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I stumbled upon this little gem at our local Provisions store. This tea comes from a company that I was familiar with for its herbs and spices, but not teas. These folks knew what they were doing when they decided to whip up a blend of black tea and mint herbs.

When I opened the two-ounce packet of leaves, a very fresh spearmint/peppermint (both herbs are in this blend) aroma was present. There was such a generous portion of mint in this selection that I had to read the ingredients on the packet to verify that this was black tea and not green tea. The leaves were very short, almost like pipe tobacco.

There were no steeping instructions on the packet so I brewed the tea for three minutes at 205 degrees. I thought maybe I should go a little easier on the mint than full steam boiling. The color of the steeped tea was a golden reddish mix.

Although there wasn’t a strong mint aroma spewing from the cup, the taste of this tea was just loaded with mint. The spearmint/peppermint infusion was perfect. It was fresh and potent without becoming obnoxious. I couldn’t identify a tea taste per se, but it didn’t matter. The flavor was just a wonderful waltz of mint. The aftertaste was a pleasing mint symphony that I wished had lingered longer.

I thoroughly enjoyed four cups of this tea in the morning. The next time the leaves hit my tea maker will be in the afternoon. I’m going to pour it over ice after brewing. I’m sure this will be an excellent iced tea to which Southerners I know will happily say, “Y’all come back, hear?”

Thanks once more to TeaVivre and Angel for this sample!

Again I must preface this note with a disclaimer that I am not a green tea aficionado. As an allergy sufferer, I need strong smells and tastes to penetrate my constantly tormented sinuses and taste buds. A lot of green tea selections seem to have flavors that are much weaker than the black tea powerhouses that I prefer. Plus, I require a more electrifying caffeine jolt in the morning to bring me back to life.

When I opened this package, I noticed the fresh quality of the long green tea leaves. This is probably because the harvest was less than two months ago. The unbrewed odor was very faint and somewhat grassy.

I steeped the leaves for two minutes at 185 degrees as directed on the package. The color of the brewed tea was an extremely pale greenish gold, just a tad darker than clear. I didn’t detect any aroma emanating from my cup, even when I pushed my snozz deep inside of it.

The flavor was…there…but it lacked definition, depth, and power. It wasn’t unpleasant. It wasn’t bitter. It was illusive. After really concentrating and focusing hard during a cup and a half of sips, I was finally able to register a ghostly sweet and lightly grassy taste on my palate.

If green teas are your preference, and your sinuses are in much better shape than mine, you probably won’t find anything dislikable about this selection. However, if you are olfactorily challenged (as I am), you may find yourself pining for TeaVivre’s Premium Keemun Hao Ya or Yun Nan Dian Hong – Golden Tip black teas (as I did).

Thanks again, Angel And TeaVivre, for this sample!

It appears that I wrote a tasting note about this tea a year ago. After I finish this note, I’m going to go back and read last year’s note to see if I’ve become wiser or just more crotchety.

A strong but nice grassy aroma emerged from the sample packet when I opened it. The unbrewed green tea leaves were long, bright, and flat.

I steeped this tea for two minutes at 175 degrees (one degree lower than the recommended 176 degrees due to tea maker limitations). The brewed color was a fairly vibrant golden green. The odor was grassy and sweet.

As you may have seen me write ad nauseam, I am not a green tea banner waver. However, I’ve got to say, I REALLY like the taste of this one!

The flavor is fresh, sweet, and grassy, like a newly mowed Spring meadow. Absolutely no bitterness is present. The aftertaste lingers delicately on your palate.

It’s hard for me to rank green teas since I tend to dismiss them after tasting them. But, if forced to do so, this selection would definitely be near the top of my list!

Thank you once again, Angel and TeaVivre, for another sample!

OK. I don’t want to beat a dead horse (or tea leaf) but green teas and I aren’t close. I’ll try them and any other variety of tea, but I’m a black tea kind of guy.

When I opened the sample package for this selection, a fairly strong grassy aroma burst forth. The leaves were full, bright green, and flat.

