Luis

I have been hoarding this and it is time to let it go. I thought I would never find anything like it when it tried it three years ago, and I doubted anyone I knew would be in Hungary anytime soon, so I searched for it online and discovered it under the name of My Lady, but all were far, far away. One company said I had to buy a vast amount before they would ship to America. A Slovenian gentleman agreed to send it but they had no PayPal account.

I am delighted to say that as I drink it now three years down the road, I see that this isn’t a lost forever tea. I have found a number of teas over these years that compare very favorably so I won’t despair when it is gone. But it will always hold a special place for me, as one of the first teas brought back by my daughter when she traveled and a tea purchased by her and her now-husband who is very dear to us.

It is a smooth black tea with so much fruity flavor, no doubt blended by one of the big German distributors but pretty reminiscent of the fine French blends.

Sadly, I am almost out of this one! I have not yet logged our tea party teas nor last night’s Writers’ Group teas, but this was served at both and everyone loved it. Last night, I think it was really the favorite.

This is really smooth, with no astringency at all. It is fruity but so natural. I find big chunks of dried grape, and I don’t mean raisin. These are large! And the tea is so naturally sweet. I have found it under the name My Lady, but it seems to be sold Bly in Europe. I hope to soon be in touch with a company in Slovenia that said they would ship it to me for a very reasonable price. That is how good it is!

I did find a German company that sells it, but you have to buy a LOT. So yysah, maybe you should consider carrying this in your store!

The closest tea I can compare to it is Grand Amour by Nina’s, with Fruits d’Alsace as a secondary contender, though neither a quite the same. They evoke a similar “tea vibe” for me, though.

We drank this today all together at Tin Roof Teas. They were going to try to come up with a similar blend, but this one was elusive. They said it was a very fine tea, probably an ultra smooth Ceylon base, but we were unable to put it together from teas they had available. I had emailed the company in Budapest but never got a reply. I think I may order some Harney & Sons Apricot Black and Mango Black and add a little Fruits d’Alsace and see if that may replicate it decently. It is indescribably smooth, and H&S flavored tea base is as well. If anyone goes to Budapoest, can you pick up several tins for me? I will gladly send you the $$$.

I FOUND IT!! It is from a German distributor and is usually sold under the name My Lady. I am having trouble finding a way to buy it, but sent the links to daughter’s BF in Ireland to see if he can have it shipped there!

I was asked to bring tea for brunch with a friend who likes tea but hasn’t tried quite as many as we Steepsterites have. This was my first pick because everyone who tastes it, likes it, and since my daughter picked this up in Budapest it was a pretty good bet that she had never had it.

She asked if I wanted sugar and milk and seemed surprised when I told her I wanted neither, so she decided to drink her tea plain as well. She loved it! And I love when that happens….that people taste the tea and enjoy it just as it is. I thought this would be her favorite, but though she liked it a lot, she surprised me by liking another more. See the Jasmine Dragon Pearl review for more details! :)

This was the guest favorite at tea party today, and it deserved the attention. This is beautifully flavored, elegant tea. If I hadn’t been in such raptures over the ginseng oolong I was drinking from Teavivre, it would have been my number one tea also! There are large, sticky chunks of fruit in the tea that I need to get my hands on next time and eat them!

Wow! So my daughter told me I could go ahead and open my Mothers’ Day gift, and this as part of it! She picked this up when she was in Budapest a couple of months ago. We are actually at the beach on vacation now and I was soooo ready for a good cuppa after doing the gigantic grocery shopping marathon and fixing supper, all after already having walked a very long way on the beach.

Last year I just bought Twinings Lady Grey at the grocery store and it was pretty good, but this year I really wanted to bring some loose leaf teas with me, especially since I have grown more fond of green tea. I was trying to figure out how to bring end of my Beehouse pots without breaking it when I remembered that one of my students gave me a Republic of Tea travel press that I have never even used. Bingo!

I thought this one would be a bit like Lady Grey and in a way it is, but oooh my, it smells magnificent.
I have no idea what a naranquilla is, but there is a big chunk of something fruity just in the lid. The aroma is so delicious, so genteel. The taste does not disappoint, either. The black tea base is medium bodied and I am thinking it is an Indian tea, though not overly strong. It could be Chinese, though. This comes in a clear jar and you can see the pineapple pieces and flower petals. It is very pretty to look at, and would be lovely to display in he of those porcelain holders at tea time prior to actually making the tea.

I am on the resteep now, and it is still very good. I will definitely be sad to see this one go but I will enjoy drinking it up. Luis is a Hungarian company. This is the second tea I have had from them, and both have been a big thumbs up!

Now available from Mount Everest Tea Company GmbH

I just made a stack of cards to send to all the great folks who worked in my precinct for the election. I love writing cards and letters so it wasn’t a chore, and to make it even better I made some tea and got a few homemade chocolate chip cookies to go with!

This tea in unlike any other Darjeeling I have had. It is very smooth, but rather earthy. It is rather gentle for a black tea, but it is not weak. It is a great tea for those times when you are not sure what tea you are in the mood for. I really like it! I am nearly out of it and not likely to get more since my daughter bought this in Budapest…

I wanted black tea this morning but decided to let my daughter have the whole pot of Lapsang for geometry. I wasn’t in the mood for a regular breakfast blend, though, so after some internal debate I picked this one because Bonnie’s post about her Darjeeling had this one on my mind for a while.

Some Darjeelings get astringent very easily. Some are very fruity and have the strong, tart, muscat grape flavor. This one is just really earthy. It is smooth enough that I don’t even consider adding sugar or milk, and uncomplicated enough that I don’t mind making a big pot of it and drinking it while we are doing schoolwork.

Tunes: Theme from Harry’s Game, Newgrange by Clannad.

I made a pot of this for after breakfast today, but it didn’t have the pizzazz of last time. Must be me. It was still good, but there was less earthiness and no fruitiness, none of the Muscatel notes one looks for in a Darjeeling. Ah well, better luck next time!

I made this as a point of reference for tasting Harney and Sons Puttabong First Flush. I like this! It is dark in color and dark and musky/earthy/grape-y in flavor. It is also worlds different from the Harney tea to me, proving once again that the world of tea is full of variety and wealth to experience.

This is a backlog from Wednesday at tea party. My guest had strong feelings about this one, we poured her cup out! She said she could and would drink it, but it was joining puerh on her list of teas she doesn’t like.

I like puerh, so maybe that is why I like this. What does puerh have to do with Darjeeling? This is the earthiest tasting Darjeeling I have ever had. It does not taste like puerh, but has certain attributes one would discuss describing puerh. The muscat grape flavor is very strong in this one. (My guest said she also hates muscat grapes.) There is a distinct flavor of earth in this. That is the strongest taste I get.

I think I like it! I think I could like it a lot. I could quite possibly find myself craving this.

I have not had many Darjeelings. The first ones I tried were improperly steeped….by me. Then I found out how to make them and liked them more. This tea is nothing like the Margaret’s Hope Second Flush that I had a long time ago and liked quite a bit, but it has its own charms.

This is a thumbs up. Glad my daughter brought it home from her trip to Budapest!