TB75: Baker Street Blend

The unintended consequence of opening sample no. 3 from the Upton British Blend sampler today is that I now have Gerry Rafferty doing the backstroke through my brain repeatedly. At least the saxophone is awesome.

Tippy leaves ranging from dark, almost black to light, almost tan, though mostly in the chocolate brown range. Dry, it smells smoky. I’m getting salted, charbroiled meat. Nice.

The aroma of the steeped tea is not very smoky at all. It’s fruity. Kind of a stonefruit mixed with grape smell. Very nice. The liquor is dark, close to a brandy color, but redder.

If you like smoky, this is really delicious. And if you only sort of like smoky, you should give this a try because it’s a pretty mild, smooth intro to smoky tasting teas. To be clear, I like smoky, I like piney. I like drinking campfires. The part I can live without is feeling like there’s smoke coating my nose hairs so that I continue to breathe it in long after the tea is gone, but I’m willing to do that to enjoy smoky tea.

Baker Street isn’t harsh or tarry, and it doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to be smelling smoke for three days after drinking it. The darjeeling contributes a brightness that keeps the blend from tasting like tree resin, and there’s a fair amount of the signature darjeeling flavor in the finish. There’s a hint of pine, but it’s mild. The smoke itself isn’t even the most obvious taste. The most obvious taste to me is a fruity woodiness.

I’m liking this one a lot. It’s got ooomph, but it doesn’t hit like a ton of bricks. Despite its name, I think it would make a really good start to the morning.

I have been curious about this tea for awhile.
It sounds tasty, especially since I have a discovered a new found love of Lapsang Souchong.
So, when Ashmanra offered that we do a swap, this tea jumped out at me.
I will not pretend that the tea’s name has not been a part of my motivation to try this tea.
Today is overcast and rather damp and chilly.
Perfect afternoon to open up my package of McVities Digestive Biscuits and brew up a cup of this.
The scent is lovely, slightly smoky and a tinge of leather and maybe just a whiff of chocolate.
Taste surprised me with almost a tobacco bite, Hmmmm, I think since Sherlock was trying to quit the smoking, I bet he would be swigging this tea down often.
The tea smells delish, and tastes delish.
Its a hit in my book and after the holidays are over and paid off, I plan on making some tea orders and I am quite sure this will be on the list.
Thank you, Ashmanra for giving me a chance to try this lovely tea!

Finally got around to brewing this at a lower temperature as suggested by Amy oh.
Although the tea wasn’t bitter, the last time I brewed this, I tasted almost nothing else but 2nd flush Darjeeling-which I don’t care for.

Anyhow, brewing at 195 today the tea tastes much better. Can’t really pick out individual tea flavors, but at least the 2nd flush taste is hidden. Probably wouldn’t buy this again, but it tastes decent enough. I will certainly finish my sample pack without complaint.

This is yummy. A very smooth blend with high fruity notes. I really like the only keemun I’ve tried and I feel I can taste it in here. The smoke is a mild addition that compliments the other teas.

I was going to write this in my Dragonwell note, but I figured that’s not fair. I’ve been having some bum sessions with pu’erh and oolongs, ones I should like, that I know are good quality, but they haven’t shined for me lately, nothing has stood out. Perhaps it’s my water?

On a more uplifting note either Friday or Saturday, Rowan suggested we have a tea party. He brought me his little cup and creamer and even grabbed my little silver filigree over the cup strainer. He wanted tea with milk as opposed to raspberry tea which is his usually request. So I gave him options, he chose Baker Street Blend from Upton Tea. He chose this not for his love of Sherlock Holmes, but because we live on Baker Street.

He thoroughly enjoyed it and kept asking for more, I probably reinfused it four times, though his tiny cup was usually half full with milk. I don’t think I had tried this one with milk before, but it was quite nice. So after tea and waffles Rowan announces he wants to play a game, Jenga and Clue together. Now this is something we’ve played before though more often than not we play them separately.

Yes, my three and a half year old loves playing Clue though it has taken a lot to get him to not say what he has out loud and mark his sheet correctly (it is a 8 yr+ game). And he mostly just loves building wonky towers with the Jenga blocks. However the first time Rowan saw these two games we were playing them together at my sisters house. Now due to the irony of the tea and the game I had to explain the Sherlock- Baker Street thing to him. He’s seen Great Mouse Detective but I don’t think he’s ready for BBC or Robert Downey Jr.

I get it: Lapsang = Holmes’ pipe smoke + Darjeeling = London afternoon. A little lemon and it should be fabulous.
But in reality, it was like drinking the smoke from a campfire.
I really really really wanted to like this tea, but the longer it hangs around in my cabinets, the smokier it becomes.

i should be drinking this out of porcelain shouldn’t i.
yes definitely porcelain.

i love lapsang. and even more i LOVE lapsang blends.
i will treasure my sample of this until the last cup.

Just ordered more. It’s good enough to order more.

Aside from the Sherlock Holmes association, it seems to me to be the “tortured writer in the attic apartment writing odd surreal Gothic horror” kind of tea. A Lovecraftian kind of tea.

Initially, this smelled very smoky – ironically smokier than Upton’s Finest Russian Caravan – and very Keemun-y. I was a bit worried because I’ve been having some pretty kick-ass Keemuns lately and this one didn’t smell like it would match up at all. As it cooled, the smell became less smoky and began to get fruity and sweet, somewhat like plums. So maybe this tea will luck out and not end up competing against super-awesome Keemuns.

The taste turns into a good news/bad news type situation. The good news is that this tea isn’t Keemun-y enough to compete against my favorite Keemuns. There’s a little Keemun edge to the end of the taste, a little raw leafiness, but it doesn’t strike me as a Keemun. The taste is mostly Darjeeling, smoothed out by the Keemun and tiny, tiny bit of Lapsang Souchong. It ends up tasting just a little bit like a thin, light, sweet Yunnan.

But, here comes the bad news: it’s just not all that special. Yes, it’s smooth and sweet and has a nice flavor that doesn’t require any additives but all that just ends up being okay. Nothing really sings or sparkles or jumps out and, while it isn’t a flat, one-note tea, it doesn’t have a very complex or deep flavor profile. So, yeah, it’s just okay. I’d buy it at a grocery store if I needed tea but otherwise, not so much.

**backlogging from a couple days ago

I like Lapsang on it’s own, but it is a very strong flavor and can be overpowering when blended with other teas if there’s too much of it. The Lapsang in this tea was perfectly balanced & gives just the right touch of smoke to the Keemun and Darjeeling. The Keemun flavors come through nicely & the Darjeeling brings a lightness to this blend.