Murchie's Tea & Coffee

I was in a green tea mood when I stopped in last time, and the idea of mango appealed to me, especially since it’s been warm and sunny.

The tea leaves look fresh, and there are little cubes of dried mango here and there. And the smell of the dry tea is definitely mango, but sweeter than the fresh fruit. Mind you, dried fruits tend to smell even sweeter.

When it comes to the taste, it is a little bit of a disappointment. I’ve drunk it a few times already, adding different amounts of leaves, steeping a little longer, etc, and I can’t seem to draw that much flavour out of it. Although I taste a hint of fruit from it, it’s more peach than mango. The green tea base itself is very light too, nearly non-existant. If it weren’t for the colour of the liquor, I wouldn’t even think that I was drinking a green tea.

It’s good but not great. I’m glad that one can purchase an ounce instead of having to commit to even more than that.

Thank You Emilie for this one!

This smells a little floral but tastes a little fruity.

I can taste a mellower black tea in the base but also a vegetal green in this black/green blend. This is pretty good for a bagged tea – let alone a black AND green tea blend in a bag – great for on the go!

I feel so bad that I’ve been so busy exploring this glorious island to check out everyone’s tasting notes. I finally have the time to relax with this cup of tea.

The chamomile is so incredibly fluffy and bright. And it smells like a bright, almost green chamomile. Not to mention, there is almost a gentle creaminess in the background. It’s barely there.

I know this is just chamomile, so big whoop, right, but it really does taste lovely. Probably the best chamomile tea I’ve ever had. Granted, because every other chamomile tea that I’ve tasted came from a bag full of crushed up, likely older buds.

It’s sunny, crisp, and oh so fresh. I find that some lower quality chamomile can smell and taste on the medicinal side, but that’s not going on here at all. Every sip blossoms.

If this didn’t taste so good, I’d totally steep a strong batch and rinse my hair with it.

Since this tea wasn’t the best hot, I thought I’d try this cold brewed since I still have a bunch left. An Earl Grey Cream cold brew? Doesn’t sound like the greatest idea but I thought I’d try. This tastes just as weird as it does hot. That caramel flavour is even more burnt and a slight bitterness is creeping out too.

Sorry, lowering the rating.

Yay, I finally moved to the west coast. Now, this calls for some Murchie’s. I just got back from the store with a few one ounce pouches. Haven’t had Earl Grey Cream in a while, and have been craving it like crazy lately, so this was a must.

Quite different from all of the other Earl Grey Creams that I’ve tried. The bergamot is very light here. The steeped tea definitely smells like there is more bergamot in it than there really is. And instead of a creamy vanilla I usually get from other brands, this tastes like it has caramel instead. My taste buds don’t know what to make of this combination. I made sure to steep this for only three minutes since I was worried about bitterness. Seems like a good time length for it.

The aftertaste reminds me of a caramel candy or something. The bergamot lingers too but it’s gentle. I prefer Earl Greys that don’t shy away from the bergamot, although this one is very smooth and gentle, safe.

Found this one in our tea cupboard and decided to give it a try. Unlike many of the fruit teas we have tried lately, this one is a flavoured tea (a.k.a. there are no chunks of real fruit). The base of the tea is Ceylon and Keemun leaves which is a fancy way of saying that this is basically an orange pekoe/english breakfast tea that has a little apricot flavouring blended in…

The tea has a nice chocolate brown colour after steeping and smells like an english breakfast – the flavour is much the same as it smells with a slight hint of apricot. I liked the apricot flavouring and it seemed to enhance the tea – not a bad tea overall. Personally, I prefer more adventurous black teas.

A couple of reviewers on the Murchie’s website mentioned that they liked this one iced with lemon or in a latte. I would imagine that this would lend itself well to both of these methods. I will have to give that a try and then update this posting later!

De-cupboarding this tea. It was a quite a unique tea when I first purchased it, but now it looks like all the tea companies are jumping on the bandwagon and offering it. I liked ginseng oolong before it was cool. /hipster post ;D

Backing off the steeping time a bit seems to bring out a bit more of the oolong’s sweetness with the herbal ginseng notes a nice undertone to each sip. The tea keeps its flavour nicely through multiple steep too, although the ginseng fades after the first couple.

This oolong has quite a unique appearance – instead of loose or rolled leaves it looks very much like hard, little pebbles. I gave the tea a quick rinse of a few seconds then steeped it for 4 minutes. I could smell the herbaly ginseng as well as a lightly roasted oolong scent. The flavour is smooth and slightly sweet with the herbal, slightly bitter ginseng notes coming in at the end of each sip. Oddly this tea seems to leave my mouth a little bit dry afterwards, but other than that it’s quite nice.

It’s a nice enough tea, but a little mild-mannered for my taste — I’d rather something a little more boisterous.

It’s a perfectly decent rendition of Earl Grey but doesn’t really stand out for me as exceptional in any way. It has a surprisingly strong smell that permeated the box that it was shipped in, but doesn’t seem unique once brewed.

I’m not disappointed by it, but neither am I surprised by it.

Finally finished off my tin – surprisingly this tea kept its flavour very well over the years, possibly because I kept it in a double-lidded tin the whole time. A fantastic tea (especially if you like bananas or dessert flavours) it’s perfect for drinking either with or without milk and has enough staying power for at least one resteep. 10/10 would definitely buy again.

