The Tea Merchant

Between having this tea on my shopping list for a while, and seeing that awesome deal on the ceramic teaware, I was not passing up an order from the Tea Merchant. I’m glad I caved, too – the cups are so cute and will be perfect for some gong fu sesisons with my gaiwan, not to mention making some hot green tea to go with soba noodles and miso. Mmm.. that’s definitely happening next weekend, now that I think of it.

Anyway, so this tea was on my radar because I love Earl Grey Creams. While part of me loves trying all the teas, I do so mostly because I want to find the best of its kind and then stick with it forever. I believe this tea is the highest rated EGC on Steepster, but I’ve been trying to work through the huge amount of EGCs I currently have in my cupboard so that when I finally did try this I would have room to stock up.

Dry leaf smell is custardy vanilla followed by the familiar zing of bergamot. We’re starting off on a good foot already – I like more vanilla than bergamot in my Earl Grey.

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf, 500 ml. water, below parameters in my Breville.

Once steeped the vanilla becomes even stronger. It is definitely french vanilla, too, because the note of custard is unmistakable. I could smell the steeped tea all day, it is that yummy. Taste wise this bears out – vanilla first, then citrusy bergamot, then a smooth , bright black tea base. This is perfectly balanced for my palate. I steeped for four minutes and ended up using a pinch of sugar but I really think if I lopped about 30 seconds off the steep time I would be able to forgo that. So a note to myself for next time.

Finally, I also have to say that the fair trade/organic label is probably the plus that pushes this into being my favorite EGC to date. This is absolutely going to be my go to from now on. Can’t wait to get into the other teas from my order!

Took along to do errands this morning. It’s relatively light on the bergamot; either that or the warmth of the vanilla is muting that brightness. Whatever it is, this is a nice intro to Earls if you’re afraid of that part. It’s still definitely there, with that wonderful heady Earl fragrance that gets me every time—I opened up my tumbler in the car and my husband went “Mmmm that smells good, fresh and orange-y!”—but the body and flavor are lighter than most I’ve tried. Yet it doesn’t feel wimpy or lacking. A nice “don’t think too much about it” Earl for busy days you need to be soothed, not knocked over the head with strong zesty elements.

This is surprisingly smooth and somewhat creamy, with a sweet vanilla thing going on. Has more flavor than most flavored whites I’ve tried so far, but the flavor never clashes or overwhelms the white base, a nice feat. Most (not all—Cantaloupe and Cream is a beautiful exception—but most) flavored whites I’ve tried and seen have a fruity, lemony zing to them; this has that aroma at first but it’s not in the flavor so much; it’s round and rich and decadently sweet, which I like (I’m not nuts for that lemony thing). Does evoke white chocolate and nut but thankfully without the plasticky element of actual white chocolate. Good with a cookie (who thought I’d say that about a white, even a flavored one!).

They came! They came! My world has changed forever. I am in lust over these new teas from The Tea Merchant.

I actually had my first cuppa of this divine tea last night, but I was too in the experience to note as I drank.

Dry: Amazing vanilla scent reaches out of the bag to steal you away. Beautiful dark green oolong. Twisted and not balled. Hints of the marigold petals peak out from the oolong.

Steep:
~1.5 tsp per 8oz. Color is a rich gold liquor. I added 1/2 tsp of rock sugar to the first cuppa. Creamy, smooth medium body, strong natural vanilla overtones on the first steep. Oolong is pleasant and lighter than others I’ve tried. Citrus is faint in the background. 2nd and third steeps had less vanilla and more oolong, but very very fine indeed. The cream and richness of this really surprised me. Definitely my new favorite oolong. The description describes it as intoxicating, and I have to agree.

I had a new cuppa of this today. I had it unsweetened on the 2nd steeping and I am noticing the citrus more now, nice and not too tart. I also forgot it in the steep and it went for closer to 5 minutes. I blended this with Six Summits oolong from Teavana, and it blended nicely, highlighting floral notes I didn’t notice well before. I look forward to trying this with other teas, though it is just heavenly on its own.

The 2nd steep of this was also fantastic. Slightly lighter in color, and more of the black tea came through. Can still detect the vanilla. Balanced and no bitterness to be found. Lovely!

