Tay Tea

I got an awesome Tay Tea sampler full of morning teas from my mother’s friend for Christmas. I absolutely loved every single one of them (especially the Kyoto) and I just had to review them! Although I had never heard of this company before, it is fast becoming one of my new faves.

Dry: Nice, full, beautifully curled leaves. The flowers make it aesthetically pretty.

Liquor:
1st Steep: Gold
2nd Steep: Gold-Yellow
3rd Steep: Yellow

Flavor: Smoky, full-bodied, smooth

Notes: This tea is absolutely wonderful! It has that wonderful smoky flavor that you is usually expected with most Oolongs, but what it was missing was what truly made this a new fave. I’ve found it hard to find Oolongs that aren’t bitter and have sharp aftertastes, but this one was VERY smooth (I think maybe because of the chrysanthemum flowers). The 2nd and 3rd steeping were a little weaker but heavy enough to still be delicious. The roasted taste made this tea a wonderful tea to start a cold winter morning. Overall, I would definitely recommend everyone give this one a try.

I feel like I made out like a bandit in my most recent swap with Alphakitty because I got sooo many samples of teas I wanted to try! I’m drowing in tea samples, and I’m very excited to try all of them.

I plucked this one out of the pile first because bergamot + rose = love, for me, and this blend also has cardamom and borage, which I didn’t know what it was at first but is apparently a mediterranean herb. I realized that I think I have seen this tea company at the NY Coffee and Tea Festival before, but I’ve never noticed this tea there I guess.

Steeped, it smells like a delightfully rosy Earl Grey. Unfortunately the taste is a little lackluster. As in, it doesn’t taste like much! The flavor isn’t very strong, and overall the tea really dries out your mouth and doesn’t really have even much of an aftertaste. I also get the impression that steeping it longer would just end in bitterness.

Oh well, thanks for the sample, Alphakitty! It’s good to know ahead of time since this company doesn’t sell small amounts of their teas. I will go back to savoring my Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black. :)

Special Thanks to Alphakitty for this one :)

It’s not overly spicy but I’m totally ok with that! The vanilla and lemon made for an interesting combo of flavors…to create a new flavor of it’s own, really! I enjoy it very much! There are subtle spices mixed in underneath…they make lovely assistants. As it cool at room temperature I can taste the ginger a bit more. Neat Rooibos flavored offering :)

I tend to dislike cherry flavoring in things—they remind me of all the cough syrup I had to drink as child, so I associate cherry with medicine. However, I’ve found that cherry in teas is usually pretty natural-tasting if it’s done right, and this is definitely one of those instances!

Tay is a small company in upstate NY where my aunt lives, and when she picked this up for me I was a little skeptical at first—the scent of the dry leaves is a little fake-cherry. But brewed, it’s fantastic and really not overly fruity at all. The light, airy cherry petals come through and mix perfectly with the rose. Neither is overpowering, and the green base comes through well. It’s nutty and grassy, the perfect compliment for a perfumey, lightly fruity blend. It’s also one of the few “fruit” teas I enjoy hot as much as iced.

The worst name for a tea ever, but so, so delicious. It smells amazing—the chocolate and mint both stand out—and sometimes I just sniff the tin I keep in my office cubicle when I don’t have time to make a cup. It is a dessert-y sort of tea (I guess the chocolate makes that part kind of obvious) and great after lunch or dinner, both pleasantly, mildly sweet and soothing at the same time.

I’m completely new to tea reviewing (in fact, this is my very first review), but I’ll try to be specific about why I love this tea so much. I first bought some at a tea shop in Woodstock, NY… was incredibly sad when I ran out… and then incredibly relieved to find it for sale online. This tea has the perfect amount of sweetness and a lovely, subtle, caramel-y flavor. I’ve never added any sweetener—it doesn’t seem to need it—but you definitely could (maple syrup might actually be good, or raw sugar) to heighten the taste. Very delicious in the afternoon (it has a little caffeine, but not much, and I’m sensitive to caffeine after noon), and also wonderful iced.

My order arrived none too soon from Tay Tea today and boy did I need it! Very stressful weekend… Saturday – found out my brother will be deployed to Afghanistan in Nov. for 12+ months, then find out my husbands uncle crashed is dirt bike that night and is in ICU (doing better now), finally Sunday my father ends up in the ER and has been admitted to figure out heart/stomach issues….PLUS I started in the new tea shopt today.

SO I really needed this tea! It relaxed me quite nicely. Beautiful aroma when I opened the tin and while it was steeping. It was so good I drained the cup in seconds! I’m thinking round two is coming up. Still very stressed out and not at all sleepy.