English Tea Store

So here’s the first in a series of very generous samples sent to me from Dylan and Missy. As I understand it, this is from Azzrian via Dylan and Missy.

I really, really enjoy this. The dry leaf has a a very powerful orange smell, and the leaves themselves are very dark. Once brewed, the color is a reddish orange mixture, and the smell of orange blossom subsides so the oolong scent can take over. The flavor is heavy on the toasty oolong, with a nice delicate orange blossom follow up. Note that this is not a citrusy tea, it’s more of a subtle floral note. It’s very sweet on it’s own, so I can’t really see the need to add any sugar or honey.

I’m going to have another cup of this in a moment, but after the first I think I can say that I’ll be placing an order to keep this one on hand.

Reducing rating a tad as I have had better darjeelings now.
Full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 9th

Here is a brief Snippit as I am still writing it now.

It is a smooth tea, perfect for morning or afternoon with some tea sandwiches. I am having cucumber sandwiches with mine today and it is lovely. I think however the reason it is so lovely with my sandwiches is because it is fairly bland and does not compete with my otherwise mellow food flavors.

Sweet, mellow, smooth, and caffeinated, just what I needed this morning and all of the things I am not!

Nothing like a cup of Lady Londonderry to warm up to on a very snowy day!

Sitting here with the Lady this morning enjoying an always satisfying brew.
Trying to wake up – at least she is waking me up gently. :)

Having this with breakfast – its so good – I need to pace myself with this one or it will be gone too fast!

I am SO so happy I did not pass this on to a trade partner (sorry trade buddies) but this is all mine! This has made it to my perm stash. I have to have this always on hand.
Creamy, citrus, sweet berry, floral but not in my face floral.
And at under 14 bucks A POUND! HA this CAN be in my stash at all times!
WOOT WOOT!
Love it!

Interesting! it’s green… but also creamy. I find the smell a bit offputting, in that cloying creamy way- but the taste is lovely. Flowery even. Actually, it reminds me of a white lemon tea I tried not long ago, only deeper. The notes gel much better here, I think.
There is quite a bit of sweetness here, and a candy lemon flavour. I’m reminded of lemon donuts or danishes. Yes, that’s it!! lemon jelly!
I love that the green tea isn’t hidden though. So many teas focus too much on the flavouring and not enough on the tea-ness.
I’ve been a bit depressed lately. This is lifting my spirits a bit but I still feel leaden. Maybe it’s time to make some of my St. Johns Wort tea that SimplyJenW so kindly sent me :)
Anyhow, sorry to vent here. Thank you Ninavampi for the sample, this was a wonderful surprise! :)

Another very generous sample from Azzrian. Thank you!

Drinking this tea effectively doubles my experience with oolong tea. I’ve now had two, count ’em two, different oolongs in my tea career. The first was a Maharaja Chai Oolong from Teavana, and the second being this.

Now here’s where my inexperience probably leads me to a bit of a confusion – this looks like a black tea. I would wager, and possibly lose, money at the tea-casino over the family of tea that this belongs to. Intellectually, I understand that green tea is non-oxidized, black tea is 100% oxidized, and you can call anything between oolong. It’s a near black. Like… I’d say it was an oolong that was 99.2% oxidized. Like there was a little factory of workers on starting boards waiting for the pistol to go off, so some large man with a megaphone could yell “Go! Go before the oxidation finishes! We’re losing money by the second!” Preferably with a pirate accent, so he could toss in pirate insults. Insults are always better in pirate.

Opening up the bag, there’s an unnaturally powerful zingy lemon scent. I made the mental association of Thera-Flu, and can’t get it out of my head now. It completely smells like Thera-Flu. But I’m fond of citrus (actually, I’m fairly fond of Thera-Flu), so it really doesn’t bother me… consider yourself warned.

The brew itself was much less pungent, and the steeped aroma was definitely more in line with orange than Thera-Flu, thankfully the flavor follows the same pattern. The flavor is just gently floral, with a hint of orange, but overall I find my tastebuds tangled with more of that zesty lemon taste. It’s a little bit chemically, and a little bit tart. It did drown out the tea flavor to me, which really hid in the background, and just left me feeling like it was all based on a weak black tea. If there was any subtle distinction between the oxidization level of this tea and your standard black, I’m not confident enough in my sense of taste that I think I’d ever find it.

