Capital Tea Ltd.

Successful Sunday fatbike ride! This was my treat for making it through the ride. We had two beginners sign up today so it was good to get out and re-experience the trail from the perspective of someone who is less of a rider than i am….since i consider myself a step up from beginner. All in all, fun was had by all – even the guy who hadn’t ridden a bike in 5 years! Now here’s hoping they come back out next week!

Catching up from yesterday so that i can weigh and tally my cupboard later when i get a second. I finished off the last of this yesterday except for a small sample i’ll set aside for my tea sister. This one is going on the rebuy list for me :)

So good. I really need to order some of this, but man am i happy the sample from the tea festival has lasted for so many cups. I’ve got at least one more that i’ll likely have tomorrow for a sipdown haha. Honestly, something about the malty, fruitiness of this one just hits all the right spots.

My computer is being terrible so i need to write another note on this soon but this is one of the teas in my package of teas to review for the Toronto Tea festival. Want. Moar. Seriously, this was delicious enough for me to want to order some for myself beyond the sample that i have. Will write more when i have it again!

GCTTB6

I pulled this from the box since it has just enough leaf for a latte and today, as it poured outside, a warm gingery latte sounded just right. This was alright. Regular black tea with some ginger flavor. It did what it needed to so no complaints but it’s nothing to write home about either. Still I enjoyed trying it tonight so thank you to the kind soul who shared it (I would investigate who is was if I was on my laptop).

As far as I can tell, this doesn’t have strawberries in it, but it’s called Strawberry Lane and it actually tastes like strawberry. Or rather, things that are said to be strawberry, like strawberry candy and strawberry soda. It doesn’t have an artificial vibe though, it’s just a strange mix of fruits that somehow combine to impersonate a completely different fruit. The other main note is coconut. It reminds me a lot of David’s Strawberry Colada, but this is the better version, because Capital Teas wisely leaves out the hibiscus. It is slightly on the weak side — I’ll probably try using 2 tsps next time — but overall a nice cup.

Sample from Evolvingness

I have to say that this is a pretty tasty black tea. I’m not quite sure i’m getting exactly mango…there are a few notes in this that remind me of peach teas, but it’s NOT peach. What it is though, is a lovely light, refreshing black tea. I think a little sweetner in this would really make the flavour pop. I’d also be interested in seeing how this brews cold. Nice cup for this late morning. :) thanks evol!

This one is such a true juicy mango for me. Today, I steeping it up with H & S’s Apricot Black. See my notes on that one.

The worst of my cold possibly has dissipated, but I am still spending time in my flannel pyjamas close to the vitamin C and tissue dispenser. My tastebuds are still dulled.

Sadly, the tea festival is out for me today and possibly tomorrow too. Having a cold and bustling around, sweaty and overheated, in crowds, lugging shopping bags of teas that I don’t quite need at the moment is not the ideal scenario. Visiting with tea frens is a drag when you are sick and possibly spreading your joy. And grumpy, sick me is a grumpy me. My sense of smell and taste are not to be trusted in trying out new teas today, so there will be no tea festival for me. Wise choice, but boo!

My throat is raspy and needed soothing. This tea is doing the trick. The natural mango is coming through my dulled senses as well. Deliciousness.

Grabbed this to go with me out into the world. It is a reliably delicious one, both at home and in motion.

I have three flavoured teas from this company and I love them all. This is the second of the three that I had today. The day called for such mango deliciousness with a gentle but brisk kick of caffeine.

Addendum—Make that four and that fourth I don’t love, or maybe I just don’t love it yet. I haven’t come across it for a while and when I do, if I still don’t love it, it’ll probably be relegated to being a sick tea.

This tea captures the sweet buttery tropical perfection that is real mango, supported nicely by the black base. Alphonso mango to be specific, not those hairy tart colossi that come from Mexico. Delicious.

I cannot believe that I haven’t yet written notes about this tea. It is one of my standbys—most especially when I want a good cup of tea for either home or to go and I don’t want to have to make a decision. Grabbing this one is always a win. The flavour is very juicy mango with just enough support for the black tea to come through in each sip. Let me say that again—-very juicy sweet and lovely mango. I always steep briefly, ie. two minutes or so, for best effect. And another plus, it travels nicely throughout the day in either my travel mug or thermos.

Total plagiarism ahead.

Yum. Fruity malty Assam. :)

Yes.

I am fairly new to Darjeeling teas, but find myself craving the muscatel with gentle nuances of caramel and raisin on days such as today. It’s a bit cool and damp out there thankfully after the killer humid blasts we had earlier in the week. I haven’t been particularly well the past few weeks, so a quiet day with tea and contemplation is just what is needed.

Noms. Mellow, smooth but with a little bite if left to steep for a long time. Not a bad bite, mind you. The first thing that hits is the malt and, wow. A bit of sweetness in the sip but not as strong as the malt. Can’t wait to try again with a bit shorter steep and see if that takes out the bite. Thanks, Indigobloom for sharing this one!

Seem to have a passion for smoky teas these days despite the glorious weather. Can’t seem to wrap my head around there being bergamot in this blend. To me, it’s cherry. And cherry tends to equal here, have some chocolate.

I had packed this one up in a travel mug for another long long day out in the world. To me, and this is my first cup mind, it tastes of subtle smoke with hints of dark cherry, as if the idea were to imitate the Eastern European approach to drinking strong black tea: with a spoon or two of thick cherry preserve alongside your tiny glass of tea to alternate between the intense sweetness of one and the intense savoury punch of the other. The base is lighter than I had expected though perhaps this is to do with my brief steeping.

When I got home and checked the tea description, I was surprised to discover that bergamot flavours this tea. Well, hey, first impressions and all. I’ll need to give a proper review during my next proper sipping.

Another review with pretty close notes to what I get: Butter, Fruity, Malt, and White Raisins. It also had the usual dry basil smell and taste that I associate with Darjeelings. I got two solid cups, and one third lighter cup western starting out at two minutes fifteen seconds, 6 oz of water, one medium teaspoon. I loved that this was a lighter black. Thanks Evol!

GCTTB (round 6) entry

Steeps a deep orange brown. No ginger flavour to be found, however. I like to snack on candied ginger, so that was a bit disappointing.

Black base was bitter and overly tannic. I recommend a shorter steep time for anyone trying this for the first time. Tastes like a really generic black tea, but no malt or anything interesting.