Bellocq Tea Atelier

Super glad that i picked this one up after getting to try the sample a long while ago. Thankfully the tea is still as enjoyable as i remember it being. A really great breakfast tea – enough of a kick to wake you up without making you feel like you’ve been punched in the face.

sample sipdown because i’m going to send the last little bit of this to terri since i think she might enjoy this one. FuzzyPeachkin sent this my way and i am. a. fan! This is bold enough for me while being one of the smoothest cups ever. I didn’t brew this according to the instructions – instead treated it as i usually do most black teas. I can see how adding just a touch of honey/maple syrup to this would make it awesome! This is for sure going on my shopping list as it’s really yummy!
Thanks FuzzyP!

sample sipdown! This was sent my way by the lovely fuzzypeachkin and i’m happy that she did. This would have likely been one of my first puchases from Bellocq as i’m always in search of more delicious assams. :)

This one is pretty good. I’m not sure that it ranks high enough to replace tiger assam or 49 but i wouldn’t ever turn my nose up at this one. It’s more what i would rate as an afternoon blend, being not quite as bold as i like with a bit of astringency in the taste. It ends up leaving my mouth a little dry, though i don’t mind that. There’s a nice flavour to this cup and the scent is slightly sweet smelling, though there’s no fruitness to the actual liquor. Overall, a nice introduction to Bellocq! Thanks FuzzyP!

I received a sample of this tea with my Bellocq purchase a few months back and am just now getting around to trying it. This is very light—all I can taste is the bergamot, really. The bergamot’s natural and quite delicate; it’s pleasant, but not as assertive as I generally like in an Earl Grey (or Earl Grey-esque blend). The tea base is barely detectable—I can tell something’s there, but that’s it. I haven’t had much success with whit teas thus far—I haven’t tried a ton, but all the ones I’ve had seem lacking. I do tend to go for strong flavors, and I don’t think I’m particularly good at picking up subtle notes, so it could be that I’m just not going to be able to appreciate them properly. This isn’t a bad tea by any means, but there’s just not enough to hold my interest.

Goodbye, White Wolf. I’ll see you on the other side of 2017!

I hate how “bottom of the bag tea” tends to be crushed or not quite enough for a proper serving. It makes the last cup literally bittersweet! #teastruggles

I think this tea may be my bank account’s kryptonite.

This probably would appeal to lovers of 52tea’s Graveyard Mist and that ilk. Otherwise, I can see how this would come across as toothpaste to some (lots of spearmint, minimal vanilla).

Sipdown! Hopefully I’ll see you in the fall, White Wolf.

Fingers crossed that I can invest in some new teas and companies by then so I don’t have to make notes on the same 27 all the time.. I can’t believe that half a year ago I was well over a hundred here. What have I done to myself?

OMGsrsly raised a good point as to the kind of mint that is in this tea. I thought it was peppermint but original packaging says spearmint. Maybe the vanilla sweetens it? Of course, it also lists “natural ingredients” and “natural flavourings,” so who knows.

This isn’t a cheap tea, but it’s cozy and I find myself reaching for it over others when I want a “greener” tea. I love all the flavours in here, particularly when the pine/cedar (Christmas tree flavouring!) creeps out. Sometimes there is a spicy finish, which is also lovely. I’ve also enjoyed it hot and cold on equal terms. It’s a shame I’m almost out.

While I probably won’t re-order this right away, it has definitely made the winter purchase list.. unless I find a cheaper option (please let there be one). $17.00 USD for 2oz of tea is beyond me right now.

This is also good cold steeped in the fridge over night.

I didn’t think the white wolf would be such a soft tea. I was expecting the mint and anise to nip, but it’s so fluffy!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EFVDq0crs

Mint, anise, and vanilla are all well-balanced here, forming a fresh and sweet beverage. There’s a hint of smoky spice creeping into the finish that I’m enjoying. It’s almost musky. The delicate white peony base is powdered over by those wispy ingredient notes but I get glimpses of gentle lemon and melon fruit profiles under the surface.