The other thing kicking around in the back of my mind is that I’m not trying this tea at the right time. I drink it, and its decent tasting, but I really think to myself that I’d enjoy it more with breakfast. I think it would shine a lot more on the other end of the day than the one it’s currently trying to star in (Ha! Not intentionally a nighttime joke, but I’ll take it).

Or maybe keep it around for when I’m sick. I really cannot shake the Thera-Flu association!

J’adore le thé Mélange Français! (I’m not sure if that’s the correct way to say that, but my French is only slightly above non-existent) This tea is flowery and delicious and manages to not be too perfumey. It is robust enough to drink in the morning (yay Assam component!), but is perfect, in my opinion, as an early afternoon tea. Oh, and it is decidedly spectacular iced (especially with some lemon). I’ve been trying to find some sort of France-inspired blend that is good enough to continually keep in stock in my cupboard. By George, I think I’ve got it.

Having my second infusion of the morning now. Thanks again Ninavampi, I really am enjoying it! despite that I feel this is more of a “winter” tea lol
Tea love!

This is quite yummy!! thanks to Ninavampi for sharing a sample with me!
There isn’t as much maple flavour as I’d have liked… I added quite a bit of agave to bring it out (1.5 teaspoons)
With milk, it wasn’t nearly as flavourful. I sampled a bit of it that way, I’m glad I listened to my instincts and didn’t just dump milk in the mug like I usually do. In any case, I’m feeling much better after a cuppa.
I’m staying at home sick today, since I sound like Rod Stewart meets a squeaky mouse.
Ginger tea is usually how I go in times like this, but I drank a strong infusion of chammy/ginger/honey through the night and I think I’m saturated for the moment :P
Besides, maple seems to have a similar effect to honey. I gotta say it again… YUM!
EDIT: Okay so after a second steep, with some agave of course, I’m getting more of a maple note… all thick and lingering in my throat like the real stuff. Wow. I am lovin it!

A very enjoyable oolong. Slightly “dark” tasting for an oolong.
Refreshing and relaxing cup.
Its one of those cups you find yourself gulping down.
It has a clear clean taste.
This cooled off quite a bit as I was doing some things and I found it to be very good cool as well.
It has this slight flavor of hay. Earthy, but fresh like spring time.

Of all the “cream” flavors I have had – both Earl Grey and not, from cream peach to strawberry to this … this is the best cream flavor ever to date.
The bergamot is not over powering whatsoever but I guess if you like a punch in the face of bergamot this would not be the tea for you. This is a very well balanced tea with a nice smooth non astringent black tea base, perfect amount of bergamot oil and a delectable cream that you taste on each and every sip without having to look for it.
Extremely fair pricing on this tea as well, fast shipping, great customer service.
One of my top favs in both teas and vendor source!
EDIT NOTE: Fairly decent on the resteep as well! Not as good but better than a lot of black tea resteeps!

This is a very good Earl Grey Cream. Smooth and calming. I added a little sugar in the raw and a tad bit of milk to mine and it really brought out the cream in this tea although I could taste it before hand as well. The bergamot is perfectly balanced. No astringency or aftertaste. I do believe the smell of bergamot in the bag when leaf is dry is stronger than the outcome when brewed so if you have smelled this and fear it may be too much for you don’t worry – brew it up – its very pleasing!
Not AS complex as some Earl Grey’s I have had but you know I really like to have this in my stash because its always dependable and always consistent.
I also do like English Tea Store as well as a vendor.

I think I like this tea more the more I drink it. The vanilla balances the rooibos perfectly. Despite the cinnamon being tame, I feel it’s a good addition to the vanilla and rooibos.

Very comfortable to curl up with late at night.

When I want a relatively austere, non-sweet tea, this one takes the cake.

