English Tea Store

I received a very generous sample of this from Marcel Duchamp. I had been wanting to try another companies version of Lady Londonderry so I was really excited when I saw this one.

This was a sweet strawberry/lemon tea. It was very light and fruity with a hint of floral. I had this hot this morning but I think this would also be very good iced. The last version I had of this tasted to me like plastic, this version was wonderful. I am glad I did not give up on Lady Londonderry!

Backlog:

A black and green blend … I wish I realized that before I brewed it! I really gotta start making a habit of reading a description of a tea before I brew it so that I formulate a brewing plan. I don’t like to read the descriptions ahead of time though because I prefer to base my opinion of a tea on my own palate, not what I’m told to taste by the company that sells the tea.

Even brewing this green and black blend with boiling water … it turned out pretty good. Sweet and maple-y, nice blackberry notes, and the Assam is malty and rich. The green tea is a little difficult to place and I suspect it might be easier to taste it if the tea was brewed at a lower temperature.

There is some bitterness to the cup which may be because of the Assam or it could be because the green tea scalded a bit.

The maple is prominent though and I do enjoy that.

This will be an uncharacteristically short tasting note, because this is so nondescript. It both looks and smells good in the bag – nice big leaf with petals, vaguely sweetfruity scent.

In the cup, though, it just sort of… sits. Sure, there’s a vague fruitness about it, and a subtle vanilla I think Angrboda might possibly like, but then there’s also a slight burnt note I don’t like at all. I think it’s the tea base. The aftertaste is the best part of the sip, but no, this is not really for me. I don’t like fruity blacks much in the first place, but I will keep sampling, because there has to be one I enjoy.

Just not this one.

Thanks for sharing, KittyLovesTea!

[Sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]

Sipdown!! (119)

Thank you Courtney for the chance to try this tea. I am finding something very strange about this cup though. It is almost nutty in flavor. This is very reminiscent of Stash’s Vanilla Nut Creme for me and I was not a fan of that one. Nonetheless, I am glad I got the opportunity to try something new.

2/16/14 Morning pot. 3g/6oz/212F/5min 5 minutes was a little too long for this tea – too much astringent/bitter is overpowering the berry. Still drinkable, just less then ideal. I forgive myself – it’s probably been over a year since I’ve brewed this tea.

1/27/14 3rd in an Earl Grey tasting. 1tsp/6oz/212F/3min. 1tsp. sugar. 3min cool. This tea is rather old, and the light leafing and short steep of the standard worked against it. The brewed tea had a faintly citrusy day old cookie dough kind of scent, and was a brown/amber. The taste was slightly watery, with a faint trace of bergamot and an understated pepperiness from the base tea. Once the sugar came into play it was a very drinkable, if weak, cup.

1/19/14 A late night pot during a time of crisis. 3g/6oz/212F/5min. A strong and slightly bitter tea, very dark in the cup. A strong aroma of bergamot that enhances the drinking.

Brewed hot, this was pretty lackluster to me. I tried a few times, once with nearly double the amount of tea recommended. Still blah. However, when cold-brewed (6 T./1 gallon water) overnight, it’s fabulous! The savory notes really come out, where they just tasted flat in the hot brew. Great for cold-brewing and I’m glad I have a lot of it!

Backlog:

As some of you may be aware, I tend to be a bit nervous when it comes to smoky teas, but I’m coming around to the point where I can say that I like them now, so long as they’re brewed properly.

This has a strong smoky note with caramel-y undertones. Sweet yet rich and robust. An enjoyable Lapsang Souchong.

Accidentally oversteeped this. Woops! Anyway, count me among those that bought this tea just for the literary reference. As a side note, this tea does not come with a painting of yourself that ages, while you yourself stay forever young.

Because of my accidental oversteeping, I’m not going to bother rating this tea yet. But even oversteeped, the flavor is pretty comforting. The flavor is undoubtedly Earl Grey, but I don’t really detect any caramel.

This one of the more well-balanced Earl Greys I’ve tried. The bergamot is definitely there but not at all overpowering.