What a way to wake up, breakfast in bed and new teas from The Tea Merchant!

First adventure into non-Teavana teas. Does not disappoint! I haven’t really liked earl grey teas, but now I think that is because of the quality I had.

Dry: Fresh vanilla and bergamot invites the senses. Leaves look terrific and I can see little blue pieces of flowers.

Steep:
1 tsp to 8oz. Dark amber color. Strong and robust for me. Rich vanilla and bergamot. I mixed with some rock sugar and cream, and so divine! Will have to try pure next time. Great morning tea. Can’t wait to try the other teas I bought from The Tea Merchant during the 40% off sale. This might just encourage me to try more black teas as usually I’m more into oolong and herbals.

Opening this for the first time tonight, sniffing the dry leaves I was a little nervous I wouldn’t like it—the scent is STRONG, like potpourri strong, and while I love the creamy soothing quality vanilla often brings to tea I have a feeling a tea that screams vanilla full stop, even when done naturally and well, isn’t my thing just because of too many associations with one-note cheap vanilla perfumes and extracts. On the other hand, this is on the green side of the oolong spectrum, and god knows that base has saved many flavors for me I’d just about written off in black tea.

And yes, this is no exception to that rule of thumb! It steeps up a surprisingly light blonde color, pale gold (I’ve been more focused lately on the myriad colors tea can be, so this pleased me greatly), and the smell is stronger and richer than the taste, which is warming but thanks to the oolong base cleanly sweet. This is a wonderfully comforting cup of tea. Man, I love me some sweet creamy oolong in a cup after dinner, especially in rainy thundering weather like this. My first foray into The Tea Merchant’s stuff (they’ve been on my to try list forever as this and the French Earl Grey were Steepster faves a year or more ago) and I’m very happy!

Perfect just perfect. Had 2 steeps and I’m going to cold steep in fridge. When i looked at my previous note I mention coconut. No coconut, it’s shouldn’t even be there, but it smelled so incredible yummy I wanted coconut in there. Probably oolong itself has some coconut notes ( at least to me).

Sweet creamy coconut oolong. All the ingredients are clearly there, you don’t have to search for them. As it cools it becomes bolder. I’m sure it will be great chilled. Thank you Nicole for recommending this wonderful tea

You know, this is one of those teas that’s kind of easy to forget you have, but when you have it you realize that it’s so versatile and you think to yourself that you really should have it more often. And then repeat the cycle. I took this to work with me in my carry mug today, and had the following thoughts:
1. This tea is kind of thin.
2. You say that about pretty much every travel mug tea, though.
3. That’s true. This actually tastes really good.
4. A little less sugar next time.
5. As it cools, I like it more—because it tastes thick and creamy—and less, because if you think hard enough, you can (sort of) imagine sour milk and just…no.
6. I’ll be out of this tea soonish, and intend to stock either it or something similar going forward. But I also say that a little too frequently, too.

Basically I can’t be trusted but this tea is reliable…mostly.

I had this with breakfast before going bridal gown shopping yesterday! There are a few possibilities in the works, but we haven’t settled on one quite yet. I loved the woman whose house it was (she has a show room set up in her basement and the whole place is lavish and gorgeous and I could have wandered among the racks for hours).

You know, although I can enjoy this tea, I won’t feel the need to restock it once I’m out. Not even because there’s necessarily anything wrong with it, but mostly because I’ve exhausted my love affair with it, and there are just so many more teas to try and love. So although it was definitely a good cream earl grey, it may be a while before it works its way into my cupboard again once I finish what I have. It’s rare that I want to continuously restock a tea, it would seem. I can only think of a few.

Ugh. had one of those nights where I slept fitfully and then finally woke up for good at around 4:30. It wasn’t all that bad though—I just read and entertained myself until it was time to get ready for work. Lately, I’ve been feeling randomly nauseated, and so my tea preferences have kind of been all over the place. This morning, I wanted a tea that was reliable but not too nausea-inducing, and somehow this fit the bill perfectly. Thick creamy vanilla mouth feel with a hint of bergamot, just the way I like it.

