Michelle Butler Hallett

Made for me at a DavidsTea location. Steeped 3 minutes.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I can say I fell backwards into a tea-gasm.

Lots of Hunnan-like notes: oak, some wineyness, plums … clean finish … some Darjeeling-like earthiness without much astringency … definitely worth trying, if you like a good black tea.

1 pyramid bag for 250mL water @82C. Drunk bare.

Oh. My. God.

My local teashop, Britannia Teas and Gifts, is a little low on jasmine right now, but they did have these little pyramid bags. (The owner had maybe 2tsp of my beloved Dragon Tears left and gave me those — yesss!) I needed jasmine. I really needed jasmine. I probably would have tried to eat dried petals our of a bride’s bouquet. Dunno what it is with me and jasmine tea, but when I want it, I want it bad.

I was a little dubious about the pyramid bags, because I’m a snob. But the leaves are long and twisty, and the aroma is strong. It’s a China green base, and a fairly grassy one — no broth or brine here. The balance of jasmine is freakin heavenly. I did oversteep the first infusion at 3 minutes — 2 would have been better — and got some soapiness from the flowers, but it was so good I didn’t care, just drinking it down til I could add some water. Second infusion at 3 minutes, 3rd at 3 min 30 seconds. Golden green liquor and a great jasmine hit each time. I think Dragon Tears are slightly better, but this Golden Dragon is very, very good. If you placed a cup of each in front of me, I’d have trouble telling which was which.

Good jasmine tea makes me feel relaxed and a bit goofy. I also find — and this is just my own observation, not in any way medical advice — it takes some edge off my arthritis pain. Maybe there’s something mysterious about the jasmine flower that medicine should look into. There’s a lot of bad jasmine tea out there; this is one of the good ones, I promise.

Made for me at a DavidsTea store. Steeped 3 minutes. Drunk bare.’

You’ve got to seriously like floral teas, and especially, like the scent of roses, to enjoy this tea.

Luckily, I was right in the mood.

A good balance of rose and a mild China green. By the end of the cup, I got more roses than tea.

I expect a 3-minute steep is as much as this tea can tolerate. There was a slight soapiness to the rose by the end.

It tastes of green tea and roses. A bit perfumey. Might be better enjoyed 125mL at a time, versus 250mL or more.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @ 90C, steeped 5 minutes, drunk bare.

Yes, water at 90C. I’d set the Breville for oolong but changed my mind. I didn;t then change the setting because I thought water on the rolling boil would scald the sweet stuff in here.

It smells and tastes like red velvet cake. This is exactly what they intended. I catch the faintest touch of black tea on the back of my tongue.

I’m generally not a fan of flavoured teas, but I keep trying them. The DavidsTea Buttered Rum really appealed to me earlier in the week, so I took the chance on Red Velvet Cake. I’ll keep it on hand for when I want to eat something sweet and see if taking this tea instead saves me a few calories.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @90C, variable steep times, 3 infusions.

I am drinking a LOT of Quangzhou lately. I am getting ready to submit a new book to a publisher, and my nerves are shot. That’s my excuse.

I find the Quangzhou from my local indie shop to be better, so I figured my tide-me-over packet from DavidsTea wouldn’t be as blissful. Even so, I’m a bit disappointed. I think this batch is stale — like air got at it. The scent is faint, and it’s only good for one infusion. Quangzhou milk oolong is hard to find, so I really don’t want to take it back; besides, I’ll only get a replacement from the same batch, and someone’s got to drink it. ;) Still, I wish it was a little more potent, rather than this shady memory of itself. My rating goes down, but only because this batch is stale: 85. A good rating, but a shameful drop for Quangzhou milk oolong.

To be clear: the staff at my local DavidsTea location wouldn’t hesistate to offer a replacement. They’re really good over there.

1.25 tsp for 250mL water @90C, steeped four minutes.

Tie Kwan Yin, or, Iron Goddess of Mercy, is the tea with the best name, hands down. It’s also the first oolong I ever tried, and I fell hard for it.

This one has some notes similar to Quangzhou milk, as though someone a ferw desks down had just made some Quangzhou. This is not a creamy oolong, of course, instead floral and slightly mineral. Good body, lovely mouthfeel, lots of nuance. If I can’t have Quangzhou, I turn to supplicate the Iron Goddess.

1.25 tsp for 250 mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

I’m not a fan of flavoured teasm but I keep trying them. My local DavidsTea has a little rack at the cash of 25 g packets, 2 for $5.00, so I picked up 25g of Buttered Rum.

I can actually taste some tea in this one. The coconut is an inspiration, lending the liquor a creamy mouthfeel. Not too sweet, not too heavy, definitely a bit different. It smells like a Buttered Rum Lifesaver but tastes way better. I can see drinking this one a fair bit, to my pleasant surprise.

