Metropolitan Tea Company

Thank you LaLa for this one, which is bold, malty, & fruity, with a slight bitter edge that I’m enjoying this morning! I’m not quite at a sipdown with this one, I have just enough one more cup, so it goes into the sipdown extravaganza box for future reference.
Unless one of my friends would like me to send it along as a sample?

This is the tea I came home to today!
I don’t drink a lot of CTC teas, but this one is worth drinking! It’s so finely chopped & roasted, so that it looks like coffee grounds, & it brews up a nice bold, malty, & slightly sweet cup!
Thank you, Lala for sending me a generous sample of this one!! :)

Best Tea I ever had

Sipdown (160)

I am questioning whether it’s me, the tea, or the water down here in Florida that is making almost all the teas I have had taste off/different than I remember. Take this one, for example. I loved this and was incredibly grateful to Roswell Strange when she sent me another little bit except when I brewed it up, it tasted like dirt. A similar thing happened a couple days back with the Damn Fine Holiday Blend. So now I’m wondering what is causing all these bad cups?

Perhaps it’s me? Tastes change and I haven’t really been drinking much tea so maybe my tastes are different now. Though, I had the holiday blend since my hiatus and enjoyed it and then I had it here and didn’t.

Perhaps it’s the equipment? No fancy kettle or frother here. Maybe the water temperature is off given I don’t have a kettle that can brew to perfect tea temps. However, the cold brews are off too and that doesn’t incorporate any equipment:

Perhaps it’s the tea? I decided to bring all my small sample in plastic bags. Some old, some new. They have been stored in a cool, dry, and dark place but still they were all left in the sample bags they arrived in from companies/other steepsterites. However, some samples have been stored for less than a couple of weeks and even they aren’t as strong or flavorful as I would imagine they should be.

Perhaps it’s the water? So now I’m left wondering if it’s something to do with the water here in Florida versus the water in Toronto that is throwing everything off. It tastes different but would it really alter the tea that much?

Perhaps it’s a combination? Whatever it is, it’s not making it easier to fall back in love with tea when half the cups are being dumped because they taste weird. On the other hand, it’s doing wonders for decreasing my cupboard size.

Sipdown!! (208)

So I think I steeped this cup at too high a temperature as it has turned out rather astringent. I am trying to get passed it but there is no vanilla or grenadine in this mug, just the base. Thank you for sharing Roswell Strange but alas it seems i ruined the last cup.

So I didn’t know “Monk’s Blend” was a thing until very recently. Every time I saw it, I just assumed it was some company making a particular blend. However, when I finally realized a Monk’s Blend tea was a black tea with vanilla and grenadine I was all for it. I LOVE grenadine. Prior to deciding to be healthy, I would actually add grenadine to coke (the soda, not the drug). So when I had the oppurtunity to try a Monk’s Blend tea via my frequent swap pal, Roswell Strange. I jumped at the chance.

Even though this cup has cooled slightly, I still think this a great introduction. This tea is almost creamy in how smooth it is (likely from the vanilla). And the grenadine flavor really shines. This tea actually captures everything I love about grenadine syrup and leaves out the calories. It is like the tasty tea version of a Shirley Temple…YUM!!! Thank you Roswell Strange!!!

Sipdown (171/173)!

Finally through with this one; it’s a good feeling!

This isn’t the worst cup I’ve made of this one, actually. In fact it’s pretty good compared to the others; there’s no bitterness/astringency, I can almost taste the fruitiness of the black current in each sip, and the vegetal qualities are leaning more on the “buttery” side of things and are less grass/seaweed like. More like spinach, really.

I’m sending some to Cavocorax, so fingers crossed she finds it more enjoyable and gets cups like this one, not like the bitter sludgey cups I’ve gotten in the past.

I need to go into work today to check when I work tomorrow – but I keep putting off doing it. I’m so cozy at home; I don’t want to leave! I don’t trust my foggy recollection of my schedule to get me there on time tomorrow, though…

Maybe I’ll get ready after this cuppa, and then reward myself by tacking on a trip to DAVIDsTEA for some tins and Cool Cucumber/Superberry (I’ve decided I don’t need more Bamboozled when I have Buddha Bamboo)…

I need to make that trip sooner than later anyway, what with Superberry soon to be discontinued.

I steeped this cup up like a green blend because it does have green tea in it, despite being mostly black. Even still, only one word comes to mind “Ick” – and if I’m allowing myself a second word, it would probably be “bitter”.

Sadly, in order to get a sipdown (without just sending this to other people, or throwing it away) I do have to actually drink it – and secretly I have hopes that if I experiment enough then I’ll be able to find a way it actually tastes alright.