Picked this up mainly for now odd the combination sounded. Very enjoyable tea, though. Very creamy with a bit of milk and sugar. The toffee flavor is in the forefront, with the woody mustiness of the pu-erh trailing behind.

If you like bolder dessert teas (more along the lines of coffee) I would give this a try.

Tea #5 for Traveling Tea Box C

I’m always hesitant about green teas. On one hand, I have some I absolutely love, but on the other, most I’ve tried have not been very tasty to me. However, this one had such an interesting name that I even give it the chance to open the bag and take a quick sniff. And it smelled amazing! I was scared that if I brewed it hot, the green would make everything taste terrible, or the cherry would make everything tart or cough syrup flavor, or the rose would be way too floral. You can see how finicky I am with greens!

So instead, I cold brewed this one over night. There wasn’t much left of this one, and I used up what was left. I tried to make the water about the right amount, but it still ended up a bit weak. I could still taste it though! My first thought with this was “Wow! This tastes like bubblegum!” But as I sipped more, I could pick apart the flavors. There’s the green tea base, here’s the rose adding some floral notes, there’s the cherry, not cough syrup flavored. This is one that I would have loved more of.

Tea #2 from Traveling Tea Box C

I didn’t expect to get another tea in last night, as I work until midnight, but the entire campus locked down due to a nearby crime scene and my boss drove me home from work.It was waaaay too late for caffeine, so I decided to go for one of the caffeine free options. This one had a really intriguing name and a tasty sounding list of ingredients.

It smells strongly like rooibos, both dry and steeping. If you’re put off by that smell, avoid this one. It definitely tastes like rooibos as well. It’s the predominant flavor. I didn’t get a lot of vanilla. It seemed to more so smooth out the tea overall. I got the cinnamon as a slight tingle in the back of my throat. This is one that I would like to try different times and temperatures on to see what I get. I may keep this one.

Hmmmm. This chai was a little on the ho-hum side of average, and I didn’t really get any vanilla in the flavor… but then, I also didn’t notice the steeping instructions on the page here, which are a little different than my usual method of making chai. So, I will reserve judgment until I try it again their way! It sounds promising! :)

Traveling Tea Box C #22
Having this as a sleepytime tea tonight. I don’t get much cocao, I do taste the vanilla. I have to say I need to start looking at this tea site! They have made me a believer in rooibos. Crazy I know! Well goodnight steepsters.

Traveling Tea Box C #6
Mmmmmmmm! Perfect cup to put me to sleep. I was nervous that this was another rooibos. And I’m very peculiar when it comes to rooibos. BUT the bourbon pairs perfect with this Rooibos and the vanilla is the perfect after taste. The dry leaf smells so creamy with the vanilla and the bourbon is obviously present as well the rooibos smell does over power a little bit but I enjoyed this one a lot. I may have to purchase some of this!

I finished my little sample that I got from TTB! Delicious tea. I love the deep orange flavors and the spicy cloves. I had to put this tea in a disposable teabag since there were a lot of fine black tea leaves (crushed?). The cloves were blended well and were not overpowering. This is a good black tea that tastes good without additives.

meh. not a fan of this one. Especially when i can drink butiki’s version for less money and it’s tastier. So what if it’s not black…not like i don’t have a zillion black teas in my cupboard haha. The base of this one just isn’t the kind of black base that i enjoy. This one is going in to the swap box for others to try for sure. Thanks Cavo? Not the tea for me..but good to cross another one off my list!

do not like. holy mother of all things sour. This is way too in your face sour. It’s like being punched in the face. no thanks! i think? cavo passed this one off to me…sadly i forgot to put it in my cupboard, so i can’t take it out..but woah. glad to have tried this but yowzers…sssoooouuur! and not really “raspberry flavour”

TeaboxB! I’ve had worse smoky teas but I’ve had better. The scent is heavy the flavor is the mid level of smoky. The flavor isn’t bad. Kind of like a BBQ. The black tea is mid-strength. Not too much to say! A good one to try if you’re looking to try lapsang for the first time, but I really like Zen tea life’s blend.