Metropolitan Tea Company

I dig this tea. Not one of my all time favorites but very decent flavor.

Monks’s blend was one of the very first loose leaf teas I ever owned. I am not sure if it was becuase it one the first one, but I have not been able to find a monk’s blend that tasted as good since. This blend is ok. It tastes like generic ceylon tea flavoured with artificial sweet cherry flavour. It is not unpleasant but there is no “pow”. The vanilla becomes more prominent as the tea starts to cool. It leaves a slight cherry aftertaste.

I adore this tea. I’ve always been a fan of breakfast-style teas, with their mellowness and all-around pleasant flavour, but this is the queen. It’s strong and doesn’t need a long steep. It loves a splash of milk, but it comes with a hint of its own sweetness. It’s got a malty friendliness that makes it perfect for morning, though I’d take a cup of it any time of day. Wonderful; my very favourite.

Damn. This one is spicy, which is just what I look for in a chai. It’s so spicy that whenever I open the tin, I sneeze. Yeah, damn.

I was very wary about any of the teas from Metropolitan Tea Company after a disastrous encounter with their Cookies & Cream black tea. This tea, however, surprised me. I steeped 2 tsp in about 300ml of water (accidentally overleafed, whoops!) for 2 mins (I know it says 2m15s on the Steep Time dealy, ignore that, I just have no idea how to use it properly on my iPad) and added a tsp of honey to my cup. It’s still a little bitter, which is what I’ve come to expect from MTC.

I wish I had a milk substitute so I could make a proper chai with this. With most chais I’ve tried, I’ve found they lose quite a bit of their spice when milk is added but this one would still pack a wallop, I think.

This is an awesome tea when brewed with milk

I do not drink this tea often, however I find it enjoyable. The hibiscus can make it taste quite bitter so you have to watch how long you steep it. I also add sweetener to it. It makes a great tea latte as well.

I purchased this tea after smelling a cup my friend had brewed. It smelled absolutely delicious. However, I was disappointed in the taste. I found it to be very mild, if you steeped it for longer, or used more tea, the rooibos flavour just took over.

So, you’ve probably heard of the Champagne of Tea, but have you ever heard of an ice wine tea? Certainly not I, and certainly not before two days ago.

It was a happy surprise to find out that a long time specialty shop in Terrace actually sells loose leaf tea. What was quite amazing was the variety of teas they offer, and how relatively obscure the fact of them carrying loose leaf tea was.

In any case, the ice wine tea intrigued me. I haven’t really heard much about quality or experiences, but the fact that there was an ice wine tea was enough for me to purchase.

Upon opening the bag, you’re met with an overwhelmingly sweet and fresh pear and grape scent, not so much fruit but simply refreshing. It is actually very interesting, as the grape and pear make up most, if not all of the leaves’ aroma, as you cannot find one bit of tea scent. The leaves are a typical long and rolled black tea, with very dark tones.

I have taken heed to previous tasting notes and decided to steep a minute less my typical 3 minute black tea time. During the steeping, the black tea is brought right out with a very strong aroma. I have also taken heed to the bag’s recommendation of adding sugar, only adding half a teaspoon of rock sugar. Deeper inquiry to others’ past experiences make me think I should have added more sugar.

The brew appears very dark and very wine-ish. The color is deep and clear, the aroma strong yet fresh and subtly fruity. It’s a really soothing aroma, one I would imagine from an actual ice wine.

I also regret not having a wine glass handy at work for this tea.

My first initial sips allow me to understand the strong warnings of how strong the black tea can get, as I instantly taste the strong tea pushing through the other flavors. I am thankful for keeping my steeping at 2 minutes, as I could see this brew turning bitter.

The fruity notes are harmonized with the black tea, giving a wine characteristic of sorts. The grape is quite obvious, but there is also a hint of green apple, as I would imagine as there is also some sweet pear. There is a slight astringency, but due to the shortened steep, it is almost undetectable.

Overall, this is a refreshing and lovely blend. For these wet winter months, this is quite appropriate tea to enjoy casually. I wouldn’t mind sharing it iced with close friends… while watching Girls on HBO.

Thank you Reasoned_Melody for this sample.

The teabag smells strongly fruity and a little fermented. I can understand why people have been saying this brews up strongly.

Once brewed the tea becomes a reddy brown colour with a sweet yet strong grapey wine fragrance.

Despite the low steeping time of 2 minutes it’s rather bitter, making the whole tea sweet and sour. I can taste grapes and fruit and there is a little dryness there which has a wine effect. While it may not be the nicest flavoured tea it still has charm. Drinking it gives me a sort of…glow…like real wine does.

If the bitterness could be improved then this would be a wonderful bagged tea but for now it remains average.

This tea, to me, is a very mild and soothing tea. I prefer it in the afternoon with a little lemon added. I’d certainly recommend it.

The instant you open it’s packaging, the light and almost fresh scent of mandarin oranges brush upon your face. It is an interesting aroma, not quite as strong as I had imagined it would be.

