The London Tea Room

Started a cup of this, drank a few sips, then students arrived & it got cold. It has a nice boldness, a brightness, a fruitiness. A little more astringent than I usually like, but not bad!

I’m on my 2nd cup of this blend, & I’m thinking that I need to up the quantity of leaf next time. This is a blend of silver needle, Darjeeling, and Kenyan, created in honor of the engagement of Kate & the Prince.
I drank the first cup while I was making myself breakfast (Brussels Benedict anyone?). I’m having the 2nd cup with breakfast.

A little history: I bought this tea to go with the steepster bookclub, as the title of the tea was perfect for two of the characters in the book. I drank it a few times, & sort of dismissed it, quite honestly, as “ok, but not exciting”.

Today, it is interesting. There are floral & fruity flavors & a certain brightness in there, mostly from the darjeeling I think. I love Kenyan, & the depth, & body of it is in there too. Given the choice, I’d probably just prefer a bold cup of kenyan, but this is a nice change of pace, & a satisfying cup.

Bubble Bath tea #1

2nd cup of the day. I don’t really have much to say about it, mostly because I was busy fixing breakfast & talking on the phone to my sis (MsWhatsit) while drinking it. It didn’t impress me with amazing flavor, but it also wasn’t bad. Hopefully I’ll have more of an opinion next time.

It smelled really good. The flavour was a nice vanilla mixed with berry. This makes a good brunch tea.

Home from the London Tea Room, I’m enjoying a cup of this blend, which they offer each year around Valentine’s day. The black tea base is bold, but smooth. The flavors of black currants, vanilla, & bergamot are nicely balanced & although I drank the first few sips plain, the addition of stevia really makes all the flavors pop! It’s delicious! My book club buddies are in for a treat!

This is another one of the samples Harplady sent me. I love roses so much I named my own daughter Rosie and white roses are on my coat of arms in the medieval re-enactment groups in which I play, so of course, rose blends are of special interest to me.

The tea had green leaves and pretty pink petals, not quite so pretty tan ones, and little purple bits that looked like lavender. The scent of the dry tea was lovely, and it was no less so once I had added hot water. The smell was so good and I found it hard to be patient while it was cooling.

One aspect of the scent really tugged at my memory until I pulled it’s identity from my memory—Orange blossom. I used to cook with orange flower water. It seemed odd to find that flavor in a rose tea, but the two do harmonize well together. Of course, I would have named it Orange Blossom Melange, but that’s just me…

When I finally could taste it without scalding my tongue, this tea was pretty much what the scent indicated. I rather like it, and yes, it is a melange. I can pick out the rose, the lavender, and the orange blossom which makes the topnote. They do blend well though and there’s probably more. It’s a good harmonious mix. I’ll bet it’s good with sugar, but it is fine straight, which puts this among the sorts of teas I particularly like. I also was able to brew a good strong cup from one teaspoon, which speaks well for the quality.

I was a little sad when it was gone. This tea is nice and I’ll be happy when it’s time to have it again.

A postscript to my previous review: This tea is good cold brewed as well. I had only a rounded teaspoon left, so I put it in a quart jar of water and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Yum! Sadly though, now it’s all gone. One of these days I’ll have to visit my sis in Saint Louis and have a shopping spree at the London Tea Room. That was some good stuff, Maynard!

My big sis called and asked me what was up. As always, she’d been harping, I’d been writing and we both were drinking tea. Actually, I was poking through my cupboard deciding what to have next. She asked if I’d tried the samples she’d sent and recommended The Naughty Vicar. “You’ll like it,” she assured me.

Boy, does she know me. The minute the water hit this tea, I knew she was right. That fruity,
vanilla-y scent was just the thing after my morning of Chi obsession. I’d been sampling all sorts of chais with coconut milk and sweetener and this was just what I needed to cleanse my palate.

The Naughty Vicar reminded me a bit of Paris Morning (insert love sonnets here) but with a different sort of fruity twist. It was a little astringent but not excessively so, a touch tart but still quite good. Since I was feeling naughty, I added coconut milk and a bit of sweetening, which brought out the fruitiness a bit more. I like my fruit flavors a little more assertive, but over all it was a delightful change of pace. It was good, very good, and the name conjured up all manner of amusing ideas.