I was worried when I saw the lavender – I don’t always get along with that particular herb, though I love floral teas. I needn’t have worried – it was perfectly civilized in this blend! The flowers give the tea a natural sweetness. Lovely – very nice for an afternoon tea, not too light, but strong enough to take a drop of milk

First dance with pu-erh. Bonnie sent me this one and judging by the name, it seems like the perfect introduction. Being a bit apprehensive, I went shorter than recommended on the steeping time and added a little sugar and just a splash of cream. Well people, it’s delicious. It’s super creamy, caramelly, butterscotch-laden and delicious. The only way I can tell this isn’t a regular black tea blend is that there is a musty, earthy flavor that pops through the creamy sweetness and gives the tea some character. It’s a little woody, and causes me to think of the taste of cured tobacco and, well… damp caverns. Don’t take that last statement as a bad thing though, it’s very good. Overall, this was definitely a new and different experience to me. I was a little apprehensive about pu-erh, but this blend at least is very good and approachable. I like it. Now to try some unflavored pu-erhs…

This is ETS’s “Loose Organic” Earl Grey Cream (not the “Metro” Blend). The picture above matches, but not the description. I think there’s some confusion with ETS’s 2 versions.

Description: “Flavored with oil of Bergamot, like all Earl Grey teas, Cream Earl Grey was created through a series of experimental blends with flavors like cinnamon and vanilla.
For added depth and dimension, our blenders mixed fresh cream with this classic Earl Grey.”

Adding only a T. of honey to test, this blend is smoother than the Metro blend (imo). No bitterness detected. The bergamot level is about the same (as the other blend). I prefer more bergamot (for creamsicle effect). Has a slight creamy feel. Not noticing cinnamon or vanilla, but there is a slight sour cream aftertaste. As with other Earl Grey’s, my next step is to add some cream to bump up the yumminess, but could more easily drink this without.

Second Review.
I forgot that I had this tea because I poured it into a short canning jar, and it traveled to the far back of my tea cupboard where I found it huddled with my teacups. Nice surprise to find it since it is so tasty at breakfast time.
I love malty, full and robust tea in the morning (anytime really). Listen folks, when you get older…you need a kickstart to let your system know it’s time to get moving. Tea is my axle grease! This tea does the job in the A.M.!
I’m not going to go into all the details of how I brewed this cuppa and the blah blah color of the leaves and such. That was the first review. I like this tea. Simply put, I add my cream (I don’t like grey tea so 100% milk, can milk or cream is for me) and sweetening and this brew tastes great. The maltiness is not overly heavy and the astringency is there but not too strong either. I noticed that when I got up to do a few chores…my second cup cooled down, but the tea really tasted good. Ha! Of course this was going to be a good tea to use for iced tea also. Hoot man! A Scot’s gotta do what a Scot’s gotta do! The next steeping will go into the frig!
The temp will be in the 80’s today…and when you live at 5000 feet that means the air conditioner comes on. Monday my pool opens..hooray! (Grandkids will arrive more regularly for a swim and Grandma’s tea!)

I do have so much to be greatful for! God has really blessed me!

I’ve entered a dark room where I’m stripped of everything I know up until now about tea (which I must admit is fair to midlin little). Diving into the world of tea,tea…(that was done on purpose) I set to brew my first 20z pot of tea and began checking the brew at 1 min, 2 min and finally at about 4 minutes where I stopped the steeping and felt it had reached a perfect brewing. Still added some sugar then some cream. Wow is this malty with a slight smokiness and slight furry tannin in the far back of the tongue. I can see why this is loved. Next year on St. Andrews day when my Priest blesses the Tartans and I’m decked out…I’ll bring this tea to the Church to serve with scones after the Liturgy. It is worthy of a Highlander! Beautiful whiskey color and a bit of a vegital greenbean nose but so slight. Really good this malty tea. I’m thinking about using this with some buckwheat honey, caramelized onions and garlic on a bit of beef (used wheat beer before). See what it tastes like. You could serve this tea in a bar because a beer drinker could dig this. I dig this!

Friday night tea with my daughter and granddaughter and outside there is a new dusting of snow and a big 16 degree chill. Perfect tea weather. I made some gingerbread and lit candles before getting my tea tray ready. They chose Lady Londonderry because it just arrived in the mail and smelled wonderful. We let it steep about 4 minutes since we like our tea a bit strong with milk. Nice floral notes…like delicate candied violets. The maltiness is so slight and I did not notice any lemon or orange. Maybe next time it will show. I would have chosen a hardier tea for this weather but this does take you to another time and place where songbirds and flowers are present. My perfect evening was topped off with a new classical piano composition by my 16 year old granddaughter who composes choral, and orchestral music also. I cried…so beautiful.