In other news, I’ve been feeling kind of hopeless about my career prospects lately, although nothing substantive has actually changed to bring on this current bout of anxiety. I just keep on thinking I wasted my time getting a stupid degree, and that I didn’t pursue what I should have pursued, even though I distinctly remember choosing this option at the time over the other one for very specific reasons. Still though. I just hate the thought of having to job hunt once this is over, because looking for jobs is among the worst first world problems ever.

That’s enough from me about that. Now to get to work and enjoy my tea.

Cue the sense of dread that just courses through you (or otherwise sits in your stomach) when you see the work week stretching out before you, accented with awful, awful weather. Sometimes it feels like tea is the only thing that can cheer me up on a Monday morning. After having this cup turn into a disaster of epic proportions on Saturday, it was lovely to have a perfectly creamy vanillay cup this morning. I am also taking my mini keurig into work today, and i’m hoping i’ll actually use it to enjoy tea in the afternoon, but it’s starting to feel complicated, and I might not. I hope I do though!

Ok, so this isn’t actually going to be a tasting note about this tea, because I’ve written about it enough for you to know that it’s a lovely EGC, and that’s about all you need to know.

But last night, I decided to take a timolino full of this to a friend’s place for dinner and hanging out. And instead of using my Keurig to dispense the hot water like I typically do, I used Watson (Watson is the name I’ve given to our Culligan water cooler, that has both a hot and cold water tap—we named him Watson after the computerized jeopardy contestant! /nerd). Anyway, from my understanding, the water dispensed from Watson is around 107 degrees F, while the Keurig website says that the Keurig dispenses water that’s 192 degrees f, so that’s definitely a noticeable difference. The thing is, however, that I never never successfully brewed a cup of satisfactory tea using Watson, and it seems odd to me that a temperature of about 207 (ETA—sorry, I originally wrote 107, which explains the general wtfness in the comments below, but it really was 207) would be too hot for absolutely every tea (especially since I drink mostly blacks, which are reputed to almost always take extremely hot water). As for the water I use, the Keurig takes filtered water through my brida filter, and Watson uses Culligan’s water—both are filtered, but are provided by different companies, so perhaps that has to do with it. But last night’s tea tasted bitter and horrible, just horrible. No vanilla cream notes to speak of—only an amped up bitter bergamot note that was bitter and gross.

But this has me terrified to ever get myself a variable temp kettle, because what if the Keurig is the only acceptable source for hot water for me in this universe? this is actually really upsetting to me! Because i so badly want the Bonavida goose-neck one liter variable temp kettle, but like, if I drop 100 dollars on it but it makes all my tea taste like bile, then…then…then what?!?!?!?!!?

Please comfort me.

Despite two glasses of wine last night, i was somehow incredibly wired and had a really hard time falling asleep. I read my book, watched a few Judge Judy episodes, listened to like seven podcasts, and was still tossing and turning. So much for waking up for this morning’s game!

I hadn’t had this one in a while, and it seemed like a fairly unobtrusive tea that would be noticeable, but wouldn’t command my attention in a way that would compete with my most delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs doused with garlic pepper (seriously, you should try it). And because I’ve described this tea in detail before, I’m just going to list some words that this tea brings to mind:
-London Fog
-vanilla cream
-warming
-fall and winter, especially winter
-mild bergamot

There.

I still quite enjoy this tea, although either it’s lost some of its freshness or I’ve simply become used to it. I think I’ll always want to have an EGC on hand, and this does travel well, but I’m not blown away. Which is fine, I suppose: I don’t think the purpose of this tea is to sweep you off your feet.

I somehow feel as though if I stayed home today, comfortably snuggled up on the couch with a hot mug of tea, I’d be far more productive. Something about sitting at a desk in an office just doesn’t encourage me to get nearly as much done, which I know sounds counter-intuitive because a lot of people say they’d feel distracted by their couches. But not mine! My couch, in its warm glorious depths, encourages me to do great things! and I don’t want to leave it!

But I must. Sucks.

