Happy Lucky's Tea House

Nice flavor, however it’ s a little hard to taste any of the tea leaves. Maybe the place that brewed it for me didn’t do it right. Overall, it’s fruity and delicious!

Good light tea with a little taste of mandarin orange. It is a bit delicate so I would suggest watching your steep time(s).

While on a trip through Colorado I had to stop at this tea house that Bonnie mentions frequently in her tasting notes! Thanks for the recommendation Bonnie- I enjoyed my visit with them!

Since I was there rather late, I ordered this herbal tea that another customer was drinking. It’s very fragrant- their whole shop smelled like this tea! It’s a perfect sleepy time tea too. Put me right to sleep!

From the queue. I’ll do two a day for the next week. I’m currently writing posts faster than I can post them, even when posting daily. It’s all these boatloads of untried things, you see. I suppose I feel inspired these days.

Bonnie shared this one with me and I confess I’ve been gathering courage to try it. You see, this is a loose puerh with cacao hulls, some vanilla black and some roasted chicory root. Apparently they also do a version with vanilla rooibos, but Bonnie chose the one without for me.

It’s the chicory root that has me concerned. It started to concern me already when I first smelled it and discovered that rather than smelling like cocoa and puerh, it just smelled allround weird. Worrisome. The first thought that popped into my head was ‘thin coffee’. Now, I know some people enjoy having their tea coffee flavoured. I, however, am one of those people who feel those two things should be kept as far apart as possible. I mean, I like drinking tea, obviously, and I also occasionally greatly enjoy a caffe latte (or even on rare occasions a small cup of ordinary coffee with milk). Drinking one does not exclude the liking of the other at all. It’s the combination of the two that I find to be frankly disgusting. Coffee flavour has no business being in my tea and vice versa.

So you can see why I’m concerned, yes?

However, it was shared with me by someone who meant well and thought I would find it interesting, therefore I’m going to have a cup of it anyway. I sometimes take a long time to do it and sometimes I end up not even posting about it, but when people have shared something with me, I always try it, even though I don’t believe I’ll like it. It’s the polite thing to do and it’s also a practice that has given me more than a few very pleasant surprises. For example, it was cteresa sharing a fruit-flavoured rooibos with me that led me to discover under which circumstances I can actually really enjoy a rooibos after having gone for years believing I didn’t like any rooibos at all. Now I’ve got loads of fruit-flavoured rooiboses.

Besides, isn’t this really the purpose of swaps? Exploring the things you would never in your life have tried otherwise? See you later, comfort zone!

So here we go! Tea that smells like thin coffee. It’s the chicory root, of course, that gives the coffee-y impression, not real coffee. I believe I’ve had blends with chicory in them before. I’m almost certain I have. I have clear memories of having tried it in a blend, but I can’t remember which blend that might have been or what I thought of it. I don’t, however, remember it as being awful. I think I would have remembered something on the lowest end of the point scale. This gives me confidence.

After steeping it’s much more cocoa-y in the aroma. The chicory is still there, but it’s dampened significantly by the cocoa, and the primary impression I’m getting now is freshly baked brownies that has just come out of the oven 20 seconds ago. The good sort of brownies, baked with loads of high quality chocolate rather than cocoa powder. It makes me want to bake again! Haven’t baked anything at all since before Christmas, but there are still lots of biscuits left and those need to go first. (Also, I’ve got an ice cream project I want to try first, now that we’ve got a freezer that is larger than a match box)

More confidence!

I’m just about to taste it now and I’m actually not even scared of it even more.

Okay, the chicory is fairly distinct in the flavour with it’s coffee-ish notes, but not directly off-putting. Just… I could have lived without the chicory, really. It also rather messes with the cocoa, making it not actually taste much like cocoa but more like an enhancement for the chicory. It doesn’t help that cocoa or chocolate in tea rarely truly works for me because my brain expects a completely different consistency which the tea can’t deliver for obvious reason.

I can vaguely pick up some earthy notes of the puerh base, but these are most prominent in the aftertaste. In the sip itself, however, I’m surprised to find that it’s the vanilla black that is actually standing out more. It’s sweet and slightly creamy, and in a strange way managing to be vanilla with being very vanilla-y in flavour. I think it’s the other flavours in this that are messing with it.

Although I mentioned that I’ve learned to drink rooibos, and lots of it, in recent years, I find I’m glad Bonnie chose the one without rooibos for me. I think rooibos would have added unnecessary confusion to the mix, and vanilla alone in rooibos never really did it for me as much as vanilla + fruit does.

