Empire Tea Services

This is probably one of the better (or maybe the best) peach flavored black teas I have had! This has just the right amount of peach in addition to a sturdy Black tea base! This is a delight both hot and cold :)

I seriously cannot believe how many new teas Empire Tea Services has added and is still adding!!! This is one I couldn’t find on their site. I received a bunch of their new teas but I also see TONS more on there that I haven’t tried yet!!! WOW!

This is a finely cut green with peach flavoring – it nicely scented without over doing it. I did noticed it infuses to a dark green tea than most I have been infusing lately, anyways. Near a light to medium brown – almost a honey color.

The taste of the green tea base is what I would consider medium-strength as is the peach flavoring. I think there is a bit more peach than green tea taste – for those of you who are interesting in flavoring levels.

It’s juicy and sweet and peachy! I really like this! I’m drinking it hot but am assuming it would be just as good iced :)

This is AMAZING!!! That is IF you are a lemon fan :)
I have been drinking a lot of lemon flavored teas lately and especially the lemon flavored black teas reminds me of my “Grandma T” – you can read more about me/her over at http://sororiteasisters.com/who-are-the-sororitea-sisters/

I’m on my 2nd cup of this stuff and I have been trying to think of what the aroma reminds me of and I keep coming back to Lemon-Cream Danish. It has that natural sugary-lemon flavor but then smooths out. It’s a very strong black tea base which follows suit to most of Empire Teas Black Tea Bases…which I LOVE.

But, the LEMON, is really wonderful in this! I just have to point that out a 2nd time :)

If you’re an apricot fan you will probably enjoy this cup! It has a strong-sweet-apricot flavor on top of the ceylon base. It’s good hot but even better cold!

This is probably one of the better Blackcurrant Flavored Black Teas I have had. There is a medium to strong black tea base with a smoother-type black currant flavor within. I like this one even better iced!

This morning I had Empire Tea Services Traditional Black and I will say…BOY HOWDY was it strong! Certainly a wake-up call! JUST what I needed today! It stood up well to a 2nd infusion, too! Nifty and sturdy black!

I was unable to find this one on their site but I know the fine folks at Empire are adding new teas at the moment so I assume it will be added soon!

I just got this one today! Among others :)

The finely cut-pebbled black tea is a nice solid and strong black base and the strawberry is a nice flavor but doesn’t overpower the black tea base! YAY!

Not only is this a great tasting flavored black – it smell WONDERFUL!!!!

I finished my work day with the tea I almost started with. This smells so luxurious. Wonderful vanilla, bergamot, and orange pieces with a smooth Ceylon base. The vanilla tastes like it has been caramelized, and the flavor flows right into the bergamot. I like the bergamot Empire Tea uses. It is a little different from most I’ve tried. I can never really pick out the orange flavor or maybe that is what gives the bergamot the unique twist. A delicious desert drink. When the sample is gone I plan to order this one.

Last night I had multiple glasses of iced decaf Lipton. Mom and Dad love the stuff. Today I had slow brewed (what does that mean)iced tea at Texas Rodhouse. It was actually pretty good for restaurant tea. So this evening at home I am finally getting back to my tea. Happy times.

This has become a bit of a nightly ritual with my wife and me. The bag is half gone already. She asked if we could order this and have it mailed to us. Which should I use? Ummm… no… I think we need to drive an hour and a half and pick it up ;) Or, Sure and the gas money we save by paying shipping we can use to order more tea and make it worth our while. Yeah, I think I am going with the second.

Meatloaf, mashed potates, corn on the cob, and White Earl Grey – could it get any better? The correct answer is no… oh wait, I could have had pie. Dang.

I had this last night. LiberTeas description of Tutti Frutti sounded kind of like this. I was reminded of it again this morning at the farmer’s market when I passed a booth selling lavender. The first few cups of this I couldn’t pick out individual flavors. Now I am used to it enough I am catching the spearmint (but it is not overpowering – I generally don’t like spearmint). It props up the rose and lavender. Again neither of which are strong in themselves. Sipping this without thinking it kind of comes off as grape Kool-Aid. I think that makes this a decaf grown up kid’s drink :)

Backlogging from Wednesday. Tuesday night my son and I took our telescopes to the state park to help a friend do a public outreach program during the Venus transit. If you missed it, sorry it won’t happen again in your lifetime. It was well attended and a lot of fun. Wednesday I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck. Apparently I am a wimp. Flash forward to bedtime. I want tea. This has decaf in it. A pleasant ending to the day.

Before I get to this tea – I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. They used to serve Golden Peak iced tea. It wasn’t bad. Whatever they switched to was awesome for restaurant tea. Great depth. Great bite. Made my tongue tingle. The tamale was good too.

On to this one – still can’t figure out why the name on this one. I can lightly pick out the lavender today. I can also taste something sort of like pumpkin spice – is that what safflower tastes like? Can’t really pick out the black tea. It’s pleasant enough but is kind of one of those teas for people who don’t really like tea. The dry leaf looks like my cockatiel would love it.

Saying good bye to the oldest tea in my drawer. I haven’t proven to be the biggest fan of Keemun on its own but I do enjoy it blended with other teas. This is an excellent Ceylon Keemun blend. Today I saw this tea in an all new light. This is the first time I have brewed this immediately after Bailin Gong Fu, and amazingly they are far more similar than different. This one is almost equally malty but lightly more astringent. The leaf in the press has a sweet hay/chocolate notes aroma. This is a civilized cup with nice rounded edges. I bought this with a co-worker. When his half runs out, if he wants to keep it in his arsenal, I will reorder with him. This is just good.

Just noticed this is my 300th tasting note!

I love Earl Grey. I love a citrusy bergamot that doesn’t attempt to hide but doesn’t get in your face either. I love a Ceylon base. It is strong enough to stand on its own without being obnoxious. I love vanilla. There is a whole lot of love in this cup. Maybe if I looked around a while I would find something I like better… maybe… but I sure don’t feel like I am settling. If you drink this while it is really hot, it tastes like vanilla. The cooler the cup gets the more it tastes of bergamot.

I accidentally oversweetened the first cup. I am used to my little yellow packets. At home I spoon it out of a bowl. Apparently I can’t judge. Oversweet aside, this is really good. The first time I tried this after the De La Creme, which rocks, and it overpowered my perception of this tea. I also noticed no stems in this douple scoop of leaf. It seems they were all mostly in the top of my bag. I split it in half to bring some home. Now that I know, I will either pick some stems out of the bag at work (not likely) or mix it better (cause I’m lazy). My guess is I got the bottom of the bag. The bergamot definitely drives this tea. If you don’t like bergamot this isn’t for you. You can taste the light tea base under it. Not sure how they pulled that off. The orange is under it all supporting the citrus goodness of this cup. This tea and me will become good friends this summer. Upping the rating substantially.

Check out how pretty the blend is in the picture. I wrote ETS to find out what was in this as it isn’t on their website yet. They are in the process of a major web update which they really needed to do. Now that I have an ingredient list this makes more sense. When steeping it smells a bit spearminty. I only slightly detect that element in the sip. It has decaf Ceylon as the base and a dozen other ingredients. Yes it has hibiscus but it is well behaved, adding only the slightest tartness. I am not a tart fan so I would complain if it were. The brew as I mentioned in my first tasting can turn kind of grape kool-aid if you steep a long time. I only went two minutes this go around. The brew on a short steep is honey colored. I can’t single out chamomile but it is in here as is rose and lavender and orange. This is a tasty late night fruity desert sip. Really enjoying this with a bit of sweetener. Steepster won’t let me add a rating tonight but I give it about an 82.

After today, I will have enough of this left for one more mug. That’s a shame. The trouble with this tea is timing. After I bought this, I started drinking the most amazing Chinese greens, and oolongs, blacks, and puerhs, along with some excellent fruit and herbal teas. This one kind of got lost in the drawer. This is a blend of Ceylon, Keemun, and a couple others I can’t recall at the moment. It is way better than anything I can buy locally from the grocery store but it is not the alien sensory journey I have come to love and expect. This tastes like tea. Extremely good black tea, but tea. Does that make sense? As I sit here sipping I am thinking how this is even better than I remember, at the same time I realize it is too familiar. That’s a shame. If you are looking for something to fill the gap between an English Breakfast and Prince of Wales this is your tea.

Sip down. This is definitely starting to show its age but is still very tasty. The Earl White I am replacing it with has its work cut out convincing me I made a wise decision.

This is a decaf black tea with fruit pieces, cinnamon, and orange rind. I can’t find this on their website. My wife bought this one. I need to write them and find out more about it. The color of the brew is almost grape Kool-Aid. I cannot place the taste. Maybe black currant (which I have only had one time) or cherry and hibiscus? It isn’t terribly tart . I really can’t form an opinion. I don’t hate or love it. My wife is happy with it so I will gladly sip it in the evening with her. No rating yet.

The ingredients listed on the sample are a bit different than that on the website: Black tea, lavender, lemon myrtle, orange peel, Spanish safflower, red berries, flavors.

This was a sample given to me with my recent purchase. The leaf is really interesting to look at. It resembles herbal tea. The pieces are all fine and feathery – like potpourri. I am not sure how they came up with the name for this, as bergamot is not a listed ingredient. I do taste the lemon myrtle. I was concerned that the lavender would be too much but that is not the case. If you add sweeteners, take it easy as this has a natural sweetness but I don’t think it contains stevia as I don’t detect any bitterness. It isn’t tart. If there is hibiscus in this it is very well done. I actually like this. Too bad it isn’t decaf. It kind of reminds me of a flavored rooibos but not really. It’s kind of cherry but not really. The best I can describe it is Yankee Candle meets dried flower craft aisle meets hippie incense. Far out. Solid man. Peace!

This tea is the main reason I went to ETS this week. I have had several of their teas and all have been exceptional. This one, like most of their offerings, was either $7.50 or $8.00 for 3 1/2oz (100g). I have never had a white Earl Grey before so I really don’t know what to expect with this one. The Earl Green has an outstanding leaf base and is heavily bergamot flavored with peppery notes. The De La Crème from yesterday was wonderfully chocolate and vanilla. The bergamot started more subdued but brightens into a delicious creamy cup of Ceylon based Earl Grey.

On to this tea. Taking the leaf out of the bag I see long wiry, almost black strands (stems?), along with the traditional looking green/white fuzzy leaf. The dry leaf smells of bergamot. It is a just guess at how much leaf to use. I don’t have a scale and this is so wiry I had to judge by how it looked in the bottom of the press.

I ignored the brewing directions on the package. I have enough experience with Empire to know I like tea prepared differently than they prescribe. I used just steaming water and a two minute steep. The liquor is bright and clear with a beautiful yellow/green tint. The wet leaf is Empire’s bergamot and a fresh green leaf scent.

There are three guys at work that I rotate sharing my tea with. Today’s lucky taster’s reaction to this was, “flowers”. The bergamot is strong but not overpowering. It is not bright or tart and not perfumey. I do think I would prefer it be just a tick lighter. This is a white tea after all. You can taste the tea base. You just aren’t going to pick out melon or cucumber subtleties in this flavored tea. Three solid steeps. The fourth was weak until it really cooled off.

This is like earl green lite minus the pepper notes and add in some stems. Resteeps well. A pretty good value. I’m not blown away but do like it a lot.

This is an OUTSTANDING Pi Lo Chun. Sweet and delicious, with a savory note that is a bit like creamed vegetables. Not so much a buttery taste, it is more like sweet cream. Sweet and very soft. I’m loving it!