Suki Tea

I’ve been away in Scotland this week, hence the lack of tasting notes! I didn’t take a lot of tea with me, purely because it wouldn’t have been especially practical and I was limited in terms of luggage capacity (read: one small holdall for five nights away). I did buy some tea to bring home while I was there, though, and I took every opportunity to sit down in a cafe and buy a cup, naturally.

The Waterstones Cafe in Edinburgh has the best view of the castle in the whole city, as far as I’m concerned, so I went in there often. They serve the Suki Breakfast blend by default unless you specifically request something else, and I’m writing this primarily because I was a lot more impressed with it than I expected to be.

At first I thought it was going to be a bit thin, based on the very light liquor colour. It’s not, though. It brews up to a beautifully vibrant orange-red, and it takes milk really well but is equally palatable without. I thought it made a really refreshing cup; lightly citrussy, a touch brisk, with just a hint of malt lurking in the background. Unexpectedly, a really good cup!

I’m quite lucky that my college serves this tea. Perfect for after dinner, this tea is extremely minty. Really. It will blow your socks off. I’ve tried other peppermint tea which were refreshing enough, but this is perfect if you want to physically feel a cool breeze through your mouth. Just like a Trebor strong mint. Or an Arctic ice slab.

This morning has not been great. I awoke to the noise of a screaming cat (it turned out to be Ivory playing with a toy that his brother Sooty tried to also play with) which gave me a headache and groggy feeling due to lack of sleep. On top of that my mobile phone has broken, it refuses to charge and my contract supplier said to get a new battery and charger but only official brand which as it turns out is no longer sold, and until I try that I can’t get them to fix my phone for free. Otherwise a replacement is £150 and I can’t afford that right now.

So, with a groggy state of mind I pour myself a glass of Red Berry by Suki Tea. Previously reviewed in hot variety but not enjoyed above average expectations I decided to try it cold steeped. Worse case scenario in flavour would be best case scenario for using up the leaves. Though I am actually taken by surprise, it reminded me a bit of Ribena, but a little tart and less sweet. It has pure berry flavour this way with only a minimum tartness and herbalness from the hibiscus. Berry wise I would say cranberry or lingonberry, I’ve had similar from Ikea on my last visit. Much nicer than I expected and is my first positive of the day. I will certainly be cold steeping the rest of this.

“Jam in a cup” is how this one is advertised which I find rather appealing this morning. A Christmas gift from my parents as part of their random tea hamper that has become somewhat a traditional gift.

The raw blend had a strong berry and hibiscus scent, tart and sour but with some sweetness and a herbal touch.

Flavour is strong and very tart with mild sweetness and heavy hibiscus and herbal tones. Almost so tart that I pucker my lips, like I’m sucking a fizzy sweet. As it cools it does develop a sherbet likeness.

Does it taste like the proposed ‘jam in a cup’? No it does not, it is nowhere near sweet nor berry enough. Instead it’s a hibiscus heavy blend with moderate herbal tones and only a delicate touch of sweet berry.

Ahhhh, we had this tea again tonight. The more we drink it, the more I like it.

Tonight, we had a set of leaves on their third infusion, with Mum’s customary single extra spoonful of fresh tea on the top. The resulting drink was super-smooth, vanilla/caramelly and with all of that amazing mulled-wine/Christmas flavour it usually has.

As it is now, on its third steep, I think I’d really like it as a breakfast tea, maybe just with some plain buttered toast or something. It’s so sweet, citrussy and smooth – it just seems perfect!

This really is a fabulous tea. Mum wants me to order another couple of bags, to have around the house, and I certainly will not say no…!

Had a pot of this tonight, and it was just as lovely as last time! Again, we used ~2 tsp per person (3 of us, this time), but didn’t brew it for quite so long. I dunno why, but it actually tasted better brewed like this, in one of those Bodum glass teapots with the plastic infuser insert, than it did brewed using a brew-basket infuser type thing.

Probably brewed it for ~4 mins and it was amazing – the spices and the orange came through beautifully, and the tea was malty and smooth and definitely not too bitter. The shorter steeping time meant that this pot wasn’t actually very bitter at all – it was just the slightest, citrussy bitterness that I guess you’d expect, given the tea’s ingredients. It also had a lovely fruity astringency. Delicious :D

(As a result of this brewing, and the fact that I know you can re-steep these leaves/herbs at least three times and them still be really delicious and strong-tasting, without getting bitter, I’ve upped my score to 95. It really is a wonderful tea!)

I won’t babble too much about this tea, but I will definitely strongly recommend it! :D

To me, this is a very seasonal tea and is one that I just adore around Christmas time. When you open the bag and breathe deeply, you just get a wonderful Mulled Wine and Christmas smell that really lingers for ages. The tea itself is really good too – I brew it for a quite a long time (6’), which does make it a little bitter (but honestly just a little), but for me this isn’t a problem. With its delightful huge pieces of orange, whole cardamom pods, peppercorns and bits of apple (amongst other ingredients), the tea becoming slightly bitter just brings out the orange/citrus and really makes the tea almost like Mulled Marmalade. It’s so delicious :D

If you’re brewing this tea for the first time, I’d deffo really mixing the bag up before you take your 2 tsp per “mug” (10-11 oz/300-300 ml) (and I’d deffo use that much). Or, what I usually do, is take 1 tsp from near the top of the bag (full of spice pods and orange) and then one tsp from near the bottom of the bag (full of the lovely black tea and peppercorns).

This is the only chai-style, heavily spiced tea that I’ve ever really taken to. Usually, they just don’t get strong enough for me. But this one is a delight. And it is so festive. If you have access to Suki Teas (I’m pretty sure their website delivers fairly far-and-wide), I would strongly recommend treating yourself to a bag of this for the Christmas period.

I was offered this tea today at the Co Couture Chocolatiers in Belfast today. It came with my choice of chocolate for two pounds fifty. I chose salted caramel chocolate.

The cup was brought out with the bag in place and a small saucer to set the bag on when I was ready to remove it. The tea was good but nothing spectacular. This had possibly the lightest bergamot flavor of any Earl I have tried.

I saw this tea for sale loose leaf in a shop but I am not tempted to buy it. This would be good for people who like a bare hint of bergamot in their Earl. I still prefer a Keemun base for mine.