303 Tasting Notes

88

I bought this infusion with dried fruit without added sugar or any further treatment in a specialized tea shop in my home town of Louvain, Belgium some time last year, waiting for summer to come and offer me plenty of occasion to make iced tea.
The way I prefer to proceed to make iced tea is as follows : I put a few teaspoons of the infusion in a paper tea filter, I first rinse a tea pot with freshly boiled water and then poor the rest of the kettle onto the infusion filter and just leave it overnight. The following morning I then fill a glass bottle (type of old lemonade bottles, which can be reused) I leave in the fridge over summer (and just refill when needed with tea at room temperature). It makes a nice change to the tap water I prefer to drink the rest of the year.
The first time I made a batch, I had used about 3 teaspoons of tea, which made a quite intensely flavoured iced tea. Recently brewed it was maybe better, so I readjusted the dose (to 1.5-2 teaspoons which is quite little, as far as I can tell from my experience) in order to get a lighter cold drink. Both in nose as in mouth the cherry (and hibiscus) comes through as very natural, and the small dosage means it´s a great quality as well. So, just as I like it for my summer drink-to-turn-to when at home.

Flavors: Cherry

Preparation
8 min or more 2 tsp 34 OZ / 1000 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

From the Kent&Sussex Tea&Coffee Co website : Fantastic individually wrapped Chinese Tea Cake. Made from Pu erh Tea. This highly unusual tea cake is a compacted Black Tea. 5g of Black Tea enough to make a good large pot of tea. Very nice deep rich flavour.
Brewing instructions : For mini tea cake, brew for 1 min wth water of 80 degrees, these can have between 5-6 further infusions.

I bought these as my previous (and first overall) experience with mini pu erh tea cakes was very positive. I don´t know whether it´s the same tea as in my first experience (most likely not) but I encountered some differences : although the steeping is carried out with water at 80ºC for 1 minute (vs 100ºC for min. 2 minutes), the resulting tea is far darker; it´s easier to drink (smoother, less peaty), but in a way it seems more mainstream (or at least it gives that impression to me). I´ve already reused the tea cake twice (it broke completely down during the 2nd steeping session) but there´s still no need to change steeping time as the resulting brew is still very dark and hasn´t changed its intensity yet. Tomorrow I´ll be reusing the tea cake even more…

So, resuming this experience for now (for reasons of comparison, I´ve indicated the conditions of my previous experience as well) : I heated water to 100ºC and had it cool down to 80ºC, before pouring it on the mini tea cake (last time, I used the freshly boiled water to give the mini cake a quick rinse of 10s max. and immediately poured new boiling water on the mini cake which I then steeped for 2 minutes). I used a ceramic mug with a (ceramic) tea filter which can easily be taken out, so I just withdrew the filter and the loosened cake in the filter was immediately ready for a second brew. About an hour later I steeped the pu erh a second time, by pouring freshly boiled + cooled down to 80ºC water over the tea filter in the mug. I steeped it again for 1 minute (last time I used freshly boiled water and had it steep for 2.5 minutes) and the colour of the tea was similar to the first brew. Not a lot of change in taste and smell either. This applies equally for 3rd brew (last time I added 30s of steeping time with every reuse of the mini cake, but the colour went down from the 3rd brew onwards, and the 5th brew was clearly inferior, with almost no colour developping).

Flavors: Mushrooms, Peat

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

78

Since learning about the importance of Russians in extending the tea ceremony as we know it in UK nowadays, I´m really fascinated by the use of the samovar . I imagine it´s quite similar to the old habit to always have a pot of coffee or even soup simmering on the stove (which was also the heating of the farmhouse)…and so I wanted to find out about this tea, especially how it might keep its character when not using a samovar.
It´s indeed a bolder tea but honestly, I expected it to have even a stronger character. Great breakfast tea, and smooth enough to enjoy at other moments as well.

