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“I’m not great with simpler teas, because I don’t taste the nuances that others identify. This one does feel simple to me. It’s black tea with the barest hint of fruit at the end. I am certain it...” Read full tasting note
“Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar – Day 18 (originally written November 18th) Another double black day in advent calendar teas! Although technically this blend has some oolong in it as well. ...” Read full tasting note
“additional notes: Why yes, I AM drinking this while reading David Copperfield on this windy day. I might not have sipped it since the first time I tried it. It’s still just okay…” Read full tasting note
Unlike many of his characters, Charles Dickens was born to loving parents in February of 1812. However, when he was only 12, his father was imprisoned for debt and Charles was sent to work in a blacking factory where he labeled endless bottles of shoeshine. He would leave the factory four years later to finish his education, but those formative years deeply affected him and inspired many of the boyhood horrors he would later write about. He wrote many of his most famous novels like Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby episodically, with a new chapter appearing in a magazine each month. These works examined the lives of the less fortunate and found humanity amid the most inhuman conditions.
Tea appeared in Dickens’ work as a calming force like in David Copperfield, when the main character recounts how he “sat swilling tea until [his] whole nervous system, if [he] had had any in those days, must have gone by the board.” Or it could surface as a commonality between classes that allowed Dickens to emphasize the stark differences between lifestyles. While a “real solid silver teapot” and “real silver spoons to stir the tea with” are listed among the treasures of Old Lobbs in The Pickwick Papers, “a regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes” described in Oliver Twist would provide “a public breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper all the year round.” Our Charles Dickens blend adds a flash of color to a traditional british tea. The blend is a hearty, well-rounded blend of China and Indian teas that has an amber cup with a light currant after-taste.
Ingredients: Black teas, oolong tea, black currant flavoring, and cornflower petals.
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I’m not great with simpler teas, because I don’t taste the nuances that others identify. This one does feel simple to me. It’s black tea with the barest hint of fruit at the end. I am certain it would make a delicious pitcher of iced tea that I could drink all day.
The whole leaves were fun to watch bloom as it steeped, and with a touch of honey, I even enjoyed it hot, even if I wasn’t immediately impressed.
sipsby advent, day 5*
(sipsby packages this in no particular order, so your order may be different than mine)
Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar – Day 18
(originally written November 18th)
Another double black day in advent calendar teas! Although technically this blend has some oolong in it as well. From the description, it sounds like a breakfast blend with a bit of blackcurrant involved. The oolong isn’t mentioned.
I quite like this one! It’s a bit light to be a breakfast tea, perhaps better suited for the afternoon. But I don’t often drink strong breakfast teas, so this is perfect for me. There’s a nice mix of malt, baked bread, and mild earth and wood notes. I can also taste the light roasty, dried-leafy flavor of the oolong. The blackcurrant is just a hint at the end, and melds nicely with the teas.
This is a tasty light black blend with a little touch of blackcurrant. Yummy! I would consider ordering it in the future.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Black Currant, Bread, Earth, Malt, Roasted, Smooth, Sweet, Wood
additional notes: Why yes, I AM drinking this while reading David Copperfield on this windy day. I might not have sipped it since the first time I tried it. It’s still just okay…
Somehow I’ve never gotten to reading David Copperfield, but last fall I did watch the BBC series with Daniel Radcliffe. I do like to trot out Great Expectations when the weather gets raw.
Yes, I think I like Great Expectations more!
Have you ever watched the mash-up series called Dickensian? Lots of fun.
No, I haven’t seen that. Thanks for making me aware of it though, I will definitely watch it when I have read a couple more from Dickens.
