Capital Tea Ltd.

My plan this morning was to steep another cup of Marco Polo Blend. However, as the packets are the same, I ended up scooping from this one instead. Not at all a tragedy as I adore this, just not my intention. Nonetheless, the smell and taste is delicious.

I took it with me for my walk to the pharmacy. My pharmacist used to be across the street from me, but unfortunately, she had to move a good distance away on the way to nowhere for me. Still in the neighbourhood, more or less, but the walk tends to be about an hour to get there and back.
Of course, there are other pharmacists directly around me, but I like her and I want to support decent kind people.

The rainbow of this situation, even though this new location is nowhere in my world, is that there is a restaurant that I’ve discovered near this new location that makes fresh homemade paella with chicken, sausage, clams, mussels, giant and small shrimp, squid and who knows what all else every Friday. So, this is a big win, a big big win.

Though I took this tea with me on the walk and the shop, I am drinking it just now.

Belly full and fingers covered in fresh lemon. At this moment, I am happy and I am grateful and life is kind.

It was a dark dark morning that called for something that I adore. This was it.

My morning tea today to pack up in a carry mug before I sprint out the door. Vanilla black and delicious. I find this to be such a soothing sip when out in the world, or at home, or wherever.

I adore this one. I may have said this more than once. This may be the only tea in my relatively short tea life that I’ve gone through three times a hundred grams of, and I tend to steep this one twice.

The secret of this tea, in my humble opinion, is to slightly under leaf and to steep fast, like two or two and a half minutes. Any more leaf or added steeping time and you are looking at more astringency than is pleasant.

This one also takes milk nicely though I tend to drink it black and unsweetened.

All in all, such a win.

You know, this vanilla deliciousness just continues to be a favourite. I took this with me to a therapy appointment today—acupuncture this time— in the rain. It makes all the things better.

In my enthusiasm, I may have added a bit too much tea to my spoon of dry leaf this morning and may have steeped it just a tad beyond the perfect two minutes. I may have been channelling Daylon with the abundant leaf. Sadly, this cup is a bit more astringent than the usual divine smoothness. Bah! The scent and taste of natural vanilla remain a comfort.

Hello old friend. This tea is so like a warm hug after such an absence. You know how you drink a tea almost every day and then you get distracted by life and shiny new packages and generous samples from tea friends? Possibly that. For months. I’ve thought of this tea often, but in the scramble of urgencies, it was hard to track it down when the mood struck. And now it has reappeared just at the right moment. Vanilla deliciousness. I’ve got some dark chocolate handy to celebrate.

A bit of upheaval here. Both good and bad chaos all at once.

I know, I know—vague-book much?

When things get crazy in my world, I am not in the mood for experimentation with new teas. I want delicious, and I want reliable. I want to have a good idea of what my cup is going to taste like and do for me.

Hence, this tea. The flavours are pure and straightforward: a beautiful vanilla and ceylon.

When life is complicated, this is my cure. I will save cups of surprises for sane quiet afternoons.

Such vanilla deliciousness!

I am not a huge fan of Ceylon but this one is wow.

This is from a sample Christina sent to me. It didn’t look like the type of tea I would choose but I gave it a try this morning.

This tea surprised me. Long dark spindly leaves. The dry leaves had a slight fruity , raisin smell to them. Brewed 2 min at 95C. Pulled out the infuser and what? Green leaves from black tea? Yep, the leaves when infused turned green.

This is not a bold black but it has loads of flavour. Very fruity with a bit of malt. There a slight buttery base in it too. It’s a little like the moonlight teas. It’s just so mild and tasty. So much fruity flavour!

I don’t often reach for blacks. I have to be in the mood for them but this one is one of those blacks that seems to be a bit of a crossover from the lighter teas. I really love this one! I see it’s from Capital Teas and I’ve never ordered from them before. That means Capital Teas may be on my order lists in the future (once I’ve sipped down my teas to a reasonable level.)

Thanks Christina for this one!

A very pleasant, middle-of-the-road Ceylon. Somewhat mild, with muted briskness. The initial hints of chocolate and smoke did not impress, but the lush taste of tart raisins in the final brew won me back.

First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz water, 90 deg., 1:30 min.

Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 5:00 min.

Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, boiling, 10:00 min.

