Rare Tea Company

Tea gift from my daughter – for World Kindness Day!

I decided to have this with breakfast but was so struck by it that I made more after breakfast. When I went to add it to the database, I saw that it is presently sold out. I can see why!

This would be a great puerh for someone who is wanting to try shu but is a little apprehensive. Because I was having it with food, the first impression was that I was drinking an unflavored black tea, but then the taste of rich, pure, wet garden soil blossomed. Earth.

Some pu has lots of barn notes, or camphor, or outright manure. Most smell like freshly plowed earth to me at some point on some level, and some have cedar notes like an old country church whose pews have been polished with Murphy’s Oil Soap. I have had puerh that smells sharp just like the leaves of our pecan tree when they crunch under you feet in late fall. Some smell like the dry dirt in the crawlspace under a house and I like that, too.

For breakfast I made three steeps in a row and combined them in one pot. That was when I had the sense of black tea with soft hints of fruit followed by rich earth experience. fruit? But which?

This is not the dry dirt under the house at all. This is rich, like when I water the house plants that are in the east window, or the richest, most desirable garden soil, but a little more subtle. I was kicking myself for not at least giving a little sip to the individual steeps and decided to make more after breakfast so I can really notice more without distraction and competition from food. (It was a tortilla egg bake today.)

This is silky with a hint of cream followed by rich earth. I have only done two steeps so far and they were a little different but I absolutely can not pinpoint one thing I am tasting in the second steep. It is intriguing and familiar. It reminds me of the vibe of Brown Sugar Cubes from white2tea without tasting like it. (BSC had a lot more high notes and mint with camphor.) This is definitely a tea of middle tones – a mezzo soprano if you will. Any Dame Cleo Laine fans here? Not as thick and rich as her voice but definitely a mezzo.

Third steep is on and I am finishing steep two cold. Lots of high notes cool. Quickly warmed it and…found the elusive note. Blackberry – specifically the flavor of Mûre Sauvage from Dammann Freres, so much so that I had to think quickly whether it could be contamination of this pot, but it can’t be, so natural blackberry notes, it is.

Third steep – piping hot, I get the aroma of soil on the roots of a huge pile of weeds you have pulled, aroma of soil and plant and root. I find that the flavors of puerh blossom most for me after it has cooled for a few minutes. After letting it rest I get a rich earth taste that lingers well. No mushroom really. Maybe some sharper fallen leaf coming through now.

This is lovely and I would 100% buy it again.

October Sipdown Prompt – a tea that reminds you of falling leaves

My daughter who lives with us has been giving me support gifts and celebration gifts all throughout this recent breast cancer journey. Yesterday I was presented with the newest Alexander McCall Smith book and two teas from rare Tea Company for whom he wrote special short stories to be included in their tins of Lost Malawi tea, which he was given the privilege of naming. (She also gave me some of that tea – a favorite!)

I had noticed this one on their website and intended to try it someday and that day is here. My tastes have been off since my surgery, and I have to cast about in my mind to see if anything particular appeals to me, because a lot of things that I normally like seem a little unappetizing. It’s not that I am that poorly, just a weird thing that is probably quite temporary. Dry foods are mostly a big no. But I was really curious about this tea so I didn’t cast about to see what my body wanted, I just grabbed it.

It grabbed back.

I opened the pouch knowing that the description says it is smoked over guava leaves and was somehow taken by surprise that it smelled smokey. Eye opening. Enticing. Appetite stimulating.

I like smokey teas and I also like VERY smokey teas but I do want some quality tea flavor in there and not just a cup of char. The leaves were whole, long, twisted, deep brown and almost like an oolong in appearance. I steeped twice at 176F per instructions and went a full two minutes for the steep.

The result is a lovely cup of smoked tea that had me sniffing and thinking hard trying to decipher what notes I was getting that made it different from Lapsang Souchong. Brown sugar crossed my mind but that wasn’t it. Sweet. Yes, sweet. But…fruity. That’s it. Soft and subtle. Not sharp like the fruity muscatel edge of a darjeeling with drying grape must.

This tea is dried over burning guava leaves, a fortunate happenstance that came about when the guava leaves surrounding the tea fields were building up on the ground and attracting pests, so when they decided to rake and burn the guava leaves someone thought to try using them to dry and scent the tea.

I won’t say the fruity taste is like guava or is coming from the guava leaves. I think it is inherent in the tea leaf itself. This is a lovely smoked tea that is suitable for all times of day and is just different enough from Lapsang Souchong that if you like smoked teas you may want to give it a try.

