Green Mountain Tea

Great…..

From the EU TTB.

I’ve been staying in Sheffield with Frank for a few days so I haven’t been able to go through the TTB, but this is what I grabbed when I got back. I don’t have much to say about it, except that the bergamot flavouring is pretty nice, and the base goes with it well. You all know what an earl grey tastes like. This is that. It’s definitely an easy-going earl grey though, which I appreciate. The base is robust and holds up well against the flavouring, which is citrusy and not overly strong to the point of being medicinal like some Earl Greys can be. Not exactly a unique cup of tea, but a good Earl Grey nonetheless.

From the EU TTB

This was my pre-bedtime cup. I have a big interview coming up this week, which I’m already starting to stress about. For some reason, Earl Grey always helps me to calm down. I think it’s the scent of the bergamot, even though bergamot isn’t my favourite thing most of the time. It works, anyway, and that’s all I’m looking for right now. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.

I quite like this one. The bergamot is a little sharper to taste than I would usually go for, but the milk helps to take that down a little. The black base is smooth and strong, with pleasant citrus notes of its own – maybe a ceylon. It’s not the most unique tea out there, and it’s not the best earl grey I’ve ever tried, but it’s a pretty solid example. I’d keep this one around for evenings when I feel a bit deranged – it certainly helped me to get off to sleep!

Backlog from the Tea and Car, ds TTB: This tea has a high rating on here, and although I wouldn’t go as far as giving it is an extremely malty and very enjoyable cup.

A quick review whilst I’m having a break from work.

This tea smells super sweet and fruity, the strawberry is rather distinct and dominant.

Flavour matches the scent, it’s very sweet and fruity with a strawberry though somewhat artificial (mostly due to being overly sweet) strong element. There is also a harshness with this tea, like an astringency found with cheap, broken down teas. It’s also bitter and a little sharp in the after taste.

It smells much nicer than it tastes which is a shame. A touch of sugar would help to reduce the astringency if not expel it altogether but personally it’s sweet enough as it is for me.

A disappointing tea that I shall not be trying again. Never mind.

Thanks KittyLovesTea for this sample! The moment I saw it pop up on my feed I wanted to try it.

There is a great balance of almond and tea here. The almond is there but not in-your-face, and the tea is also there but not overpowering the almond. I may have to set up some sort of agreement to have this one on hand (or relocate to the UK)!

Update: 2nd steep slightly less flavour, still tasty.

This is the first Oolong I’ve tried since discovering the wonders of tea relatively recently. If they’re all as nice as this, I’ll be a happy man.

The blurb from Green Mountain is pretty much spot on, it’s a very smooth tea to drink with sweet notes, although not overpoweringly so.

Just finished drinking my first pot, and I can’t see the 50g I bought lasting long. I will be back for more .

I feel rough this morning which is probably because I stayed up very late last night to finishing watching Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy. After very little sleep and with a ton of work to do I had to drag myself out of bed with the promise of a pot of tea before anything else.

This is another sample to use up and a strong black tea is what I could really do with right now.

In appearance these little balls consist of black and golden tip leaves that have been rolled together. The golden tips have a beautiful shine and slight felt like feel. I would also like to add that one or two of the 11 pearls that I have contains stalk/stem.

I will be using all 11 pearls in my teapot infuser this morning which will make roughly 4 cups worth of tea. Following the instructions this shall be prepared using boiling water with a steep time of three minutes.

Side Note: I always keep a supply of Teavivre – Fengqing Black Pearl and I compared both those pearls and these pearls together in appearance and could not tell them apart. They are the same size, same quality and scent. They must be from the same supplier.

In appearance this tea is mahogany in colour and has a sweet, woody, malt aroma with elements of cocoa.

The flavour is rich and sweet with thick malt and earthy tones mixed with dark cocoa and a slightly sour after taste. Perhaps a little leathery and smoky too, or aged in a sense.

