Capital Tea Ltd.

I’ve had this cupboard for a while. The first few times I had it I think I overleafed or over steeped it as I did not experience the delicious fruitiness and spice that I am getting today.

Today after steeping 1tsp in 225 ml of water at around 94°C for 3 min I have a tea that’s yielding a lovely spicy, fruity tea. This tea has notes of brown sugar, yam, malt,cocoa, blackberry, cinnamon, and a faint floral clover nectar. The second steep remained delicious and smooth even though I rediculously over steeped it.

I would purchase this tea again if Capital Tea restocks it, in the mean time this one is tempting me. http://www.capitaltea.com/shop/product.php?productid=247&cat=3&page=1!

This was a sample from a swap with Christina. The leaves were so small and a dark dark green. I brewed at 185F/85C for 1 min. First taste it was nutty, sweet and smooth, not as much seaweed taste as other senchas but as I got further down on the cup it started changing. A slight bitter edge slowly became more prominent especially with the last part of the cup and the seaweed taste became stronger (really strong). Perhaps I brewed this a little too high. Instructions were for 75C. It started out such a fantastic sencha but the bitterness at the end was too much. I am going to try a second infusion at 75C and see if there’s a difference.
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2nd infusion. Yes, more of that nutty, sweet sencha again. On the first part of the cup alone I would give this a score of 90. It’s a fantastic sencha but again it has a bitter edge at the bottom of the cup even brewed at 75C. I still had so much bitterness on my tongue from the last cup it was hard to taste the sweetness on the first part of this cup. I think because this sencha is so fine (the finest grade I’ve seen so far), it’s super sensitive to temperature. Or maybe it was at the end of a bag and had more tea dust on it? I don’t know but it was a strange Dr Jeckyll/Mr Hyde tea.

Thanks Christina for giving me the chance to try this great tea.

thanks again to YYZ for sending this one my way. this is a really interesting tea for me. I don’t get much in the way of chocolate notes, but i am getting a slight hint of malt with a bit of spiciness?? to it. i’m guessing that’s what YYZ describes as cinnamon/sandalwood. I actually am enjoying this because of it’s unique taste. it’s similar to other teas that i’ve had but slightly different. Just a good time :) thanks YYZ!

another backlog from yesterday – this one came my way via the lovely yyz i nede to have this one again to fully decide how i feel about it, but i’m leaning towards YAY! versus NAY lol My hang up is on the slightly floral note that i was getting in between the chocolatey notes. There is no astringency or bitterness in this cup and on the whole i found myself enjoying it. I just need another cup to fully decide :) thanks again YYZ!

This tea is very smooth, impressively so as there is no astringency or maltiness at all. However, it is also a very plain tea. No notes of this or that, just a straight up delightful tea-flavored tea. It is one I will enjoy while I have it for sure but I don’t know if I would stock it because it is so plain. Although, it is almost unique in its plainness which sounds weird but it really is a tea that you could just drink without guilt as you go on about your day – enjoyable but not something that really needs your attention. I am glad I got to try this so thank you Dexter for sending some of this my way :).

Sipdown!! (164)

Thank you Dexter for sending some of this my way. Apparently this company is very near to my home and yet I have not tried any of their teas. This tea is a very good introduction. This has the slightest bit of astringency but mostly it has notes of rich chocolate and a touch of malt. It is good but not something I need stocked. I am grateful for the chance to try it though.

This dry tea smells of rye bread that has been allowed to develop a dark crust and is slightly smokey and chocolate and has broken but still fairly large thin leaves ranging in colour from black to milk chocolate brown.

After 3 min at 95°C this tea brews up to a nice reddish copper.

The scent is soothing and warming of light to medium spicy smoke chocolate, a hint of vanilla orchid and a grainy slightly malty note and a hint of fruit.

The tea feels dense in the mouth, with moderate astringency. A sharp fruit tone like dark slightly sour berries and malt are up front, followed by a mild dark chocolate, insence like spice like burning fall leaves, and vanilla orchid to soften and balance the tea. This tea is nice and robust due to the tannins and the astringency. As it cools the chocolate, spicy tone from the smoke ( which is at a level I can appreciate and which enhances the flavour of the tea) and a robust grain tone become dominant and the sharper fruit are minimised. There is a tone that reminds me a little of iron and the flavour reminds me a little of a bitter sweet lava cake I once had.