I am unrolling the whole brown leaves and smoothing them out to paint in watercolor later. Somehow, seeing whole leaves makes me stop and think, “A half a world away, someone’s hands picked this tea and now it is here for me to enjoy. Bless them.” And that is what Rare Tea Company tries to do through Rare Charity. I can get behind that.

Sipdown

Delighted to have found iced black tea that I enjoy at lunch without sugar!

November Sipdown Prompt – tea from your highest shelf/drawer/storage

I have to use a step stool to get these down.

I am drinking this every day at lunch now in an attempt to cut back on my sugar intake, as normally I would have sweet iced tea. I am moving around a little less since surgery and don’t want to consume a lot of needless calories, opting for high quality ones instead.

It is pretty hot for November and I am still harvesting tomatoes although it is mostly cherry tomatoes of different types now. There will be a few more slicing types but not many. So iced tea is still very welcome.

This one is disappearing pretty fast now and I am almost sure I have two other types of their black cold steep blends somewhere, or maybe just one. Locating it will be a project soon when this one is gone.

This is particularly good as a cold steeped tea and has not been too brisk for me. It is one of their most economical teas as well. I did try cold steeping it and then heating it as a hot breakfast tea, but that was not the best use of this blend. It will remain a cold steep tea for me, and one I enjoy a lot and look forward to, which I can not say of many unsweetened cold black teas.

October Sipdown Prompt – a brisk tea

I cold steeped this yesterday and I had some that had only been steeping for a couple of hours and some that had steeped over night plus a bit.

I think the briskness is what makes this tea interesting and flavorful as a cold steeped tea. I have been drinking sweet southern style iced tea all my life and a lot of black teas wouldn’t appeal to me as an unsweetened cold tea even though I drink my hot tea unsweetened.

This very fine cut leaf makes a lovely refreshing cuppa and the tin is getting closer to being an actual sipdown than I realized.

July Sipdown Prompt – an iced tea

I bought this during the Happy Birthday (America) special, which was for the glass flask half price when you buy two of their special iced tea blends. I bought three or four different blends to try and I think this one was the cheapest one.

The flask has a two part filter. I was not sure why at first, but the first time I poured multiple little cups of tea out of the flask it was apparent that it is to keep the leaves from finding their way into your cup. Works beautifully. The lid with handle screws on easily and the handle makes it easy to remove the infuser basket if you want to use it in a mug or cup.

The flask is very attractive and the extraordinary clarity of the cold steep teas look beautiful in it. It is double wall borosilicate glass.

I have made this tea, which is a very fine cut black so that the flavors extract well, and Misty Green. I made two separate orders so that we would each have a flask.

Ashman and I tasted this one and Misty Green together. (Misty Green is not fine cut but is a regular green tea.) Ashman preferred Misty Green and I preferred this one. They were both great, though!

Ashman said this one tasted a bit tannic to him, but I find it flavorful and smooth. He has always preferred his black tea sweetened and is used to sweet iced tea and I think that the expectation of his tastebuds for black tea to be sweet when cold throws him off. He has never sweetened green, oolong, or white teas so the green one cold was more to his liking.

One nice thing about this black tea is that you can steep it overnight and it doesn’t get bitter even though it is very, very fine cut. It is so fine that I expected some powder to fall through the infuser but no “dust” fell out when I gave it an experimental shake. I will also say that this is the finest infuser I have ever seen, with the holes seeming to be even smaller than the ones in the Stump pot, which was up to now the finest strainer I owned.

I also bought one or two of their higher grade black teas cut especially for cold steeping. I am looking forward to trying those, and I really want to try this one hot for breakfast soon. It is a good, solid black tea.

September Sipdown Prompt – a tea from China

This is one of my favorite teas from China right now. It steeps quickly at a low temperature so everything about making it is faster in that respect. I can make three steeps so I only need one teaspoon for breakfast, making it last longer. Even making three steeps, it is ready faster than some other teas I enjoy at breakfast and I don’t have to wait too long for it to cool enough to sip.

Although the color of the tea isn’t very dark, the flavor is rich and full. It is one of the creamiest black teas I have had. It will definitely be a re-order, probably something for Ashman to put under the Christmas tree.

Wow.

I got this tea for Christmas and I was good and did not sneak a sample before Christmas. Today is my second time drinking it.

Big surprise to see a black breakfast recommend 176F but I did it and kept the steep short as they recommended. I have tasted single steeps and combined steeps.

This tea comes out slightly light in color like Darjeeling and some Ruby 18’s do, but the body. Oh wow, the body. This is creamy and thick with smooth sweetness, not a hint of astringency, no briskness. Layers of lovely notes ranging from an almost minty high note that flits by to woody notes reminiscent of a super creamy and utterly non-fishy shu. Fall leaves. Maple. Fall sun. So nice.