I’m a little ambivalent. I’m pleased with the puerh and the vanilla black, and would have enjoyed the cocoa more if not for the chicory. But I could also really live without the chicory. Or perhaps not even entirely without it, but just less of it.

I can’t decide what I actually think of this. I suspect it could grow on me, though, if I made sure to have it another couple of times in relatively quick succesion.

Later addition: I wound up taking the rest of this one with me to drink at work, for which it proved to be eminently suitable. I could easily have continued with this sort of work tea for a while. At about the same time my colleague brought a small tin of Kusmi’s spicy chocolate blend, which I found somewhat similar to this one. Rating is large based on how this tea has helped me through many many work days.

From the queue

This is a tea that Bonnie shared with me, and it is also the first real tea post I’m writing in the new house. It was also one that Bonnie chose to give me, I think, with an eye on Project Africa.

Therefore I’ve spent some time trying to work out where Ajiri was on the map. Turns out Ajiri is a company name and not a place name. They have a rather lovely and informative website. The actual tea is produced at the Nyansiongo factory, which was made a LOT easier to find on the map once I discovered that I’d been spelling it wrong all along. The factory itself didn’t appear to be marked in, so I just placed the arrow somewhere in the middle of the town. The Nyansiongo factory is a cooperative of several small local farmers in the Kisii highlands.

There’s a veeeery strong and malty aroma here, which smells on the verge of turning bitter. I may have leafed it wrong after all. It’s CTC and I’m always very careful with those because they get strong so very quickly. I put less leaf in my pot than my brain felt like it was used to, but I still think I’ve got a super strong cup here. There’s also a smidge of that high-grown feeling in it, but that might actually be down to sheer strength. I am sitting here with a cup almost as dark as coffee after all!

GOSH! It is quite strong! It even has that sort of bitterness at the back of the throat that I get when drinking coffee. It’s not unpleasantly bitter or at all undrinkable, but it’s just a tad much. I would do a rare instance of milking it (I usually have milk in my coffee), but as it so happens, we haven’t currently got any milk until I’ve been to the shops, so I’ll just have to power through and try making a second cup with even less leaf. This is why I’m not a fan of CTC. It messes with my habits learned through a decade!

Now, if we ignore that hit of bitterness at the moment of swallowing, we’ve got a strong cup of tea here, which feels suitable for this time of day (morning). Until swallowing it feels very smooth, so if I had made it a little weaker I believe it would have been all-over smooth and lovely. It definitely shows some promise in that regard.

It’s hard for me to really analyse the flavour, though. It tastes like default tea. Quite a good body to it, but it’s a one-note deal all in all. I get the impression that this might be very good in blends, adding body to some lighter teas with more distinctive notes. I think this + not too fancy keemun, for example, would make a lovely blend.

The second cup felt, when I made it, severely understeeped and underleafed, but the result was much better. It is indeed very smooth but still with a lot of body. It’s less of a one-note default tea deal now, and has taken on leather-y, wood-y, malty notes and it finishes with a touch of high-grown-ness. I still think it would go wonderfully in blends, though.

Map reference: http://goo.gl/maps/ULUUD

(Awwwww, very purry and cute lap-Charm in a rare social moment. ♥)

From the queue

Project Africa!

Project Africa is rather more slow moving than I had imagined when I started. Or perhaps I was just spoiled by Project Ceylon in which I had something like twelve samples to start with. However, Bonnie has shared two African black teas with me. I shared some of my Tanzanian black with her, so that’s how it came about.

The aroma is quite strong and wood-y and with more than a small amount of that faintly grass-y note that indicate a capacity to turn undrinkably bitter if not treated properly.

Ooh gosh, it’s a bit strong! Husband commented on the leaf as being ‘funny’. I’m not sure he considered what that actually implied brewing-wise. Still totally drinkable, though, so I’m pressing on.

It has a sort of funny ‘thick’ flavour. It doesn’t taste like puerh at all, but it’s that same sensation of substance to it. The overall impression of the flavour is at first sort of starchy, probably enhanced by the thick feeling. Or possibly the other way around, I don’t know.

With a slightly more careful sip (Ow. Hot.) I’m also picking up a vague hint of cocoa and a strong note of wood and grain. It reminds me rather of a good mid- or low grown Ceylon here. Galle, for example, which I rather enjoyed. Husband didn’t much care for Galle, so that leads me to believe that he probably won’t like this one much either. Which in turn means, because I can never seem to predict this, he’ll probably love it.