At least I paired it with the new Supernatural episode from last night! One of the two is definitely enjoyable, that’s for sure!

Also drank during the new Supernatural episode.

I don’t think I liked this cup as much as my first, and if I recall my first wasn’t too great either? Initial complaints for the first cup were that this is advertised (where I bought it) as a black tea, but it’s about 50/50 black and green – and I dislike green tea.

The cup I most recently had visually looked like a black, but tasted almost entirely like a green: buttery (kinda) with asparagus notes in between the faint black currant notes. And then a bitter, astringent aftertaste. Nope, I don’t think this one is for me.

Also made this in the morning (well, technically early afternoon) in a timolino, and then left it until I was at the movies and it had cooled down in the timolino to the perfect drinking temperature.

Parameters were about 2 tsp. (just a little more) steeped in boiling water for just shy of four minutes. When I took the brew basket out and had a trial spoonful when it was still stupidly hot, mostly everything just smelled and tasted really bitter – so I was quite worried I’d screwed up and oversteeped the whole timolino worth. When I started drinking at the theatre, however, that seemed to thankfully not quite be the case.

This still smells quite bitter and unappetizing, but taste wise it’s much better than before. The black tea taste is really rich and strong, and is something I would normally be tempted to soften with just a splash of milk. Surprisingly I also taste a lot of vegetal and unwelcome green tea taste. I had to double check the ingredients list and turns out that yes there is green tea in this blend which disappoints me because it’s quite present and this was advertised at The Vintage Tea Room (where I purchased it) as a purely black tea blend with black currant notes – and that is what I wanted; not black/green tea with currant. Boo.

Anyway, speaking of the currant – I can taste it. Initial and mid sip it just sort of comes out as a slightly masked generic fruitiness, but towards the end of the sip and in the aftertaste as the green and black tea mellows out I do get distinct notes of currant that thankfully don’t lean towards a medicinal quality. That sort of redeems this one.

Overall feelings? I’m not sure. I should have been more diligent in looking at the ingredients list because the green tea in this is definitely a let down and, in my opinion, takes away from the taste. Furthermore, it’s not what was advertised. However, despite being a touch astringent (possibly from over steeping) the black tea base is pretty lovely and the sweet touch of black currant is a lovely aspect.

I need to drink more of this to make up my mind.

Earlier in the week I got a chance to go to The Vintage Tea Room with my Dad; I was there at the start of the month to apply for a job but I didn’t have time to stay and actually have any tea, which is a shame ‘cause it’d been probably close to a year?

I got a cucumber cranberry cream cheese sandwich, and we split a pot of tea!

This was my pick; I remember last time I was in town and had a chance to spot in here I bought 50g of this and it was the best Monk’s blend I’ve ever tried. However, my tastes have changed a lot over the last year and I needed to know whether I’d still like this. Dad was skeptical about this tea – pomegranate and vanilla? He seemed unimpressed. However, he was won over! And you know what, I fell in love all over again. The flavour profile is so lovely; bright notes of grenadine, silky vanilla, a full bodied, malty black base…

I swear, we were passive aggressively fighting for the last cup. I don’t have tin space for any of this at home, but should I clear out a tin I’d certainly pick up another 50g of this for at home. Even though the tea room is less than a five minute walk away, it’s a lot more cost effective to be brewing in my own time.

Sipdown (109)!

I need to restock this. Need to.

But anyway; I wanted to use this last bit up in an unconventional and memorable way so last night I steeped the last of the leaf into a small, concentrated batch and made it into Simple Syrup, which I then used this morning to make into a Tea Pop to drink while getting ready for work.

I have to say; drinking this one as a tea pop was a really drastically different experience. I almost couldn’t tell this was even the same tea – though it was still really good. It had a spun sugar/cotton candy like flavour to it – you know, sweet burnt/caramelized sugar. and then vanilla. If it weren’t for the sweet, fruity grenadine at the back of the sip this would pretty well be unrecognizable.

So summary; very candy like in the sugary sweetness – more so than a Monk’s Blend usually has with the grenadine aspect.

Time to try and write more tasting notes! Mostly I think I’m just going to copy/paste my notes, though. It’s late and I just got home from a day out (or rather “in”) with Robyn at her new dorm. However, since I drank more tea than I wrote new notes for it’s time to negate some of that. You know, make my queue grow smaller instead of larger?

This was served piping hot with milk. Not sure why I added milk (this blend doesn’t exactly need it) but I did. It worked, anyway. Here are my notes from the evening:

- Very fresh/flavourful vanilla and grenadine notes
- Still my favourite Monk’s Blend ever
- Lost its “Tin Status” since there’s only a cup left; tin now occupied by Rio!
- And sadly I’m almost out… DEFINITELY need to restock.

