KittyLovesTea

The first tea from my London Tea Company box sampler. Thank you mother for my gift, new tea is always welcome in this house :D

This tea has a nice caramel touch in sweetness and smoothness. Rich, light, refreshing, malty, clean. Very nice for a bagged tea and great for an everyday tea. One of the cleanest tasting breakfast teas I have tried.

It’s naughty I know but even though it’s not my birthday yet (only a few hours to go) but I am trying this tea from my birthday stash. Thank you to my mum for this tea, she bought me a Tea Palace sampler with 8 different teas.

The tea in raw form consists of dark and golden brown leaves that are short and thin. They have an earthy, malty yet floral scent.

I am using my Gongfu with my usual 3 steeps. (1m,2m,3m) using two heaped spoons of tea.

Steep 1 – 1 minute
The tea is now dark red (Baltic Amber) in colour with a sweet malty scent. Strong, rich, smooth, malty, sweet, fresh, smoky, woody. The strength is strong (to my particular taste) and carries so bitterness. Malty with a smoky touch but quite light too, you simply sip, admire the flavour and then as though by magic it’s gone. It is very refreshing.

Steep 2 – 2 minutes
Orange in colour. Not as strong but still smooth and refreshing. I would even say this steep is sweeter than the first, honeyed almost. There is also a floral dryness that edges on becoming perfume like.

Steep 3 – 3 minutes
The malt has vanished and been replaced with a buttery floral very mellowness. A little on the dry side now.

Overall it was very enjoyable and showed great quality. I’m not a huge lover of Assam and I was not expecting much but this has made me realise that I do like Assam….good quality Assam. I’m going to treat myself to another pot of this before bed :)

Thanks to Alphakitty I have been craving this tea all day. I placed an order for 100g from Teavivre a couple of weeks ago and I’m still waiting for them to arrive. Thankfully I remembered to put a sampler aside for times like these.

It’s my birthday tomorrow and I hate getting older. Tomorrow I will be 25..me..an adult….I’m married to a man whose almost 30. I mean 30…seems so old.I don’t feel a day over 14. Maybe that’s the problem. Oh look I’ve gone and given myself a sour puss, grump face.

Oh well…tea time. Yun Nan Dian Hong Black Tea – Golden Tip Gongfu style. :)

Not a huge fan of anything milk related as I was allergic to it as a child but I get it in fresh for my husband and at the moment we have too much. I heard a great way of using up tea and milk was to make a tea latte so I searched through methods I found online I thought I would give it a go.

A huge vanilla fan I tried this tea, first of all the vanilla smells out of this world. Just simply amazing, any fan of vanilla would love this smell. So natural and fresh, strong, sweet…perfect. As for the taste the vanilla is the strongest flavour followed by a creamy element from the milk. I thought the black base would be stronger than it is but to be frank I like it’s behind the vanilla.

Well a creamy vanilla latte is my first home made latte and it will certainly not be the last. Wow… I cannot believe I have missed out on these. I will be browsing my cupboard in the morning to find suitable latte teas. :)

I remember trying this tea at the Tea Palace store in Covent Garden last year and being so impressed that I just had to buy some. They had a set Gongfu with a stand and small candle underneath to keep it warm, great idea.

I must admit that I am watching a documentary while typing this review so if what I say does not make sense then I apologize. Today we found out that King Richard III body has been found and it’s here in my home town of Leicester. It’s a huge historical moment! :) I’m overwhelmed.

The leaves are a mixture of silver and greeny brown that are squiggly, thin and long in appearance. They have a gentle floral and sweet scent.

Brewed in my Gongfu (3 steeps:1m,2m,3m) with 2 heaped teaspoons of tea.

1 minute – Pale yellow colour – Floral and sweet scent
Light, refreshing, floral, sweet, buttery, nutty. I remember this now :) The strength is good (for a white tea) and it’s sweetness resembles Peony. It’s completely light and buttery that make it just slip down so well. Wonderful quality.

2 minutes – More buttery and floral but at a perfect balance. Packed with flavour while still remaining light and very refreshing. Reminds me of a weak green tea.

3 minutes – Weaker now but still a good third steep. Very sweet and still no bitterness or impure flavours.

It carried itself on well through out all 3 steeps. Even though I am not a huge fan of white tea I think this is absolutely wonderful. Possibly my favourite white tea but too soon to tell. Great quality and taste that works well with re steeps. Plus this one comes with happy memories :)

Thank you NofarS for this swap.

The tea whilst raw has a sweet yet dark vanilla essence that resembles vanilla toffee sweets.

Once brewed the tea has a delicious sweet toffee/fudge smell that makes me want to devour it. I adore fudge, it remembers me of childhood holidays in Cornwall and visiting handmade fudge shops.

A drop of milk has been added. A few sips reveal a smooth, dark liquid treacle affair that is not chemical in taste. Added a zero calorie sugar. The sugar has made it much more toffee like with it’s added sweetness and the vanilla appears to be stronger. The black tea is in the background and I cannot say much about it especially… it’s not malty or floral…perhaps the best I can say is that it’s rich.

