Hugo Tea Company

Found myself in that situation where there’s a little more than needed for one cup, not enough for two, so I dragged out a big mug and made with lots of leaf and a shorter steep (3 1/2 min). Lots of malt and cocoa, less of the raisin-esque character I noted the first time around. I’m thinking this is one of those rare and wonderful breakfast teas you just can’t ruin.

I have officially survived midterms and our move to a new apartment! We went from the Sunset district to a lovely place by Dolores Park. Our neighbors are very friendly and the kitties are excited by all the birds they can see outside the window.

I’ve been having this in my thermos for the past two weeks and it’s really lovely. Very smooth blend, good amount of body, and not at all bitter. A lot of full unbroken leaves in this tea and I am really impressed by the quality for the price. Hugo Tea, if you want to sell this in a larger tin, I would certainly not complain!

This little sample from ashmanra arrived providentially. Someone must have told her last week that I would have insomnia last night and need something substantial to prop me up this morning before heading to church and facing a roomful of fifth graders hopped up (pun intended) on Easter candy.

This is a wonderful breakfast tea. I’ve been smiling at the descriptors in other reviews: Fruity. Apple. Malty. (Oh yeah.) Rich. Smooth. All true. “George Clooney in a tux…” not sure about that one :)

I think this will get me out the door.

Happy Easter, tea friends. May it be a day that brings lasting joy.

Good heavens, why haven’t I had this one in a while? I had leftovers from our Asian Buffet takeout and decided to myself a small pot of this to have with it. Good choice, me, good choice.

This was so excellent with my food. When I have green tea with food I usually perceive it very differently. Not so much with oolongs, but definitely with greens. This one was so mouthwateringly fresh that I felt like I had springtime in a cup. Delicious.

I ordered a sample box from Liberteas and was delighted when it showed up today! She managed to stuff 23 samples in there, and nearly half of them were from 52 teas, so now I’ll have a better idea of what those crazy blends are like. Each little bag is nicely labeled and has the brewing instructions too so I don’t have to worry about not knowing what the heck I’m doing. I don’t know how often she does these little sample boxes, but I highly recommend it as a great try-me package – you can check her profile for the link if anyone is interested.

I should mention that I had a good amount of say in what I wanted her to send but I decided that besides trying some 52 Teas, I’d like to be surprised.

I ran out to check for mail before I made any tea, so once I opened this treasure chest up, I picked this one because of the name and I am off to a great start on this sampling journey!

I have a really hard time describing it – it’s very complex but I guess it’s a blend of three different teas and each are contributing something to it. I love how smooth every sip is, and slightly malty, but more and more into the cup I’m getting fruity notes and cream too! I think I have enough in my sample pack for at least two giant 16oz mugs so I look forward to trying to puzzle this tea out.

Hmm – maybe Assam and Darjeeling? Not sure of the third.

I really love this though. Guaranteed that if I ever order from Hugo, I would get this!

Eight days ago it was 70F and we were sitting outside on a blanket reading. This morning it is 25F. I opened the door at 6 am as the pup I am dog sitting today was being dropped off. Then I had to go to the storage room fridge to get more milk…barefoot. Then I had to go back out to hunt in the freezer for English Muffins. We’re out. Sigh. I should have put on shoes.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty frozen so instead of my usual toast and chocolate milk breakfast, I made grits, bacon, and an egg to go with the chocolate milk and tea!

The lemony high notes of this tea make me think there is a bit of Ceylon in here, but I really taste more Assam. This is quite drinkable without milk or sugar, though, and for me most Assams are not.

I talked my youngest daughter into trying this one today. She likes a few black teas – mostly Lapsangs and Assams, but I thought she would enjoy this one since it reminds me of one of her favorite Irish breakfast teas. And she did! We are now warming up nicely, I had the sense to put socks on, and we are wrapped in blankets ready to begin school. (The furnace is set to seventy but we are total wimps when it comes to cold weather.)

I was going to have a black tea this morning, but I noticed I had not opened this final tin of tea from Christmas.

The directions call for one tablespoon of leaf per eight ounces of water and a two to three minute steep. It always makes me a little sad when directions call for more than a teaspoon per six to eight ounces because that means I am going to run out of tea sooner!

This produced a pale liquor that was richly scented of garden peas with a bare hint of root vegetable – rutabaga, I would say, possibly turnip.

The taste was strong, and I considered it somewhat grassy and a bit sour, but good. I drank the whole pot so it couldn’t have been bad. It did create a slow rising sweet aftertaste that bubbles up way behind the sip.

