The Tea Table

Oh, very nice! This makes a fantastic iced tea with a whole lot of lime going on. (And it’s a gorgeous gold color, too.)

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this yet. The lime is rather…puckery, and I think I need to steep it a little lighter to get the balance right.

My confidence in Adagio was shaken when I sampled the Earl Grey from Andrew & Dunham. It had the same citric qualities of the Bravo but was less astringent and lacked what I can only describe as a dryness across the palette as I drank it. The impact of this revelation was twofold: I found that Earl Grey just might be my favorite blend of tea, and I must find a source of Earl Grey that either matches or exceeds what I found at A&D.
That said, I decided for my next round of tea to order from a different source than Adagio. Browsing a tea-related discussion, one of the posters recommended the Tea Table, noting that their Earl Grey was delicious. I had never visited their website before, but was enticed by their pricing into ordering a big ole bag of Earl along with some other teas that I’ll make notes of later.
Out of the bag, the EG has that musky and familiar bergamot scent that I’ve come to love. It wasn’t as powerful as the scent of Adagio’s EG Bravo (as the most powerfully scented EG I’ve come across, any comparison will thus be measured in Bravos [Bv]) at about .4 Bv. By comparison, the A&D is about .6 Bv, and also a bit brighter in scent, perhaps more orange-like, but only a little bit.
I steeped a batch of four cups for four minutes at boiling, which is standard procedure when I brew black tea with my TriniTEA; past attempts to brew black tea for five minutes left the tea undrinkably bitter. The final product had a subdued scent, almost malty, but a beautifully reddish brown liquor. I should also note at this time that resteeping this tea causes nearly no loss of color to the liquor.
Upon drinking, I noted that this is a strong Earl Grey. Strong as in tea flavor, whereas the mild citrus-ey taste followed the sip. It seemed earthy in flavor but did not have the malty qualities found in the scent; this may be a lack of perception on my part, though. I was very surprised to find that this EG had none of the dryness that I found in any of the 5 or so EGs that I have sampled before this. The second steep was not nearly as strong, as to be expected, but still contained the distinct EG flavor.
I was satisfied in finding a EG that was better than Adagios EG Bravo. It lacked the smooth quality of A&D’s tea, but it otherwise nearly matched them in all other aspects. My search for the best Earl Grey continues, but until I find hat Shambala, I can rely on this Earl Grey to satisfy my hankerings.

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act I scene 5

“Thus we play the fools with the time; and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds, and mock us.”
Henry IV, Part 2, Act II scene 2

I’m really struggling today. Last night I found out that a friend in New Orleans was murdered. So I find myself wallowing in this tea today. I picked this tea because rum is reminiscent of Hurricanes and I don’t have real alcohol on hand (that’d be a bad thing right now). Please keep in mind that a subjective tea review from me today is nearly impossible. And know that Falstaff came to mind because Jeremy had been a wonderful comedian and to me he died offstage. That’s where the similarities between Falstaff and my friend end. Jeremy was a wonderful father, husband, and friend.

Enter Falstaff stage right. I opened the packet and was hit by a truly heady mix of rum, coconut, and even strawberries. I thought it might be too arrogant of a tea, but the steeping calmed it down a bit. It lived up to its boasting.

The scent of the tea is decadent. The “cream flavors” come out (to me it seems like vanilla soy milk) and all the flavors really dance around in my mouth. I can’t tell what black tea it is, but my guess would be Ceylon because I catch that light sweetness on my tongue that I associate with that particular tea. I did two successful steeps and then added another teaspoon and steeped it again. Right now the cup smells like a light strawberry cake frosting. Bizarre, but true. The aftertaste is really pleasant and I find myself taking fewer sips so that I can appreciate it more. I plan on steeping the hell outta this one today and I do believe that it shall become a permanent tea in my cabinet. NE

A nice afternoon tea. The tea has a delicate flavor with no bitterness or astringency. My wife tasted mine and had me make her a cup. This tea is very light and slightly fruity.

