437 Tasting Notes
Very smooth, brews dark, slight reference to stone fruit such as cherries or plums slightly chocolately with biscuity undertone, great base for chai, especially ginger chai, which goes well with the chocolate tones in the base. great everyday tea.
This tea was fom a locally based importer that markets to the South East Asian Expat market.
This may be a bagged tea, but so far this is the best strawberry tea I have had. It manages to perfectly evoke a childhood memory for me. I went on an impromptu hike on the Bruce Trail with my friend and her mother after we had collected water at a nearby spring. Because the hike was unplanned we had nothing with us, no water or food, and at the end of two and a half hours I was very thirsty. The trail opened up to a meadow and we were lucky to find a lot o perfectly ripe, beautiful, juicy wild strawberries. They were perfect and instantly became my favourite fruit ever. This tea has a beautiful scent and colour and manages to capture that slightly tart , juicy, jammy, sweet taste that really good strawberries reach at that perfect moment when they are moving from ripe to when they darken to slightly over ripe. A really well done tea.
The tea brews to the colour of slightly aged oak furniture. It smells lightly citrusy. A fairly light tea that is pleasantly drinkable, but seems to lack the deep, malty, biscuity tones I associate with assam. Instead it has bright fruity notes without a great deal of astringency. More of an afternoon tea than a morning tea. Resteeps well.
Dry tea smells of cloves, cardamon, and cream and a little bit like graham crackers. Brewed scent reminds me of starbucks pumpkin scones which I adore, so this is promissing. initial taste of ginger and cloves and something almost floral. the spicing is very pleasant, enough to create a pleasant, warm and comforting flavour but not to create heat. Undertone of vanilla underlying the spice, mixed with a faint sweetness from the pumpkin. The base is pleasant, edging towards a slightly bitter and earthy taste that I enjoy in hot drinks. Aftertaste leads to cooling sensation in my mouth. This is perhaps from the cardamon. A pleasant and soothing cup.
The dry leaf smell actually reminds me of bitter chocolate. Brewed, the tea base is full bodied and slightly bitter. A faint vanilla scent, makes for a slightly sweet black tea. Tasted with no additives, the flavouring is very light but present, there is no very distinct taste of vanilla when first sipped, the vanilla is lightly present in the aftertaste, almost as a top note to the flavour of the tea base, true vanilla smell, not cloying, artificial, or sweet. I taste vanilla in the back of my mouth. The tea actually reminds me of vanilla scented dark chocolate. Makes for a nice slightly sweet flavoured tea, for those who prefer the taste of tea to be dominant in their flavoured teas and for flavourings to be used to accentate the tea base. I like the base it is strong deep and leaves a tingling on my tongue and the back of my throat like espresso. It resteeps well.
The tea brews dark for a green tea and smells faintly of raspberry mixed with a slight smokiness of gunpowder green tea with a clean vegetal undertone. It is not sweet or particularly fruity, but it leaves the aftertaste and mouthfeel of having eaten fresh picked raspberries. Sugar may bring out flavour of raspberries. The green tea base is present, green and refreshing. The base is not bitter but is slightly astringent. Having looked at the ingredient list, the astringency is probably due to the hibiscus. This tea is for someone looking for a fruity green tea that does not taste perfumy or like juice. I brewed it in a gaiwan with steeps starting at 45 seconds raspbery flavour lasted through 4 infusions, faded at fifth. Hibiscus is not dominant and doesn’t colour the tea pink or red.
The dry leaf is very beautiful a rich dark yunnan base scattered with deep pink fading into yellow rose petals and cornflowers and a spicy frangrace from the bergamot. This is a fairly strong frangranced tea that has grown on me. At first I wasn’t sure that I enjoyed the strong slightly smoky almost liquorishy base with the bergamot and rose, but now I quite enjoy the blend. Usually I have preferred Earl Greys with an assam base. The rose and bergamot blend nicely in this blend, but are strong. The rose increases the spiciness that bergamot sometimes has, without making the tea overly floral, and the liquorishy base sweetens the citrusy aspect of the tea, making it fall towards grapefruit. The tea needs a longer steep than I usually use with black teas but produces a rich dark brew, it holds up well to resteeps and I have resteeped this tea three times while maintaining a strong flavour. Even better is the price. I have never spent more than $2.89 /100g box. Of the three Earl greys I have at home it probably has the strongest flavour. Big-Active is a Polish Brand produced by the same company that produces all of those fruit syrups. I got this at a local grocery store specializing in Polish goods that has a nice selection of very affordable boxed loose leaf teas. Big Active does have an online store. However the webpage is only in Polish. I am not sure if they sell internationally for non-wholesale orders.