I think it’s quite nice. Good and strong and suitable for the morning. As mentioned, though, Husband did make it Extra Strength by accident, but I think I can see through it enough to imagine how it would behave with maybe half a teaspoon less of leaf, and I have attempted to rate accordingly. Rating, as always, is subject to sudden change.

Addition when posting: Having now had almost all the rest of the pouch with a more conservative sort of leaf dosage, I stand by the rating I decided on when the main part of the post was written. I’ve found that with experience it can actually be possible to see through an overleafed tea and imagine what it would have been like under ideal circumstances. Provided enough that the overleafing is not too severe. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it does. It’s fun to try, though, and test it again later. This one turned out to be relatively predictable. :)

Also, I forgot to mention something about the geography with this one. It’s my first tea from Uganda, and it was grown quite a bit further west than any of the other African teas I’ve had at this point, not so far from Lake Edward. As you can see on the map, all the ones from Kenya were grown East of Lake Victoria, but on the same latitude as this one. I don’t know if that matters, but it should be the same sort of climate at least. The Tanzania and the Mozambique are much further South, further away from Lake Victoria than the Uganda is, but I still feel like I can see some similarities between all the African ones so far. They are all strong and they taste hardy. They are also very nearly all of them CTC which may have something to do with it.

Reference map: http://goo.gl/maps/2Ylx6

Bonnie shared this one with me. We’re fairly fond of LS in this household, but I don’t usually try very many different ones. Like with most things, I have a very particular idea of the perfect specimen, and I’ve already found that from AC Perchs. It’s just the right amount of smoke and just the right sort of strength for me, so I have little need to ‘shop around’ as it were. If I’m shopping somewhere else and we’re out of it, I’ll get one, but that’s really as far as my shopping around goes mostly. Nevertheless, when someone shares one with me, I’m hardly going to refuse it, am I? That would be silly.

I’m under the impression that this one is Bonnie’s favourite LS, and if I’m right in that then I suspect we have similar ideas of how the best LS should be, because it strikes me as similar to the one that is my favourite. I can’t remember if I shared some of that one with her. I hope I did.

The aroma is smoky and sweet and just about equal measures, and this goes for the flavour as well. Lots of smoke, but also LOTS of body. Lots, especially, of that sweet fruity note that nearly drove me mad the first time I discovered it in the ACP one. There’s a bit of a mineral note on the end of the sip, though, which I don’t think my usual LS has, but that’s really the only major difference between the two.

It’s lapsong light! Less smoky and astringent than regular lapsong suchong, with a hint of sweetness at the end. I can’t taste the jasmine at all, it only softens the black tea. I only got a sample of this from Luckys tea shop, but I am going to have to go back for more.

This one of my favorite Pu erh teas, I brew it very strong for three minutes, and the second brew is as good as the first. It is earthy and tangy and a bit nutty at the end. The taste is not for everyone, but as a former coffee drinker, this is about as a thick of a cup of tea as you can get.

(Reposted this older review under the new tea heading for Happy Lucky’s online… this CTC is very inexpensive and a staple kick in the pants caffeine boost when I need a strong tea that tastes good! )

As soon as Andy puts the information on the website, i’ll review their new Ugandan CTC which is unique. I’m loving these new tea’s from small farms in Africa and Happy Lucky’s makes sure the sourcing is ethical!…stay tuned!

I was out and about, running errands and stopped in at Happy Luckys to meet up with tea guru Eric (who works at Happy Lucky’s) to taste some Pu-erh that I received from a Steepster friend. That review will be on my blog in a few days and is remarkable!

When we finished our Puerh tasting, I still wanted some tea! Our little delicate cups of gentle Shu were wonderful but now it was time to pour the big lady serious tea and get down and dirty.

I was sitting at the bar.
I wanted a pot of Lucky Tea House’s finest black tea. Now.
Sam looked at Eric and said under his breath, “How about the Kenyan Ajiri?…no, no, it’s too strong…well…maybe she would like it, she likes strong tea. What do you think?”
“Hum, Eric laughed, maaaybe, OK.”

Then they turned to me.
“Let’s do it guys, I’m that kind of gal, wild and crazy! Set it up!” I said.

First, Sam brought me a tin of the super-small black leaves
(they looked more like poppy seeds) which smelled salty and savory.

