American Tea Room

Eh, nothing new to say about this one; deep, tasty and autumnal. Happy Friday to you all.

Hmm…could be that I’ve just let this packet get old, but the heavy leather-couch-and-old-book flavor has dissipated enough that it takes milk OK. (I don’t usually add anything.) Good sound solid breakfast for a fall (almost) morning.

(Afraid to say this very loudly for fear of jinxing it…) It feels like almost-fall outside! 60 degrees when I sat outside for my first cup. So in honor of the weather, I pulled out an oldie that I associate with cooler temps.

I think I under-leafed or understeeped, the smoke/leather flavor this is most tagged with is only barely detectible. Still drinkable—just lots of room to beef it up. Next time.

I’m not a huge fan of smoky stuff, so lighter is better here. Just a hair less leaf helped; I can actually detect a little of the separate ingredients’ personalities.

Christmas continues. We’re finally opening up the last boxes of salvaged stored goods and our DVD of Notting Hill survived the storm. (The brownie scene is our favorite.)

So in honor of the occasion, I made a pot of this Notting Hill for breakfast and a morning of writing. Nothing new to add other than I prefer it on the lightish side; hints of smoke suit me far better than a cigar-infested cloud of smoke flavor. A good solid—masculine?—breakfast tea.

Rereading the descriptions and ratings attached to this one…tobacco and leathery adjectives keep coming up. Yep, it’s in there.

Perfect for an honest-to-pete, bona fide rainy day (we haven’t had one of those in a long while). No milk or sugar—smoke and dairy just don’t go together for me.

Quintessential breakfast tea. It’s got the Assam malty thing happening with a little bit of the leathery-tobacco thing happening in the background. Mary Russell would drink this at the table with Sherlock, if you’re a fan of the Laurie King mystery series.

I made it a tad bit stronger than recommended to allow for plans to chill the pot later - heat wave is forecast to last several more days, so one good warm cuppa in the morning is about all my constitution will stand at the moment.

Sandy and I decided to each have milk oolong for our impromptu tea party tonight. I still had a wee bit of my swap from QG left, and Sandy had ordered some from The Rabbit Hole in Sydney, since she is doctoring the Outback right now. Both our teas had a lovely creaminess and this tea has such lovely floral notes. The aroma is definitely floral. I think I figured out why my cotton napkin made me crave this throughout my meal last week. Hubby bought scented spray starch and that was why my napkin smelled like flowers! This is a very nice oolong! Many thanks to Quiltguppy for the generous sample!

I resteeped the leaves from yesterday and served this for a guest and myself today. Lovely! My guest enjoyed it. Her remarks, “This smells so sweet! And tastes nutty!” The color is now very light, but the flavor is lovely and the mineral quality is just starting to peek through. I would guess it gets more pronounced on subsequent steeps.

This is one of the samples from Quiltguppy that I was most eager to try. I had never heard anything called a milk oolong until not long ago and I was curious about them, especially since hubby just gave me a tetsubin and warmer last week! I researched milk oolongs a bit so I would be ready to try this.

The leaves have a very nice scent and if you can tell by looking, I would say they look like a high quality leaf. I am just getting to know oolongs gradually so bear with me!

The aroma of the freshly brewed tea is lightly floral, just right for me. It is a very natural floral scent, not a scented tea type of scent. There is a definite creaminess or milkiness to the tea texture and taste-wise. I can see how it got its name! Unfortunately, i just brushed my teeth anticipating the arrival of my student, and it is interfering with my ability to fully taste this. Swishing it, I get a lightly buttery, slightly nutty flavor. YUM! I am glad I have a whole pot to sip on through the evening. Thank you, Quiltguppy for this lovely tea experience!

Now, does anyone know how to make sliders behave on an iPad?

I have only had a few pu-er teas, and they were unflavored ones. I did like them, although I can’t say I ever woke up in the morning thinking, “Gee, I sure would love a cup of pu-er right now!”. Black tea still holds the highest place in my tea heart!

This particular flavored pu- er could change all that. Today I was having it with a friend and we had a but of moderately strong cheese with it. Something in the tea flavor was really shining through, and had a minty quality without being mint, rather hard to describe, but that high note was singing out over the taste of the cheese. Looking it up, I realized it must be the fennel in this. I have never cooked with fennel. My only experience with it is when I go buy plants in the spring and I run my hands over all the herbs and enjoy the scent. This is really excellent. I would never have known it was pu-er, so if you love pu-er already this one may disappoint you. But if you love fig and fennel, I think this is a very tasty choice. It is a unique and enjoyable cup of tea. Thank you, Quiltguppy!

This is a very pleasant tea! I would not have known it was a puer if I had not read the description and QG’s tasting note. I have had puer that smelled like shrimp, like fish, or like a horse farm. (And I liked them okay, they tasted smooth and sweet in spite of their aroma.) This is not like that at all! The toasted fig adds lovely flavor and body, and the coconut is subtle and adds a little creaminess to the cup. This is very good puer – this is very good tea! Thank you, QG!

Based on the description and the other tasting notes on this tea, I expected it to be exceptional. It is not. It’s alright, but nothing I need to run out and buy again which is good since I don’t really care for this company anyway.

At work… work work work!
This is a nice and light Early Grey. I cannot stand the bagged variety… and that’s pretty much all I’ve tried except the rooibos version I have… so this was a pleasant surprise :)
I haven’t had a chance to truly savour it, and I added milk just to see what it was like that way, and well it isn’t good! I liked it much better without. It’s almost pu’erh like, which makes me think that maybe the milk is turning. I need to try it again without, and a touch of agave.
So…. it isn’t fair for me to rate this one just yet.
Thankyou QuiltGuppy for the new tea experience!!

Many thanks to Doulton for this tea!!!

A classic milk ‘n sugar breakfast blend! I love the fact that it has both Indian and Chinese (Yunnan) teas in it, and I can taste that chewy Yunnan delightfulness quite well! It is really hitting the spot on this sleepy day. I’m trying to find the energy for a hike, and I think it may just be in this cup!

Hmm… I suspect that this is the same tea as Rishi’s Chocolate Chai which I previously reviewed here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2010/10/27/chocolate-mate-chai-from-rishi-tea/ I had thought I wrote a tasting note about it as well, but, either it has disappeared or I didn’t post a tasting note … anyway…

This has a savory cocoa flavor. The pu-erh compliments the cocoa notes. A bold cup with a lot of flavor.

I like Rishi’s Chocolate Chai better because I like Rishi Tea better. Rishi’s price tag is better too.

This wasn’t working for me this time around. The flavors smelled nice and melded together well, but the sencha base is very spinachy. Just not what I was in the mood for today.

This smells like cinnamon and pineapple. Taste wise I can taste the pineapple and some cinnamon and the green tea. Strength wise this is a light to medium taste. I think this Is really good tea and balanced to.