For the second steep I used a lot more water. I kept the steep at two minutes. Ah! Now I found my tea happy place! Everyone likes different things, so other people may very love this at the suggested parameters. I prefer it this way. And this means my tin is going to last longer, bwahaha!

There is still plenty of flavor in this, and though I finished it about ten minutes ago I am still enjoying the sweet rising aftertaste. I think this would be excellent with food, as in a hearty meal or nice Asian dinner.

I am drinking a huge pot of this today! I made a steep in my small pot, poured it, and made another and this is still plenty strong, so hooray for all us resteepers!

The nice thing about this tea is that it is strong enough for morning but doesn’t make you feel like you need to do CPR on your tongue. I am awake, oh yes, but I am not traumatized.

And why did I make so much? To try out a new teapot! My doorbell rang just after eight this morning and I saw a FedEx truck. There on my doorstep was a huge box. Ike the puppy had sent me a tea service for six as a thank you gift for taking care of him while his master was in the hospital! Ike will be here again tomorrow to share my English muffin at breakfast, as he usually is, on Tuesdays. He may get jam on his piece tomorrow!

When I told my bestie we were going to have an unflavored white tea tonight, she cried, “NOOOOO! Won’t it just taste like hot water?” I said, “Well, I like it! I think you will, too.”

We had Royal Wedding first and she liked that, so she was primed and ready to try an unflavored white. And she liked it! Very much in fact! She was surprised at how much flavor it had, and this one indeed does have a lot of flavor. She was very pleased to find that she DOES like unflavored white tea and that it is flavorful, not just hot water!

Another Christmas present!

I want some tea before driving up to Raleigh to pick up my daughter at the airport. She has been in a bit of a white tea kick, so I guess that is why this one was on my mind.

I checked out the recommended steeping instructions on the tin. Thank you, thank you, Hugo Tea, for putting those on there. It gives us a starting place to find our own favorite way. It calls for one tablespoon of leaf to eight ounces of water and when I open the tin I see why. These are big leaves! They don’t look like typical tea, but more like what you pick out of your socks after raking the yard. All that fluffy means you need more leaf! It reminds me in appearance of a Shou Mei (SooMe) white tea I had a while back.

Oh my gosh! This is fantastic! Reading their description of the tea made me think I was going to have to hunt for flavor unless I wanted to pretend I was having a nice cuppa hot water, but this is so flavorful and good. It is sweet and smooth, a little bit creamy, a little mineral, a little tiny bit buttery, a bit floral, a lot good.

Hubby downed his cup before I could sip mine once and he asked for another, so I immediately went in and made a second steep.

Home run, Hugo Tea. Home run.

Merry Christmas, everyone! It has been a very tea-full Christmas for me! One of my gifts from hubby was this tea, so among the many new teas I thought I should choose this one, just because of the name, as the first. I will continue to take tea journeys throughout the day.

On opening the tin I gave the leaves a good sniff. The aroma wasn’t powerful, but it was the kind that makes you growl jus’ a lil’ bit. Kind of like when you see George Clooney in a tux. Niiiice.

I thought I detected Assam in this, and sometimes Assam doesn’t like me. I kept a close eye on the steeping and checked it at 3 minutes. Nope. Needs more time. I gave it a minute and a half more.

Aaaahh. This is a bright cup of tea. It is really hard to describe. It isn’t strong like the Assams that give me tummy ache, those sharp teas that make my tongue curl up and try to hide. It is fresh and clean, there is a nice pure metallic taste – that melting frost taste I usually may find in green or white tea. And malt. And…muscat grape?

I don’t pick up any puerh taste like Azzrian. The fruitiness makes me wonder if there is some Darjeeling in here?

This is a great wake up cup, civilized, smooth, and the drying effect on the tongue builds gradually as you drink instead of assaulting you. (I guess you can tell I have been traumatized by Yorkshire Gold and the like.) It did not need milk and sugar for me. I did try it that way just so I could report the effect but I preferred it plain. A little milk was fine, but sugar did nothing to add to it for me. I generally don’t put sugar in my tea so those who do might prefer it that way. This is sweet enough for me as is!

A very nice offering, Hugo Tea!

I’ve been drinking this tea daily while at work, and it has really been good to me. Not only has it been consistently tasty, but it has been very forgiving when I am less attentive than it deserves. Mornings at work I need all the smiles I can eke out of my otherwise bleary face.

Shhhh! Don’t tell on me!

I went out my front door and there was a small box sitting by the step. What’s this? I picked up the box and read the name. No way! Impossible! It can’t already be here. I casually walked into the kitchen, not drawing attention to myself, and opened the box. It is! It is! It is my Christmas present tea! Surely I can try JUST ONE. After all, I did ask for tea, I did place the order myself, and no one has any idea how much I ordered and from where.