Anyway, I had this tea with breakfast. As far as EGCs are concerned, I’m liking this the most, but I don’t know that I’ll replenish my supply of this once it’s out, although i imagine I’ll always want something like an EGC on hand-I just don’t know if I’ll commit to a particular company. Or maybe I will. Who knows? The wonderful thing about this one is the extremely toned down bergamot, although it’s still a bergamoty bergamot if that makes sense.
All I know is that I’m tired and want to go back to bed at once.

zzzzzzzzz

Brewed up a mason jar full of this to have with breakfast with this morning. I’m still trying to nail the proportions right when I make, like, triple the amount of tea I typically do, and i’m finding that it isn’t nearly as simple as just tripling amounts and keeping steep time the same-because I still somehow get slightly more watery tea than I’d like. But it’s about time I come up with a system for brewing in different vessels.

But aside from that, the tea was still pretty good. Some sips were better than others, although I feel as though the flavours were muted some-as if I were drinking the tea while having a cold or something. A little more vanilla peaked through as the tea cooled, which was lovely.

Still a perfect tea to give me a firm but gentle kick in the pants on a morning when I seriously considered calling in but decided against it because “I might feel much sicker later and then I’ll regret it”. I have yet to try the similarly revered offering from zen tea, which is also said to have a good strong dose of vanilla, (plus there are a few other teas I’d like to try from them) but I really need to get this stash under control. I already have like seven teas I’m swearing not to open until i make a dent, although i haven’t exactly defined “dent”, which could very easily lead to my saying “screw it, I’m opening them all!” in a week or so. But yes, I chose well this morning, this much I know is true.

Due to an unexpected delay here at work, I didn’t get around to drinking this until it had cooled slightly, which wasn’t actually that big a deal: the cooler temperature seemed to only intensify the vanilla cream note that made the bergamot feel oh so gentle. I ended up gulping this down, and would be happy to bring it to work again.

This may very well have been one of the best bring-to-work choices I’ve made in a really long time. I was a bit hesitant, because I typically bring flavoured teas to work, and although EGC is probably technically considered flavoured, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way, but I took my chances.

So so much lovely vanilla in my cup, followed up by a perfectly smooth hint of bergamot. It almost feels as though the bergamot is even more muted in my timolino than it is in a typical cup, and I’m not sure why that is-perhaps because tea doesn’t steep nearly as thoroughly in the timolino? Either way, great, great decision. But now my stomach feels a bit off (unrelated to the tea) but I’m also hungry. What an odd combination of sensations.

I had all sorts of intentions to have a different tea this morning, but when I stumbled into the kitchen, I made a bee-line for this one instead. even in my incredibly exhausted state, I knew what I needed. Somehow, this cup was extra perfect this morning. I got a good strong hit of vanilla, had the perfect amounts of cream and sugar, and ultimately felt as though I could not have picked better on a frigid winter morning like this. There’s a thread on the boards right now where people are talking about their staple teas, and I suspect this will be one of mine for the fall and winter at least. Perfect balance of bergamot and vanilla. Mmm. I want another cup.

In other news, I just got a paper cut. It doesn’t hurt like a mofo yet, but I imagine it will in time. I nearly swore out loud when I got it (somehow swearing is the only thing you can do when you’re in instantaneous pain; no other words or phrases will do or feel as appropriate a reaction).

Honestly, someone needs to create a drug and call it “waking up just isn’t so bad when you’re doing it on a Friday morning” because it’s the truth. I slept soundly last night for the first night in a while, and had a delicious bagel and cream cheese breakfast with Mr. keychange this morning. I was actually debating between this and dt’s blueberry jam, but Mr. keychange rightly pointed out that blueberry tea probably wouldn’t accompany an herb and garlic cream cheese bagel all that well. I bet the jury’s still out on that one, but I chose this one anyway. The more I drink it, the more I get a general sense of creaminess, instead of a specific vanilla taste. I’m mostly ok with that, although I think I was hoping for more of an authentic vanilla flavour. That being said, this is probably the only EGC I can handle, as I find many of them to be a bit too heavy on the bergamot.

Despite the original high I felt this morning, I’m crashing, and wish I’d had a second cup of tea before leaving the house this morning. Oh well: up next, Rose Scented!