The Tea Spot

I hadn’t had this for a while and I remember liking it much more than I did today. The first cup I brewed steeped way too long (8 minutes or so) and was so bitter I had to throw it out and start all over. The second time I only brewed for 4-5 minutes and it was much better, but not as good as I’d remembered.

Very nice second brew today.

Nice and mellow. A lighter hint of melon than previous times I’ve tried this blend.

Going through my tea stash today, and discovering tins with just one more serving left in it. This is one of them, very nice white tea. I did once make a Snowflake tea latte out of it, as suggested on their tin/website, which was surprisingly tasty.

When I made a face and said that I didn’t like the tea I was drinking (Wild Monkey Masala) my beloved didn’t say, “Well let’s go for our run then.” (Though he’d have been within his rights to say so since we are late getting out today.) Instead he said, “Pour it out and have something better. I’ll wait.” I saw Cecilia’s review of mango tea and immediately thought that the Mango Tango would be a good way to drive out bad tea feelings.

Mango Tango is such a happy tea! Even the leaves are beautiful since they’ve been brightened with little yellow flower petals. The tea itself brews up into a sweet, fragrant liquor with a smooth ceylon black flavor peeking through the mango and passionfruit curtains. Now I’ll be able to run happily.

I felt like a tea that smiles back this morning and Mango Tango is it. It has a fresh fruity smell and taste (but it is not excessively flavored or excessively sweet). The black tea is mellow in the right way and blends very well with the mango and passionfruit. It’s all smooth, rounded edges. Nothing sharp. Just a happy tea for a happy morning.

A nice sweet flavored black tea with the strong scent of passion fruit. It is nice to sip in the afternoon with a bit of cream.

I just made this iced with lemon – great taste of strawberry with sweet honey notes.

Second time around on this tea. Decision: I’m not a huge fan. Too much lemon flavor and not enough of that distinctive sencha-ness.

Had this one yesterday. The jury’s still out…

Great iced and hot, usually in the middle of the day.

A delicate oolong that still produces a good amount of flavor. I experienced nutty, sweet, and floral flavors over 3 infusions.

The label says “gourmet green tea” but it has many non-tea ingredients. Should state on the front that it is a very floral infusion.

Also, I’ve found it impossible to brew without a bitter, almost acrid, aftertaste. The aroma is fruity and wonderful, but the aftertaste is unpleasant.

I received this as a gift – my first oolong and it’s a wonderful, full-flavored tea.

Light, green oolong. Floral, but delicately so. Enjoyable brew.

Nice light oolong. On the green end of the oolong spectrum. Floral and nice drinking.

Austere, floral, quite tasty.

My sense of smell must be stronger than my palate because it smells like a delicious chocolate berry smoothie I used to make but it just tastes like standard green tea. I agree that it would be lovely with a side of chocolate.

Update: Some turbinado sugar helps bring out the flavor and there is definitely a lingering flavorful aftertaste.

Double update: After the 4th cup of pondering where I’d smelled this before it finally hit me. Chocolate strawberry bubble tea! I was madly obsessed with that stuff in college.

My every morning, right as rain, ain’t morning without a cuppa tea is Twinings UK packed English Breakfast, with a splash of milk. (Just like my standard generic cup of tea in the afternoon/evening is PG Tips with a touch of sugar). Moring isn’t about adventure, it is about routine, and normalness. Tea blends are made to predictable, and while most geeks focus on the varietals, the “regular bloke’s blend” is very satisfying.

But every now and then, you want something different. I usually go for a pure Keenum, or a high end packers “English/Irish/U.K. Brekkie”, or even a black current black. Usually for a morning or two, then back to my beloved Twinings UK packed. (Most tea blenders adjust their blends for different markets to meet local taste – they are all recognizable as the “name” profile, just different emphisis on the ratio of the component teas, or a different leaf cut (size of the tea leaves affects flavor).

The Tea spot has a reputation of putting out excellent quality, and at times very non traditional, full leaf blends. I usually have a tin or two of their teas in my rotation.

I recently picked up their Bolder Breakfast. It is a ridiculous blend of black tea (Assam and Ceylon, i think), Pu-erh, and a slight touch of dark cocca powder. It is fantastic, a very bold tea: robust black nose, with a hint of chocolate, dark as night in the cup, and a very rounded malty sweet taste leaving the impression ok the complexity of dark chocolate with a thin feel. Boiling @ 5 min, reg sized pot, with a touch of milk (and would consider a touch of sugar, depending on my mood). Again, not for every morning, but a excellent change of pace.

Honestly tastes like the smell of pipe-tobacco. Delicious.

This tea demonstrates how changing preparation methods can result in a dramatically different tea. Conventional steeping in a regular teapot will result in a light honey-like tea. But when prepared in a gaiwan, this tea really comes into its own with serious notes of jasmine, lavender, and clementine oranges.