This tea has a light spicy aroma and steeps up to a light amber color. It is stronger than most darjeelings but still has a lighter taste than any breakfast tea I have had. I am not a fan of darjeelings but I like this tea. The tea is slightly fruity and a very nice cup.

I’m really surprised but I like this tea. I received one tuo cha as a sample and the smell is earthy and musky. The tea really gets dark in a hurry. The taste is earthy and my wife even likes it (bigger surprise). The tea is really good, no bitterness, no astringency, just earthiness in abundance. I’m going to have to order more of this. All this and it just keeps making more cups of tea. I’m on the third cup now, still earthy and delicious.

This is a nice inexpensive yunnan that is smooth with slight peppery notes. I didn’t see any fireworks while drinking this tea. Its more of a middle of the road yunnan for my tastes. I tend to like teas that smack me up side of the head and say “Here I am.”

This is an interesting sample I received from The Tea Table. The tea leaf smells more of cherry with hints of vanilla. Its a very smooth tea, no bitterness or astringency. The taste has hints of both but not really strong. I think this tea would be great in an iced tea which is what I intend to use the rest of it for. Its an ok tea but not something I would drink every day.

For me a very average breakfast tea, much better than tea bags. It may be my tastes as I have never drank a Ceylon that I loved, the same for Darjeelings. I seem to like yunnan and assam teas. I really see the reason that there are so many types of tea out there. This tea is strong, it gets bitter if you steep more than 3 minutes. It has a little astringency, but it is a drinkable tea.

This is a very nice breakfast tea with strong rich flavor, no bitterness and just a touch of astringency. While nothing spectacular happened while sipping, it is a good tea.

The weather calls for strong teas this morning. This is a very good assam tea with the malty taste, no bitterness and light astringency. While this tea is from the same area as Mountain Malt, it is not in the same league. Its not even close. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
3g/8oz

The reason I wanted to try this tea is that Mountain Malt is an Assam Gingia tea also. While this is is a very nice assam, it is not Mountain Malt. There is no comparison. This tea is malty and has a touch of bitterness and astringency. The chewy biscuity notes are not there. They do not even look the same. All that being said, still this is a nice assam.

This is a nice tasting green tea but it tastes like any other to me. I really don’t taste anything outstanding about this one.

Great pick me up in the morning, this tea is robust, brisk, and malty. It also makes a great ice tea.

This is a very nice robust, brisk, and malty tea. You can smell the assam tea in it and it really has a kick to it. I’m really glad I only steeped for 3 minutes. I have a feeling that you could stand a spoon up in it at 5 minutes. I’m getting no bitterness and a touch of astringency. This would make a very good breakfast tea and I like it a lot.

Somebody sent me a whole bag of this tea and I was about to give it away, untasted, untested, untried. But for some reason I hesitated. I don’t like Rooibos but the other tea I had from The Tea Table was remarkably good. The Tea Table has a nice web site proclaiming that “I believe it is customary in polite society to take some slight refreshment at five o’clock.” (Oscar Wilde)

An Oscar Wilde quotation. Good. And it just morphed into a Thomas De Quincey quotation! Better! Best? This tea could be a solution to my rooibos hate. I really liked it. The vanilla raspberry taste seemed fresh, smooth, and authentic and even though the tea does look like wood shavings, I didn’t pick up any of the tell-tale taste of sawdust. It looks as if I have another tea company to order from.

Ooh! Surprisingly smooth — I know rooibos is usually smooth, but this is smoother than that. Like picking up a nectarine when you were expecting a fuzzy peach: that smooth. And definitely peach, in a sort of sweet and gentle way. Really, just a lovely tea!

Gah, trying to put in a tasting note via my phone is almost impossible. Plz to be having an Android app soon, yes?

Anyway: I like this tea a lot more mugbrewed. It gets bitter, but in a really juicy and pleasing way. Not at all a morning tea, but very nice at the end of the afternoon.

Eh. Unimpressed so far.