And I will restock the next time I’m in Regina. That said, I really only have one more cup worth of it (hanging out in a baggie right now) so I’m probably going to postpone this inevitable sipdown for a little while longer. Not too long though, since I know this one wont be staying as fresh now that it’s not in a tin.

Tonight this blend made an appearance outside of the closet! Because I’m running low, I’ve been hoarding/savouring what I have left of this – but I felt like after a sort of “mediocre” tea day I really needed a pick me up, and this is what stood out tonight.

It brewed up lovely; sweet grenadine and almost “raspberry” fruit notes and a brisk black base with a touch of astringency, but in a good way.

Definitely the best tea of the day, and I think the perfect one to end the day on.

Definitely a new favourite, but this one absolutely makes it into the day of Perfect Black teas. I’m running a little low at the moment so I haven’t been drinking it daily anymore, but it had to be included. Just had to.

It’s lovely and sweet and just ‘mmmm’, and if I had my way I’d share it with everyone because it’s kind of one of those teas everyone needs to try.

You know, the problem with drinking tons of tea is that quite often you really have to pee at very inopportune times. For example, I’m nearly done watching The 10th Kingdom and currently I’m at a very dramatic part – but no, apparently it’s time to use the washroom instead.

Also, I really should have bought more of this because it’s become a staple tea for me. So sweet, and so good. After reading “VariaTEA’s” tasting note I just had to make myself a mug of it. Mmmmmm!

I’m gonna be out really soon :(

I was craving something sweet, and fruity like grenadine but also a softer strawberry/milky chocolate combination and since I couldn’t think of a single tea that fit that description, I decided to make two teas instead! It was a great ‘compromise’.

Parameters for this blend were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of boiling water steeped for 3 min. and 45 seconds. Turns out, that just happened to be the perfect steeping parameters for this blend! It’s sweet, with balanced grenadine and vanilla notes and not a single touch of bitterness or astringency. Just smooth, sweet, Monk’s Blend!

It’s really going to take me no time to finish up the 50g of this that I bought while on vacation. At least I know where to get more, and it’s not too unattainable…

Made in my timolino and left to sit for probably six or so hours while I was out today. Parameters were 2 tsp. of leaf, 12 oz. timolino with boiling water steeped for four minutes. This time I didn’t add anything to it at all.

I was actually out today doing some shopping; and one of the places I went to was Cuppa’T Specialty Teas. They have a cool store with lots of neat teaware – my Dad even purchased a Gaiwan for himself, but decided against it ultimately because he didn’t like the handle. They also had a really large range of tea tins with all different designs. The customer service was great too.

I ended up getting a cumulative 200g of tea; 50g of four different blends. My Dad purchased 50g of straight ginger as well (yuck). Sadly, the one blend I was more interested in wasn’t in stock, but I’m feeling really good about the four I did settle on. And, with the exception of the RiverTea order I’ve mapped out, I’m now on tea buying hiatus (tea tins don’t count) until probably March (my birthday)…

Anyway, back to THIS tea! It’s not as good as last night’s cup – the grenadine taste is still there but milder (reminds me a little more of cherry tonight), though I think I’m getting the vanilla a little more this time around. However, ultimately the black tea base is quite strong and quite astringent; way more than it was last night and quite close to crossing the line into unpleasantness. I’m thinking this was just oversteeped or this is a result from sitting for around six(ish) hours today: it’s possible some finer bits made it through the mesh strainer and have just been sitting all day getting bitter.

It did get a bit better as it got colder, though. And it’s not like it was undrinkable.

I’ve had this tea a few times before during prior trips to The Vintage Tea Room back when I still lived in Regina. I enjoyed it then, but I don’t think I appreciated it nearly as much – probably because I was relatively new to tea and didn’t have anywhere near as varied a pallet as I do now.

I purchased 50g today, and today is my first time making it at home under my own parameters. So, I steeped up 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in boiling water for four minutes. I then added in some milk, because that’s how I’ve taken this every time I’ve had it at the tea room. I do plan on enjoying it straight soon, though – to see what the difference in taste is.

Dry, this has an almost overwhelming smell of grenadine with wisps of black tea and fragrant floral and vanilla notes. It’s very sweet smelling. Steeped, this is much the same; strong notes of sweet grenadine, and floral notes that are stronger steeped than dry. The vanilla is still there, but not as much so.

