Murchie's Tea & Coffee

Cold Brew!

We almost missed this one while we were at Murchie’s because the tin was all the way off to the side of the counter, kind of hidden and out of view. I’m glad we ended up catching it though because the dry leaf smelled really amazing – very fresh, sweet lychee.

Steeped up, I’m half surprised I enjoy this as much as I do. I mean, the lychee flavour is on point – it’s very prominent but not too intense and it perfectly rides the line of sweet, juicy ripe lychee with the more floral elements of the fruit. There’s no surprise that it speaks this much to me. No, the surprise part comes from the green tea base. With such a minimal and simple flavour direction I was worried that the green tea would be present in full force. Perhaps it would have been if I’ve made this hot. As it stands, I found that the chosen base used to blend over was pretty muted and neutral without being flat/dull. So it was the perfect canvas for this delish lychee flavour!

Just finishing off a mug of this one. The strawberry and cream notes with that slight buttery undertone are really working for me tonight, especially with the brisk black tea base. It’s weird though, as I get to the bottom of this cup I swear I can taste just a hint of unexplainable citrus.

So many of the cake teas in my stash ended up being chocolate flavoured or with different kinds of spice notes – very indulgent and “brown” tasting. So, one of the choices I made when picking out what I was going to drink was to ensure I had some fruity options in the mix too. This is still a decadent sort of tea, with it’s creamy pastry type notes, but the fresh strawberry was quite different from a lot of what else I’d picked and it ended up being a favourite from the assortment.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpxoE_fuAkC/ (4th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLxzEMReYhc

I wanted to pick up something a bit more aggressively flavoured from Murchie’s while we were there. Well, at least, aggressively flavoured by their own standards. Even their most flavoured blends tend to be lighter than a lot of other companies – a pro or con, depending on one’s preferences.

Steeped up it feels pretty clear to me that there’s a pretty large quantity of flavourings used here. Not in the sense that it’s overly intense, but more that I think the complexity of the flavour wouldn’t be achievable without layering several different flavourings. I think strawberry and either vanilla or cream (maybe both) would be the obvious ones here, and they’re definitely the most prominent in taste too. I love the natural sweetness present and the strawberry errs slightly floral which gives it a unique complexity and dimension. I’d be surprised if there aren’t also things like butter or biscuit flavouring in the mix too though, to give it that sort of pastry spin that differentiates this from just a standard strawberries and cream blend.

Honestly, not bad! I’d like to try it with milk next.

I like this one, but I don’t know when to drink it. I love black and green tea together usually, but this is sort of … mossy and smoky and black tea. It’s a finely made tea, but I’m not sure if it’s for me, or if I would buy it again.

I was already planning to sip this next, because it’s the only unflavoured blend I was allowed to release this year (I’m hampered by Market Wants or else you’d see a lot more from me).

But uh, given Current Circumstances it’s extra fitting?

This was a very nervewracking tea for me to release, because it was the first blend I did with a “name” to back it—Diamond Jubilee and Golden Jubilee already had massive followings from decades past (especially Golden, which was originally released during her Silver, but later renamed). I was afraid I’d have a bunch of long-term Murchie’s fans at my throat.

I wanted this to stand out from the other Jubilees, but worried that if it was too Different than fans of those teas wouldn’t like it. With backing of a bunch of office taste-testers, I went for it. It’s might lighter than the others, using mainly Chinese black teas with a bit of India, no Ceylon. Less tannic, it’s a lot more subtle, with faint notes of smoke and nuts, vanilla and fresh bread. Assam adds just a bit of body, so it’s good with milk, but I love how smooth it is even without.

All in all, it’s a very Afternoon-feeling blend. I almost have to be in the mood for it, or I’ll reach for something stronger. To me it came out Gentle and Comforting. People are probably going to start to catch on that Yunnan-Assam and Yunnan-Keemun are my favourite blending dynamics.

What’s this, am I reviewing a tea that hasn’t even been released yet.

Okay it’s coming out next monday, so it’s a tiny sneak peek I guess.

I come up with a lot of derisive blends, and most of them get shot down immediately. I enjoy unique flavour-combinations, and that rarely gets past the pitch-stage.

This was a blend I kept bringing back, and fine-tuning. My working name for it at the time was ‘The Madam’. It was nixed (I was told that was too Risqué), but ‘Parlour Room Blend’ ended up going over very well, so it finally got the green light.

This mixes lapsang souchong with a medley of fruit (raspberry, strawberry and black currant; no one fruit is supposed to stand out, and the result to me is a general, fruity sweetness), and a tiny bit of rose. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I guess it’s a good indication that I’m Proud of a tea when I reach for it every morning (or maybe it’s just that I left my one-pound test batch conveniently on my desk). It makes me think distantly of grilled fruit.