The leaves are lightly contained within the mandarin orange peel. It is so light that upon opening the peel, the leaves just fall right out. The peel gives a dark detail, which mimics the tea leaves.

Steeping gives a familiar and very strong earth aroma to the wet leaves. The leaves themselves held together quite nicely after steeping, although I can see some twigs.

The liquor itself is also extremely earthy, in both scent and appearance, very clear with an extremely deep reddish tone.

Although I cannot find the sweet oranges, the strong earthy and damp moss flavors are very prominent. It is quite refreshing and such a great delight.

Knowing the pale and bitter truth, I decided to steep with less time, and add equal amounts of rock sugar.

The result: a less bitter, less pale, sweeter chai. There is a certain quality to it that gives a simple strong flavor. Very dark and oddly powdery.

Despite, it is still bitter and pale. The sugar improved, but just slightly.

I had just found this tea place called Empress Tea House, hidden away within Prince George on Nicholson Street. Despite being located quite near to Pine Center mall, it was an adventure to find it, especially in the late 2012 snowfall.

Apparently, they have been there for close to six years, but their website shows them established in 2004, which is more close to ten years. Despite, I had never heard of this place until I asked a taxi driver if there were more tea places other than David’s Tea in Pine Center.

The word penetrating doesn’t come up describing teas often, and seeing as I haven’t really purchased a chai in quite a long while, this particular one intrigued me.

The leaves give off a fairly familiar Masala chai scent, not as strong as I would anticipate, but strong nonetheless. Rose pedals concern me, as I associate that to a pale flavor, but it doesn’t seem to be present in the leaves’ aroma, which left me slightly reassured.

Steeping the leaves, though, brings out that hidden pale floral scent. I had also forgotten to add maybe equal amounts of rock sugar, so let’s hope the penetrating spices penetrate the unnecessities.

The first initial sips reaffirm my concerns. This chai is not penetrating enough. The pale characteristics overwhelm a potentially interesting blend of spicy and “sensuous” ingredients, as the flavor is attempting strength, but ultimately cannot go further.

I would expect rock sugar would improve the dull flavor, but probably not by much.

It is a shame; a good chai, the right chai, can be hard to find.

I’ve been drinking this tea almost every day since I got it and am finally getting around to making a tasting note.

I thought in order for a tea to be an Earl Grey it needed to be infused with bergamot. However I do not taste any bergamot and do not see it listed in the ingredients.

Besides the lack of bergamot this is a good tea. It’s very creamy, I do not taste caramel but other creamyish flavors like vanilla. It’s a mild tea. Usually I brew it for 5 minutes but got impatient, next time I’ll be more patient, this cup is weak compared to the 5+ minute cups I’ve had before. I take it with milk and sugar.

To make up for the lack of bergamot I’ve tried brewing the leaves with other EG teas, like ETS double bergamot. The best combo I’ve found is half Dorian Grey and half Russian Earl Grey- Russian Earl Grey is on the other side of the Earl Grey spectrum.

It’s dreary out so to lift everyone’s spirits, Let’s name something you’re thankful for today. GO!

I posted that on facebook and so far I’ve had a few people answer it. It’s making my day a bit happier. What are you thankful for?

So, I’m feeling lousy and I’m trying to lift my spirits and distract myself from feeling so rough by drinking tea. I had a cup of Bollywood Chai from Davidstea this morning from a secret stash that I forgot I had!
Then I tried to drink one of those Keurig (sp?) Black chai teas. The first one I added sugar to before trying it and I couldn’t even drink it because it was so sweet, so I tried again without sugar and it was STILL too sweet so both of those got tossed. Now I’m onto this tea and it’s just right.

Although… I’m starting to realize that I’m kind of sick of this one. I don’t know why,… maybe I’ve had it too much… probably… but yeah, I think once I finish this one which will be soon, I’ll take a break from it.

Tonight I’m going over the border to the U.S. of A. and getting my tea order from Adagio!! I can’t wait to try their teas! I’ve had two before and they were pretty good, so I can’t wait to see what I think now after a few years without trying much from them. I bought… well… like 20teas… it’s kind of embarrassing how much I bought, but I did get sample sizes of all but two of them, so that’s pretty good… right…?

So today I’m thankful for the warm soothing comfort that tea is bringing me today and making me feel a bit better.

I know that this is the fourth time I’ll be logging this, and normally I don’t log a tea this much, but I have to today. I need some steepster time…

I’m feeling so defeated today. I’ve woken up with a migraine again today… thankfully today I didn’t wake up at 3:30am like I did yesterday. But I’m just so tired and feeling so drained from it. The advil is only barely keeping me sane. I know today it’s the weather that’s doing it to me. I wish I could be at home sleeping. I think a tall glass of cold water and a few more hours of sleep would fix this at least partially…

Anyway, this was my tea choice today as I’m just needing a plain comfort tea. I need somehting that’s going to wrap me up in a large warm hug and just hold me tight for a bit. If I were at home, I’d be asking my hunny to do that. Just to hold me until my head pain subsided but since I can’t, tea will have to try to do it for me. And so far, so good. It’s giving me a moment of solitude in the midst of work today.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day, otherwise I might cancel my plans with my mom and just stay in bed… lol

One more note on this one. This one is good when a migraine is plaguing you and you can barely function. Nothing too crazy going on in this tea and it makes it perfect while I try to calm my head and stomach.