I steeped this rascal for two minutes at 175 degrees. The brewed aroma was again grassy and a touch sweet. The color was a fairly golden green (which became bright gold after 30 minutes of post-brewed heating).

I was pleasantly surprised by the moderately full taste of this tea. Sometimes green teas don’t contain enough flavor to completely register with my taste buds. This selection had a very recognizable grassy and sweet flavor. The taste was light and lively with an equally affable aftertaste.

I’m not ready to replace my stash of black teas with green blends, but I did find this variety quite pleasant to sip during the early afternoon. I’m sure I would also enjoy it during my days off from work when my brain doesn’t require as much kick-starting.

Thanks again to Angel and TeaVivre for this new sample!

Let me quickly again sum up my feelings about green tea: not much into it. However, I am always willing to try new varieties, and have found a few that I’ve liked, not enough to make them a daily habit, but they’ve been tasty.

The flat bright green leaves in the sample package of this selection had a sweet grassy aroma. I steeped them for two minutes at 175 degrees as recommended in the instructions (176 degrees was recommended, but close counts).

The brewed liquid was an extremely pale golden green. The steeped aroma was very faint and slightly sweet.

It took several sips before my brain and taste buds could process enough flavor information to classify it. Then, I began to discern a sort of sweet, slightly spicy, kind of grassy taste. The flavor was smooth, very light, and too delicate to produce any bitterness.

This tea was pleasant to drink and may be a fine late afternoon or early evening selection, but I prefer stronger and more robust flavors. To be fair, I should also mention that we are now in peak pollen and allergy season here in South Carolina, so my tasting apparatus isn’t as sensitive as it is at other times of the year.

Having said that, there is nothing at all wrong with this tea’s amiable flavors. The volume just isn’t pumped up enough for my preference.

Thank you Angel and TeaVivre for this sample!

I am always excited to try new black teas. The black blends are definitely my favorite. I love their robust and powerful flavors as well as the extra jolt of caffeine that they give me in the morning to launch my day.

This selection from TeaVivre worried me at first because of the word “fragrant” in the title. I tend to not enjoy blends that include flowery or perfume-like tastes and aromas. However, I was immediately encouraged when I noticed that there was no flowery or perfume smell when I opened the sample packet.

I steeped the thin black short leaves for three minutes at 195 degrees (one degree more than the instructions recommended due to tea maker limitations). The brewed color was a dark amber. There was no “fragrant” aroma wafting from the cup (which was fine with me).

The taste of this brew was slightly sweet and malty. It also had the earthy quality that I’ve grown accustomed to with other Keemun teas. I did not detect any floral or fragrant attribute in the flavor either.

The aftertaste was pleasant and a tad sweet. Bitterness was completely absent.

This is another very nice tea from the folks at TeaVivre. In my opinion, the absence of anything “fragrant” makes it even better!

More thanks go out to Angel and TeaVivre for another sample to taste!

I’m never very confident that I will like new green tea selections because I prefer robust and potent black teas to bring me into consciousness each morning. I was even more leery of this sample for two reasons:

1) Well…It’s green tea. :-)
2) The recommended steeping time is only 1 minute! How much flavor can possibly be wrung from the tea leaves in that brief period?!

But, always game to try new varieties, I marched on. The full green leaves in the sample packet had a slightly sweet and grassy odor. I followed TeaVivre’s instructions and brewed this tea for 1 minute at 175 degrees (176 degrees was actually recommended but the tea maker has no setting for it).

The brewed liquid was a pale golden green, which surprised me. I was expecting little color at all after only one minute of brewing! The aroma was grassy and sweeter than the unsteeped leaves.

When I sipped this tea, I did so very slowly and purposefully at first, not wanting to miss any of the quickly brewed flavor. I was quite pleased to discover that an ample and satisfactory sweet, grassy, green tea taste existed! The flavor also contained undertones of something extra, not quite floral, but like an echo of honeysuckle. It was very smooth with not even a trickle of bitterness.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, I liked this selection. It didn’t make me a green tea convert, but I will re-steep this blend for a few more cups. It is smooth, light, and airy, and probably has everything in it that I would love…if I loved green teas. :-)

It’s great to be tasting and reviewing new teas again after my three-month hiatus! Since I’m the only tea drinker in my house, it became urgent for me to go into self-imposed exile, to whittle down my accumulating stash before it needed a room of its own.