It opens with the fruit, which leads into a sweet rose note. There’s no point where the lapsang starts or ends, it’s pretty prevalent from the beginning to the end, and lingers afterwards, but I don’t find it overpowering (of course, I like smoky teas so there’s a bias).

Drank this with plenty of the fresh fruit l because I’ve been a major pomegranate kind of mood as of late! When I first tried this rooibos blend it was tasty but I felt like it erred a bit too generically “red fruit” in taste, but having it side by side I’m realizing that it’s more accurate than I gave it credit for. Simple, yet juicy and bright!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnNBnrwOQls/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdYwUyg-hl0

I have a soft spot for rooibos and, while I know it is a polarizing flavour, in particular for rooibos blends that are majority rooibos/very simply and lightly flavoured. So when we were in Vancouver I definitely wanted to see what Murchie’s had to offer. I was between this and their Bumbleberry Rooibos, and upon smelling the dry leaf this was the one that spoke to me more…

Pomegranate is tricky as a flavouring because if you don’t get it perfectly it can just taste like generic red fruit. Unfortunately I think that’s sort of what I’m getting from this blend, though I think it’s definitely pushed towards that taste in particular by the particular rooibos that has been used as the base – it seems like it’s naturally a little fruitier on top of lighter woody and honeyed notes.

Even though this is more red fruit than pomegranate (to me, at least) I still enjoyed the cup a great deal. The level of flavouring that’s been used is really lovely, and the cup is smooth and very round on the palate with good bright top notes contrasted against a deeper, full body. I could see this being very refreshing iced or cold brewed, and also something that would teapot really well. It also gives me “Monk’s Blend” vibes in a really nice sort of way – and that makes sense because Monk’s blend is usually grenadine/pomegranate flavoured and sweet in the same level this tea is. So, thinking of it that way, it’s nice to have a caffeine free Monk’s Blend style of tea!

Cuppa from earlier this week! I actually wanted to have this as an iced latte, but there was no milk in the office so I defaulted back to how I’d normally drink this – hot and plain. Definitely sweet with a distinct maple richness and a pleasantly fruity undertone.

A cuppa from this past weekend. Very much a maple syrup type of taste, but balanced out by the brisk and slightly tannic black tea. It taste the edge off some of the sweeter elements that could read as cloying, without diminishing the richness of the blend either.

Top notes of this mug were really lovely sweet amber maple, raisins, and a bit of brown sugar. However, I did over steep the cup and that carelessness resulted in a harsh bitter finish following each of those initially sweet steeps. The bitterness and astringency also both got worse as the tea cooled. But this one is on me, and I think even with the over steeping I liked the maple notes more so with this second brew.

This is one of the teas I picked up from Murchie’s while we were in Vancouver, and I made a mug of it earlier this evening to sip on while making supper for myself. If I remember correctly there were three different maple flavoured black teas at the location we visited, which is quite a lot – especially in one tea category.

I have to imagine that Canadian Breakfast is probably the best seller of the three (it’s the only one I had tried prior, as well) so I was tempted to get that one – but smelling all three it was the least aromatic to me and I just didn’t feel like it was speaking to me. It does make sense that it would be the least aromatic/heavily flavoured though; as a breakfast blend the expectation is definitely more weighted towards the black tea itself being incredibly strong/full bodied and, unlike the other two maple teas we smelled, the maple is really more of an accent than a focus point.

This was the one that appealed to me the most, and steeped up it’s just beautiful. If I’m being honest, it’s much sweeter than I had expected to taste from a Murchie’s blend. Not cloying/candy like or unpleasant at all – and still a restrained sweetness compared to some companies – but even with a name like “Sugar Maple” I feel like I was still expecting the more reserved and “classically British” tasting blending style that is so prevalent across all the teas they carry.

Composition wise, it had to be said that the fruit inclusions are probably doing more for the sweetness level than they are as an additional flavour. For the most part, fruit pieces very rarely actually impart the flavour of the fruit as much as they do natural sweetness. Like, the cranberries in this tea are gorgeous and have a huge visual impact but they don’t reaalllyyyy make the blend taste like cranberry, y’know? Sweetness/sugar are flavour carriers though and it just makes that maple brighter and more lively tasting, and the sort of naturally raisin-y notes of the black tea may just end up being attributed to the cranberry anyway to someone who’s got a less trained palate or just isn’t drinking their tea with the intent of breaking the flavour down to its components.

Overall, I loved this cup though! I’m excited to drink more of it, and I think it’s really flavourful without sacrificing the integrity of the tea bases it’s blended with and that’s something I can totally appreciate. Plus, I see immediately how this is delicious on its own but also neutral enough to work very well with additional sweetners or things like milk/cream. I’d be super curious to try it next to the Toffee Maple just to see how much contrast those blends have, but I didn’t pick that one up. Maybe next time I’m in BC, if that blend is still around whenever the inevitably happens.