I feel like I’m wrapped up in a warm fuzzy blanket at my parents place, looking out of the solarium window after a snowfall. The back of that house overlooks a canyon/creek and all the tall pines! When the sun starts to set the lights from the house 100 meters across the ravine from us become visible. With snow, everything becomes so quiet and it seems even farther away.

Long story short- this tea makes me feel nostalgic, romantic, and cozy. I’m glad I have lots and lots of this tea, because this is totally my thing.

And to think I bought it solely for the association with wolves, and the suggestion of cedar, which there’s little to none of. I thought the lack of cedar would disappoint me but it doesn’t!

I’m always searching for a good white tea to drink in the evenings. As a black tea lover, I need a white that has enough flavor to keep me interested. This gentle sweet floral is almost perfect.

I couldn’t resist the look of that White Wolf blend any longer and finally caved in a few weeks back. So here I am now, with so much white tea, and even more yellow tissue paper. I’ve never seen a tea parcel look more like a birthday present! This tea was generously included as a free sample.

Anyways, how does it taste? Lavender, lavender, lavender, melon, white grapefruit, garlic-onion.. whoops! That last one is coming from the aftertaste of my exquisite tuna-mayo-garlic-green onion lunch mix. Come on, I know you’re all jealous of my fabulous meal (a container of mouthwash couldn’t fix this).

That lavender is definitely the dominant note in this one, but I don’t feel it gets soapy. It blends into everything extremely well, actually (including the tuna onions). It creates soothing “spa-like notes”, and something almost nutty and juicy mid sip. I could see me wanting a nice cup of this during the rainy spring season.

Edit: I enjoyed the cooled down second steep even more than the first. The lavender takes on a sweet minty quality, and lemon/white grapefruit notes pop out. Yes, this is a good tea with fish.

I gota sample of this when I was at Bellocq because I was unsure about it since it was based on a darjeeling. I’m glad I did because it’s quite delicious! The coppery bright taste of the darjeeling is tempered by the strength of the spices and the sweetness of the rose. The rose is definitely a hey lement to this blend. Without it the tea would have seemed muddy and dark. The vanilla in this is fantastic! I’m trying to pick out the spicesand I’m getting cinnamon, cardamon, and saffron? I could be wrong about the saffron.

This is definitely a warmth-bringing, cheerful tea! I might just grab up a little more for. Around the holidays.

This is a really lovely green – seaweedy and vegetal, but delicately so. I’m never good at identifying just what sorts of vegetal notes I taste in green teas, but if I had to take a stab at it here I’d go with edamame. Now that the tea has cooled a bit, I’m also picking up on the lemon Fuzzy_Peachkin mentioned in her review. I’ve never tasted a straight tea with such a pronounced citrus note. There’s some astringency and bitterness, but nothing that detracts from the experience. This is definitely a tea I’d be interested in restocking – I hope Bellocq keeps carrying it!

ETA: Not so impressed by the second steep, which is too bad given how pricey this tea is.

I tried a five-minute steep today, and, unsurprisingly, this tea is much bolder than it was last time I drank it. The Ceylon’s even more pronounced, I think – I’m getting even more fruitiness, which I’m enjoying quite a bit. I am getting the faintest hint of leather, but I’m pleased to say it’s not strong enough to detract from my enjoyment.

This is a very pleasant breakfast blend. It’s heavy on the Ceylon, which provides some lovely stone-fruit notes, although the Assam is also present. I’m not noticing the Chinese tea component as much. I’m also pleased to say I’m not getting any of the dreaded leather Fuzzy_Peachkin mentioned – I steeped this at the shorter end of the suggested range, and it seems to have done the trick. I noticed that the instructions on the packaging say to steep for 3-5 minutes, while the website says 5-7 – I’d only looked at the packaging instructions while preparing this, and so I went for a 3-minute steep. It does result in a fairly mild cup, so probably not the way to go if you’re looking for an in-your-face wake-up tea, but maybe that’s something to try?