Then, the wet leaves which were smaller than coffee grinds were presented with a very malty, rich aroma.

Last the dark brown liquor which was very strong tasting, and I liked it! It wasn’t smoky or malty but tasted solid and a bit fruity. I sipped for awhile.

I then added some cream (I was told the tea was too strong to drink plain but found it to be smooth enough for me).
After drinking a full mug of tea, I ordered a ginger cookie to eat along with my tea. The taste of these two together was out of this world! I’m a bit of a ginger cookie, black tea lover. An addiction as a treat!

A great piece of information!
100% of the profits from the tea sales of AJIRI goes to pay for uniforms and books for orphans in Western Kenya! What a great way to
enjoy tea and help others!

Check out www.ajirifoundation.com

Asante sana (thank you very much!) http://flic.kr/p/dphd5h

Andy is the mixologist at Happy Lucky’s Teahouse and shop Manager.

Whenever I think about Andy blending new tea’s, I imagine the Sorcerers Apprentice http://youtu.be/mHTnJNGvQcA?t=3m3s . He’s Micky Mouse with an out of control wand. The music is building and the outcome appears to be heading for disaster. Miraculously, a ray of sunshine…a moment of brilliance and clarity and in the end, all is well.

I sometimes imagine other tea mixologists that we all know well here on Steepster. In my mind there are three standouts in particular… Giada de Laurentiis, Yul Brynner and Steve Jobs.

Can you guess which tea vendors match these characters?

For 6 days last week, I was in and out of a migraine on one side of the front my face. Finally, had to get out of the house so I went to tea.
Andy (the Sorcerer in my imagination) came out of the back room very excited that I had arrived at the shop. He had his coat in hand, ready to leave for the day. “Oh good, you’re finally here. I’ve made a batch of Harvest Moon Tea and I think it’s better than last year’s blend! I really want your opinion on it. Need to know what you think!”

Off came his coat with a flourish (not missing a beat). Displaying the smooth and elegant moves of a professional, Andy made me a big pot of Harvest Moon Tea, smiled broadly, waved goodbye and headed out the door (the doorbells jingling behind him).

The dry mix had smelled wonderful, the way apples smell when they’ve been soaked in apple cider, spices, vanilla and brown sugar.

(I’m a skeptic! Apple tea’s almost always had disappointed me.)

I waited for 9 minutes for the tea to steep and took my first skeptical sip (although admitting, the aroma was wonderful).

This was BY FAR the BEST Apple Tea I’d ever tasted! The flavor was the kind of vanilla spice, caramel apple desired in a prize winning Apple Pie.
I know what great Harvest Apple Pie should taste like, because I’ve won first, second and third prize in the Johnny Appleseed Pie Contest so I’m picky. Quality ingredients matter!

This week my son Aaron, turns…gulp…45! I mailed off a tea care package for his Birthday. Harvest Moon was one of the tea’s I sent to cheer him up in often-foggy-in-Fall San Francisco. He’ll love it!

As far as who Giada de Laurentiis is…well, maybe Stacy the kitchen wizard of Butiki Tea. Yul Brynner http://youtu.be/KlmCy4qGX_M (who’s the person we know without any hair?)…Garret, King of Puerh! And Steve Jobs, well…when I think of a contemplative person that comes up with new ways to educate, innovate and enhance tea appreciation…it’s David Duckler. It’s how I picture them in their tea guru kitchens.

I’ve already played with this blend as a base for puerh, added black tea when I want caffeine… and as it comes, Caffeine free.

Delicious!

After the storm

Thanks to all who sent me little notes of encouragement during the 1000 year storm in Colorado last week!

When you live by yourself, kindness is appreciated, especially when my daughter was across the river unable to get to this side of town and her phone and internet was down (poor thing)!

What you’ve seen in the news isn’t ever what is happening on the ground. Anyone who’s been in a major disaster knows what I mean.

The National News (even what you’ll see tonight with Brian Williams) will be all about Boulder, where less than 200 homes were lost. That is a horrible tradgedy!
I don’t mean to underplay what was lost in Boulder, but here in Larimer County we’ve lost 1500 homes, flooding is still happening out on the plains right now, 20,000 homes are damaged and rescue helicopters (the big ones that can carry 20 people) have been flying low over my house since yesterday.

Over 100 people are still missing here…and rescues are going on as I write this!