After an agonizing three or four seconds of mental battle and rationalization, I carefully opened this one. The kids don’t know new tea is here because I controlled myself and didn’t do my SQUEEE dance.

Since this is a brand new company to me and most of us, I will go into a little more detail on packaging and such. First, the box is nice and sturdy, and obviously shipping was fast for me to be surprised that it is here already. Inside the box is a lovely handwritten note, a receipt, and a little brown paper to keep the tins from moving around. The tins are in pristine condition and are very attractive. You would have to involve an elephant to damage the packaging.

Opening the lid on the tin I find a layer of very thin aluminum foil to keep the tea fresher. Hugo Tea is presently changing their packaging, but if you order before the change is complete, be sure you keep that little circle of foil. It makes the lid nice and tight. Initially i didn’t put it back and when I reopened the tin I noticed that the lid came off a little too easily (unlike a few companies whose lids make me weep and I spill as much of the leaf as I get to drink because of obstinate lids) and though in normal circumstances it would be just fine, when is life really normal? People drop things, bump into shelves, etc, and if this tin fell it would almost certainly spill. Keep your foil, or put in a new piece.

Dry leaf: deep army green and somewhat twisty. Nice and full. Aroma is root vegetables like turnips or mustard greens.

Steeped: Nice medium gold color, fragrant, again of root vegetables but a wee bit milder now. First steep is root vegetable with a slight dryness and tingling to the tongue, the sort of green I serve mainly with food. Aftertaste is lingering, lots of staying power. I think of this as a tea that awakens you.

Second steep: similar to the first, but with a soft caress. Flavor remains much the same, but some of the root vegetable edge is smoothed out so there is a sense of a lighter, slightly buttered vegetable.

Mixing the two steeps together, I do not feel that I have something half way between the two, but rather that the first steep has brought the second up to full strength. This makes me think I should shoot for a third steep in a little while. There may be a fourth in here as well!

Ack!! I over tea’d this cup! The swiped tea mug had it’s cruel, cruel revenge!

FYI, the difference between the s.o.‘s David’sTea Perfect Mug and the FORLIFE mug that I usually drink from is about 3 ounces. A 12 ounce capacity is not like a 15 oz. Do not just double the measurement and call it ‘close enough’ to two 8 oz cups. :-/

Edit: try two: less tea and more good.

I am by no means an expert on green teas. My ability to describe them generally begins with ‘fishy’ or ‘grassy’ and doesn’t extend far past that. I think I need a flavor wheel-type device. Do they make those?

This one. Hmm. Now that I ‘learned the cup’ I can see myself drinking a lot of this tea, so I am glad I have a good stockpile. I’ve had one failed and two successful 12 oz cups tonight. I like it. It is a tiny bit astringent, but not bothersomely so, a little grassy and a little sweet and floral smelling with just a hint of seaweed. Actually very well rounded.

This was FAR too easy to drink. Someone drank my tea again. :) It is 8 pm and I have downed far too much green tea, and now I have nothing left to review. Will try again soon.

Edited, the rematch! Round three: FIGHT!
Wow. A Mortal Kombat moment. I think sipping green tea and watching Mortal Kombat fatalities collected onto YouTube is pretty much never what a tea company has in mind for their product. Still fun, though, in an odd kinda way. Anyway, on to the tea. This is really demmed good! The dry leaf is a beautiful deep green and the broth seems hearty to me, a rich full mouthfeel with barely any astringency. I blame my mis-steep the other night or making it seem astringent then. I like that this is one of the first deep greens that I have tried that doesn’t make me think of the fish-based plant fertilizer I use for my orchids.

No notes yet.

First, Thank you Jason! Everyone missed logging our teas, and I’m grateful to see that things are back in order. You are awesome!

I had to leave the house early today, without having drank any tea. It’s a rarity, for sure, but I was getting a much needed massage, and I’ve learned from experience that I shouldn’t drink tea before I get a massage. I’m sure you all understand why. Luckily I didn’t have to drive far, and the massage was awesome and wonderful. As soon as I got home I turned the kettle on, and reached into my black tea shelf, for something I haven’t drank for a few weeks, and this was it! It went down quick and smooth, a brisk and bright start to my day filled with students, a few errands, and NaNoWriMo!

And so, my black tea rotation begins again!

Mondays and Tuesdays are my “weird” days, because my husband is off work, and we spend a good deal of the time running errands and getting things done that we can’t do during the rest of the week while he is working. But, today, it would seem that hubby is enjoying resting, and it is well deserved on his part, so I am enjoying a cup of tea before he is ready to get rolling.