The only way I can describe drinking this green tea is by comparing it to the revelation of seeing clearly the first time you put on glasses after a lifetime of seeing things in a fuzzy haze. The notes in this were so fresh, clear and distinct. Did it have some of the seaweed type flavor I’m not fond of in greens? Yes. But the texture of that same taste was so different from every other green tea I’ve had with that same taste. It was somehow smoother and crisper, not quite as jarring and jagged as I usually find that flavor. It also seemed to work more harmoniously with the other flavors in the tea.

There were some very substantial dark green notes that reminded me of brocolli rabe With this was a very distinct and powerful lemon flavor. I usuallly pick up some generic citrus notes in tea, but this was in your face, make you pucker and tear up lemon!The flavors mixed together remind me of how my Mom makes soup by adding lemon and an egg whipped together to make the broth light and add some tang.

I often find myself drawn to teas that are well balanced with dark and light notes. Well this tea is a perfect example of balance- lightness and dark. Bitter, yet plesantly so, with a lightness to mellow it out.

Sipdown!

I sent the rest of this off for swaps, so now I’m out of it! It’s got a lot of mellow, green-bean tones that I associate with high-mountain teas and then it also has a nice savory kick to it with a pleasant, mild astringency. I like the 2nd steep the best, because the savoriness really starts to blend in with the mellow bean flavor.

This is a very interesting tea. I had it both yesterday morning and this morning but didn’t have time to log it. My first thoughts were that it had the sweetness of an Assam and the fruitiness of a Cylon. The more I drink it though, the more leather notes I pick up on until that’s the only thing I taste. Weird! I’ve never really tasted leather notes in any tea before. I knew they supposedly existed before, but this is the first tea that made them stand out to me. This is a smooth leather. It feels like how I would imagine licking a saddle or smooth leather bag (not that I do that). I’m not 100% sure I like thotes, but I have plenty of this tea to experiment with and maybe now that I know what to look for I might pick it out. More in other teas.

Black Floral, the lavendar bounces off the black tea with a crisp brightness. This is mildly complex tea with a variety of notes, lavender and linden dance through the drink. This is a very smooth drink that is good for 2 resteeps.

I couldn’t resist breaking into this tea after bringing it home from the tea meet-up!
The base to this tea is strong, malty, and smoky in the way that I always imagined smoky teas to be, but never experienced before. The smokiness is warming and comforting, not obnoxious and overpowering like lapsong souchongs. The woody cedar and the deep, sweet juniper berries further mellow out the smoky aspect.
The pine in the aroma and aftertaste reminds me of summers in Maine! It’s so relaxing! I really like this blend. It really makes me want to try White Wolf, which has cedar in it, when it comes back in stock.

I drank this with hubby and now I find myself relenting on an earlier statement. I said I didn’t think I would ever order the tins because I did not see how they could be worth as much as is being adding to the cost of the leaf. Indeed, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Look at the prices of various teas, figure it by the ounce, and then check the price with tin. The tin doesn’t add the same cost to different teas! And I am accounting for amount of leaf as far as I can tell.

But I went into A Southern Season and behold, they are carrying this brand now in bags. They have the tins sitting out as testers to sniff, and they are magnificent. I don’t think they would dent if an elephant stepped on them, and the double lid is STRONG I tell you! WANT!

The problem is that I don’t want to spend a fortune for the large tins but the small ones only come in yellow and I really want the French blue. You only get those in small if you sign up for the year of teas which is very high and includes a few teas I know I wouldn’t care for. Based on some old links, it looks like they used to sell the tins separately but there is no longer an offer of that on their site.

Sigh. I may call them anyway just to see if they will consider it.

Hubby liked the tea, and liked it well enough that I made my own similar blend to use up some shou mei that was getting a bit of age on it. I have served it, too, and we liked it.