I also had to oversteep this a couple of times before I got it right. 2g of leaf, 10oz of water that boiled and then rested for a bit, 3min steep. This time, there’s a lovely sweetness, a slight fruity tartness, a bit of malt and cocoa. Nice, but apparently a bit finicky. :)

Quite the lip-smacking first flush, this one. Robust, thick, and full-bodied, it fills the mouth with first flush goodness. Not for those who prefer a lighter tea.

First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz water, 90 deg., 1:45 min.

Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, boiling, 10:00 min.

Well of the three keemuns I bought from Capital Tea Ltd, this one has noticeably smaller, broken up leaves. It brews up into a rich, full-bodied liquor with mild-moderate astringency. The flavour is complex and hard to characterize – a bit of malt, a bit of spice, a bit of wood and dried fall leaves maybe? It’s a good, solid tea and I suspect it would be good with milk. Reminds me a bit of an assam, actually, but with just a hint of smoke if I really concentrate.

Whoa, weird. I had this earlier today and mostly I just remember being surprised that it was a keemun, because it tasted kind of like an Indian/Sri Lankan tea, kind of medium bodied and with slightly floral/vegetal notes. And now I come online and find out it’s supposed to be biscuit and chocolate, lol. Might have to try it again before coming to a conclusion. :)

The leaves of this one are small, curly, dark, and shiny. They remind me a little of Laoshan Black. The scent of the dry leaves is mild and hay-like. The liquor is malty and a sweet, but also has a juicy quality that is quite distinct from the yunnan black I had earlier. I get notes of cocoa, caramel, and burnt sugar. This is quite tasty.

The dry leaves of this one are really lovely – lots of fuzzy golden buds. They’re pretty light and fluffy, so my standard 3g turned out to be 2-3 tsp. The dry aroma is light and a bit spicy. The liquor has a classic yunnan base flavour – rich, malty and earthy… and then there are some spicy and fruity notes in the aroma and at the end of the sip. It does have that creamy mouthfeel from the fuzzy leaves. It’s a very good but fairly typical tippy yunnan black. It’ll be interesting to see how it compares to the other teas in my order. :)

The flavours in this tea — dry hay, dried flowers, slightly roasted peanuts, stewed tomatoes — are quite subtle and muted. There is also a nice sweetness at the end. An OP for those who like their Ceylons on the low-key side.

First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz water, 90 deg., 1:30 min.

Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00 min.

Mild but OK chai. Drank it with/with out milk. Nothing outstanding. I always wonder if a tea is old when I don’t get much flavor. I will withhold giving a rating.

I had this one this morning and just brewed in my mug with the infusion basket for 2 min – 80C. This tea had a fruitiness to it that I really enjoyed. Did I pick up only a slight floral in the background? I’m not sure. It seemed to be there and then was not. I might have been picking up on the aroma of the fruitiness. This tea also had the chestnut flavor that most green teas have but it was very subtle.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Fruity straight green teas are not that common so I do love it when I get one. Thanks Christina for the sample!

Another tea sent to me by Christina. Thank you!

I was really surprised by this tea, and kind of regret leaving it out on the counter during fruit fly season.

I steeped 2 minutes at 195, and I used the WHOLE SAMPLE in my giant mug. :) Initially I was rather concerned because it smelled a little like steamed greens. However, as it cooled it was really quite tasty. Not sharp or “cold” at all like some of the other large leafed nilgiri teas I’ve tried. Almost… fruity? I’m not really sure how to describe it, but I did enjoy it.

Edit: Ok, I was right. It’s a Canadian company! Definitely a place I need to order from in the future. :)

The scent of stewed tomatoes dominates both the aroma and taste of this tea, with secondary notes of malty sweetness reminiscent of a tippy Assam. An interesting and unusual Ceylon.

First infusion – 4 g. per 8 oz water, 90 deg., 1:30 min.

Second infusion – 4 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Third infusion – 4 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00 min.

GCTTB
This tea confuses me. I’m a big bold chocolatety Chinese black tea kind of girl. I don’t normally like the lighter style blacks, and I really don’t like Indian teas. So why do I like this so much?
It’s light, it’s fruity, grapey, winey, sweet, a little astringent – but in this one I find the little astringency balances the sweetness. I’m putting the rest back in the box, but this makes me wonder if I should watch for other teas from this estate.

GCTTB
This is outside my comfort zone, and I was pleasantly surprised. My thoughts are a little different than other reviewers, but I did steep it Western 80C 3min.
No floral, no grass, no vegetal – I thought it was more savory than most green teas I’ve tried. Deeper, darker somehow. It’s still not something that I would stock, but I enjoyed getting to try it.