It tastes exactly the same as Teavivre pearls but of course if your in the UK then it’s easier, quicker and roughly the same price to just buy them from Green Mountain Tea but I still love Teavivre and not trying to take custom away from them. It’s the first time I have samples the same tea from two different sources.

This White Peony (Bai Mudan) comes from the Fujian Province in China.

The mixture whilst raw consists of dark green and silver green leaves that have been roughly broken. They are dry and crisp to the touch. Mixed amongst them are a few full dried rose flowers with the occasional dried rose petal that has become loose into the leaves.

Steep One – One Minute

The colour is golden with a sweet and floral scent that is very rosey. Taste is very subtle and fresh with sweet and floral yet vegetal tones. The rose adds a sweet mist in the after taste which mellows very quickly. It’s also a little nutty and dry. Very pleasing.

Steep Two – Two Minutes

More vegetal than the previous steep and it reminds me of fresh pea pods/ string beans but with a sweet floral kick. It’s strength is stronger but still rather refreshing and lght. The rose is still in the background but not as noticeable.

Steep Three – Three Minutes

For pictures and a longer review please read my blog.
http://kittylovestea.teatra.de/2013/02/13/white-peony-with-rose-buds-in-time-for-valentines/

I bought this one because it reminds me of my Grandad (who is Welsh and still lives in Wales). Plus I can never have too many black teas, great for when guests come over and just simply ask for tea. :)

The loose mixture smells strongly earthy with a touch of malt. Deep brown black in colour and looks like most other loose black teas.

Once steeped a drop of milk was added. A strong smelling malty tea is created.

It’s strong with a smooth and sweet malty mist. The strength is equal to a decent breakfast tea or for whenever you need a bit of a boost. Even though it’s strong it does taste fresh and the fact that it’s organic boosts it up in rank.

Looks like I have just found a cheap yet delicious and strong black tea to stock up on. :)

This arrived this morning from a new eBay shop that I stumbled upon the other day. Almond Cookies sound delicious. Yum! Yum!

The raw mixture consists of long and thin chopped green leaves mixed with white coconut pieces. It does smell like almond but sweeter than normal … it’s starting to remind me of those sugared almond sweets that appear every Easter. Maybe like marzipan too. :) Licks lips

Once steeped it’s yellow in colour and smells like sweet almonds, more toned down than it’s raw form.

Yummy. It tastes like sweet almond sugar cookies. The green tea picks up in flavour the more I drink and it brings a fresh gentle floral hint, it’s also sort of toasty. The coconut is sort of in the after taste but other than that it blends in well. As it cools it gets a little stronger and much more like almond sweets. Perhaps next time I should try this one as an iced tea. :)

I am definitely going to have to buy more of this. Thank you eBay for this nice find and thank you Green Mountain Tea for this delicious blend.

My husband is off work this week to use up his remaining holiday before it gets renewed next month. That means we can have our usual pot of tea this morning which is a ritual that I love. So I opened my cupboard and found this Earl Grey first. It’s a little smoother and tastier than I remembered but not enough for me to change the rating. Still it’s cheap and cheerful.

Today’s agenda? No idea :/

My second pot of the day and I’m on an Earl Grey bender. I’ve just had dinner (roasted veg with turnip and potato mash, cabbage, broccoli and a vegetarian lattice) and Earl Grey accompanies it all very well.

Perfect.

This is a company I stumbled across on eBay while searing for Earl Grey tea. A super duper fast two days later and here I have it sitting in front of me. The pouches are resealable which is perfect for me.

The raw tea was strong in smell with the bergamot being very notable and fresh. It looks great so far :)

I’m brewing for 4 minutes as instructed and I will be having the tea undressed (ie. no milk or sweetener).

Once steeped it forms a lovely brown colour with a weaker bergamot smell than the raw mix.

Ah lovely this is pleasant so far. The bergamot is sweet and rather mild while the Assam is very smooth. It makes a lovely Earl Grey altogether, the only thing I will have to try differently next time is to brew it stronger. While there was flavour there just was not enough for my personal taste level.