Thank you, Teavivre, for putting me back in the game with more free samples!

I’d already tried a few other brands of Lapsang smoky tea and liked them all, so I was anxious to experience Teavivre’s variation on this familiar theme. Bring it on!

Upon opening the two-cup sample package of full tea leaves, my nostrils immediately detected the smoky aroma that I remembered from the other Lapsang smoky selections. However, this scent was not nearly as powerful as the other brands had been.

In accordance with Teavivre’s instructions, I steeped the tea at 195 degrees (the instructions specified 194 degrees but my tea maker is not quite that precise – close enough!) for two minutes. The brewed liquid was a light golden color. A slightly smoky aroma was emitted from my cup.

At first sip, the smoky taste was definitely obvious but it did not slap me silly like the other brands. The other selections gave me flashbacks of sitting by a campfire.

With my second sip, I contemplated whether the more subtle smoky quality was a good or bad thing. But…then it happened. A mellow and sweet taste began to emerge from the smoke. The extra flavors added an interesting complexity that I hadn’t experienced with this type before.

The aftertaste of this tea was complex, mellow, and sweet without bitterness. The smokiness was discernible but did not scream for attention.

I like this selection very much. I realize now that, with tea (like other things in life), what you are used to is not always the best, and more is not always better. This tea has everything that you would expect and desire in a Lapsang Souchong smoky black tea, and so much more, without shouting. This blend should be savored, not gulped!

This was another bagged sample obtained by my lovely wife at a high-class hotel during her business trip. I am no longer a big bag advocate but I am always more than willing to sample new tea selections.

I steeped this tea on our office Flavia coffee machine by pouring the machine’s boiling water over the bag into a paper cup. The Flavia aparatus does include a “tea” setting to do this, but the setting is no more designed for tea than it would be for instant oatmeal.

In any event, I let the bag sit in the boiling water for five minutes. The resulting color was a reddish golden brown.

As I raised the cup to my lips, I detected a peachy aroma. This made me anxious for my first taste since I rarely smell anything with brewed tea bags. However, the party ended when the flavor hit my taste buds. I did not think it was possible but the taste was actually weaker than the aroma.

The flavor was lightly peachy. The ginger was missing in action, up to about my twentieth sip. Then, I tasted the hidden ginger behind the peach attribute.

This tea does have a natural (instead of chemical) peach taste. There is no astringency to note. I would have liked it more if the flavor was bolder and the ginger was allowed to assert itself. The bag package claims that it was made from the “finest black tea leaves.” If so, let them shine, Republic of Tea! This selection had about the same amount of black tea flavor as herbal tea.

Did I hate this tea? No. Will I go out of my way to try it again? No. However, I would give it another shot if I had the opportunity to test this blend as a full loose-leaf and properly infused incarnation.

I have become a tea snob and don’t drink bagged tea anymore unless I am in the office. Such is the case this morning as I sample this “Eco Bag” obtained by my thoughtful wife at an upscale hotel during her business trip.

I have to admit, the bag looked pretty cool. It was extremely clear so you could thoroughly see the chopped full-leaf tea particles inside. The package boasted that it was “made of renewable resources, including bamboo, its open weave design allows optimal full-leaf infusion.” That sounded impressive but I was more concerned about flavor.

I tossed the bag into a paper cup and set our office’s Flavia Creation 400 coffee machine to run boiling hot water over it. I let the bag soak for five minutes. (Oh, how I missed my Breville One-Touch Tea Maker.)

As has been my experience with most bagged teas, there was no discernible aroma emanating from the cup. The color was a reddish golden brown.

My first sip only produced a mild black tea taste with a touch of astringency. I needed several more gulps before I could begin to identify the Assam, Ceylon, and Darjeeling flavors that comprised this blend. After that, the taste settled into a mild but slightly shrill breakfast tea.

