The London Tea Room

I have been stuffy since I got home! I have so many new teas to try but I don’t want to miss out on the flavors of them as I can barely smell. I knew I needed something to help me get up and go, this cold is zapping my energy. Black tea it is! I chose this one because I am able to get more easily from The London Tea Room. Last time I had this, I remember not being too sure about it as there are not many black teas I enjoy.

From what I can smell of the leaf, it makes me think I should love it. The first sip makes me think that I underleafed it, it seems watery. With the second and third sip, something is there but not vanilla or currant. Added some sweetener. That’s better. I think the black base is still a bit too strong for someone who usually drifts towards greens but some of the other flavors are coming out to play now. I will finish what I have but I am unsure of restocking. It is a nice cup of something different, just not something every day for me.

Another tea from terri that i finished up over the past couple of days. This + Maple syrup = yummy! another great smokey tea!

Smokey tea this is for sure! Terri sent me this one in the last round of tea we exchanged and i love it! This + a splash of maple syrup made everything right yesterday out in the cold :) I’m glad i have a little more to have again as i’m mostly out of smokey teas in my cupboard at the moment heh. This has got a great balance of smoke, malt and strength to be great in the morning! thanks terri!

What a smooth body this brew has! Its malty and very bold but just the right amount. I tastes like an Assam but more calm. The flavor is of a dark wood and slightly roasted. The aftertaste is sweet and robust. I like this brew, basic yet still enjoyable. This would make a great everyday black.

This brew surprised once I learned of its ingredients. What I thought to be a heavily sweetened ordeal turned into quite the opposite. I brewed this western styled with a generous amount of leaves. The steeped leaves smell of blackberry jam with just a hint of dark wood. The aroma of the brew is quite consistent. The brew itself is very bold. Its slightly sour with a roasted taste. I can distinctly taste a dark jam or currant. This has a very unique flavor profile and I love it! Its very heady and sweet with a sour fruit aftertaste. I will be enjoying this again and again in the new future.

Black currant and vanilla? Definitely. Heavily scented? Yes. It’s a sweet without sugar, nicely balanced flavored black tea. If I were going to keep a fruit and vanilla tea in my cupboard, this would be a contender.

Hidden Gems TTB #4

Thank you to Kayla for including a sample of this one for me! I have The Naughty Vicar from The London Tea Room and love it, so I was eager to try more of their tea. This one is a nice, basic English Breakfast blend. There’s nothing unique or outstanding about it, but it is strong and smooth and malty and tasty with or without milk. It’s also very reasonably priced! I would consider purchasing this one when I run out of my current breakfast tea.

Mmmm blackcurrant, vanilla and a touch of cream (which is probably the milk I added)… this tastes like dessert in a cup to me!! Huge thanks to Inkling for sharing this with me… Its absolutely delicious!!!

Yesterday I stopped by the London Tea Room. I was in the neighborhood, & still have some credit left on my gift card from there, plus Tony was almost out of his beloved Jubilee. While I was there I picked up a bit of this tea, which is a Scottish breakfast type, bold & malty, with a fair bit of smokiness to it as well.

Thank you Inkling for the share! It was exciting to try a tea from a company I have never had before and I must say, this certainly delivers on what it promises. There is a great deal of black currant flavor, but not a medicinal kind, just a juicy berry flavor that tapers off into a subtle but smooth vanilla as the sip ends. Plus, underlying the whole taste is a slight maltiness from the base that really brings this up a level. Now I don’t know if it is having any effect on my mood as the description might imply but I am certainly pleased with the cup so once again, thank you Inkling! I will have to check out some more teas from this company soon. 185.

My family and I spent the weekend in St. Louis and I had the chance to visit The London Tea Room. It was a great experience and I was excited to try their most popular blend. It wasn’t a disappointment! This tea is very rich and flavorful with a nice strong black base. The current and vanilla flavors balance each other nicely. A wonderful smooth, tasty cup.

Wonderful, bold, yet smooth tea. I’m not a fan of teas with a large amount of bergamot in them but this one tastes great with it.

i snuck some of this from terri’s overflowing cupboard when i was there just to see if this was something i can get behind. I for sure got the chocolatey notes in this one as i had it this morning, but there’s something about the base of the tea that isn’t my favourite. An enjoyable cup, but i’m glad to just have my little sample cup to drink:)

This was tea

I am enjoying this cup right now before going to bed. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 4 o’clock to take the first train to Montpellier (south of France…not Montpelier in Vermont, unfortunately because Vermont sounds really much exotic to me !) to see a client.
I hate going to bed too early…

This is a tea sample I got a long time ago from TerriHarpLady and it is a quite nice foral Oolong.

Since a little while now I am drinking very very few flavoured teas (except Earl Greys). I think I’m going to post soon a giant tea swap proposal with a lot of my flavoured teas.

