Strand Tea Company

I would call this tea an afternoon tea. Its brisk and malty, organic (a plus), and steeps up to a pale golden color. It has a little bitterness and astringency which I have found in all Ceylon teas. Its an ok tea but nothing I would reorder.

This is a sample I received from Strand Tea co. This tea really surprised me. This tea has slender dark black twisted leaves that unfurl when steeped. The flavor of the tea is smooth and delicate while being sugar sweet. It has an amber color when infused and has no bitterness or astringency at all. The taste is very complex and mild and actually reminds me of sugarcane. This is one tea I will have to order.
2.5g/8oz

I really like this Earl Grey. Its velvety smooth and doesn’t overpower you with the bergamot and has a hint of vanilla. It has no bitterness or astringency and is very mild and tasty. I really don’t think this would be considered a breakfast tea but would be nice for afternoons or desert tea.

This is an excellent assam tea. This tea is malty, chewy, and brisk.

Now this is an assam tea. Im getting so many flavors on so many levels that I can’t identify all of them. This tea is rich, dark, and malty. I can’t find any bitterness or astringency at all. The tea is very smooth and chewy. This tea is brisk and has an orange-red color. I’m getting flavors of malt, caramel and honey. This is the first assam that has wowed me since Mountain Malt.

This is a great breakfast tea. Its brisk and malty with only slight bitterness and astringency. I’m still trying to figure out why Mountain Malt only took 3 minutes of steeping while this one takes 5 minutes and still doesn’t have the strength or chewiness. Maybe it has to do with the oxidation or something. Both teas are BPS1 and handmade. Hopefully someone reading this with more tea knowledge than myself can answer this for me. Still this is a nice tea.

Since I can’t get Mountain Malt, I have been looking for another BPS1 tea. I found this at Strand Tea Co. in Sandy, Oregon. I ordered a few teas on the 15th and had them on the 18th. Thats not bad for shipping to Maine. They even included 2 samples and cookies. I love getting extras. This is an excellent malty assam. Its not as chewy as MM but it is just as tasty. It has no bitterness and just light astringency. This tea is more of a mild assam and could be drank anytime of day. Dufflagher is bright – alive – full bodied – dark – rich and malty.

I tend to like black currant tea – I’ve had it from other tea companies previously – and I liked this one, also. Not especially mind-blowing, but a good currant aroma, not too strong a flavor, but a decent cup of tea.

Was pleasantly surprised by this tea, since I normally have a strong dislike for anything peach-flavored (including peaches). However, the aroma was very nice, and it tasted very slightly sweet, with a nice rounded peach flavor. While I normally prefer my black teas with milk and sugar, this one was better without.

Not a bad tea; not my favorite, but had a nice slightly plummy and cinnamon aroma, better with milk and sugar, which brought out the subtleties of plum and cinnamon.

Lightly fragrant black tea, lovely light rose scent and flavor. Although I normally add milk and sugar to my black teas, doing so to this tea overwhelmed whatever rose fragrance and flavor there was. Good tea, although I’ll keep looking for other rose-scented teas that may hold up better to milk and sugar.

Comparative to a straight up lemon myrtle tea, this was a bit muted, but still very bright and lemony, both in fragrance and in flavor. Good iced!

Very pleasant lemony tea, slightly muted lemon fragrance and taste; not as strongly scented or flavored as a lemon myrtle, but still very bright with a strong lemon fragrance. Would like to try it iced.

Not a bad tea; not my favorite. Apple overtones, which is not my favorite base flavor, but I do like the black tea/green tea blend of teas.

Enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. The initial flavor didn’t appeal to me, but almost immediately I was hit with a licorice-y, anise-y sweetness that was quite enjoyable. I really enjoyed this one as an iced tea.

It was definitely very fruity, with a slight tang (thanks to the apple), and while it was a very pretty-looking tea, and it was decent, I definitely preferred it iced. Very fruity, no one fruit or herb was over overpowering, and blended well enough, but not something I’m likely to be in the mood for often.

I’ve always liked lemon myrtle tea; it smells really fresh and just very bright and lemony, and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy this tea so much. If adding honey, don’t add too much – the sweetness will overpower the delicate lemon flavor. Also good iced!

Pretty good, interesting tea. The loose leaf (pre-brewed) tea smells lovely and minty, and the post-brewed smells lightly of fruit, namely cherry, with hints of peppermint aftertaste.

finishing up my last lil bit…

SIPDOWN!

Well, it sure is Purple/Leaf. I’m not crazy about the smell while infusing. Post infusion it has a gentle mossy/mint smell to it. The liquid is a greenish-purple. My first thought was…I really don’t know if I will be able to like this tea…something about that first sniff…bleh.

BUT…it’s really, really different – tastes far from what I imagined based on the aroma. It is sweet. I can relate to the sweet basil type comparison. And it is quite minty for not being actual mint.

The more I sip this one the more it’s growing on me. I actually kind of like it. It’s not very intense but it’s relaxing.

Not too shabby.

Slowly sipping this slightly tart green tea. It’s a nice kind of tartness though, not too overwhelming. The tea is luke warm which works out pretty well this hot and sticky evening.
Created a new signature blend AMERICANA http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=13675&SID=43bf99bfa843428f1510b5151281c673
I remember the first time I came to the US as a tourist (which was quite a while ago) I noticed an ad that said: “Europen quality”. At the time that seemed so funny to me: are they assuming that American quality is not good enough? Anyway, this blend is a little/tiny tribute to fine American quality :)