All in all, this selection was not bad but it did not excite me or make me want to add it to my shopping list. Perhaps the full loose-leaf version, brewed in my tea maker and gently poured into my layered glass mug at home, would thrill me much more (location…location…location).

It is already great to be off from work until the new year, but having a new Christmas present tea to taste makes life even better! I was fascinated by the name of this tea.

Being of direct Scottish heritage (my mother was born and partially raised in Scotland), and having spent a month and a half in Scotland myself, I was intrigued by the inclusion of Scottish thistle in this tea. Heather, I could understand. After all, heather is a sweet and dainty little flower that grows on the Scottish hillsides. Thistle, on the other hand, has painful thorns. According to legend, the invention of the kilt was necessary to allow Scottish soldiers to be mobile when marching through fields covered with this prickly plant. So, thistle is not an ingredient that I would expect to find in my beverage.

When I opened the hinged tin and pierced the bag inside, I noticed that the short tea leaves were like coffee grounds. Also, many red and yellow thistle blossom pieces were mixed with the leaves. The aroma of the unbrewed leaves was standard African tea with something extra, although the smell was not flowery.

I brewed the leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees, the maximum recommended time and temperature. The color was a brownish gold. The brewed aroma was again standard tea with something else.

I hate to be repetitious, but the flavor of this tea also was…you guessed it…standard tea with something extra. The best way to explain it is that the sweet overtones and astringency that I’ve often noticed in flowery teas were present in this tea, but not to the extent where I could classify them. I can only identify the taste by calling it STANDARD AFRICAN TEA PLUS.

This is a pleasant tasting tea. It is not bitter. I liked drinking four cups of it. I just did not find the flavor easy to pinpoint. Maybe that doesn’t matter. Perhaps I should just shut up and enjoy it.

I was starting to get a little bummed out. I hadn’t had a new tea to taste in a good while. But, thanks to Santa Claus and my always wonderful and thoughtful wife, I now have two new Scottish teas to try out!

When I snipped open the bag of loose leaf tea inside the well-designed hinged tin, my sniffer was immediately slapped with an aroma similar to Rooibos tea. Perhaps that is because the leaves were grown and produced in Kenya. The leaves were very short and had a consistency almost like ground coffee.

Other reviews that I read about this tea seemed to be unanimous in their assessment that this was a milder breakfast blend. Since I prefer potent black teas, I opted to steep this selection for the maximum recommended brewing time of five minutes at 212 degrees.

The brewed liquid had a reddish gold color. The smell was like a light but standard black breakfast tea.

The first sip produced a slightly sweet malty taste. It was quite pleasant but still mild, even after five minutes of steeping.

With subsequent swallows, I started to experience a flavor kick with this tea. It was not bitter but it lingered to form the basis of a malty, African black tea blend aftertaste.

This is a very nice tea. I enjoyed it straight up without milk or sweeteners, which is how I drink all of my teas. It was also a fantastic complement to the terrific Scottish Empire Biscuits that my lovely wife baked for me for Christmas.

I don’t think you could go wrong with this tea at breakfast or in the afternoon. I look forward to sampling another tea by Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company…TOMORROW!

I haven’t tried a new green tea in a while and I was ready to do so to mix things up a little. Another big thanks to Nuvola Teas for this sample! I’m taking this one for a spin in the morning, although I prefer the heartier black teas at this time of day to pounce on my partially awakened senses.

When I opened the sample packet, the aroma of the long dark green leaves was grassy and slightly earthy. I brewed the leaves at 175 degrees for three minutes.

The brewed liquid was mostly odorless. The color was a light greenish gold.

I found the flavor to be very mild but not unpleasant. There was a sweet undertone to a generally grassy green tea flavor. The taste was light, airy, and quite smooth.

I had no trouble drinking four cups of this offering. My personal preference is for the stronger-flavored black teas but that does not make this selection any less palatable.

If you enjoy smooth, sweet, and mild-flavored green teas, you will certainly like this one. So far, Nuvola seems to have a great handle on both black and green teas!