Made for me at a DavidsTea store.

I sniffed this one last week and found it dusty; I blamed the cinnamon. I also didn’t like th elook of it; dark oolong generally doesn’t appeal to me. And the former name, Dr CHocolate, irked me because the blend contains no chocolate. See? mbh, the tea bitch.

It’s got a pleasant ginger bite which balances well with the cinnamon and carob. Inoffensive. But I detected no oolong at all. I’d drink this medicainlly, but I doubt I’ll drink it for pleasure.

1.25 for 250mL water @90C, steeped 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes.

Fresh batch!

The first infusion gave up so much cream I thought I would swoon. I got three excellent infusions from the one little scoop, and could probably have gotten a fourth, more orchid than cream by then. I needed this tea so badly this weekend that I shook out my bag for every loose coin — I’ve just gotten my kids ready for school and really have no business buying tea right now — but oh, oh yes, it’s worth whatever ya gotta do to get some. As I’ve noted before, I don’t know where my local indie tea shop, Britannia Teas and Gifts, gets their Quangzhou milk, but it is better than what DavidsTea carries. Delicious, fragrant, nuanced, and creamy — perfection.

1.25 tsp for 250 mL water @ 82C, steeped 3 minutes.

Buttered scallops.

Not for me.

1 TB in 2/3 cup gourd, water @ 90C.

Smells sooo good, lots of cinnamon, but not air-freshener or bad candle cinnamon. The roasted mate itself can get bitter, but a lower temp on the water helps. Pleasant milk chocolate notes. Gives a decent mate buzz, though Jumpy Monkey is better for that.

Ooops.

1.25 tsp, steeped, er, God knows how long forgotten on my desk (11+ minutes), drunk bare.

I noticed yesterday that a five-minute steep brought out bitterness in the Tiger, but there’s no bitterness today. What I’ve got here, in my covered mug, is a thick and creamy Assam concentrate that remains, somehow, gentle. Not bitter. Not malty enough to strip paint (though there is a lovely pucker), and nowhere near acidic enough to upset my stomac, as some stronglybrewed black teas will. Floral and plum notes round out a chewy liquor that may well keep me awake through the night. A&D are correct; this one forgives a long steep. This is a really good Assam, mellow and easy-going, and well worth the price.

1.25 tsp for 250mL water@100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

Like, omigod, the tea even came with, like, a blood-dripping A&D button I can pin on my jacket!

An excellent smoky China black tea. Not quite the same as I remember — it’s missing that almost savoury /salty note — but still a more nuanced smoky tea than many. The smoke scent is strong but not smothering, while the liquor itself, a light brown with some reddish tones, is mineral and sweet and sparkling — not carbonated, obviously, but giving definite bite. Smoky notes in the finish. A very light body. I may try making this stronger tomorrow.

1.25 tsp for 250mL water @100C, drunk bare, steeped 4 minutes.

I’ve had a hell of a week. A chronic illness has been seriously bullying me since last Saturday; my writing is a hard slog; the dayjob took every drop of blood out of me; I needed to get groceries on the way home; I arrived home late, supper-less, grumpy, and in a muck sweat, put away the groceries, then did a good half hour of heavy cleaning in the basement. Done that, I was in a foul temper.

And then I saw a rock band (Caravan) and a tiger on my dining room table.

Things are looking up.

The dry leaf is dark and rich-looking, with only the occasional fleck of amber. The leaves are long and smell damp-earthy for an Assam, but in a very good way. The liquor is reddish-brown, almost as reddish as a good Keemun. Aroma is winy rather than malty, with some cocoa and plum notes. Medium to heavy body, smooth mouthfeel, mineral start and finish with sweet malt and again, a slightly winey finish. A really good Assam — though I long for the Captain (ahem). Some surprising but pleasing buttery notes as I get further down the cup. Some malty pucker, too.

Tiger Assam is restoring my good will. Seriously, I’ve got this tea-dork smile on. And I got a button to put on my jacket with my order.

1 TB in a gourd with 250 mL water @ 98, drunk bare.

First, I gotta warm ya: the new ceramic mate gourd with bombilla at DavidsTea is a design FAILURE. It looks cute, but it gets WAYYYY too hot to touch. Seriously, there is no safe way to pick it up. The ceramic gets extremely hot. This could easily result in a bad scald.My hand has a slight burn from trying not to drop the damn thing.

The new Cocoa Canela mate blend, however, is quite good. Lots of cinnamon. Lots of chocolate. Some mate. Makes a very murky brew in the gourd, but that’s to be expected with the chcooclate and cinnamon. It’s a sweetish, mily chooclate flavour, and the cinnamon is fresh and penetrating.