Bridges, roads, businesses are gone and farm animals will need feed…if not found dead. 13 Post Offices are gone, sewage plants gone. http://youtu.be/IfvfIEMZ0tg A Short from Friday before copters could get in the air for assessment (Monday was the first dry day).

This 1000 year storm is our Katrina.

Tea
Granddaughter Schey called… the phone service was on at the house, and internet so I invited her to tea at Happy Lucky’s and dinner at my house.

Some of the bridges over the Poudre River are open (but not all).

The sun was out, people were flocking into the shop for tea and to talk about the flooding.

I ordered this tea, knowing that Schey loves mint, and we chatted with all the people coming and going. Joe’s mom, Paxton from Firehouse Bookstore, and Maggie (a new tea slinger who lived in China).

When we finished our tea and visit we went to one of the candy shops for malt balls (needed for watching Derek with Ricky Gervais on Netflix). On the way back, we saw something new…which neither of us had seen before. A Hummingbird moth flitting around the flowers in a large flowerpot. It looked like a tiny hummingbird without a beak. http://youtu.be/Jn9zx1gHD6I

I’m mindful at the best and most challenging times of how blessed I am to have kind people in my life. People here on Steepster, kind people at my Tea Shop and a granddaughter who regularly checks up on me and meets me for tea.

If you get a chance to see the new Netflix series Derek, pay attention to the main theme which is kindness. It is charming and refreshing.

Enjoyable to watch with malt balls candy and Chocolate Mints (made some at home too) by the pot! (I’ve indulged myself!)

FYI To people who have sent me tea to review, I have been too distracted with the storms and not sleeping well. Weather alarms, helecopters and all… I couldn’t do a good job reviewing your tea… but will get back to normal soon with some rest.

You’ve heard a hundred zillion times that I’m allergic to rooibos and honeybush. They’re in the bean family which makes me SICK.

So what! Nobody else cares really UNLESS you’re my tea slinger friends at Happy Lucky’s Tea House.

Why? I’m a particularly annoying pest at the tea house because I ask them to create blends that don’t have rooibos in them.

Most tea companies do not make caffeine free, natural tea blends without my allergy specific ingredients ‘that taste good’. Usually they’re all about the same. Ginger, hibiscus, chamomile.
(A few companies do ok, but I can count them on one hand)

It’s not only the allergy concern, but I like to serve tea to little ones without caffeine too, and Andy (our Master Tea Blender) has been listening to my plea’s for rooibos free tea. Bless his sweet tea heart, he created Chocolate Mints.

Anyone who likes after dinner chocolate mints (and a little coconut) will adore this delectable blend.

This should be brewed by the pot.

The secret to the rich chocolate bar flavor is a long steep of 5-7 minutes extracting the goodness slowly from the cocoa hulls.
Coconut is sprinkled throughout the mixture, which adds a nuttiness
that is brilliant.

I add milk and sweeten just a bit for an even richer creamy, sweet, indulgent dessert!

Andy won’t mind me saying this, because he already knows how much of a tea nerd I am. But when I want to make this a blend with caffeine, I’ve added black tea to it…especially a pinch of cocoa malty tea like a the shop’s Black Pearl or other tea from my cupboard.

Great herbal for chocolate lovers who are tired of fake chocolate.

I’m a person who needs to be ‘in the mood’ for an Earl Grey. I expect the day to be Spring-like or need perking up in the middle of Winter.

I’ve been very tired from anesthetic a medical procedure required which put me under a few days ago. Blah!

Today I decided to get out of my blah’s so I stopped by Happy Lucky’s Tea House to congratulate Andy, George and Joe for getting the new website up and running! High 5’s, and we chatted about how I was going to let the great people on Steepster know that the site was finished.

Soon, the blah’s came back making me feel queezy…so I ordered tea.

I like Madame Grey (a Happy Lucky’s custom blend)!

Madame Grey is smooth vanilla, gentle floral with citrus, lightly flavored with Bergamot. Not too light and not too strong, just right!

I’ve tried Earl Grey’s and thought that most were on the too light side, appropriate for afternoon tea and cookies. Not my kind or Earl really.

I’m a BLACK TEA LOVER! Madame Grey has enough body as a breakfast tea with cream or for drinking at any time. Tea Parties are not necessary!

This is one of the two Earl Grey’s I keep around.

Bonnie sent this tea to me a while back, but I absolutely refused to make it until I could make an event of it. Tonight I asked hubby if he would join me for tea. That always means the two of us, at the tea table, and no laptops, no electronics, just us and tea. He said yes, so here we go!