A nice blend that is tasty enough to cure my fudge cravings. Delicious!

My second pot of the day and I’m on an Earl Grey bender. I’ve just had dinner (roasted veg with turnip and potato mash, cabbage, broccoli and a vegetarian lattice) and Earl Grey accompanies it all very well.

Perfect.

It’s that time on a Sunday where I’m looking to relax and prepare myself to cook Sunday dinner. I picked this up on Thursday from St Martins Square shop which is in my city centre, my husband sweetly suggested we go for a drink before he started work on a late shift. My husband had a Brazilian roasted coffee while I had a pot of Yunnan. Good stuff :)

Earl Grey I ran out of and the shop sold 125g of it loose leaf for £3.20 (bargain). So here I am with a pot of this and boy it’s very delicious. Refreshing, strong, sweet, juicy, smooth ….all in all a nice cup of Earl Grey. Delicious!

Lets try again (since my previous tea was a disaster). Thank you Dinosara for this swap :)

The raw mixture is dark green in colour with a few yellow petals and large chunks of cranberry scattered around. It’s scent is sweet and fruity in a tutti frutti bubblegum sort of way.

Once steeped the colour is golden with a soapy citrus fruit smell.

Taste is sweet, citrus, soapy, sour, tangy and buttery. The soapy element is strong in taste and flavour which is not to my particular taste and the sour citrus fruit does not help it a great deal. I’m on the fence still, it’s not terrible and it’s not great. There are pleasurable aspects to it and it’s a little different which makes it interesting. The cranberry is hard to detect.

This will be another tea that I cannot rate for the time being, I have 1.8 oz left so I’m sure I will be able to explain it better shortly.

Another interesting looking blend in my cup this morning. With such a large ingredients list I have no idea what this will taste like.

The mixture whilst loose smells floral with a touch of sweetness. Once steeped the tea is amber in colour with a nutty, floral, slight ricey smell.

Sweet, ricey, floral, buttery…and some strange chemical vodka taste. Bleugh that strange chemical taste is increasing in strength and making it foul.

I can’t finish this so I’m throwing it away and making something else.

What an interesting looking blend, not as attractive as it’s picture but never mind. This is a pumpkin tea that doesn’t actually contain any pumpkin which is a little disconcerting as most companies have something in there (pumpkin seed, candy, roasted chunks..anything).

The raw mixture has a spicy edging on sweet scent similar to a weak Chai. Once steeped it’s dark red/brown with a sweet and earthy scent, creamy too.

Creamy, sweet, spicy, melon, smooth, silky and light. It doesn’t taste like pumpkin which isn’t too surprising since it doesn’t actually contain any but there is a slight earthy tone there in place of it. The melon is more noticeable which is interesting…a spicy and creamy melon tea. The rooibos is not that thick (thankfully) and the sweetness is at a modest level.

As far as this tea goes as regards to being a pumpkin tea I would say it was a huge let down. As a rooibos blend it’s rather nice, a little different and considering I love melon it’s turned into an unusual treat for me. Not my favourite by far but drinkable at any rate.

I only have a 3 cup sampler of this and thought that with my recent thirst for all that is fruity I would give this a try tonight.

In appearance the white tea is chopped into small dark green pieces with a few spots of silver amongst the mixture. The scent whilst raw smells like strawberry leaf rather than actual fresh strawberry but it’s sweet and desirable non the less.

Once steeped the colour is dark gold/yellow with a gentle yet sweet strawberry scent.

The flavour is melllow and refreshing with a sweet lingering strawberry taste. It’s strawberry leaf over strawberry in taste but there is no bitterness or tang that I usually find with it. There is also a slight floral freshness behind the sweetness. I’m picking up honeyed tones as I drink more, a sweet smoothness that silks it’s way over the strawberry.

One cup remains…. iced tea may be nice. :)

With a name like Forever Nuts I did imagine that this tea would contain more nuts than what it actually does. In appearance it is the same colour and consistently of chopped nuts which I suppose aids it’s name.

The apple pieces are tough and very dry which does not look very fresh. I can only spot a small amount of almond and cinnamon bark in the blend. Not very impressive so far. The smell is subtle with tones of dark spicy fruit at it’s best/strongest.

Once steeped the tea is deep pink in colour with a sweet, creamy and nutty scent. Like roasted almonds.

Hmmm… this is an… interesting… flavour. It tastes nutty, dry, sweet, fruity and tangy. I can’t taste any cinnamon or spice which was prominent in the raw scent. Every sip is a little different: fruit, nuts, candy, cake.

I’m still unsure about this one… it’s just different and I cannot decide if it’s a positive thing or not. My husband is undecided too.

Steeping my last sample of this beautiful tea. I bow down before you Luscious Watermelon and vow never forget your sweet watermelon taste.

Once again thank you Kittenna for introducing this tea into my life. :)

I have made my own mixture using Peach Oolong and Chocolate teas from Adagio. My creation tastes like chocolate peach pie :) I may add a little vanilla in there as well or cream to see what difference it makes.