4 tsp for 750mL @100C for 5 minutes and 30 seconds in the Breville, basket cycle on. Drunk bare.

Fresh batch. Winier than the last batch. Distant smoke. Liquor in the glass Breville pot is more red than brown. Some floral and toasty notes. A thoroughly enjoyable Keemun.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @80C, steeped two minutes, drunk bare.

Cleaning out my tea cabinet to make room for my Persian tea glasses, and I found this beauty in a good tin. Why don’t I gave this more often? (I say the same about Dragonwell.) Mostly because there’s only a standard kettle at my workplace, so it’s hard to judge water temp.

Biscuity, a bit sweet, and a creamy-green taste. Refreshing and a bit different after a lot of Keemun. This is a first infusion; I am guessing the leaves are good for at least two more steeps.

Made for me at a DavidsTEa store.

And you’re saying, Michelle, for the love of all that’s good and pure, stop trying the flavoured teas, because you hardly ever like them.

I live in optimism.

This one is pineapple-flavoured hot water. Some mineral notes as the liquor cools. That’s it.

I just, this minute, ordered the 4oz re-issue. CAN HARDLY WAIT … and shipping to Canada is 9-11 DAYS.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @95C, steeped seven minutes, drunk bare.

This tea has one delightful and unusual charactertisic: the longer is steeps, the sweeter the finish. A longer steep does obscure some of the nuances I talked about earlier, and it makes the liquor look like coffee, but the blend of tastes, now dark plums, dark honey, oak, and and toasted bread, is very agreeable. Body remains light as plain water. Finish is sweet, as noted, with some faint oakiness that could get bitter, and mineral. Superbly refreshing.

1 bag for 250mL water @100C, steeped five minutes. Drunk bare.

Sipdown.

Well, look what I just found, hinding in my tea cupboard. This blend is an old favourite from university, back in the early 1990s. I had a kettle in my dorm room, which I’m pretty sure was against some rule or another, and, after far too little sleep, I’d plop a bag of this into a travel mug, pour in the boiling water and lurch to class. I’d leave the bag in, desperate for any spare molecule of caffeine. I also liked the Assam notes.

CTC leaf that does not swell much. Liquor is dark and murky. Scent is all malt and biscuits with, believe it or not, a very faint floral note. It’s not bitter, but it does get assertive: no doubt, you’re drinking an Assam-heavy blend.And that’s just fine on a damp, foggy and cold day here in St. John’s.

I’ve drunk better Irish Breakfast blend. My local indie shop. Britannia, sells one so strong and malty it’ll make your socks roll up and down. Stash’s own loose leaf IB, and their loose Super IB, arem preditably, better than their bagged version. But the bagged IB gets serious nostalgia points. It was also one of my gateway teas, so I owe it gratitude. You can do much, much worse in a bagged tea.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @ 95C, steeped four minutes, drunk bare.

This is a really good Ceylon tea. Bright and cheerful.My mom-in-law will make an entire 6-cup pot from the amount I use for a cup, so it’s pretty versatile. Forgives an accidentally long steep, but I find I really like it at the four-minute mark. Would welcome cookies and shortbreads, I think; I’d fearlessly serve this as a fancy tea party.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @95C. Drunk bare.

Backlogging.

Well, unlikely many of the blends at DavidsTea, I _can_actually taste the tea in this one. The balance of strawberries and little bits of sugar is quite nice, and, thank the tea gods, there’s no freakin hibiscus in this blend. But but but — and I’m being difficult — I wish I could taste more tea than I can strawberries and sugar.

I expect this might be quite nice, if a little weak, cold-brewed for an iced tea.

1.25 tsp for 250mL water @100C. Drunk bare.

I have no idea if my city’s water is hard or soft. I can tell you it comes directly from a lake, with minimal treatment. The City might up the chlorine in summer, but otherwise my tap water tastes very clean: a bit reedy, with some faint mineral notes. So far, it’s never let me down when making tea, so I don’t bother with expensive and, frankly, bothersome 18.l L jugs pf springwater.

So I can’t say if Scottish Blend is any good for hard or soft water.

I can say it’s a very acceptable black tea blend, lighter than I expected, and one I would serve to my late Geordie grandmother without fear. I got a 250g package of it from a friend in Edinburgh, along with some Scottish sweets. Am I spoilt, or what? Scottish Blend smells malty and a bready, but the liquor is a medium reddish brown and quite clear. It’s more confident than assertive, and not bitter, even with a long steep. The body is light, which surprised me. There is a malty pucker at the end of a sip, but I’m thinking this is more Kenyan tea than Assam. The leaves are tiny, little CTC pinheads,and they don’t expand much. This tea would totally stand up to milk. I like it much more than I thought I would. Scottish Blend 1, Tea Snob 0.