I still appreciate drinking some time to time like this smooth, light Oolong with light buttered notes. The coconut is absolutely not overpowering so it’s really refreshing and delicate. Lovely. Thank you Terri.

This tea is rather mild unless you steep it for a long while, mostly due to the type of spices in the tea. I left this to steep for over an hour, and that hint of sweet that comes from the ginger now has overpowered everything else. It’s now cold, but it tastes like candy. It’s weird in that you can’t really taste it until it reaches the back of your mouth. Then it’s in your face. It’s pretty good.

One thing I noticed about this tea as well as my other black tea from the London Tea Room is that they have overwhelmingly sweet scents. This one smells almost like caramel, but what it really reminds me of is condensed milk. I was almost turned off by how sweet it smelt in the bag, and even after brewing, it had a noticeably sweet smell. Luckily this isn’t all that sweet. You get a hint of sweetness after you brew it, but it’s very mild. I don’t know if I pick up any citrus notes, other than that a slight lemon cookie kind of scent from the dried leaves. It has a slightly floral taste, but that creamy taste is there too. I wasn’t as fond of it at first, but it’s grown on me. It’s not very bitter at all, and I’ve even found that it tastes pretty good cold, not that I’m recommending that you drink it cold. It could replace my current favorite tea, I don’t know.

I wouldn’t say it’s the best tea out there, and it’s certainly not the worst, but I would share it with friends, and I think I will be buying more in the future. It’s worth trying it at the very least, and the price is fair.

The tea has a vegetal scent like spinach or hemp powder. The tea itself is rather powdery, with a leaves dispersed. There is a hint of pink, but there are only a few cherry blossom petals in the tea.

The brew is a light spring green color, you know, like the crayola color. It doesn’t have a strong smell and tastes… like spinach water. So much for that. It’s interesting, but far too pricy for me. I will probably avoid this tea in the future. I’ll still drink it, of course. The only tea I avoid is tea made from thyme.

This is a sample I got from TerriHarpLady, thank you so much Terri for sharing.

For an unknown reason I thought it was a plain tea not a flavoured one . I’m having this tea for my breakfast and this is a pleasant fruity break.

I don’t have much to say about this naughty vicar except praying its smoothness and its good taste of black currant. None atringency even if I stupidely left it steep for 6 minutes, so it is clearly a docile tea.
Pleasant even if not something I would add to my cupboard.

This is generous sample from Terri HarpLady – thank you.
This tea is bold strong malty with lotsa smoke which is fine . i tamed it with Maple syrup teeny tiny amount. thats the magic (Sil and Terri introduced me to maple syrup style drinking smoky teas) it tastes very good. very pleasant afternoon tea.
Thank you Terri for the opportunity to try this tea.

This morning, courtesy of Terri HarpLady, I’m very pleased to review Keemun Mao Feng by London Tea Room, St. Louis, MO, Western style: 8 oz. / 1 tsp (3g) / 212*F / 4 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream.

Leaf: Thin twisted mostly dark chocolate-brown leaves mostly < 1 cm.
Fragrance: Smoky sweet Keemun!
Liquor: Clear brilliant copper
Aroma: YUM – A mild-to-moderately smoky Keemun with the classic winey profile and a delicate sweetness that is simply relaxing to deeply inhale.
Flavor: Winey, smoky, malty with a delicate sweetness

4-min: A truly rich, fairly thick, full-bodied, smoky, winey, malty Keemun with a delicate sweetness. There was zero bitterness or astringency. A MANLY cup of tea! YUM!

Re-Steep:
5-min: Not yet
6-min: Not yet
8-min: Light to medium bodied

Impression: I love a great Keemun this certainly predisposes me to enjoying this tea. A Keemun that’s just as enjoyable to smell as it is to taste! A thoroughly enjoyable Keemun! Well done!

Thanks to Terri HarpLady for sending us this gracious sample.

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39311-perfect-tea-spoon
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
http://steepster.com/teas/revere-ware/46814-classic-2-1-slash-3-quart-whistling-tea-kettle
Brewed western-style conveniently in a tea mug with a brew basket http://steepster.com/teaware/royal-albert/45581-old-country-roses-afternoontea-mugs
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/29177-finum-brewing-basket.
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39312-perfect-preset-tea-timer

This is one of my favorite Earl Greys. It’s very fragrant, I smell a lot of bergamot and jasmine? something flowery. This is an easy to drink tea for me. Although it tastes better hot than cold.

How about that? Sil told me to try this because it’s good, and I tried it, and it was! It’s good! It’s got a nice bit of sweetness and a nice bit of smoke, balanced wonderfully.

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I thought I’d try another Kenyan tea! Sipdown! (246)

This one is less harsh than the others I’ve had. It’s a little smoother, and a bit more golden. Tasty!

Thanks Sil!!