DISCONTINUED - Blackburnian Tea

Saturday morning I either make a habit of a big Western Style pot of tea to linger over…taking my time to sip and enjoy without a care in the world. No hurry to run out the door to do anything.

Uh, wait a minute…I’m retired! (Screech of brakes)
I never run out the door anymore anyway! Life is grand!

I tell my grandsons all the time how great it is to be old! So what if I look scruffy! No more hauling off to the job or sitting 4 hours in traffic like I used to. (30 years of stress almost killed me!)
Now I can watch TV late and stay in my jammies in the morning!

Life is grand!

I love the name of this tea! ‘Blackburnian’ (some Scotsman in a kilt should surely have served me tea this morning I think).

Just the look of the chocolate Black Tea leaves mixed with chunkier bits of Oolong and I was so ready for a kick start of caffeine.

The wet leaves plumped up into a mahogany fine bark with a little fruit malty scent. The liquor was honey, medium dark brown.

Taking a big gulpy, slurpy sip, my first conversational comment to myself was, “Wow, this is light. It’s sweet enough and not smoky (got to remember that because this company isn’t afraid of smoke) and this is really light and smooth for a black tea.”

I thought about what the Oolong was bringing to the blend. It had to be sweetness and smoothness.
I could feel some astringency but in such a small amount that it hardly counts.

I know some people really HATE Black Tea. (I don’t ‘get’ that at all)
Blackburnian would be ‘the’ tea for those who are sensitive to strong flavors and want a more muted Black cup. No sugar is needed either, it’s sweet enough left alone.

I experimented with sweetening my tea and adding cream which thankfully worked. There is enough body in the tea to hold additions without bogging down into a watery mess or tasting only like the cream.

Again, this is a VERY light Black/Oolong tea blend but Smooth.

Here’s a little bagpipe stuff from Estes Park,CO about an hour away. In 2 weeks I’m going to the opening Tattoo and 1st day of the Highland Games at over 7000ft in the Rocky’s. This might give some idea. This is the largest they say in North America (I used to go to the ones in Santa Rosa just like my Great Grandfather Duncan Cameron).
http://youtu.be/vzelfQ6KbWg

This is black, oolong blend and it’s heavy on the oolong. I was getting more oolong than black. The site lists orange and pepper notes, I didn’t get any of that. It’s really just dark roasted oolong.
I’m not sure I got to taste this tea at it’s full potential. Whispering Pines packages leaves something to be desired, and I the leaves were pretty badly crushed when I got it. Not sure how it would be without the “dust”, but this is just ok for me. If I want oolong, I’ll just choose an oolong. I thought this would be more balanced, and I would get both black and oolong notes in it. Sadly that didn’t happen. This is a miss.

A sample from the lovely MissB.

Sadly this isn’t for me. I tried it, the flavours aren’t flavours I want to drink, and it has been added to my brother’s Christmas present.

:)

I like black tea.
I like oolong tea.
So, when I saw this tea, I thought I couldn’t go wrong with it.
I am so happy when I am right:)
For some reason, I was afraid that the black tea would overwhelm the oolong, but it does not.
The Oolong is very much a part of this lovely cuppa.
Malty and Nutty.
Fruity and Savory.
The tea makes me think of chocolate (dessert) yet a like it would be tasty with a Dinner.
Very yummy.
Well Done, Brendan!
Another winner in my book.

A very nice blend. I could probably down a pot of this on my own over a tea time. :)

Dry it smells a bit like hay. Earthy and warm. Steeps very light, even at 4 minutes. A bit of oolong in the background but to my tastebuds, the black tea, whatever it is, overshadows it. There is a tiny bit of astringency at the end.

Almost instantly I feel sick. Why am I feeling ill? I have this tea, and I’m about to be ill.

Crap. That’s because it has oolong in it. I keep on forgetting my odd reaction to oolong (several have told me it’s my stomach telling me it needs to ‘get used’ to oolong), and I keep on hoping I’ll feel or find differently. Then, I drink it unawares, and I get sick.

I want to love this. I love everything Whispering Pines. Alas…

Would anyone like the rest of this in swap? Most of the bag is left.

This is one of my mystery swap samples from Shadowfall \(^o^)/

I hadn’t had any teas from Whispering Pines before this. I’ve been curious, but afraid to order anything from there. This tea seemed safe enough and it didn’t smell smoky, so I figured it couldn’t be too bad.

The dry leaf smells earthy, almost like a pu-erh but not quite. It brews up the color of a dark oolong and tastes sweet and woody; a hearty dark oolong. There is nothing delicate about the flavor to me, but you’ll be disappointed if you’re expecting black tea, even though it’s in there too.

I think the flavor is spot on for the natural environment that inspired it.