My tea hobby is starting to make me feel like I am traveling all over the world without leaving my house. Today, we journey to Taiwan for a first taste of Nuvola Tea’s Taiwan Oolong Black Tea.

I didn’t even know that you could combine oolong with black tea. I truly learn something new every day!

When I opened the little sample packet, graciously provided by Nuvola Tea, a rich, earthy, and sweet aroma escaped from within. The unbrewed leaves were dark green, long, and thick.

I wasn’t sure what time and temperature to use for steeping, so I opted for my milder black tea settings of 205 degrees for three minutes. The color of the brewed liquor was a light amber. The aroma was sweet and airy.

At first sip, the taste was sweet, malty, and very smooth. With additional gulps, I became aware of the oolong in a stronger sense than I had experienced with other oolong teas. This might have been the influence of the black tea.

This tea is so smooth that I had to force myself to slow down to keep from chugging it. The more I drank, the more I found myself really enjoying this blend.

The flavor is gentle but not weak. It has a sweetness that is almost like honey. There is also just a stitch of earthiness and malt in the taste. The aftertaste is sweet and extremely pleasant. There is not a hint of bitterness anywhere.

This is simply a wonderful tea. I’m not sure yet if it will provide an explosive enough caffeine jolt to earn a spot in my morning tea rotation, but the flavor is so good that I may make an exception. I will definitely be adding it to my shopping list shortly.

I have one more Nuvola Tea sample to try. I am anxious to see if it is in the same class as this Taiwan Oolong Black Tea. So far, I am very impressed with Taiwan tea and Nuvola!

I received the Breville One Touch Tea Maker as a birthday present last year from my then girlfriend and now wife. (That alone was a good reason to marry her!)

With this tea maker, you get a perfect cup of tea every time. It also keeps your tea warm after brewing for up to an hour.

You can choose pre-selected brewing times and temperatures based on the type of tea (black, green, etc.) or you can customize them according to your individual taste (no pun intended).

If you leave your house early in the morning and don’t have time to brew the tea before you leave, you can set the automatic timer so that the tea is ready and waiting for you when you rise.

Being a gadget kind of guy, I also enjoy observing this great machine at work. Over a year later, it’s still fun for me to watch the infusion basket automatically drop and rise.

Cleaning is extremely fast and easy. This is also important to me. Most of the parts can be run through the dishwasher.

I just have three minor complaints:

1. You have to make a minimum of two cups of tea. This isn’t a big deal, but every now and then I only have time or desire for one cup.

2. The maximum warming time after the tea is brewed is one hour. When I make a full pot of tea (five cups), occasionally I don’t drink it all within an hour. I can nuke it, which also isn’t a huge inconvenience, but it would be nice to have more warming time in the machine. I talked to Breville about this issue and they said that tea warmed for over an hour can lose quality and become bitter. Why did I get the feeling that I was being pacified?

3. This one can potentially be major. As of the last time I checked, you could not buy a replacement teapot from Breville if the glass pot should break. A lot of the electronics are contained in the base of the pot. Perhaps this complicates a replacement. However, glass does break and the French glass used for the pot is not extraordinarily thick. I did read in Breville’s question and answer forum that you can call them if your pot breaks. Hopefully they have some kind of resolution. This machine is not cheap or what I would consider to be a disposable item.

Those three issues aside, I absolutely love this machine. There is no doubt in my mind that it has also increased and enhanced my appreciation of tea. I wish I could figure out a way to smuggle it into the office so I could have great tea every day!

I’m back at Tea Central (my house) today with real tea making equipment and a cup that is not composed of paper. I also have more than five minutes to make and drink some tea. Life is good. And, this is the perfect time to take Earl Grey Classic by Fortnum & Mason for a test drive.

When I pried open the lid of the tin, one of the freshest and most natural bergamot aromas that I had ever experienced hit my nose. I hoped that the taste would match this great smell.

Fortnum & Mason doesn’t include detailed brewing instructions on their packaging. After researching the procedures of other fellow Steepsters for this tea, I chose 205 degrees for three minutes as my method of madness.

The brewed liquor also had a fresh bergamot scent, although a little lighter than I expected. The color was golden brown.