This is really so good. One of the very best breakfast/morning blends I’ve encountered that I didn’t craft myself. Rich, robust, malty, and delicious. Smooth. A great tea to get the morning started (even if one’s morning doesn’t start until nearly afternoon).

Enjoying an interesting cup of this tea thanks to LiberTEAS
It says there are three kinds of black tea in here but I am going to INSIST one of those “black” teas is a puerh!
I am going to do a full review for http://sororiteasisters.com/
What I will say at this time before fully immersing myself in the cup is do not hesitate to do multiple steeps.
I am on my second cup and it has changed a lot – very good stuff.
I like steep two more than steep one as the puerh flavors are coming out stronger.
Earthy, sweet, interesting.

I’m a little antsy today. It’s day 5 of NaNoWriMo & although I started day one off with a bang, writing 4002 words, days 2, 3 ,& 4 were a washout. I had gigs, I had a boyfriend to entertain (& he’s been neglected A LOT lately, poor baby). Today I have a mix of students & free time, & although there are some things I’d like to get done, writing is a priority. I’d like to get back on track!

I started the day with yoga, meditation, & journaling. Then I had an awesome pile of gluten free pancakes, possibly the best recipe I’ve found online yet. http://www.elanaspantry.com/silver-dollar-pancakes/

The tea? Hugo’s Organic Morning’s Journey. I’m on my 2nd cup (not a resteep, I don’t feel that it resteeps all that well) of this bright & yet dark brew. Ahhh, yes…I feel the caffeine level rising…good morning, all!

First off, I just ordered this on Friday evening, & it arrived today! Now, THAT’s service! Thank you Hugo for sending it so quickly!

I’ve been feeling a bit unsatisfied tea-wise today, I’m not sure why. I started with my beloved Imperial Breakfast Summer Blend, which I love, running it through 3 steepings. There was nothing wrong with the tea, I just wanted more… I did a green tea sampling, but still I wanted more… Maybe it’s just because I only had one full strength cup of black tea today…yeah…that’s probably it. I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning, house-plant maintenance, & re-arranging of things today, & I haven’t sat around & enjoyed just sipping tea in my sun-room as much as usual.

Then the mail came, with my Hugo’s order! Now I’m enjoying a cup! I bought this tea because Nik pointed LiberTEA’s review of it out to me, & he was right, it sounded like my kind of cuppa! Thank you, Nik! You get a big HUG!

The dry leaves are a pleasing mix of charcoal, mahogany, & a little beige. The scent is rich & bright. My first cup was just what the doctor ordered: Bold, tasty, a little different from the teas I’ve been drinking of late. It’s a beautiful red orange brew, & there is a brightness & a grapey-ness to the taste that lifts the flavors & adds an edge. I brewed 3 cups in all: First, the original, 2nd a re-steep of those leaves, which still had a good color, but not a lot of flavor. 3rd I brewed new leaves & added Stevia, because little Terri wanted to try it sweet. (Her actual words, “I haven’t had anything sweet ALL DAY”.) Now I’m enjoying that sweet cup, as I feel the caffeine lifting my spirits.

This is a tasty, robust black tea. It’s a nice one, a change of pace that will make a good addition to my morning (& sometimes afternoon) black tea rotation! You can get it at http://www.hugotea.com.

Backlog: well… sort of. I’m on my second cup of this. The first cup was just so good that I couldn’t even spare time to type out a tasting note, I needed to focus on my cup of tea.

That is to say: Oh WoW! This is seriously GOOD!

Definitely one of the smoothest black blends I’ve come across. It’s so smooth that it doesn’t need milk or sugar to make it smooth … it just is. It doesn’t have a real “kick in the cup” type of quality that I generally look for when I consider a tea as a breakfast blend or morning blend versus a later in the day type of tea … but don’t let that fool you. It’s still invigorating and morning cuppa worthy – absolutely! It just takes a subtler approach toward the end goal – wakefulness!

It is bold yet smooth. Creamy with notes of malt and caramel, hints of chocolate in the background. Fruit notes – but the sweet fruit notes – of sweet date, grape, and even a hint of sweet apple. Now, imagine those fruits drizzled with honey. You get the idea.

By mid-cup, I notice some spices start to emerge. Slightly peppery, but very slightly, just enough to get the palate to notice something different in the background but not enough to disturb the smoothness of the cup. Maybe a hint of cinnamon.

Truly a remarkable blend. I would go so far as to say, if you had room for only one breakfast tea in your cupboard, this should be the one. I don’t think I could ever limit myself to just one, but, if I had to, this would probably be the one I chose. It’s so good… very good!!!