked the SpecialTea Brew site but there was no further information given about this award winning tea. Usually when a tea manufacturer calls the tea “Reserve” it is for a reason. There is some special characteristic about the tea that is put aside and is in limited quantities and is usually set at as a premium tea on the market due to its rarity. Too bad we don’t know more about this tea. I’m assuming this is a newly started business and is still under development. So, let’s see what the tea has to offer.

For tasting, I used 2.5 grams in 5 oz for 3 minutes. Following traditional preparation for an assam tea, use one teaspoon per person (approximately 2.grams) in a teapot with 8oz.boiling water over it and steep for 3- 4 minutes.

The tea was clear and bright, not dense with spicy nutmeg notes. With a low astringency or low briskness, the natural sweetness carries well in a full liquor. The malt flavours held true even with added milk. I was thinking of the hot Ovaltine drink and memories of my childhood came back. I found the tea complex with many malt notes to explore. There was something comforting and yet invigorating about the tea. Most remarkable is the malt flavouring in a bright clear cup. That takes a lot of skill. Please try this tea if you like different assams as it is very elegant as assam usually know for more robust qualities. Maybe the lighter tone of the tea is a new direction for Assam.

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