Overall it’s sweet, peachy nutty, mellow, chocolaty and rich. It’s growing on me :)

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I had forgotten I have this tea until I browsed my Adagio collection for something fruity to quench my thirst. A black based fruit tea is always perfect for making iced tea with and this would make a particularly scrumptious one. Juicy and sweet mango with rich and smooth black tea, not a strong mixture but freshing and tasty non the less.

The weather is starting to pick up here in the UK and the first promises of sun and hot weather have given me a craving for fruit. No fruit in particular just something sweet and juicy to relax with.

This fruit tea looked fresh and tasty in raw form, there were chunks of apple and berries that looked so soft and sweet that I had to munch on a few to try. :) Very yummy and fresh.

After the long 10 minute steep the tea is red in colour (from the hibiscus) and has a tart berry scent.

The taste is refreshingly fruity, with sweet apple being the strongest flavour followed by a sour/tart berry taste. It’s not very strong overall despite using 2 tsp of raw mixture and leaving it for 10 minutes to steep. It’s similar to one of those flavoured waters you can buy that have a slight fruity after taste.

Another eBay purchase, I’ve been doing that a lot lately. It’s unusual that I should buy bagged tea like this one but if the price is right I will try anything.

When I open the cellophane a strong bergamot and citrus smell was unleashed. The teas are enclosed into little individual sachets so they are handy to transport (pop into a hand bag or wallet :)

A drop of milk has been added. Once brewed the tea has a gentle bergamot scent with a touch of lemon. In flavour it’s quite mellow and smooth but also slightly sweet with a hint of bergamot and citrus fruit. For a bagged tea it’s very inoffensive and quite pleasing. My husband said it’s going down very well and asked if he could take the rest to work. That’s great for me, while this is a nice tea it’s not to my preferred strength standard so I would have to risk longer steeps which would risk harshness in flavour.

I would drink this again if I was in the mood for nothing particularly special (that didn’t require me to break out a Gongfu or Gaiwan).

I bought this one because it reminds me of my Grandad (who is Welsh and still lives in Wales). Plus I can never have too many black teas, great for when guests come over and just simply ask for tea. :)

The loose mixture smells strongly earthy with a touch of malt. Deep brown black in colour and looks like most other loose black teas.

Once steeped a drop of milk was added. A strong smelling malty tea is created.

It’s strong with a smooth and sweet malty mist. The strength is equal to a decent breakfast tea or for whenever you need a bit of a boost. Even though it’s strong it does taste fresh and the fact that it’s organic boosts it up in rank.

Looks like I have just found a cheap yet delicious and strong black tea to stock up on. :)

Thank you Sare for this sample.

The bag itself is filled with finely, somewhat powdered black tea that smells a little dusky and rich.

Once steeped and a drop of milk is added a strong and sweet yet malty tea is created. It’s better than what I was expecting in honesty, it’s natural sweetness is enough to cover the dusty somewhat musky taste that bagged tea has. The malt is also of good strength which is great for those of us that prefer a stronger brew. I can also taste a dark fruitiness amongst the malty rich black tea and there has been no bitterness so far.

This is one of the only Tazo Teas that I would not mind having more of on my shelf. It says what it does on the bag, it’s strong with a good caffeine kick…what more could I ask for? :)

This arrived this morning from a new eBay shop that I stumbled upon the other day. Almond Cookies sound delicious. Yum! Yum!

The raw mixture consists of long and thin chopped green leaves mixed with white coconut pieces. It does smell like almond but sweeter than normal … it’s starting to remind me of those sugared almond sweets that appear every Easter. Maybe like marzipan too. :) Licks lips

Once steeped it’s yellow in colour and smells like sweet almonds, more toned down than it’s raw form.

Yummy. It tastes like sweet almond sugar cookies. The green tea picks up in flavour the more I drink and it brings a fresh gentle floral hint, it’s also sort of toasty. The coconut is sort of in the after taste but other than that it blends in well. As it cools it gets a little stronger and much more like almond sweets. Perhaps next time I should try this one as an iced tea. :)

I am definitely going to have to buy more of this. Thank you eBay for this nice find and thank you Green Mountain Tea for this delicious blend.

Thank you Dinosara for this sample.

I open the tin wondering what will be on the other side to greet me, lets just say I was happy as to what greeted me. Small black chopped tea leaves that have an amazing sweet, fruity, fresh and floral scent that lingers. Very pleasant.

Brewing with 1.5 teaspoons worth of leaves in an empty tea sac.

Once steeped the tea is dark brown in colour with that same fruity and floral scent. It sort of reminds me of citrus flavoured sherbet.

Sipping…The citrus is sour at first but quickly mellows to become sweet. The bergamot helps to keep the citrus sweet and fresh so the two different sides work well together. There is a little bit of floral taste which is also sweet like peony but the fruit is more dominant. As for the tea as a whole it’s very smooth and of average/fair strength.

It’s an Earl Grey with a twist and for me it works together very well but I also think there is enough character in there to be enjoyed by non Earl Grey lovers.

In one word I find this tea … refreshing.