Thank you Harplady for this wonderful sample. I’m looking forward to indulging in more naughtiness soon.

Coconut Oolong- The London Tea Room

I couldn’t find a proper teaspoon so I probably used more of this than the standard measure. The dark little snaky pieces unfurled into lovely green leaves. Following the three minute brewing period, I strained them out and found myself studying the leaves with great interest. They actually looked very fresh and an experimental nibble confirmed this. They were like cooked green veggies I could much down with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper. I don’t often do this, but hey, those steepings looked and smelled so good, I actually did exactly that. They were a tad bitter but mostly delicious. Hopefully nutritious too.

After finishing my little mess of boiled tea greens, I turned to the tea itself. The scent from the cup was pleasant, perfum-y and coconutty. I didn’t have much experience with oolong but found it quite nice. Fragrant seems such a mundane word for it—I do a lot of flower cookery and rather enjoy a flowery scent in my mouth and it was a little like that. The coconut scent tops it beautifully, harmonizing with the rest as if it belongs there, as maybe in this case it does.

I liked it. A lovely tea I look forward to having again.

PS Since I liked this A LOT, when my husband came into the room, I urged him to sample it. “Kind of bland…” he commented and proceeded to brew up some mainstream variety and dump a ton of sugar into it. I guess there’s no accounting for taste.

Sipdown!
A nicely balanced cup.

Hey Steepsterites!
It’s been a long day. I had to go over to the University for my Harp Student’s end of the semester jury. If you’d like to hear the piece she played, “Clair de Lune sur l’etang du Parc”, by Marcel Tournier, here’s a youtube of someone doing it (not my student)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWvwWHCF11Y
I made a 16 oz go cup of this blend, which is actually pretty nice. There’s just enough Keemun in there to give it a sweet, earthy & slightly smokey leaning.

I had a cup of this with breakfast this morning. I’ve reviewed it several times, so there really isn’t much to say. Kind of an ‘even’ tasting blend, a little smokey, a little bright, mostly kind of in the middle flavorwise, if that makes sense.

I’m feeling groggy, crabby, & sleep deprived. I also woke up with a bitter taste in my mouth, & am having a spacey headachey morning. It’s allergies, & it pisses me off!
I drank a cup of this plain, while I was fixing my breakfast. It’s pleasantly bold & I’m really tasting the slight smokiness of the Keemun. I made a pot of it while I was drinking the cup, to have with breakfast, & added stevia & french vanilla coconut creamer, & it was very nice! I was on a creamer & stevia jag with black tea for awhile, & in fact it was really hard to break myself of it. Then for a long time I just drank all my teas black. Now I’m kind of enjoying both. The first cup is savory, the 2nd cup is dessert! Adding those things always brings out qualities in a tea that I might not notice otherwise.
And we all love variety, right?

Just another cup of breakfast tea. This is a nice earthy cup, & what I want to do is linger here on my laptop, drinking cup after cup after cup of a variety of teas, writing reviews, etc…
BUT, I have things to do today, starting with a hot bubble bath (Oh, the busy life of the self-employed, I’m sure I make somebody out there sick, LOL).

First cup of the day.
’nuff said

Breakfast: A baked sweet potato & chorizo

This tea is bold enough to stand up to a breakfast like that!
It is not loud or bright or acidic, like so many breakfast blends are.
The aroma is a balance of fruit & earth, with a hint of smoke.
The flavor is similar. I drank the first cup straight, & added a little stevia to the 2nd cup, & that’s nice too, bringing out a brown sugar taste & a butteriness in the throat.

Nothing fancy, no special steeping techniques, just a nice balanced cup of tea! Sometimes that’s all I need.

I’m enjoying a nice morning at home! I have students on & off throughout the day, so finally I get to hang out and sample teas!

This is a basic breakfast blend, nicely bold. I drank 2 cups.

Hey Steepsterites! I hope everyone is having an awesome Sunday!

