Teabox

Wow, this is a strong one. I took Anlina’s advice and stuck to a 3 minute steep. It was very malty and a little bit bitter…decent tea. It wasn’t quite as smooth as I’d like, but a shorter steep time may help with that a little.

An enjoyable white tea. Notes of cucumber and flowers. A bit sweet and juicy. I steeped this for about 4 minutes and it was pretty bland when hot, but a very nice fullness to the flavour developed as the cup cooled.

No detailed notes on this one, but I am really into these malty Darjeelings. Quite a nice one.

Meh, this is a pretty middle of the road Darjeeling. No real muscatel notes that I picked up, just that sort of spiced, ashy taste I sometimes get from Darjeelings. I’ll try it again with slightly cooler water next time. 93C seems to be my sweet spot for Darjeelings.

I have been so busy at work lately that I brew a cup of tea and by the time it is cooled enough for me to drink I completely forget about it as I am so deep into what I am working on again to even contemplate picking up the cup and turning away from what I am doing. This has been great for my work, but bad for my tea drinking. Today I have a foggy brain. It is Monday, I have come down with a cold, and what I SHOULD be working on today is maddening. So, here I sit with a cup of tea I plan to take a few minutes to fully enjoy.

Assam and I do not mingle often enough. The good assam’s I have had, have been wonderful yet I don’t find myself drawn to them like their friends from China. This cup is perfect for the morning. Lots of malt. A slight fruityness and it just taste like I am drinking good piece of baked goods. I really should spend more time with Assams’s. This cup makes me long for more and more and more. Thank you for the wonderful swap donkeytiera.

This tea is malty like other Assams, but has an interesting mix of sweet and bitter. The sweet flavor is pretty understated though, or maybe I steeped it too long, and the bitter taste became more dominant…it’s a nice bitter, the kind I like from an Assam. I steeped it for 4 minutes; they recommend 4-5 minutes on the sample bag. However, I find that Teabox overestimates steep times for most of their teas. Pretty good tea…I look forward to a second steep after the gym.

Sencha and I have been friends for awhile but I don’t think I’ve met the Himalayan sencha prior to this. Unfortunately this is nothing like a green vegetable tasting sencha that would be defined as prized. It might be because of the area it comes from, but regardless this tea is a bit dry and not on the same level as other senchas that I have tried. The color of the leaf and liquor is also off which doesn’t attribute to any scoring but it proves to indicate to flavor as well for this tea.

This was not one of the better green Darjeelings that Teabox offers. This green tea just doesn’t stand out with any sweet or smoky undertones, as for floral notes its too mild to really comment on- it’s more like a green tea that you brewed few times but still has the tea taste (if you know what I mean)

This tea looked broken up which was sad, however the taste was quite pleasant. I really enjoy the undertone of lemon in this tea as it is already a light tasting tea it accented it quite nicely.

This is one strong tasting tea…
You have to make sure you like basil teas before you drink this for sure. I am not a fan of this mixture so I will not grade it so harshly since I cannot comment on the quality due to my dislike of the taste.

This was a nice green tea but it was a little bitter and dry tasting. I know that it is said to have a smoky taste but it didn’t really blend all that well with this tea- but overall it is a nice quality leaf.

Decent tea, not much to really review though. I enjoyed the lightness of this tea though.

Pleasant though not outstanding. Light, slightly sweet, a touch of malt and hay. I’m reminded a lot of a Kenyan white tea.

I was very surprised by this tea, it was nothing like the last Nilgiri I tried. The color was very light, and the scent was floral. The flavor was kind of muscatel and earthy…tasted a lot like a Darjeeling tea to me, with a little sweetness as well. Nilgiri teas are definitely more diverse than I thought! Thanks for the sample, donkeytiara!

Malty, floral, and just a tiny bit bitter and astringent. The floral note combined with the bitterness gives it a slightly soapy quality.

Dry leaf is small and dark with a good scattering of silver tips.

This is a really interesting and unusual Darjeeling. I don’t think I’ve ever had one quite like it – the dominant flavours are wood, smoke, malt and raisins, with some spice and cannabis notes in the background that hint at the origins of this tea. It’s quite sweet and bold, and the brew is a rich, dark brown. There’s almost a rose note in the fragrance of the brew, and just a touch of floral in the flavour.

There’s a bit of pleasant astringency to this cup – just a faint drying sensation that feels like it fits.

I’m reminded of a cross between a Darjeeling and a Qimen.

Definitely an interesting cup and worth a try.

The time change. The time change. The time change. Spring forward. Seriously? Ask me a week into it and I’m not “springing” anywhere…lucky if you can get me to crawl out of bed, let along spring. Because of this, it has been a heavily Assamed week. And all I have to say is thank GOURD for assam.

Mangalam Gold from Teabox is a sweet malty smelling tea with lots of golden tips. In the cup this translates into a well balanced assam with a medium heavy malt note that is complimented by a touch of stonefruit and nut. There is a slight astringency that carries the after taste of burnt sugar after the tea is gone. The flavor profile of Mangalam gold doesn’t sit at the bottom of the cup like some assam teas. It’s notes harmonize mid-cup and make for a rousing but not boisterous cup of assam tea. Very welcomed on this spring morning where the thought of crawling back into bed is ALMOST winning. :)

This is a lovely autumn flush Darjeeling. The dry leaf is medium sized and fluffy, with a good smattering of golden tips, and lots of golden dust in the bag. It smells sweet, malty and floral.

Steeped, it yields an amber cup that’s really delicious. An excellent balance of malt, fruit and flowers, with just a hint of that pungent, tangy note that most Darjeelings have (cannabis??) Smooth, sweet and delicious, with a medium body.

I don’t know if it’s just been my random selection or if my taste buds have been different lately, but I’ve been finding a lot of sweet malt notes in the Darjeelings I’ve been drinking lately, which I don’t recall experiencing much before in Darjeeling. Very interesting, but a welcome flavour for me.

This is a delicious and unique Darjeeling blend.

The dry leaf is small green pieces of flat leaf and twists. It smells of malt, flowers and that “tea” smell.

Steeped 1tsp for 3min offers a clear amber brew with sweet honey fragrance. The taste is very light, with notes of honey, flowers (rose in particular) and a fruitiness. Quite delicate. There’s a bit of bitterness and astringency that appears at the start of the sip and fades out quickly – I think a slightly shorter steep would serve this one well.

I’ve never had a Darjeeling with honey notes in it before. I’m really enjoying this.

I think I drank this this morning – I barely even remember, it’s been such a long day. What I do recall is that I used the recommended 2tsp, steeped for four minutes, and it was good, but I think it would have been better with 1tsp. It was floral and quite mellow for a Darjeeling – maybe a bit malty? And just a hint of bitterness creeping in.

I’ll need to try it again before I rate it, but I did like it.

I’ve noticed it’s easy to oversteep the Teabox teas with their recommended directions, so I used the minimum amount and minimum time and it was delicious!

I would not have guessed this was a Darjeeling. It was fairly malty, with only a bit of that pungent, spiced Darjeelingness to it. Quite light, very enjoyable. 5 mins made it ever so slightly astringent, so next time I might do 4:30 instead.

My first autumnal Darjeeling in some time. Pity, as this is a very pleasant tea. Although initially rather brisk and full-bodied, subsequent infusions produce a liqour that is less distinctive but still tasty.

First infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz water, 90 deg., 1:30 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 5:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00 min.