The Tao of Tea
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See All 224 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
This is a delightful Assam. Malty is right! I don’t think I’ve tasted a maltier tea. It is strong and bold with an undertone of sweet caramel notes. There is a note of bitter towards the middle of the sip – not one of those “I oversteeped the Assam” kind of bitter tastes, but more of a “hint of bitterness that is here to cut through some of the heavier notes of this tea and make things interesting” kind of bitterness that is ever so slight.
Teasnob mentioned a “salty” note to this tea, and I am tasting that too. I didn’t get it in the first couple of sips, but, now that I’m about a 1/4th of the way through this cup the salty tone is presenting itself. It’s a very interesting quality to this tea that I don’t think I’ve really ever experienced before – I like it!
My assumptions:
This tea would be darker than dark! A pure black brew! Stronger than strong…almost coffee-like.
I was wrong!
The color was a light brown. The taste was strong but not a thick black chewy tea taste is was astringent and almost darjeeling tasting.
This was quite good just much different from what I was expecting!
We tasted the two varieties of Tao of Tea jasmine pearls side by side at the shop. Both are delicious! But, I favor the cheaper ones. It’s a more earthy flavor. The expensive ones are sweeter and have a stronger floral scent.
Preparation
I don’t usually like my oolongs on the lighter greener side, rather preferring them to be the roasty dark chinese restaurant type variety, but I like this one. I went out to lunch today and ordered the oolong tea. It came in a super cute cast iron teapot (now I want one of those and I want this tea). The tea was very light in color and had a floral jasmine like flavor to it. I think I drank 3 cups of it. Very nice tea.
Note – I’m not entirely sure it was from The Tao of Tea. It was about this color (in the pic) and it the description sounds right. The name of the tea is definitely Bamboo Mountain so odds are I’ve made a correct guess about the company.
Preparation
Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a sampling of this tea!
This is a tasty cup. The black tea is strong and robust, and the warmth of the spices slowly develops. There is also a very pleasing sweetness to the cup.
I just finished writing my full-length review for this tea on the Tea Review Blog, it should be published soon!
Thanks LiberTeas!
This is tart and double the floral…you have chamomile AND rose! The tartiness is from the hibiscus. I’m not much of a fan of either Hibiscus or Chamomile but this isn’t too shabby considering it has both. I think it would be better cold, however.
★★★
(Detailed Review Coming Soon)
Notes:
Interesting, this is an Indian grown Oolong tea, one of the first authentic style Oolongs from India. To me it’s very similar in flavor to some Monkey Picked Oolongs (Ti Kuan Yin) I’ve tried, with that distinct toasty aroma and taste, but a bit more acidic—tangier if you will.
Final thought:
It’s a good tea. But I’d rather buy a Monkey Picked Oolong.
My Ratings…
★ = Didn’t Hate It.
★★ = Not Bad.
★★★ = Me Likey.
★★★★ = Impressive!
★★★★★ = AwesomeSauce!
Preparation
★★★★
(Detailed Review Coming Soon)
Notes:
I don’t normally buy/drink Black Teas, but this has me interested. Pretty dang delicious. I’d buy it again for sure.
My Ratings…
★ = Didn’t Hate It.
★★ = Not Bad.
★★★ = Me Likey.
★★★★ = Impressive!
★★★★★ = AwesomeSauce!