I woke up around 9, drank my last cup of Yunnan Jig (adadio, I like their Yunnan Noir better) while Tony had a cup of his beloved Jubilee (London Tea Room, aka LTR). We went out to breakfast, where we both had a cup of Numi’s Breakfast blend (basically, it’s ok for a restaurant bagged tea…). Then we headed downtown to the LTR, where we each ordered a pot of tea. He had Lavender Earl Grey (which he bought 2 oz of, along with another 4 oz of Jubilee), and I had Keemun Mao Feng (sweet, malty, a little smokey). I got 2 oz of this LTR Blend, as I haven’t tried it yet, and I’m having a cup now.

Some breakfast blends have what I would call a ‘bright’ flavor, and an acidic quality. This one does not. It is a dark and bold cup, with a buttery mouth feel. I like dark and bold much more than I like acidity and brightness. I’ll add it to my breakfast rotation.

Sipdown!
I drank this plain, & it’s not a very appealing looking tea dry, but actually, it was nice. (sorry for the lame reviews…lol)

My student, Elaine, gave me a sample of this a few weeks ago when she came for her lesson.

Sage, lemon thyme, Mint, a little Bergamot, not really my cup of tea plain. I grow fresh herbs and use them regularly in cooking, but I’m not a real big fan of them in teas usually, at least not the ones I consider culinary. I do make tisanes from lemon verbena, lemon balm, chamomile, and mint, among others, when I’m in the mood.

Having said all that, with a little stevia, the sweetness brings forward the more pleasant tastes of gentle bergamot and the lightly lemony thyme. It’s not bad, but still not something I’d reach for. I’m only drinking it to use it up, and because I want to drop the caffeine for the rest of the evening.

If this review seems redundant, that’s because I already posted it once, but I screwed up & posted it as Jubilee. Oops!

I’m at the London Tea Room, undercover, so to speak. I came to pick up some more Jubilee for Tony, and to enjoy a pot of tea for myself. Today I selected the Ancient Yunnan. My love for black teas is deep, & Yunnans are among my favorites.

This is a nice, bold cup of Malty goodness with a chocolately essence & a peppery finish. Everything a Yunnan is meant to be, & although it is perhaps not as intriguing as some of the yunnans I’ve drank of late, it is very satisfying on this drizzly fall morning.
As I often do, I drank the first cup straight & added a little stevia to the rest. I day like today tends to bring out my desire for a sweet taste, & the stevia really brings forward the notes of caramel & chocolate. Yum!

Still on location at the London Tea Room. I come to this place often enough that my waitress, Audrey, gave me a big hug upon my arrival! We talked on & off while I was enjoying the first pot of tea, & I decided to stick around for lunch. I ordered the Chicken Waldorf Salad: chicken, golden raisins, walnuts, apples, pears, red onion & curried mayo on a bed of mixed salad greens, with a walnut vinaigrette dressing on the side. I’ve had it before, & it’s delicious.

For a tea, I’m having the Ancient Yellow Buds. This is my first yellow tea, & I’ve been thinking of trying it for awhile. The smell & appearance of the tea leaves is similar to a silver needle, a little nutty & bright. It brews into a beautiful pale yellow liquor, leaning towards an almost apricot tinge. They served it in a 12 oz glass teapot (made by rishi, I have one, & I love it. It looks like a miniature koolaid pitcher), & a small white porcelain cup, which really shows off the color of the tea. LTR doesn’t have photos of their teas on their website, so knowing I’d be the first to list this tea, I snapped a pic off with my iPhone so you could see the lovely color.

The flavor? Very mellow, light like a silver needle, but a little richer & sweeter. Slightly fruity, almost a little buttery, & although it doesn’t taste like corn, it has a savoriness that almost reminds me of cornbread stuffing. I know, that’s crazy!

I lost interest in my salad & had them pack up the rest of it to go.

I dont tend towards a lot of flavored teas, but this one is tastefully & gently done, & will be just right for the ride to work. Flavors of chocolate croissant with hints of vanilla & marmalade. Morning indulgence :)