The Tea Table

Given that my city just got two feet of snow dumped on it this weekend and another foot is expected tonight, I had resigned myself to my Tea Table subscription not getting here for another week at least. However, I give respect to the US Postal Service after all, because there it was this morning!

This one sounded delicious and smelled very peaches-and-cream-y, both in the leaves and while steeping. And there is an absolutely lovely peaches and cream taste to it, but there’s also an immense bitterness as a taste and as an aftertaste. I dropped two lumps of sugar in, and it’s drinkable. I think perhaps if I were having this with dessert I would enjoy this level of bitterness for the flavor, but if this is a typical steep then it’s definitely not a morning tea —

— Wait, hang on a sec. I just had a brilliant idea: milk.

— Oh yes, that does it! A tiny splash of milk cut right through the bitterness. It really brings out the flavor, too. Oh, this is good! Definitely heavy on the cream with a hint of fruit; I wouldn’t necessarily pin “peaches” on it if I didn’t already know, but it’s not not peaches. I think I need to make myself another cup of this and add milk right away this time.

I’d forgotten I had some of this left! It got lost in the back of my “samples” section.

I think I made this a little too strong, but it’s quite bracing! It goes down bitter, but there’s a lingering aftertaste that isn’t sweet but feels like it ought to be, if that makes sense. And it’s a lovely dark brown that looks strong; I do like when teas look like they taste.

This is a sweet and very tasty black tea. With no sugar, there’s a faint bite of black tea bitter to balance the sweetness; with one lump, it’s more of a decadent experience. This is a very smooth tea, but it’s a little more complicated in its flavors than I usually choose first thing in the morning. It makes a great mid-morning treat.

The Tea Table calls this a “holiday” tea, but hastens to assure that it’s “delicious any time of year”, which I find amusing. This tastes very much like a mid-winter tea to me. This is also from my tea-of-the-month subscription and I don’t think it’ll last me through the month, let alone through the winter, at the rate I keep drinking it!

This is the first green tea which I’ve tried from my tea of the month subscription to Tea Table. The label on my packet claims that this is “the perfect basic green tea” and, while I’m not sure that it’s perfect, it is a very nice basic tea. It’s surprisingly smooth for a green tea, even in the dregs when the taste becomes slightly bitter, and until those dregs the taste is very light and pleasing.

The company’s webpage for this tea drops the “basic” from the description and makes this sound like a far more complicated tea than I experienced. Don’t let that put you off.

I like Yunnans so when I saw this tea from this supplier, based on the photo and the description it sounded like a winner. Having tried it a few times now I am finding that it’s a bit disappointing.
The leaf is beautiful, with yellow and black twisted long leaves. The color of the brew at 3 minutes is dark. The flavor is lacking. Yes it has some maltiness but the flavor is not what I’d expect of a standard Yunnan nor a golden Yunnan tea. For me it’s just a kind of an “eehhh” flavor, nothing exciting or noteworthy. I can’t say (based on recent cuppings) that I’d re-order this one.

Selected my last tea of 2009 to be this one. It has a tightly rolled up leaf dark green in color. The aroma of the dry leaf is mild, with a sweet floral and slightly fruity aroma. I brewed it for about 3 minutes. The brew was a moderate greenish yellow color fairly typical for an oolong. The flavor is not as bold as I was expecting from this oolong. For being “superior” I think I expected more. It’s a very nice flavor but suggests I need more leaf next time. The leaf did not completely unfurl after the 1st steep so I later tried another steeping, adding another minutes. It came out just as tasty as before. The leaf unfurled the rest of the way and the leaf is full and beautiful. Size wise they are small to medium leaf. It’s quite a beautiful tea visually. While I’m not an oolong expert but I was expecting a little more for a “superior” grade tea.

Amazing tea. Pleasing aroma, light taste, not bitter at all. A little sweet naturally but just the right amount. Will become a regular tea for me.