I’ve had this tea a few times before during prior trips to The Vintage Tea Room back when I still lived in Regina. I enjoyed it then, but I don’t think I appreciated it nearly as much – probably because I was relatively new to tea and didn’t have anywhere near as varied a pallet as I do now.
I purchased 50g today, and today is my first time making it at home under my own parameters. So, I steeped up 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in boiling water for four minutes. I then added in some milk, because that’s how I’ve taken this every time I’ve had it at the tea room. I do plan on enjoying it straight soon, though – to see what the difference in taste is.
Dry, this has an almost overwhelming smell of grenadine with wisps of black tea and fragrant floral and vanilla notes. It’s very sweet smelling. Steeped, this is much the same; strong notes of sweet grenadine, and floral notes that are stronger steeped than dry. The vanilla is still there, but not as much so.
Taste wise; this is very rich and full bodied with a nice Ceylon base. The grenadine in this is the most prominent flavor and definitely takes center stage; it’s very sweet and kind of fruity, reminding me of a mix of maybe pomegranate and raspberry. The vanilla is very mild and definitely sits comfortably in the background. The floral notes I pick up in the dry and steeped smell don’t come off as strongly in the taste – a little less present than the vanilla, but still just noticeable.
This is very good hot or cold, and I find it very smooth and clean with no bitterness or astringency. Drinking it now, I definitely have more of an appreciation for it than I did previous times when I wasn’t as knowledgeable of “experienced” of a tea drinker. I will happily finish off the rest of this – but maybe not too quickly; I don’t know when I’ll next be in Regina to pick up more of this, if necessary.
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I keep reading about Monk’s Blend teas. It sounds great! Perhaps I might request a sample of this in one of our many swaps :P
No problem :) I’d be happy to oblige.
A coffee shop in my town has this tea in a tea latte and puts White Chocolate syrup in it… it’s to die for. Tweed and Hickory carries all MTC teas, and at a very reasonable price if you need to purchase more. This is my favourite tea by them so far, but haven’t tried enough of them yet. I like their teas. Good quality, affordable and I like supporting a Canadian company
I keep reading about Monk’s Blend teas. It sounds great! Perhaps I might request a sample of this in one of our many swaps :P
No problem :) I’d be happy to oblige.
A coffee shop in my town has this tea in a tea latte and puts White Chocolate syrup in it… it’s to die for. Tweed and Hickory carries all MTC teas, and at a very reasonable price if you need to purchase more. This is my favourite tea by them so far, but haven’t tried enough of them yet. I like their teas. Good quality, affordable and I like supporting a Canadian company