If we would have been in Vancouver for longer or had less planned during the two days we were there then there’s so many tea places I would have wanted to check out. Thankfully, we did at least find ourselves in the proximity of one Murchie’s location. I would have wanted to stop into one anyway, but I’ll admit that I had an added layer of curiosity/interest after reading many of AJ’s tasting notes!

I bought a handful of teas, so I’m sure I’ll have tasting notes for them scattered over the next week or so – but in addition to just smelling everything in getting my small little haul I also took advantage of the fact they had a little tea bar in the back of the store to get a latte to go. I almost got the “Asia Swirl” just because the name had made the person I was with (who is mixed race) raise her eyebrows a bit in a not totally on board with the idea kinda way. Obviously this is not the intention (I hope not, anyway) but something people refer to mixed race babies using the word swirl in sort of either an infantilizing or fetishizing way, and that’s what the name made her think of.

In the end I ordered the “Orchard Twist” which, I believe, is made the same way you would make a London Fog but with an Apricot Black tea. I was impressed with just how flavourful and distinct the apricot was as I was sipping on it, since that’s a particularly challenging flavor to convey. The level of sweetness was great, and I thought the stonefruit with the creamy vanilla was very delicious and well balanced – even with the simplicity accounted for. I wish I would have got some more distinct notes from the black tea base, like malt or even floral undertones, but you have to have a pretty intense and full bodied black tea to start off with to expect that to come through with the addition of this much steamed milk.

Overall, lovely latte though!

For the May prompt “a strawberry tea.”

The dry leaf aroma of this tea actually does remind me of strawberry shortcake… it has a sweet, candied strawberry sort of aroma mixed with a vanilla/cream scent that comes off very light/whipped and kinda pulls my mind to imagery of soft sponge cake.

Brewed up, both aromas are still present off the warm cup, with the strawberry aroma becoming a little zestier due to the malty/mineral notes of the black tea. The base has a surprising amount of boldness, with a deep coppery malt, citrus, and mineral flavor; it comes off a bit strongly when the tea is still piping hot, but as the liquor cools the flavorings become more dominant. The strawberry is a little fruity and a little candy, falling more on one side or the other for me depending on the sip, and the sweet vanilla/cream flavor is lovely.

Really enjoying this one!

Another 2018 tea, and it seems appropriate for the second winter we are having here.

Perhaps age is to fault, but I don’t really taste much (if any?) difference between this tea and Murchie’s “Maple Chai” which I sipped down a few months ago. It is the same Ceylon/Keemun base as “Maple Chai” which I quite enjoy, as the Keemun lends a natural subtle smoky note that compliments the maple nicely. The maple is strong and tasty. But this tea features dried cranberry and apple piece in lieu of the spices found in “Maple Chai,” and they aren’t really adding anything at all. I don’t taste any fruity notes… just a strong and sturdy maple-flavored black tea. There is perhaps a sweeter “honey” like note adding some sweetness to the maple, but nothing that tastes like apples or cranberries.

Without the fruitiness, this tea isn’t as interesting as their “Maple Chai” which at least added warm, accompanying spices. I love the concept of apple, cranberry, and maple together as a flavor combo, but it just isn’t happening here. However, because I like the base tea of both this tea and “Maple Chai” much more than the CTC base of Murchie’s “Canadian Breakfast,” I’d take either of these over that one for a hearty maple black tea.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge, March 2022: A floral tea

Woof! I’ve so many floral teas that are nearing the bottom of their tins and pouches – so, it was luck of the draw that is the first floral sipdown of March (there will be many more, with perseverance)!

Murchie’s isn’t usually super exciting (this black tea blend is kind of boring but consistent), but is passable English tea grandmother fare (bring out the scones!). I think the lavender flavouring is well-balanced too; the “cream” comes across as a vague sugary state that reminds me of cake frosting (or Angel Food Cake). The vanilla is candy-ish in tone. It’s a simple but cozy cup that I mindlessly drank up – with or without milk (milk makes the “cream” more real :P).

I’d possibly buy more if/when I visit Murchie’s. Tastes like a spring tea party in the garden.

Nothing too fancy but is adequate for an afternoon cuppa – with or without milk. Glad to say I can’t tell this is a green/black tea blend; it’s essentially an English Breakfast (ceylon) with a dash of jasmine (mild) and lemon (milder). It makes for a good office/cheap kettle tea, and would also likely take well to sugar or honey.

The best way to drink this tea is probably while listening to Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Cafe (RIP, this man is a treasure). I love that the creative side of radio shows still survives in podcast format.

Pulled this 2018 tea over to the sipdown corner for the February sipdown prompt, “Drink a black tea.”