If you want to brew it the traditional way (with a samovar), The Kent&Sussex Tea&Coffee Co. gives its guidelines : “However, should you wish to explore the use of a Samovar when brewing this tea, we suggest following these simple steps:
First, bring water to a boil inside the Samovar. Traditional Samovars have a metal pipe running vertically through the middle which is filled with solid fuel such as pine cones, charcoal, and wood chips to be burned.
Rinse the inside of a teapot with boiling water from the Samovar, then while the teapot is still hot add 3 tablespoons of our delicious Russian Samovar Tea.
Immediately cover the teapot and allow the steam to condition the tea leaves.
After a few seconds, add boiling water from the Samovar to the pot, this time enough to brew the leaves.
Steep for up to 15 minutes. This is traditional.
Serve and enjoy!”

Flavors: Smoke, Smooth

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

78

I still had a tin in the cupboard, and having finished the Chelsea Breakfast tea I had been taking recently, I decided to finish the tin as well.
For me this is the reference English breakfast tea, with a strong malty backbone. By visually comparing the grade, I assume the tea making up this blend of Assam and Indian tea leaves is broken. E.g. on the Kent&Sussex Tea &Coffee Co website it says (of a visually similar grade) “English Breakfast BOP Tea is a popular blend of Assam and Ceylon Teas, that uses only Broken Orange Pekoe. But what does that mean? The term “broken”, as it might already suggest, means that the tea leaves have been quite literally broken into smaller pieces, which often boasts a stronger character in cup compared to that of any FOP tea (Flowery Orange Pekoe).” And indeed, this EB tea is strong in character…even when the tin has been in use for over its “best before” date.
It might well be that you´re not into these strong and malty, even bold, teas, but I quite like them, especially in the morning. The only problem they have, according to me, is their tendency to turn (too) bitter when oversteeping, or cooling down.

Flavors: Malt

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

I´ve already written it elsewhere, but I´m definitely not a great herbal tea fan, mainly for “historical” reasons (my mother preparing me a blend of dried herbs whenever I got home and complained about some ache or so). However, I nowadays do make my own herbal preparations, for instance I pick and dry rosehips (wonderful infusion, naturally sweet, when having a sour throat), and I pick elderflower to make a brilliant elderflower cordial I like to add to gin&tonic.
I also used to pick elderberries (to make another cordial, or even a fruity gin), but this is less fun work to do (removing green berries, hands are coloured for a few days), and the cordial is very viscous and dense which isn´t the most pleasant texture in drinks. Basically, I remember my mother buying an elderberry sirope to relieve cough. I therefore guess, when buying this Pukka infusion, I had its use in mind over Winter. I now realise I just forgot all about it, used the rosehip infusion whenever the occasion called for it…and so, only now, when finishing some other teas, I´ve rediscovered this infusion and tried it.
It´s true the list of ingredients is large, but for me the elderberry really stands out. In comparison to the elderberry sirope (way too sweet!), this infusion is actually quite balanced in taste. I particularly like its fruitiness being based on something else than the hibiscus used in most supermarket brands. Finally, I want to say that the lovely design by Pukka is an added pleasure.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Since quite a while, I´m planning a visit to Sri Lanka, but due to the awful events this Easter Sunday, I think I´ll put my plans aside for some time. In meantime, I´ll enjoy the wonderful teas Sri Lanka produces.
As I´m also in the process of discovering teas beyond the “standard” black and greens, I was curious to try this Sri Lankan oolong tea.

From the website of The Kent&Sussex Tea&Coffee Co. :
Type of Tea: Orthodox Large Leaf Oolong Tea.
Origin: The Moragalla Tea Estate, Galle province, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).
Brewing Instructions: Brew using freshly boiled water left to cool to temperatures between 75 and 80 C. Infuse for 2 to 3 minutes.
How to Serve: This beverage tastes best without any additions. Some, however, choose to add a slice of lemon for a citrusy kick.
Tasting Notes: Moragalla Ceylon Oolong Tea consists of malty, almost roasted notes.
Colour in Cup: Golden-brown liquor, light in tone.

The first time I brewed this tea, I followed the instructions and found the tea quite weak. Now I try to steep it at 80ºC for a bit longer (4-5 minutes) or even use slightly hotter water. If you like malty teas, this is really wonderful. Unlike Kenyan teas which tend to be malty in a “concentrated” dense way (difficult to explain, but definitely something I like over breakfast), this tea is malty in an elegant, quite subtle way. After drinking my first mug, I also tend to steep the same tea leaves a second time (very easy as I use a mug with take-out filter for the loose tea) at the same temperature but for an even longer time. Results are good. However, I don´t recommend a third use as the brew gets to be very watery indeed. Normally after the 2nd steeping session the leaves will have folded open, so you can even visually prepare your tea.