The taste was black tea, balanced with bergamot flavor. The freshness of the bergamot scent did carry over into the taste, but the bergamot did not control the total flavor of the tea. Instead, it was a smooth, malty, and full black tea flavor with bergamot blended into the taste. There was no bitterness. The aftertaste was lightly shadowed with bergamot accents.

This is a fine and smooth Earl Grey tea. I would rate the bergamot power 6.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.

One thing that sets this tea apart and above some of the other Earl Grey teas I’ve tasted is the freshness of the bergamot flavor. It’s not as strong as the Rishi Earl Grey (still my favorite Earl Grey), which I would give a 10 on the bergamot power scale. But, this is a very nice tea that I would enjoy in the mornings or afternoons.

Here’s some speed reviewing of a quick cup of tea I had today. I received a few tea bags of this selection to try. Thank you, ashmanra! I had only a few minutes to gulp one down while at the office. Here are my results:

o The tea bags were impressive. They were strong like nylon, large, and pyramid shaped.
o I couldn’t smell bergamot in the unbrewed bag.
o I steeped the tea for about five minutes in boiling water.
o The color was golden brown in my paper cup.
o The flavor was medium-strength, pleasant, malty, slightly sweet, and without bitterness, but I could barely taste the bergamot.
o Did I like it? Yes, but I would like to try this blend in a real cup and in loose leaf to see if the bergamot is less shy.

And that ends this tasting note moment.

This is another of the premium imported teas that we picked up at the local Williams Sonoma store this weekend. I wasn’t going to buy it because it also carried a premium price. However, my sweet wife insisted that I do it. OK, she twisted my arm.

I had never tried a French tea before. I realized that the leaves weren’t grown in Paris, but I still thought it would be fun to see if a French twist had been applied to the beverage.

The product came in some impressive packaging. A sturdy and glossy black carboard box protected the black metal tin inside. The tin was capped with a solid metal lid. Beneath the outer lid was a sealed peel-back inner lid with a pull ring, like vacuum-packed food items use.

When I pulled back the inner lid, I immediately smelled strawberries. It wasn’t an artifical aroma, but quite natural.

No steeping instructions came with the product so I opted to brew the black leaves for four minutes at 212 degrees. The steeped liquor was a reddish golden brown.

I could smell strawberries again as I raised the cup to my mouth. My first sip had a strong fruity taste. Again, strawberries seemed to be the dominant resident. There also was an underlying floral flavor, but it was a partner to the fruitiness, not a competitor.

As a rule, I am not crazy about fruity and floral teas. The main problem I have with them is that I feel like I am drinking perfume. I also find these teas to have a strong chemical-like aftertaste that lingers much too long for my liking.

This Marco Polo selection had none of those negative characteristics. The strawberry flavor was natural, fruity, sweet, and smooth. The floral attribute blended softly and amiably with the other flavors. The aftertaste was light, pleasing, and sweet. Bitterness was nowhere to be found. The black tea taste was so far in the background that it was hardly noticed. But, the overall body, taste, and mouth-feel of this brew left no doubt that this was a bona fide card-carrying member of the tea family.

I may have to rethink my philosophy about fruity and flowery teas. I really like this one a lot. Thanks to this Marco Polo blend, I say, oui, to trying more fruity and floral teas, plus grand oui, to tasting more French teas, and, le géant oui, to sampling more Mariage Frères teas!

A couple of our generous friends gave us Williams Sonoma gift cards as wedding gifts. My wife, who is a pastry chef and all-around fabulous cook, loves this store for all of its cool cooking gadgets and utensils. I guess Williams Sonoma is her Best Buy.

Anyhow, we were at Williams Sonoma to see what we could purchase with our gift certificates. I assumed we would spend them all on some fun cooking toys for her. That was fine with me because I would reap the rewards by eating all of the great food items that she would create. However, always the wonderful and selfless soul that she is, my wife insisted that I buy some of the fine imported teas that Williams Sonoma offers.

The first one I chose was the Royal Blend by Fortnum & Mason. The tin brags that this tea was “first blended for King Edward VII and hugely popular ever since”.