If you are looking for builders tea to get you going, this isn’t it. If you want a cup of tea to accompany a mindfulness session, here you are. Lots to think about in this cup. I got three lovely steeps off one teaspoon this time and combined them after tasting individually to make sure it didn’t lose much flavor in the resteeps.

Would definitely purchase again.

TeaTiff TTB #27

Mmm, this is nice! It almost reminds me of a black tea with its rich, toasted bread flavor. But it also has that distinctive buttery smoothness of an oolong. I haven’t tried much from Rare Tea Company, but most of what I’ve had has been exceptional. I would definitely consider ordering this one in the future!

October Sipdown Challenge Prompt – World Smile Day

Sipdown

Should I really count this as a sipdown? Yes, I should! I was out of this tea for three hours before the post delivered my new one plus an Earl Grey as a little friend for it. I received this tea for Christmas last year as well as their Chinese Emperor’s Breakfast and I fully intended to wait until Christmas to restock, but they ran that free shipping weekend and I caved.

Boy, did this ever put a smile on my face today. I had to go to the hospital early for my pre-ops but was back home by 7:40 am, just in time to make a lovely breakfast and a huge pot of this. Two teaspoons, three steeps, and yes, it was quite a lot of tea. I smiled all the way through every cup.

This is a truly great breakfast tea to me. It is strong enough and yet does not require milk or sugar. I keep promising myself that I will try it with milk to bring out the chocolate notes as they suggest but I love it SO MUCH just as it is that I can’t bring myself to change anything. Maybe now that I have refilled my tin I will give it a try.

Does anyone know where we can find the exclusive story by Alexander McCall Smith that was put in the tins as a promotion many years ago?

Sipdown!

October Sipdown Challenge Prompt – World Smile Day

Should I really count this as a sipdown? Yes, I should! I was out of this tea for three hours before the post delivered my new one plus an Earl Grey as a little friend for it. I received this tea for Christmas last year as well as their Chinese Emperor’s Breakfast and I fully intended to wait until Christmas to restock, but they ran that free shipping weekend and I caved.

Boy, did this ever put a smile on my face today. I had to go to the hospital early for my pre-ops but was back home by 7:40 am, just in time to make a lovely breakfast and a huge pot of this. Two teaspoons, three steeps, and yes, it was quite a lot of tea. I smiled all the way through every cup.

This is a truly great breakfast tea to me. It is strong enough and yet does not require milk or sugar. I keep promising myself that I will try it with milk to bring out the chocolate notes as they suggest but I love it SO MUCH just as it is that I can’t bring myself to change anything. Maybe now that I have refilled my tin I will give it a try.

Does anyone know where we can find the exclusive story by Alexander McCall Smith that was put in the tins as a promotion many years ago?

September Sipdown Prompt – World Tourism Day

I had to stretch for this one for several reasons. First, I am a homebody and I don’t want to go anywhere! I am content right here, and when I am away I usually can not wait to get back. I have lived on the same street for over five decades and can walk to the hospital where I (and Ashman) was born.

Our trip to Ireland did cause me to see how amazing travel can be but also made me want to stay for a very long time, because I wanted to do than just SEE the place. I wanted to truly KNOW it.

As I pondered where I would like to go, I remembered that when I read Alexander Mccall Smith’s books set in Botswana, I thought I would love to visit there. He clearly loves Africa and makes his readers fall in love with it, too. Since I don’t have any tea from Botswana, a tea from Malawi seems appropriate because he also wrote a short story that was only available to those who purchased a tin of this tea. The proceeds from this tea benefited social programs to help the people of Malawi so he happily agreed to write this bespoke story for them. I wish I had known about it back when they did the offer, because the story is no longer included! Perhaps I can find it online.

I was horrified to see that I have only a couple of servings of this tea left and I had told myself that I would put it on my Christmas list instead of purchasing it. I may have ti have another talk with myself about that…

I made three steeps to stretch it out and I combined them in one pot, using my gravity steeper to make it. Even with three steeps combined, it is still rich with deep brown sugar notes and maltiness on the tongue. It is so awesome with meals.

I have never added anything to it but they say milk makes it chocolate-y. Maybe someday I will try it but I just love it like this – plain and unadulterated.

September Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea Kermit would drink

This year we have the tenth anniversary of the “Kermit drinking tea – but that’s none of my business” meme. Videos are on youtube if you haven’ seen the ads it came from!

I put a lot of thought into fulfilling this prompt. Would Kermit drink green tea, being green himself and hailing from a swamp? (Or was that just his character in The Muppet Movie. Not sure where Kermit was actually raised.)