Flavors: Malt

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML
ashmanra

Will wonders never cease! A Ceylon oolong is new to me!

Ilse Wouters

Indeed, that´s why I bought it in the first place. Different (malty!), but I think I prefer the “standard” oolong though…

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

Just a final note about this tea. As I really love this blend, I wanted to buy some more (talking about 1.5 year ago, I think), but unfortunately, after having closed the physical shop, the company All About Tea ceased its activities in 2018 (and I couldn´t even get hold of this blend online anymore the final year of activity). Their popular “Portsmouth Tea” was “rescued” by The Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Co., another family business still operating in UK (Kent).
The owner of All About Tea (Gadsden Tea) had a very educational facebook page (closed now) with some very interesting videos about tea. These can still be consulted on youtube : https://www.youtube.com/user/allabouttea/featured

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65

I spent a weekend with friends in France recently, where I drank this tea, or rather infusion after dinner.
Although I lived 6 years in France myself, I wasn´t familiar with this seemingly very popular brand “Les 2 marmottes”. It´s true that quite often French have a “tisane” (herbal tea) after their evening meal, at least that´s the case with most of my French friends, while I prefer a real tea. Also, I tend to buy loose leaf tea, while they most often have boxes with individually wrapped teabags.
The company is based in the Alps and has a nice presentation with 2 marmots in front of some snowed mountain peaks; the teabags are colourful and indicate ingredients and time of steeping and the names often use puns.
This herbal tea contains 45% of elderflower, making it quite delicate. This might be ideal in a drink to have just before going to bed, I prefer a tea with some more character…

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65

This is obviously the best “green tea with jasmine” a for the rest very nice Chinese restaurant in Madrid, Spain can offer. I must admit it looks great : a bigger than usual paper envelope containing a piramide teabag. The piramide teabag doesn´t contain dust, but it´s not exactly big leaf either. Although the use by date lies still 1,5 years in the future, the teabag isn´t particularly aromatic, something I usually associate with Chinese jasmine tea. As I was first served the teapot and a teabag of mint tea (the green colour of the envelope is quite similar to the one of this jasmine tea), the water had already cooled a bit when I started steeping, definitely a good thing with this type of tea (the envelope says you should steep at 100ºC though). The steeped tea is better than what I expected from its fragrance (or the lack of it), and is actually quite alright to have instead of water or beer to accompany food. I think it lacks character to have on its own.
What is worrisome however : that even Chinese or Japanese restaurants (had a similar experience in a Japanese restaurant last week), claiming to serve authentic food, pay little attention to the quality of the tea they offer…or maybe they think that it´s more important to impress by the quality of the wrapping?

Flavors: Green, Jasmine

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 5 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

72

According to its name (Digest), this herbal tea should help digestion…so maybe more to this tasting note tomorrow ;-)
I´m not such a fan of herbal teas (it reminds me too much of my childhood, when my mother scooped all type of dried herbs together to make me a cup of herbal infusion when I was feeling under the weather), but this one is quite OK : mint teas are often very strong (and sweet), and here it´s balanced by the fennel (and according to the list of ingredients also ginger, cardamom, liquorice, cinnamon and lemongrass…which I cannot really distinguish, to be honest) so overall it´s easier to take.

Flavors: Fennel, Mint

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 250 ML
Ilse Wouters

Not so sure about effects on digestion…I´m quite sensitive when it comes to digestion and this tea gave me a lot of gasses, which made it harder for me to go to bed.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Introduced to tea by my sister-in-law in my country of birth = Belgium more than 30 years ago, I still love tea, mainly black, which I enjoy without sugar or milk. Having lived in UK, near good tea shops (e.g. Betty´s all over Yorkshire), I tend to buy most of my tea in bulk from tea shops (as such, most of these are not represented in my on-line cupboard). Nowadays, I live in Spain where tea gives me another sensatory bliss (as wine or beer or coffee can give me too).

Location

Madrid, Spain

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer