Choice Organic Teas

Not bad. The vanilla is quite pleasant.

Originally published at The Nice Drinks In Life: http://thenicedrinksinlife.blogspot.com/2012/08/choice-organic-teas-oothu-garden-green.html

Origins: India
Type: Green Tea
Purveyor: Choice Organic Teas
Preparation: One teabag steeped in about eight ounces of boiling water for 2:30 (as recommended on the box), sipped plain

Now here is a pleasant cup of tea. More and more often lately, tea purveyors try to make a cup of tea into more than just a cup of tea. And that collective endeavor certainly has its merits. New places are planted with tea, new styles of tea arrive, new blends and flavors are offered, and so on. Imagine if instead of the fast-paced world of tea we have now, we had a world in which the menu had not been augmented in a couple of centuries: a handful of black teas, a couple of greens, an oolong, and maybe a couple of herbals; and nothing else. Instead the tea drinking world is vibrant, growing, experimenting – in a word, thriving. I am glad that I live in this world and not an alternate.

However, nothing is perfect. There are some drawbacks to the fast pace, and notable among them is the fact that it becomes difficult sometimes to just get a nice, simple tea. Very often nowadays, a tea list will include a few standard varieties hidden among dozens and dozens of zany flavors and odd roastings, strange combinations and weird herbs. Those are all very nice, and many of them have people who think they taste good, but can’t tea purveyors pay at least as much attention to tea-flavored tea?

Choice Organic Teas’s Oothu Garden Green opens with a somewhat sweet nose, fruity and tannic. The palate is also tannic. It is smooth and buttery (that is to say, both rich and light), with a somewhat mild finish. This is not an intense tea. It is not malty, it is not brisk, it is not packed with a million different elements, and it is not trying for anything in particular. It is just a good brew, sort of like that one great friend who is always relaxed, level-headed, a good listener – the one who has plenty of fun but does not always feel the need to be wacky about it. When sipping the Oothu, I thought to myself how nice it is that I can have a cup of tea that I do not have to “deal with;” I can just sit back and enjoy it, letting the mind unwind and thoughts pass by without interference from all sorts of elements in my beverage.

A rare treat in a crazy world.

Originally published at The Nice Drinks In Life: http://thenicedrinksinlife.blogspot.com/2012/08/choice-organic-teas-celtic-breakfast.html

Origins: Assam; Ceylon
Type: Black Tea
Purveyor: Choice Organic Teas
Preparation: One teabag steeped in about eight ounces of boiling water for 4:30 (as recommended on the box), sipped plain

Choice Organic Teas promises that, with a “rich touch of malt from Assam,” and “smooth yet striking” notes from Ceylon, the Celtic Breakfast blend will be “delightful whenever a strong cup of tea is the favored refreshment.” Yes, that is certainly true.

The tea opens with a tannic and very brisk aroma. It is not fruity, and yet one gets the sense that a lemon has already been squeezed into it. The color of the tea is a very rich caramel. The first thing noticed when sipping it is a thin body, but that should by no means be misconstrued for weakness. It has a very deep, rich flavor of malt with hints of citrus, much briskness remaining from the aroma, and the tannins just keep coming. The flavor is balanced by a light and buttery texture, which is good because if it were any thicker I might have choked on all that flavor. But, the harmony works out just right.

On a whim I brewed the same teabag a second time. The tannins are mostly gone now, having used themselves up with reckless abandon the first time around, but the flavor remains strong with a brisk aroma and malty taste. Let there be no doubt: this tea is rough and tough. It has earned its tag of “a malty tea of strength.”

The Celtic Breakfast blend does indeed make for a good breakfast tea. It stimulates, encourages, holds up, gets the back. It is thoroughly reliable. And thoroughly tasty. Go try some in the morning.

It’s drinkable. Maybe an Earl Grey for people who don’t really like Earl Grey. Very mild flavor, the tea is stronger than the Earl Grey itself.

Rich bagged tea, almost breakfast all on its own with some milk and honey. I’ve been keeping a box of this at the office for those mornings when I’m too bleary to think about making a nice loose-leaf cup

Does anyone else pick ever brew up a tea just to prep their taste buds for something you really want? I often do this after eating or brushing my teeth. Sometimes its a flavored tea and I’m like “alright that was okay, now to taste some real tea”. Today it’s this. Stout, roasted, dark and bagged. Easy to brew and no commitment to reinfuse. I think a nice dark oolong or black tea will come after this. Good day to snuggle up with a blanket, book and a never ending cup of tea as snow blankets the ground.

After drinking three cups of kukicha/twig tea I decided to compare. Their kukicha is described as toasted while this is roasted and of course leaves rather than stems. There is a similar quality for sure, though it is less sweet, has a hint of bitterness and some underlying veg. I will withhold rating as I want to try lowering the water temp but for now this is something I wouldn’t repurchase, but I would seek loose leaf to try.

This was a gift from the extensive and famous Teaequalsbliss collection, and I was grateful to try it!

Steeped the recommended 5 minutes, this is dark, almost ebony, and rich and thick. There’s not a bit of fruit in it, but it made me hold my tongue the same way I would if I was eating a bowl of black cherries. A very good black tea with subtleties you wouldn’t want to miss by having it too early in the morning.

A nice earl grey, but nothing tooooo special. Not astringent and very smooth. My parents got this for Christmas as the lone box of tea in some kind of coffee gift basket. Pretty good!

well it’s not my favorite Irish Breakfast (nor my husband’s), it’s probably stale, and about 1/4 into the cup my right eyelid started twitching (caffeine reaction, I think). The last 3 bags are being ::decupboarded:: I’ll try the Bewley’s next time. I liked it in Ireland (5+ years ago)

Meh. I was expecting this to wow me. Or at least to taste more brisk and fresh than Twinings IB teabags. It did not. :-(

I found this on sale today at the store, so I picked up one box of this, along with a box of organic genmaicha. Instead of drinking this straight up, I made ochazuke with it! I layered cooked white rice, umeboshi (pickled plum) paste, wakame seaweed flakes, and bonito flakes in a bowl, poured a cup of hot green tea over it, and then topped it with some crumbled seaweed/wasabi flavored rice cake. Umai!

This will do for the afternoon at work. I always think there is almost no caffeine in it, but then I don’t fall asleep on my commute from work, so there must be some.

Basic, no thought required, bags for work and home. I brew this one daily.