Today it is CHILLY out!! It’s like -23C with the windchill! BRRRR!!! But I must say, I’m loving it! We have so many flu viruses going around that it’s nice that finally the cold is here to zap them all to death. Take that bugs! mahahahaha

And what better to have on a freezing morning in beautiful Ontario Canada, then a cup of Canadian Breakfast! Delish! I think this is one of my absolute favourite black teas. Malty, warm, comforting tea. I’m in love :)

I’ve never had a Canadian Breakfast tea before! I didn’t even know they exist!

My dad gave this to me along with a bunch of other teas. I’m so excited to try them all! This one is absolutely delicious! I love it. I finally understand the ‘malty’ term I think. This one has it and it’s nice. The tea is not overpowering in any way. I find it to be quite nice. I used 1tsp per cup and steeped for 3 mins. I’m starting to notice the Metro tea company’s black teas only need about 3mins. I’m not too sure why that is. I haven’t been able to figure out why some are short times and some are long. It really doesn’t make sense. If anyone knows, could you let me know? I would love to know why.

Anyway, so today is almost another snowmaggedon out there. I can’t believe it. Last night was bad and it only got worse. I think it’s basically stopped now, but I’m not even too sure about that. This tea was great to have today. I wish it hadn’t cooled off so much by the time I got to drink it, but it did ‘cause I had to get to work and my car got stuck in the snow. I had a neighbour come by and help me out. I don’t even know the guy, but he saw me stranded and he came and helped push my car plus helped shovel out my tires so I could move.
That’s the one nice thing about this kind of weather. You get a chance to help each other out and be there for one another. I find that something like this really can bring society together if they let it. I love seeing these blossoms of goodness in life when you finally get a chance to see the good in people and the helping, generous spirit that people have. Growing up, I always thought that was what people were like, and when I realized it wasn’t always the case, I really got upset. I didn’t understand how terrible people can be. But, like I said, I love these moments when people show their good sides and give me back the hope that maybe people really are good and have good hearts…
I dunno.. just my random thoughts this morning.

Anyway, definitely recommend the tea. I think it’s great!

Super sweet! I added some lemon and it made it divine…

My first tasting note on Steepster – yay!

I haven’t been a loose-leaf tea drinker for very long, but one of my favouritest teas for a long time has been Twining’s Lady Grey. When I found this Baroness Grey loose leaf tea, I thought I’d give it a try. It was very reasonably priced and I didn’t have much to lose.

When I got my tea in the mail, this was the first bag I pulled out. I was disappointed at the initial smell, which was rather bitter and astringent. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I brewed it! Drinking it without milk and sugar, I found the bergamot to be a little bit overwhelming, but with milk and sugar it mellowed out a lot and became very smooth. I found this tea to be fairly similar to the Twinings variety, but without the “Froot Loops”-esque aftertaste I sometimes get with that one. As the tea cooled, I found the lemon became much more pronounced (and even overbearing) for the last few dregs.

I brewed 1.5 tsp for 5 minutes and it came out a tad weak – I will brew it longer next time.

1 pyramid bag for 250mL water @82C. Drunk bare.

Oh. My. God.

My local teashop, Britannia Teas and Gifts, is a little low on jasmine right now, but they did have these little pyramid bags. (The owner had maybe 2tsp of my beloved Dragon Tears left and gave me those — yesss!) I needed jasmine. I really needed jasmine. I probably would have tried to eat dried petals our of a bride’s bouquet. Dunno what it is with me and jasmine tea, but when I want it, I want it bad.

I was a little dubious about the pyramid bags, because I’m a snob. But the leaves are long and twisty, and the aroma is strong. It’s a China green base, and a fairly grassy one — no broth or brine here. The balance of jasmine is freakin heavenly. I did oversteep the first infusion at 3 minutes — 2 would have been better — and got some soapiness from the flowers, but it was so good I didn’t care, just drinking it down til I could add some water. Second infusion at 3 minutes, 3rd at 3 min 30 seconds. Golden green liquor and a great jasmine hit each time. I think Dragon Tears are slightly better, but this Golden Dragon is very, very good. If you placed a cup of each in front of me, I’d have trouble telling which was which.

Good jasmine tea makes me feel relaxed and a bit goofy. I also find — and this is just my own observation, not in any way medical advice — it takes some edge off my arthritis pain. Maybe there’s something mysterious about the jasmine flower that medicine should look into. There’s a lot of bad jasmine tea out there; this is one of the good ones, I promise.