After a resteep of 4 min the body is a touch thinner and it smells more of chocolate. When hot the sharp berry note is a biy more like a young wine with the sharp berrybalanced by bitter notes from the malt, cocoa, and smoke. There is a nice smokey, grainy element to this steep. This tea could probably take another resteep.

This tea is very nice, with a higher level of caffeine and with enough body to take milk if you prefer your tea that way, and a nice robustness in flavour. It reminds me of being at the field camp in Chapleau watching the mists rise off the lake in early morning and waking to the day in companionable silence. Overall very happy to have this in my cupboard.

Somewhat sweet and vegetal, as well as slightly astringent, this tea is quite mild and light, almost to the point of being flat. As my bag is a year old, I am sure that much has been lost in the past year (though I doubt it was stellar even when fresh).

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 70 deg., 2:00 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 80 deg., 5:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 80 deg., 10:00+ min.

The dried leaf of this tea is beautiful with the blade being a little wider than some assams I’ve had and there being quite a few quite downy golden buds. Its quite beautiful to look at.

The first time I made this tea I made the mistake of both overleafing and oversteeping this tea, thinking that I would need to compensate for its age, and it turned out to be dominated by oatmeal and bitter cocoa and malt notes and its rich sweet notes were hidden.

To compensate this time, I stuck to 1 tsp/ 8 oz / @95°C, and after an @ 3 min steep the tea brews up to this beautiful red ochre tinged orange, and smelled of a blend of spice, red fruits and honey underlain by malt, cocoa, and a hint of oatmeal.

The flavour was sweet with malt and oatmeal first, followed by honeyed fruit ( red fruit with a touch of raisin), with spice and finishing with bitter cocoa. The dominant flavour is honey, spice and bitter cocoa. It has a good dose of caffeine.

Very nice and it makes me want to try Capital Tea Ltd more recent offering from this estate.

Thanks very much again to Joel for comping me this tea!

This sample came to me from Christina. The jasmine is nicely balanced in this tea (at least for me). I like the jasmine just a little on the strong side and it comes through nicely. I think 3 min is just a tad too long as the tea itself seems a bit strong for a green tea. I will try a 2 min brew time next time.
This may be my favourite jasmine pearls so far but I’ll have to give them a real test and have them side by side one day. Thank you Christina for giving me the chance to try this tea!

Thanks Dexter3657! (194)
I drank this yesterday and today and now it’s gone, and both times I had interruptions that messed up my careful consideration of this tea. I know that I really enjoyed it, but couldn’t say why.

That’s ok though. I’ve never really had Capital Teas before and now I’m curious about them. They seem to do straight black teas well!

ETA Wait a minute! I remember people talking about them before and they are SERIOUSLY like a 10 minute drive away from my house. What? I wonder if I could just pick up from them? I mean, eventually. After I pick up my box(es) from Sil

Backlog!
What a pleasant cuppa tea. I quite enjoyed it.
Funny, lately I’ve come across a lot of 1st flush Darjeelings, so when I brewed this up, it slipped my mind that it wouldn’t have those crisp delicate notes. Took me by surprise, I tell ya.
After I got over the shock, I found it very tasty. Muscatel in nature, with a nice depth to it, and a very slight tangy edge. I’m looking forward to having it iced over the summer!!

And here’s another sample from Dexter3657! This sipdown puts me back at 199. #cackles. :P I keep hovering around that number. I’ll probably be at 200 a month from now!

But this was a really lovely Assam. I drank a cup this morning, and enjoyed it so much I made it again for the afternoon. Sadly I oversteeped it (10 minute? Or more? Whoops) but it still tastes good. I just diluted it a little bit to fix it. It’s really malty and bold and deep. I had RiverTea’s assam just yesterday so I think that helps make this one stand out in comparison.

(Sorry RiverTea. I love your fruit teas, but your unflavoured ones are not as good. But I totally rec your fruit ones. ILU. :P)

This is the last sample, I think, from my super secret surprise sample pack from Dexter3657!