I had Miss Piggy and Animal’s teas picked right away, but it took weeks of thought and a discussion with daughter to talk through Kermit. Granted she listened more than gave input, but she didn’t deny my reasoning. She may have been too stunned by the topic of conversation.

In the ad, he is drinking Lipton but I don’t believe for a minute that is his usual cuppa. We all have to make a living and he was promoting his new movie.

So what does he drink? He is a down-to-earth frog, very accessible, and truly a classy guy. He is a Renaissance frog, very creative but also practical, and loves his artsy over-the-top friends without losing touch with the common folk. He is compassionate. I mean, come on, did you see him in Muppet Christmas Carol? You can’t fake that.

So I decided Kermit deserves more than one tea for his different moods, and I think he would buy fair trade and “tea for a cause” when possible. Thus my choice of Lost Malawi from Rare Tea Co.

It says 185F. Check. Steep for one to two minutes. Uh oh, I forgot to set a timer because I was chatting with my daughter. Drat! It went over but I don’t know how much. Second steep was timed at two minutes and combined with first steep.

Absolutely delicious. Malty, hearty, lots of bass notes, no bitterness, no astringency. They say it gets rich and chocolatey with the addition of milk and maybe someday I will try it that way but I love it like this – no additions. I love that I can have two steeps ready in less than the time to make one. And I am nearly out!

I was going to put it on my Christmas list, but in spite of all my cupboard buying freezes – I might have to re-order sooner than that. We will see.

August 2nd Sipdown Prompt – International Beer Day: drink a malty or hoppy tea

I once had a tea with actual hops in it. Finished that off a long time ago. As for malty, that is nit the profile I usually buy so I have no Assam on hand that I can think of. This will do! My best guess is that these African teas are probably Camellia Assamica varietal bushes.

I really dig this tea, and I love how fast it steeps because I do two steeps and combine at breakfast almost every time. They recommend 185F for 1-2 minutes and I go with 1 1/2 minutes.

It is silky in feel and smooth enough to not need additions for me, but strong enough for breakfast. Great with food. I made enough to ice and have it again (unsweetened) with lunch.

ETA: I think this was the best unsweetened plain black iced tea I have ever had.

June Sipdown Prompt – a tea from Africa

I prepared a huge pot to have for breakfast on the patio – bagels with Ashman. It was much as the first note, but I gave it a little extra leaf today so when we combined the two steeps we would have a nice, big STRONG pot.

Man, was it good! I still get those Darjeeling-esque notes from it. I love that it steeps at a low temp for a short steep of two minutes and breakfast is ready that little bit faster.

There was a cup leftover in the pot, and when lunchtime rolled around I poured it over ice with no sweetener at all and took it outside to enjoy with a honey nut chicken salad sandwich. (Copycat recipe of the Sprouts version.) Some leaves had strayed into the pot and though they were few they did lend a bit if briskness and potency since so little tea was left….and it was excellent. This made an awesome unsweet iced tea and I didn’t see that coming.

A definite re-purchase, maybe for Christmas, because the smell if these fine cut leaves says TEA!

February Sipdown Prompt – an unflavored black tea

This was selected to go with breakfast this morning – homemade blueberry syrup and plain old Eggo Blueberry Belgian style waffles, all topped with whipped cream, of course.

This was Ashman’s first time having this tea, but since he liked Fortnum and Mason’s Darjeeling as well as Lupicia’s Premium Sakura, I thought he would enjoy this one.

His opinion was that it was a very good pairing and he felt that it would be an excellent tea paired with most food. He doesn’t like astringency much and said that he found this to be smooth and easy to drink.

I made two steeps and combined them and then intended to make a third steep after breakfast to see if we could get just a bit more out of the leaf. I really think we could have, but I got distracted with yard chores (squirrel!) and left it far too long. I didn’t risk a bitter experience and chucked it out. Maybe next time I can go for three steeps and see if it works.

Delicious, and would purchase again. The aroma of the very fine dry leaf alone is a treat.

I have been looking forward to trying this tea since I first read about it some time ago. I was reading a novel and Rare Tea Company was mentioned which sent me down the rabbit trail of finding out if they were the actual company mentioned in the work of fiction and they responded with a link about this tea. Their customer service is top notch and I wasn’t even a real customer yet.

I have had a few other teas from the Satemwa estate, all I believe purchased by Superanna from What-Cha. They were all stellar teas.

Opening the tin, I was surprised to see that this is so finely chopped. Leaf color is deepest, darkest brown, like rich dark cocoa. Dry leaf aroma has some heady high notes as well as a deep smokiness. I am not getting chocolate from it.