I bought this tea at the Victoria Tea Festival back in February and my friend and I both agreed that it was the best tea there. It was one of the new blends that Murchie’s was sampling and it was the smell that attracted me first – deliciously rich and sweet with hint of the banana and coconut. Of course I figured that, like a lot of flavoured teas, there was no way it would taste as good as it smelled.

Boy was I wrong. This tea tastes exactly like a slice of coconut banana cream pie; it’s almost uncany how well it matches the flavour. There’s nothing the least bit artificial about the flavour and I can clearly taste the real banana, the real coconut and the real vanilla as I sip it. This may very well become my favorite flavoured tea.

I have enjoyed this tea several times, trying to get some thoughts written down with little success. Therefore, rather than being a review of one cup, this entry is more of an overview.

I have chosen this cup several times for different reasons. It has a strong enough flavour (somewhere between English Breakfast and Orange Pekoe), but it is still smooth and gentle, especially as it cools. I think it is the Assam in the blend that lends it such smoothness (I am told that Assam is ‘malty’, but I don’t know what ‘malty’ tastes like!) I think it’s good for the “brisk awakening” it promises.

The problem, I find, is that it is difficult to think of something interesting to say about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love this tea – it’s a delicious, delightful cup – but nothing really stands out about it. I can’t think of much that sets it apart from other "breakfast’ teas aside from its strength.

The verdict is that this is a wonderful medium-strength cup, but doesn’t do much of anything to set itself apart as something special. Perhaps that is just the way with breakfast teas.

Recommended for those looking for a slightly stronger breakfast tea.

This tea tastes like the feeling of sitting in a quiet corner of the library with an old copy of a C.S. Lewis novel. It’s bold and full bodied like the scent of the pages of an old book. The blend of green and black tea is the perfect mixture. The green tea just barely overpowers the black and in turn balances out the bitterness. While you can add a sweetener to this if you’re not fond of the way black tea tastes, I find it’s much better without and allows the flavours to mesh much better.

This is the tea that got me through undergrad. I worked a full time job while taking five classes, so I would spend all my “free” time holed up in the university library until they forced me out at the 11pm closing, desperately trying to do all my readings and assignments and research. I always had my trusty thermos at my side and a cache of Library blend tea bags (the horror!)

Now that I’m not constantly on the go, I’ve switched to the less-portable but ever so much nicer loose leaf version. This is just a great staple tea, and exactly what I think a breakfast tea should taste like. It’s a little smokey from the black tea, and a little vegetal from the green, but it all rounds out nicely for something that you can drink without being distracted.

A strong tea that, unfortunately, doesn’t taste like much of anything to me. I do enjoy using this tea as a black base when mixing with some green teas, but as a solo act, it leaves much to be desired.

I like the vanilla flavours in this tea, but the tea itself seems very strong and easy to oversteep. It’s still my second favourite tea and I do enjoy drinking it :)

Really delicious black tea. The Ceylon and Jasmine come through but the lemon (thankfully) is very slight and does not overpower. Sometimes a touch of bitterness (astringency?) but haven’t experienced this lately. This has become my “default” black tea and my parents have started swapping this in place of their old orange pekoe.

Merchie’s made this blend in honor of the recent royal nuptials, so please imagine me wearing a ridiculous hat.

This is a black and green tea blend as Merchie’s has become famous for. This is where the weirdness comes in, something about the combination of Ceylon and jasmine teas with citrus makes this tea smell like pine to me. Pine sap, that kind of pine. Trying to push that out of my mind… the infusion is a dark red and the aroma is floral-ish and citrus-y. My first sip is a bit bitter and when I expect to get a spicy note or astringency from the Ceylon, the jasmine pushes in and mellows the flavor out. There are some floral notes from the jasmine but the rose petals are undetectable. I’m left with an odd pine sappy aftertaste.

Almond milk and stevia helped my second ½ cup of tea out, but not enough to make me ever crave this tea. Bollocks! I really wanted to like this one.

I need a good kick in the pants because my productivity has come to a screeching halt. I would typically rely on my good friend Queen Catherine to pull me by the ear and make me snap to, but alas I’m out of THE QUEEN. How did this happen?!

I’m hoping that another queen might be able to help me out of my evening malise. Queen Victoria may not be quite as feisty as Queen Catherine, but she’s no slouch! Queen Victoria is an icreadible blend of green and black teas with the sweetness of jasmine and the smoky goodness of Lapsang Souchong.

Two cups later… I’ve not gotten the swift kick in the pants that I needed, but I do feel like I’ve gotten a stern talking to. We will be recomending this tea (the royal we).

I expect there is more Murchie’s Library Blend tea in my blood stream than actual blood, given how much of a staple this tea is for my daily routine. A fresh, light-tasting green-black that has a very green smell; I enjoy it with a bit of honey and milk, both for breakfast and as an afternoon treat. Careful not to drink it with boiling water, though.

Finished this one off.

You can definitely taste the bancha. It’s forward in the tea, with the black more in the background and supplementing the taste wonderfully. It’s a little sweet, either from the mocha brandy flavouring described, or the candy pink elephants.

I think it all ties together very well, though.