I’m really enjoying this one! The maple is sweet but not overpowering; it goes well with the base, which is a Ceylon/Keemun blend with a really nice natural smoky note from the Keemun. I was worried the spices would be too much for me since the ingredients list chili pepper, but it isn’t at all. The sweeter cinnamon blends nicely with the maple, and I’m left with a sort of cardamom flavor late in the sip (cardamom isn’t listed in the spices, but I’m guessing it’s a combination of the ginger and clove I’m tasting), and there is a bit of warmth on my tongue after the swallow. Licorice root is listed in the blend, but I don’t taste it at all.

The maple makes this sweet enough to take without milk, but I’m sure it would be great as a latte as well (which I’m sure I’ll try while I’m working my way through the package). I really love the soft smokiness of the base without using (the far more abrasive for me) Lapsang Souchong, and it’s a lot smoother than their Canadian Breakfast.

Ooh, this is tasty. I’ve had mixed feelings about my Murchie’s order overall so far, but this blend falls squarely in the “good choice; could see myself repurchasing” category.

I’ve always enjoyed jasmine but didn’t come around to lapsang souchong until the past year or so. I wouldn’t have imagined a pairing of the two would work, but dang, it does! The lapsang tempers the jasmine just enough to take any perfume-y, overwhelming edge off, creating what to me is a very pleasant and super nuanced sip.

I’m also getting bold black tea and maybe a bit of minerality from the green tea, and it’s really just a terrific cup. A bit drying, but I don’t mind. I could see myself reaching for this one any time I want to jump-start my day.

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | July 2023 | A tea that makes you smile

I wasn’t intending to use this tea for this prompt, but I made the last serving of it into an iced tea, and it unlocked a memory that really did make me smile!

Back in high school, at the height of my Lord of the Rings obsession, I was super active in various online LotR fandom communities (and was known by my elf name * hair flip emoji *). I befriended a group of fellow fans, and we chatted over AIM pretty frequently. One gal had a penchant for Snapple’s peach iced tea, which she called by its initialism/acronym: SPIT. I remember trying SPIT a few times, just because I knew she liked it.

When I sipped this iced tea today, I had a sudden memory of SPIT, which reminded me of those innocent days where I basically lived on the internet and would stay up till 6:00 in the morning over summer vacations, talking with my friends on AIM until I heard my parents wake up, at which point I’d scamper into bed and hope not to get caught. Those were the days! I often miss the internet of the early aughts, which I think is why I appreciate Steepster — it reminds me of those early, tight-knit, often fandom-based communities and forums!

2023 sipdown count: 41

A perfectly nice fruity tea. I’d say it’s more peach than apricot, but still tasty. There’s no soapiness or astringency to the base; it’s pretty unobtrusive. I think this would be really nice iced—I’ll have to try it this summer.

Jasmine, jasmine, and more jasmine! Fortunately, I like jasmine. :D I also like libraries and teas with literary names, which is why I added this one to my cart.

It’s a perfectly fine blend. The jasmine overpowers the black and green tea base, although I am getting muted notes of each: something slightly grassy, something a bit tannic… but mostly it’s floral jasmine all the way down. I guess want something a little more, like a stronger black base to back up the jasmine? But I won’t have any problems finishing the bag.

I opened the bag and was hit with a ridiculously powerful punch of artificial strawberry essence, to the point where it made me a little queasy! The scent reminds me of something from my childhood, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. It might be strawberry-flavored Creme Savers, which I VERY MUCH ENJOYED in the late ’90s/early 2000s. That said, I was a little nervous the tea would taste like 100% artificial, perfume-y strawberry and nothing else.

At first, it doesn’t. Once it’s brewed up, the artificial scent mostly dissipates and I’m getting a much more natural strawberry aroma, although there’s definitely an artificial flavor that hits at the back of a sip. It’s layered on the same soapy black tea base I recognize from Canadian Breakfast; the website tells me it’s a blend of Ceylon and Keemun. (I really need to get better at recognizing black tea varieties!) I’m not really getting vanilla or anything to evoke the “shortcake” part of this tea, and I feel like the base is just not super high quality… so, overall, this is pretty meh. It’s also making my entire WFH office room smell like a cheap strawberry candle someone bought at the dollar store and forgot about in the trunk of their car. Ooh, or maybe it smells like a cheap air freshener?! That could be what I’m getting in the scent. Regardless… not great.

A bit of oat milk adds some body and helps hide the artificial flavor, but I think this one will be, ahem, shared in the TTB when it comes my way. XD

Edit: OK, I couldn’t finish my cup because even the small amount of lingering artificial strawberry scent was bothering me. I can’t get the car freshener comparison out of my head! I have to reduce my rating because to me, this is just vile. I rarely dump tea, but this one went down the sink. :(