I made a plate of some new cheese I bought to try – Drunken Goat, a 6 year aged cheddar, and an 8 year aged cheddar. These were served with Club crackers, the whole grain version.

I unwrapped the lovely wrapped pillow. I love the texture and weight of the paper so I saved for an “as yet unknown” project! The pillow of tea held together but was loosely packed, which was a surprise. I have only seen the tightly compressed puerhs so that is what I expected, but this pillow was so large it would never do to put that much tightly compressed leaf in a small pot. I love how unique this is!

We steeped five times, beginning with 90 seconds and increasing to 3 minutes by the last. Each steep was flavorful. My husband is not the biggest fan of green and oolong teas but he has a few he really likes. He enjoyed this one!

The liquor is somewhat pale, and I would call this a medium bodied tea. This is very smooth and has no drying effect at all. The flavor is vegetal with a floral note overlaying it.

So I got my wish! I got to try this tea, and it really was an event – a nice, mid-week date for hubby and me! Thank you, Bonnie!

Thanks to Bonnie for this lovely sample

First, the pagodas in this tea are SO cute! Hand tied, they are round & flat bottomed, then they rise to a point. They remind me of Hershey’s kisses, chocolate brown with streaks of gold. A mild smell of maltiness.

I brewed them in my little glass pot, so I could watch them come to life. (the package says 2 – 3, but I included 5, because they reminded me of Black Dragon Pearls, & I always use more then they say).
They floated, they swam a little, then they bloomed, like sea anemones, gradually sinking to the bottom.

I tasty, mildly chocolaty tea. I drank the first cup straight, 2nd steeping I added a little stevia. I’m gonna try for a 3rd cup.

Enjoy the morning!

I love the description! Bonnie, did you write that?

This is a gift from Bonnie to help get youngest through geometry! I had ordered her sme from Teavivre but it will be about seven days before it gets here and she said she needed lapsang NOW! Bonnie was so sweet to send this, and it got here in just a couple of days!

I had a small cup, not wanting to deplete her pot of tea too much. It is very smoky, but it is not at all offensive. The cup is a very clear orange and the smoke remains strong after steeping. The Lion and The Lamb left a pleasant ash smoke flavor after the sip, but this one has a little less aftertaste I think.

The smoke is certainly strong enough, and youngest says she will be making it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next!

I just received a package from Bonnie and OH MY! There is so much tea, so many gifts! Thank you!

My youngest daughter has dreamily inhaled the Lapsang and put it in her stash. She refuses to try it until school tomorrow! I was going to be good and not have caffeine tonight, but this one was calling my name and I didn’t try to resist very hard.

Lapsang with jasmine and orange? You don’t mean it! But opening the pouch an exotic scent wafts out and I bury my face in the bag to sniff. I may be showing myself to be a country bumpkin, but this smells exotic through and through. The combination of flavors and smoke here is so unique as to make it all seem like a totally new thing, and at the same time, as old as antiquity itself! I can picture sipping this on some foreign shore and I swear Bogart is there.

The taste does not let me down, either. This tastes the way it smells. Lapsang, good and strong. Smoke and ash on the tongue. Jasmine, teasing in the background. Orange, a flirty top note. What a cool tea!

I can’t wait to try more from Happy Lucky, and I hear they are going to be selling online soon!

Thank you, Bonnie! This will be an adventure!

I almost forgot to add today’s dramatic doodle. It is the weeping angel, only the angel is youngest, she is sobbing on the geometry book, and her pencil dangles limply from her hand. This kid really has GOT to do theater. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/7873206326/

Lesson of the day: Don’t judge a tea by its overwhelming campfire smell.

I was feeling brave so I decided to once and for all tackle the sample Bonnie sent me of this tea. Smelling it once again I almost gave up immediately. It’s like every possible smoked item you could think of to the power of five. Campfires, liquid smoke, leather, tobacco, even after it’s steeped for almost 3 minutes, the cup of tea retains those same scents.

Just keep telling yourself bacon.

Finally brave enough to sip…it’s different. It’s spicy, smoky, and a little sweet. Since I’ve really never had anything smokier than the Smoky Chocolate from 52 Teas I am having a massive “oh my god this isn’t for drinking this smells like bacon dipped in liquid smoke kept in a leather purse!” reaction.