I could smell the Assam tea in the short brown leaves when I pried open the lid. I steeped this tea at 212 degrees for four minutes. I also followed the tin’s recommendation to add an extra teaspoonful of tea leaves “for the pot”.

There was no discernible aroma wafting from the brewed liquor. The color was a golden red.

The first sip sent pretty standard tea flavors into my tastebuds. The taste was full, malty, and a little spicy. I also thought at first that I was experiencing a tad of bitterness. I didn’t want to rush to judgment, though, so I kept my eye…or…buds…on it through the next several gulps.

My conclusion was that the flavor was not bitter but slightly tangy. Perhaps that was the Assam. The taste of this tea was somewhat schizophrenic because there also was a smoothness to it. Maybe that was the blended Ceylon. Or, maybe vice versa.

This is a nice flavorful black tea without bells and whistles. The overall taste is standard black tea but there is a complexity to the Assam and Ceylon blend that gives it something extra. I couldn’t detect the sweetness that some have mentioned. I also wouldn’t classify it as an exciting blend. But, hey, if this tea was good enough for Queen Victoria’s son, who am I to complain?

The Earl Grey tea that I measure all other Earl Greys against is my favorite (so far) from Rishi: http://steepster.com/teas/rishi-tea/5258-ancient-tree-earl-grey-organic-fair-trade. To me, that selection is the mother of all Earl Greys. It is strong, bursting with bergamot, and a complete, full-bodied, black tea blend. I was curious to see if this Harney & Sons offering could go the distance with Rishi.

When I opened the double-sealed sample packet, so kindly provided by ashmanra, the bergamot aroma immediately drew my attention. It was strong but not overwhelming.

I steeped the black leaves at 212 degrees for five minutes. I’m experimenting with five minutes for all black teas now. I like my tea to be potent in the morning as I need all the help I can get to shock myself out of the previous night’s slumber.

When my tea maker beeped completion, the bergamot aroma was much more subtle than I expected, particularly with five minutes of brewing at a boiling temperature. The smell was still pleasant. The color was a golden red.

With my first sip, the dominant taste was black tea. The flavor was nice, smooth, and malty, without bitterness, but I had difficulty sorting out the bergamot from the black tea attributes.

As the number of sips quickly multiplied, my tastebuds began to pinpoint the bergamot beneath the commanding black tea taste. It then occurred to me that the bergamot was not hidden behind the black tea flavors. The bergamot was so perfectly balanced with the black tea taste that it was actually fused into the overall tea flavor. Once I figured that out, my sleepy brain was able to separate the bergamot from the black tea when desired.

To sum this tea up, it did not dethrone my Rishi favorite, but it is tasty, smooth, and malty, without astringency. It would still be a great breakfast tea minus the bergamot.

If you like bergamot to slap you silly in your morning Earl Grey (like the aforementioned Rishi product), this tea may be a little too mild for you. However, if you can only tolerate bergamot when it is a quiet aspect of your cup, this selection will be a great choice. This Harney & Sons product will also be a winner if you prefer your bergamot intensity to fall somewhere between those extremes.

This was one of the few Mondays that I looked forward to! Thank you ashmanra, for sending me this Harney & Sons sample to taste!

When I opened the sample packet, a light vanilla aroma was noticeable. I steeped the very black short leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The brewed color was a dark amber.

The flavor of the first sip was smooth and breakfast-tea-like with mild vanilla undertones. As I drank more and more of this selection, the vanilla taste became more obvious.

I did detect a slight twinge of something additional with the vanilla flavor. I am not quite sure what it was. It wasn’t bitter and it wasn’t astringent but it did seem to be pointing in that direction. I noticed a similar attribute in another vanilla tea I tried a while back. Maybe it is just the chemical reaction of the vanilla bean when boiled in tea.

In any event, this was a pleasant enough tea with sufficient vanilla flavor to keep me from craving more. It became even more satisfying with a couple of English tea biscuits!

Since I love chocolate, mint, and anything sweet, this has been the most highly anticipated item on my list of teas to try since I first heard about it. Many thanks to ashmanra for sharing her stash with me!

