The Tea House - Covent Garden

sipdown! (207) not too shabby an assam from terri/nofars. It’s not my favourite but i like seeing the differences in various assams. This one is less bold, has a bit of astringency and isn’t very malty but it’s got a strength to it that i like. and the flavour is pretty decent! thanks guys!

sipdown! woot woot! This has a bit of a fruity taste to it. It’s not a dark bold brew but it is pretty decent. it’s a nice one to be drinking with my apple cinnamon bread thingy lol

Sipdown! While this tea is rather bland in it’s flavour profile as terri mentioned, I actually am really enjoying it’s refreshing taste. It’s similar to when you have a cold glass of fresh spring water. I’ve never had a silver tip oolong (is that really a thing?) but this was an interesting one to try. Oh how i wish i could spend a weekend or more just running around the uk and france buying tea sigh

oh! this is a delight! Terri either didn’t review this one or the other part of the sample is sitting at her place somewhere. But this is delightful! My thanks should also go out to nofars for sending this terri’s way in their swap. This is a tea i can get behind. This is a malty tea, but not overly so…there’s also a sweetness with a hint of spiciness? in the background. It’s juicy and yet leaves my mouth a little dry feeling. I love the taste that linger in my mouth after sipping on this. yep. I’m a fan.

Here’s another sipdown from NofarS.
I haven’t drank very many yellow teas. The dry leaves are a mix of gray, beige, & brown, with an aroma that reminds me a bit of Sheng, only milder. I steeped about 3G in my glass test tube steeper @ 175F, & the leaves opened up beautifully, taking on colors of green, apricot, yellow & beige. The color of the brewed tea starts off yellow, but then warms to an apricot color. Maybe I’m imagining this, but the early steepings even had an apricot essence to it, along with a mild sheng-like taste. I’m getting several steeps out of these leaves, & it’s a pleasant brew. A little bitter on the tip of the tongue on steep 3 & 4, perhaps, but the later steepings have a shiny tongue tingling sensation & it has good energy to it, if you know what I mean. With that, I’m headed out to water the garden & pick some produce! Hopefully I won’t get lost out there ;)

Sipdown!
I’m still working on the last of the teas I have from my awesome swap with NofarS awhile back. Only 7 teas to go after this one!
This tea is ok, but really rather bland. Not roasty, not sweet, not even floral. Maybe a little bit of a bready sour dough taste, but nothing really stands out about this one in any direction.
Next!

Another Sipdown from NofarS box of goodies!
A decent little shu, leaning more to the dark & earthy side, but no off flavors. I enjoyed this earlier today. :)

It’s day 3 of Little Terri’s Sipdown Extravaganza!

First sipdown of the day is a sample sent to me from NofarS, and it’s tasty one. Very bright, a little tart, especially around the outside edges of my tongue. Not particularly bold, but mouth-filling none the less. Thanks NofarS!

Another tea from my awesome trade with NofarS! Thanks!

This is nice bold Assam, a little sharp around the edges, and a bit of an edgy bitterness as well. Not particularly sweet, but a good basic Assam that definitely packs a punch! I’m headed out to play a wedding, & this will do the trick!

I’m claiming a triple sipdown on this entry.
First off, I finally made tea eggs, using the last of the Happy Lucky’s Lapsang, plus the last of the Lapsang from the London Tea Room. Drew & I split one, & he thought it just tasted like a boiled to him. Of course, there is much more to the flavor than that, but I’m not quite sure how I feel about them, to be honest. They look cool though!

The third sipdown is for this Nilgiri, thanks to NofarS.
I’m enjoying it as an after lunch tea. It’s a little on the bright & edgy side for me today, but not a bad cup, & will be followed by a shower, as I have a new student coming in about an hour. I don’t want them to realize what a slob I am until they’ve had a chance to get to know & love me first! :)

I’m enjoying a lunch of yesterdays leftover Potato & Lovage Frittata with some homegrown radishes & asparagus. A tasty black tea is just what I needed to complete the meal.

This Nilgiri is from an amazing assortment of mostly black teas that I got in an awesome trade with NofarS. This is only the 2nd tea I’ve sampled from the box, not because I don’t want to drink them, but because it’s just so hard to pick one. They are all beautifully packaged, I might add, & I’m truly grateful for the trade, Nofar! I’m also grateful that neither of our boxes got stuck in customs! Yay!

This is a medium bodied tea with some brightness too it, kind of fruity in the sense of blackberries. Not particularly bold or bassy, no bells & whistles, but it’s a pleasant cup & nice with lunch.

Aroma from the bag: citrusy, floral, very sweet

First steep
Scent while steeping: mostly charcoal-y
Color: medium yellow-brown
Flavor: charcoal-y with some sweetness & floral notes

I used 1 1/2 tsp loose tea and probably too much water (I was shooting for 8 oz in the tea maker but it wound up almost overfilling my mug), so no rating just yet.

ETA: 2nd and 3rd steeps were much more smooth and mellow with nice fruity-floral overtones and a mild complementary smokiness. I’ll wait until next time to rate, but it’s a good’un!

So this tea reminds me of fall and what a wonderful treat for this cool autumn night :) enjoying it while watching a scary movie :)

Additional notes: ICED! At Dinosara’s suggestion this is one of the blends I wanted to try cold. I steeped this in a mason jar for a couple days. Sadly, I think I’m getting more of the preservative apple flavor cold and not less. Drinking hot, the apple flavor gets better as I’m drinking it. I do like this regardless though. Though the black tea flavor doesn’t really exist at all cold.

thanks so much, Dinosara for sending some of this one! There seems to be two apple flavors layered here. There is that preservative apple flavor I don’t like (I’m not sure if it is actually “preservatives” but it isn’t a flavor I actually associate with apple), and then it seems there is an actual apple flavor coming from the actual apples. As I’m sipping, the preservative flavor is less present, and then the name becomes accurate. There is a very sweet flavor to it all of a sudden! I don’t know why it changes. The black tea is okay, not very distinct, but it fits well with the apple. I just wish the preservative flavor would go away.

A fairly good shu – dark reddish, smoky, earthy and strong with some sweet notes. Endless rebrews, not complex or subtle, but a good honest tea for a very good price and conviently packed

Haven’t had this tea in a while, and I forgot how good it is. Like a trumpet solo on an old jazz record- sweet, mellow, smooth and relaxing. A pleasant companion for a sunny winter’s day.

This is not as good as Gillard’s Kenya, but it will most definitely do.

First tea of the morning. Brisk and smooth

Back logging a cup from yesterday. Great morning brew

First cup of the day. A much needed after lunch pick me up

First tea of the day. Needed the caffeine kick

Light bodied strong tea with pepper and citrus notes and no astringency.
Works better without milk, although it can be brewed darker and taken with milk. A good pick me up on the coldest and stormiest day of the year.