Going to keep sipping though. If I can stand it this way then if I made it more like everyone else has I should have less of a problem in the future. Yay trying new things!

It has a lot of depth but it’s not like being placed directly in the path of barbecue smoke while sitting at a campfire while wearing leather. Oh I can’t get used it yet! It’s just so weird. At least I seem to be having a better time with it than I had with ice skating.

Tea Discovery
One day, my timing was ‘just right’ when I went for tea at Happy Lucky’s. There was a line-up of tea’s and tasting going on from a new company in Denver (Nepali tea traders) and owner George was keen to carry some of their teas in the shop. But, which ones?

I took my seat at the bar and Andy placed what was left of 12 tasting sets in front of me for an opinion.

“Yes!”, I cheered internally! “I get to taste all this tea!”

I love Nepalese tea, and I picked 4 that I thought would be good for the shop to carry, which matched the tasters opinion.
Later, this Ruby Pu-er came in and when I tasted it, I said it should bump any of the other teas! An absolute must! Best of all the tea’s!

George was on the fence about it at first. Would a small town really respond well to a Pu-er like this one? (He only carried a handful of Pu-er’s in the shop) We talked about the new website which I knew would benefit from having a tea like this one and he agreed.(George is a smart man!)

Nepali Tea Traders donates all their profits to benefit the Nepali Youth Foundation and tea industry growth. (The owner’s parents worked in Nepal so there is a connection with a small area of tea farms)

Happy Luckys had a tasting at the shop which drew 45 people (a large crowd in our town), and the star of the show at that tasting and in the days to since has been this Nepal Ruby Pu-er Style Black Tea!

Taste
The flavor is warm and fruity. Cherries and brandied peaches, walnuts warmed in a skillet, wood and clover honey. All this might lead you to think of some dark and heavy tea but it’s not. The tea is light, almost like a wheat beer in color and smooth.

The second steep was sweet and buttery, a honey molasses stick of candy. No earthiness.

You’ll have to be careful not to over brew or the tea can become bitter. I added a little sugar (might add some honey next time) and the flavor was luxurious.
(If you like a little bitterness, it reminded me of some of the craft beers in town over at O’dells or New Belgium Breweries.)

Nepal is so close to Darjeeling that the tea can taste almost the same but fame has been out of reach for Nepal due to isolation and war.

Love, love, love this Pu-er style tea!

It is my understanding that this is the first Pu-er style black tea from Nepal

Quick Notes Thanks to Bonnie for sharing with me!
Dry – Hickory smoked salt rub, hints of orange and sweet.
Wet – Smoky and more citrusy, sweet and somewhat spicy.
Liquor – Light brown/caramel.

1st 3mins – Smoky, sweet with orange citrus hints up front. It goes down smoothly while retaining the citrus notes, it has a savory ‘back bone’ with the smoke that allows the rest of the other flavors to come up.

2nd 3 1/2mins – Smoky, sweet and tart orange up front. It is smooth and smoky with a full body, yet the citrus notes gives it a ‘juicy’ feel. At this point I can taste vanilla hints which I think most come from the jasmine since dried jasmine is subtly sweet but not perfumy at all.

3rd 4mins – Sweet, tart citrus with some smoke up front. The tea continues to be smooth while going down and has a more subtle smoke note, the orange is more present now and lingers a bit more in the mouth.

Final Notes
I loved this one! I usually avoid blends with tea, but this one is well done. (In case you are wondering why I usually avoid blends: it is because Herbals have completely different infusion times and sometimes temperatures from that of tea. Basically you end up having tea the first try, the second faded tea with some herbs and then over steeped tea with herbal tea.)

I liked this one. Thanks Bonnie!

Drinking this sample from Bonnie makes me wish that I could move back to Colorado. I lived there was a kid and I would be excited to have a tea house around the corner from me, although I am sure there are some in NJ. (Any recs would be awesome) I seem to like a nice strong black tea when I wake up. To be honest, I am not the friendliest person in the morning. NOT a morning person.

I organized my tea stash last night and I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to go through all of my samples, I have way too many. This one called out to me because it comes packaged in the cutest little pearls of tea. Bonnie’s instructions were to use 4 or 5 of them for one 8 oz glass of tea. I dutifully followed her instructions…and boy am I glad that I did!

A beautiful dark brown liquor with a little sugar and milk. Delicious! Has a hint of cocoa but is nice and smooth. Easy to drink and probably get addicted to. I would definitely buy this :)