The unbrewed chocolate mint aroma of this tea was so strong that I could smell it through the double wrap of the sample’s packaging. Instead of tea, the aroma was more like an imported fine candy bar.

I brewed the greenish leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The result was a golden brown liquid.

I could smell the mint with a hint of chocolate as I began to sip it. The taste was smooth and minty with the chocolate flavor in the background, but still quite recognizable, much like the blend of chocolate mint ice cream. The balance of mint and chocolate was perfect.

I have tried other mint teas before. What sets this one apart from the rest is that this tea has a nice refreshing quality. It reminds me a bit of the mint juleps that were once so popular here in the South.

As I guzzled more and more of this tea, I enjoyed the aftertaste almost as much as the actual experience. The chocolate mint flavor echoed on my palate minutes later with zero bitterness.

This is a phenomenal tea that more than lived up to my expectations. I am currently enjoying it in the morning but I can also see it in my future as a fantastic late afternoon and Summer tea. It will also be wonderful to bring this selection out for those special occasions with friends and family. I am greatly looking forward to sampling other Harney & Sons blends!

If you’ve kept up with my tasting notes, you know that I am a huge fan of Teavivre Teas. I have yet to be disappointed by any of their products.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Teavivre’s fabulous Premium Keemun Hao Ya Black Tea. That tea is nothing short of incredibly fantastic, albeit a little pricey. This time, I thought I would save some money and hope that their Grade 1 Keemun selection was good enough to satisfy my Keemun itch.

I love the aroma of the short unbrewed tea leaves. It is a rich, sweet, and earthy smell that seems to belong only to Teavivre’s Keemun.

I steeped the tea at 205 degrees for three minutes as instructed on the packet. The color of the brewed liquor was golden brown.

As I brought the cup to my lips, I could already smell the savory Keemun. The first sip was absolutely delicious. The taste was sweet, earthy, full-bodied, and very smooth. There was no bitterness to be found. Subsequent sips…and cups…were at least equally delightful.

In my opinion, this Grade 1 Keemun is every bit as delicious and satisfying as Teavivre’s Premium Keemun Hao Ya Black Tea. If you are on a budget (as I am), and you love Keemun, take advantage of the great taste and very reasonable price (currently – 10/24/2012 – Teavivre is also offering 20% off!) of the Grade 1 Keemun tea. I am very glad that I did! By the way, if your budget is even more restricted than mine, Teavivre has a Grade 2 Keemun black tea at even greater savings (and also currently – 10/24/2012 – 20% off)!

I found this item at a reduced price at our local Earth Fare market yesterday. This is my first foray into Irish Breakfast tea and my second venture into Adagio Teas.

Even if you don’t like Adagio Teas, you have to award them a high score for innovative packaging. They give you a fairly large and strong round tin with a solid tension-clipped plastic lid for tight resealing. In addition to the lid being clear so you get a good view of the tea leaves inside before purchasing, Adagio claims that the lid blocks ultraviolet rays to preserve the quality of the tea. Very cool!

When I sprang open the lid of the tea, the aroma that burst forth was like a spicy pipe tobacco. The unmistakable smell of Ceylon tea was also present.

I steeped the tea at 212 degrees for five minutes as prescribed by Adagio. The brewed liquid was a dark amber color.

The first sip contained fruity and standard black tea flavors. A tad of sweetness was also peeking in. I did notice a slight bitterness to the aftertaste. This may have been due to an extra spoonful of leaves that I might have tossed in when I lost count. The astringency dissipated with subsequent sips and complexities in the flavor began to appear.

My tastebuds are not experienced enough yet to immediately recognize all of the various types and growing locations of black teas. However, in this tea, I can tell that there is more than one variety involved. And, it so happens that this selection is a blend of Assam and Ceylon teas. It is a tasty combination with just a hint of sugar and spice.

I found this tea to be enjoyable and bold enough to start my always challenging Monday morning. It also seems to be a little more flavor-inclusive than some of the English Breakfast teas that I have tried. I am sure I will reach for this one again to help crank up my day and week.