I am unsure what to think of this one. I just ate some super duper spicey potatoes. I definitely over did it with the chili pepper flakes and lemon pepper. It was delicious though. But my mouth is still burning from the aftertaste while I drink this tea.

What I am tasting in the tea, is it is moderately thick liquor, even with a short steep. It is sweet and not bitter or astringent. There is a little bit of malt. The more I sip, it is starting to “clean” my palate. The spice tasting buds on my tongue are still on fire, but I am starting to taste a lot more dark chocolate with rice crisps notes.

I am surprised because I didn’t think I would like this tea but it is not too bad. It was certainly a good choice to drink for after my “hell on fire” potatoe breakfast :)

My morning is usually devoted to black tea, oolong is an afternoon friend, and pu’erh is more serious an usually gets the evening, (flavoured are “in between” teas). Habits, I’m full of them! That’s my tea MO, but having said that, I will happily interchange the order from time to time, but this morning, I stick to the usual…

I chose this Golden Monkey, sent to me by the generous Dexter3657.

This is a high quality tea, you know just from looking at its little golden claws.

Golden Monkeys are not my favourite black teas as I prefer a fuller bodied cup. This one is light to medium body. I over-leafed as usual, cause that’s my preference.

It feels very different from other GM I’ve had. They usually have what I call a Mexican cocoa feel to them, like chocolate with a hint of smoke. The smoke is there, but I find no notes of cocoa. It’s definitely more on the savoury side, roasted veggies, almost peppery with a hint of sweetness.

All in all, a very satisfying cup, but not something I would stock up on. I prefer Teavivre GM, which is a lot sweeter, chocolaty with big notes of sweet potatoes.

But this was a new experience, I’ve never tasted a tea quite like this one, very unique
and I am so grateful I got to sample it.

Thanks you Dexter3657.

Very nice and satisfying cup of Assam came to me from ifjuly. Thank you !
1tsp 205F 3min 8oz
This tea is very smooth and on a milder side which means its perfect without additives. Floral, malty, with a touch of honey. Some muscatel flavors and stone fruits could be detected, nothing over the top. I think its perfect as afternoon tea.
I’m glad i had a chance to try it. i’m sure i will pick up some once there is some promo from Capital tea ltd.

i’m on a quest for a new fav Assam. This sample came to me from very generous and spontaneous ifjuly. Thank you!!!
205F 1tsp 8 oz 2.45 min produced golden delicious tea. it has Darjeeling floral-fruity notes. very smooth and not bitter. some malt but not over the top.
its important to me since I rarely add milk or sugar. This tea is elegant and i’m sure would be great as an afternoon tea.
Thank you ifjuly for helping me to discover new teas. i have a lot to sample

A sipdown on this tea, sent to me from Sil, who got it from Dexter. Thanks ladies!

I drank this earlier this morning, & I’m gonna confess right now that I over-tea-ed it. I’m at Tony’s. No scale, larger cups, also the leaves are kind of big & wild, so I went for it, just dumping the sample in there. I should have gone with shorter steeps, but it got 3 min.
The resulting cup was drinkable, but not my favorite taste combo, if you know what I mean. It was kind of astringent, with an acidity to it that some people might translate as cherry or plum. I get the biscuit taste, especially as it cooled, but didn’t really get any chocolate.
In retrospect, I wish I’d gone with a gongfu setup for this one.

This one came to me from Sil who got it from Dexter.
I accidentally ruined the first cup. I was also making Tony a cup of the Earl, & he likes a spoon of sugar, but I accidentally put his sugar in my cup of tea! Yuck! I tried to drink it anyway, but I have this weird problem, which is when I put sugar in my tea, I can’t taste the sweetness of it. It only ruins the flavor of the tea.
My 2nd cup was much better, sans sugar. This is bold, a little astringent & slightly bitter, and not very malty, so it’s probably never going to be a favorite, but it was still quite drinkable, & the most robust cup I’ve had today, so at least there is that. :)
And it’s a sipdown!

With a mildly malty & subtlely sweet taste, this high-quality tea is a great choice for those who like their Assams on the milder side. A bit pricey, though.

First infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 1:30 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:30 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00+ min.