I am glad I checked the instructions because they recommend that you use 185F water and 1-2 minutes if you will not be adding milk. They also mention that the second steep is best, which is common among oolongs but perhaps less common with black tea to me.

Since it is my first time trying it, I left room to experience and experiment. A bit of the first steep was poured into a cup. I tasted it and was very surprised. It was not at all what I expected. It definitely wasn’t what I think of as a breakfast tea. There was something so familiar teasing at the edge of my brain but it took me a while to get it. Brothy? Almost but not quite there. Something reminding me of purple tea…yes…DARJEELING. Yes, it has much in common with Darjeeling!

The second steep was made and poured in a different cup. Wow. Just wow. They are not kidding that the second steep is better. I immediately combined the steeps and discovered that I love the two steeps blended almost as much as the second steep by itself.

The dry leaf and the steeped tea both transport me to the exciting smell of the A Southern Season flagship store, where the rich scent of tea enveloped you with excitement about what you might find and what you would be taking home with you. It was a pure tea smell, a classic tea smell.

They say to drink this within three months of opening the tin. That won’t be a problem. Now that I have had this at breakfast, I also see on their site that it is considered an afternoon tea, and I can see that. Fortunately I also bought their Emperor’s Breakfast!

I will be sticking my head in the tin for the next three months for mini-aromatherapy sessions.

Even for people, like myself, that love to adventure with different teas and companies, we have our cupboard staples and this is one of mine. In fact, I have a tea pot just for this tea. If you haven’t tried any New Zealand teas yet I highly recommend them. The terroir there makes for some really tasty teas. The leaf is a dark chocolate color with a slightly dusty texture and minimal twist. This is a perfect tea for the fall. Loads of Sweet potato, fresh and with a bit of maple syrup notes. Roasted sweet potato skin. Maybe a hint of thyme. The mouth feel is smooth. Butternut squash skin. Sweet and delectable. Though if you enjoy roast notes you can steep it longer and the sweetness becomes taken over with charcoal and burnt sweet potato skin. This one can last many sessions too.

Art is subjective when it comes to color, matcha is not. While someone could argue that matcha color doesn’t matter. I disagree. It can be the first sign of whether matcha is still good, how long it was shaded, if it was stored properly, etc. The color of this matcha leaves much to be desired. Is that a pun? Wa ha. It is between a green olive and moss green. Which in matcha is not something really desirable unless you are cooking with it. The mouthfeel is silky with a bit of silt. The flavor is better than culinary but doesn’t have the complexity of a ceremonial grade in my opinion. There is a slight creaminess mixed in with vegetal notes. I would rate this in the middle, better for lattes but still fine for a stand-alone session. On that note, mixed with creamy oat milk it is quite delicious.

While some teas a very straightforward in their flavor and aroma this one is probably one of the most complex that I have consumed. The dry leaf is tightly twisted with a dusty slightly yellowish dark brown. Ever so slightly. This changes to brown with dark olive greens. in the wet leaf. Some longer leaves but also a lot of broken leaf. The wet leaf aroma is somewhat bready with hints of malt, The liquor color is a brownish amber. The flavor is all over. Compost, wet leaves, malt, rye bread, resin, and wet wood. This rates really well on the website. But to be honest it doesn’t really float my boat.

Dark chocolate color dry leaf with a dusty appearance. Dusty like one sees with a high-end chocolate. Not that it is actually dusty but more so just a way of description. The dry aroma has barnyard and summer floral notes. Along with a touch of smoking wood that I get a whiff of on a rare occasion. I have no idea of how long to steep. I know I could just read what it says on the website but there is a certain excitement that goes into discovering a tea fully on your own. Three minutes to start at 175 F. Not the most beautiful liquor color. Kind of brownish gold. Though as I steep it longer it turns a nice almost rose-gold color. The longer steep reveals woody notes. And some lacquer. Resin. I think I should have followed the advice (I read it after the first steep) and only steeped for the 60 – 90 seconds because it’s lost a bit. Though with a longer steep like before more flavors begin to reveal themselves. More woody notes and a soft mouth feel. A bit of cream of wheat plain and a bit of cherry and dark cherry wood.

Forgot to smell the dry leaf. But Henrietta does a fantastic job of sourcing so I trust this will be good. A deep brew. Bit of malt here, dash of wood tones there, and all wound up with a slight hint of malt o meal. This is very nice. And a perfect amount of astringency. Enough to wake you up but not enough to set your tongue clicking.

Terrible weather and things happening this past week. I just wanted to lay aside part of my note for all the lives lost.