Taste wise; this is very rich and full bodied with a nice Ceylon base. The grenadine in this is the most prominent flavor and definitely takes center stage; it’s very sweet and kind of fruity, reminding me of a mix of maybe pomegranate and raspberry. The vanilla is very mild and definitely sits comfortably in the background. The floral notes I pick up in the dry and steeped smell don’t come off as strongly in the taste – a little less present than the vanilla, but still just noticeable.

This is very good hot or cold, and I find it very smooth and clean with no bitterness or astringency. Drinking it now, I definitely have more of an appreciation for it than I did previous times when I wasn’t as knowledgeable of “experienced” of a tea drinker. I will happily finish off the rest of this – but maybe not too quickly; I don’t know when I’ll next be in Regina to pick up more of this, if necessary.

Met up with Lala today for tea The Vintage Tea Room! It’s super cool meeting people from Steepster in person; I’ve met Kittenna and Janelle for swaps, but this was the first time I really got to sit down and have an extended conversation, and it was just a really fun, good time.

Of course, Lala brought samples – some from 52Teas which I was expecting, and then lots of neat extras including what will be my first Pu-Erh, and what will be my first teas from Nina’s Paris and Fauchon. So much kindness! My mom keeps snooping through the tin she brought them in smelling things; right now she really likes the smell of the Dreamsicle Pu-Erh and to be honest so do I.

I wasn’t super adventurous in what I got to drink and eat, and I stuck to the same flowering tea and sandwich as I had earlier this week; but that’s because it was delicious! This time around, the tea tasted a little bit greener and more vegetal, and I did pick up some lavender which I struggled to pick up earlier in the week. It was nice getting a whole pot to myself, and the blossom was just beautiful like usual.

I should really get a clear teapot…

I met up with a friend today for tea at The Vintage Tea Room! We split a pot of this tea upon my insistence; I never have bloom teas because I don’t have a teapot that allows me to appreciate their beauty at home. Though – the older sales lady gave my friend and I a “knowing” look after ordering a love themed tea, prompting both he and I to insist we were just friends.

I didn’t realize upon ordering that this was green tea (for whatever reason I was thinking it was white), but it was pretty apparent after my first sip because this had a strong grassy taste to it. Despite that, which is typically a turn off, this was very enjoyable. The jasmine was the most prominent taste in a very real and natural way – not at all perfumey. I actually struggled a bit to taste the the lavender, which is one of the advertised flavours, but the lily was very noticable to me.

This was a very enjoyable sweet, floral tea and I was quite happy to enjoy several cups of it while catching up with my friend. I had somehow blocked out the fact he’s so much of a conspiracy theorist – but hey, at least the conversation was always interesting.

And the tea was just beautiful after it had fully flowered!

I also ended up purchasing 50g of Monk’s Blend and 50g of Prince of Wales after inquiring as to where they get their tea from (mostly so I could accurately log things – turns out it’s from The Metropolitan Tea Company). Both smell incredible, and I can’t wait to try them!

PS. If you’re ever in Regina and go here for tea I highly recommend the cucumber cranberry cream cheese sandwich as the perfect food to enjoy with your tea!

It is creamy and it has a good taste of bergamot orange in it…not my favourite, but I enjoy it with breakfast…it is strong enough to taste when eating a hearty breakfast.

I just submitted this tea and I’m amazed it has thus far been overlooked on Steepster, considering how well represented Metropolitan’s offerings are here. I wish I were as expert as many here, so I could wax eloquent on the subtleties of this tea; I’m a relative novice, so this note will be pretty basic.

I am basically a drinker of black teas mostly, which I take with milk and sugar nearly all the time — a breakfast drinker, as it were. But hey, I live on the Manitoba prairie where the weather is so severe that, except during our pitifully brief summer, it’s like “breakfast” conditions all day. Take today: temps of -30C, NWly wind at 20-30 km/hr, high humidity so that cold really bites hard, and windchill so low you don’t want to think about it. Under these conditions, every mug of tea is like an emergency blood transfusion!

Of all the black teas I have drunk thus far, Metropolitan’s version of Scottish Breakfast blend is the winner, hands-down, no contest. It’s a beautiful tea with large, handsome leaves, none of your chintzy CTC stuff; these leaves are so nice I often just eat the few that find their way into my mug. The flavour of the brew is full and robust but not harsh; it’s a natural for milk and sugar. It stands up well to long steeping times; I’ve indicated five minutes, but I often steep it for seven, and I tend to be with the quantity of leaves.

I’d be lost without this tea. There are others I drink and enjoy, but every pot of Scottish Breakfast is a treat to be savoured. By comparison most others taste thin and uninteresting. This tea has a rich, full, friendly, comforting character that — at the moment, in my limited experience — seems unparalleled.