Sinharaja

Smells like a Ceylon (i.e. archetypal black tea), but a little fruitier, especially when hot. No additives this time – it’s tasty enough without, and I think milk might overwhelm the subtle bits (yes, there’s a little molasses) that make it more interesting than a typical Ceylon. A little sugar would probably be fine, but I wouldn’t do honey (again, subtle flavors). Some spice and berry make this quite satisfying, but I probably wouldn’t buy a stock; I like my black teas more in-your-face (a.k.a not ceylon) than this.

(Also I like parentheses :)
ETA: Actually, a tiny bit of cream was very good for this – brought out the rich caramel flavors. And a second steep at 5 minutes was slightly weaker but still very good.

Ordered this on the Steepster Select special on an impulse…free shipping I could not resist! Got the tea today, made a pot. The smell is rich. The brew is smooth. I added rock crystals and milk. I drank two pots of this tea. Wonderful breakfast tea. I love that is not bitter and is lighter than a china black tea. The 3 oz tin is full but I am still wondering how long this will last since I plan on drinking this every morning:)

I decided to go for another Golden Moon sample this morning, and the description of this one sounded good to me.

The leaves smell earthy, maaaaybe with a floral hint in there. But pretty much just your basic earthy smell.

Brewed, I smell maybe a nutty hint.

The taste is really nice! It’s smooth, which I always like. It’s definitely got some depth. Unfortunately, my tastes aren’t educated to the point where I could tell you what I’m tasting. All I can tell you is that I like it!

I am getting a tiny hint of bakeyness to it, to the point of it reminding me of Thomas Sampson, even though that’s an Assam, and this is a Ceylon. Hmm. Maybe I just don’t know what I’m talking about. :P

Now that it’s cooled a bit, though, I am getting that tiny hint of ripe berries that the description speaks of.

All in all, this really is a very tasty tea! :)

A nice black tea with a mild taste. I’m enjoying it, but not as much as the Irish Breakfast yesterday. Could be I didn’t steep it correctly, but to me this was good, but not great.

This reminds me more of an Assam, with its chocolate notes and deep brown color. I was surprised to find that it is a Ceylon origin tea. It doesn’t taste or look as bright as Adagio’s Ceylon Sonata, for example. It is rather bland to my taste – not quite as rich as an Assam, nor as bright and thirst quenching as a Ceylon. Nonetheless, a pretty decent cuppa, but I have other teas in my cupboard I like better.

Ok, this is a Ceylon tea? It seems the teas I always got with Ceylon were so astringent, I kind of wrote off the variety. This is smooth, rich, robust, and reminds me of a blacker oolong tea I’ve have had. I love that there’s nothing bitter about this tea. This has opened my eyes of what Ceylon varieties can offer.

I added like a touch of milk, but honestly, it needs no additions.

Decided I’d spice things up a bit and go for a GM sample. Picked this one, and steeped it with some rock sugar. The smell of it is pretty strong, kind of smelling prunes? some sort of strong fruit smell is definitely there.

First sip tastes kind of bitter and strong. I’m thinking i should listen to the package and get some cream/milk. Since I only drink skim milk i added a tiny bit of heavy whipping cream and sugar. The taste is much better.

It’s definintely not my favorite sort of taste, but i’d imagine if i put more sugar it would get more sweet. The cream definitely made a difference on the bitter taste though.

It’s a good tea, and I could see it being great on a really cold day, but it’s just not for me.

Yumm, Yumm, very very nice tea, with an almost sweet finish and a nicefull body, with indeed, molasses or caamelized sugar overtones, not heavy , but full and rich.

I was very excited to try this one since it gets such high reviews. But, another black tea that just tastes like black tea to me. It is a nice strong black tea with a malty flavor. It has a little peach flavor to it at the very beginning of the sip. It has something interesting in the smell – like wet peat. I probably won’t buy more, but I enjoyed the sample.

Added a splash of soy creamer and a touch of agave nectar.

This is my very favorite black tea. It is very difficult to over-steep and doesn’t get bitter and it is very low in tannins. It has lovely chocolate and carmel notes with a slight toastiness. It is definitely a comfort tea for me.

Sometimes I like to read what you say about a tea before I say anything. Sometimes I’m inspired by your words, sometimes I’m inspired to completely disagree with you. =) Sometimes I just borrow some of your vocabulary to avoid getting repetitive. In this case, I gotta tell ya, I’m feeling a bit bad about having read your reviews, because I’m afraid I’m going to pull the average down on this one. I’m really glad you love the tea; I just wish I did, too.

Reminder: I’m a tea-ophyte and especially new to black tea. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a Darjeeling and a Ceylon; until recently, I didn’t know there was one. I read some of your reviews talking about flavour profiles and notes of this and that, as if you were describing a fine wine¹, and honestly, I feel like my senses must be dulled or something. =) This smells like black tea. Molasses? Caramel? Sweetness? None of that. About the most nuanced I can get about this tea is that it smelled to me like “green” black tea. This makes sense, if indeed it’s picked from land bordering a rainforest. I do agree that that “green” smells and tastes somewhat roasted.

I like strong flavours and I like flavour infusions. While my most recent foray into black tea (the Nepalese afternoon tea²) left me wanting more, this Sinharaja just made me want to get through it so I could try a different one. It’s not bad for what it is, I think, it’s just not my cuppa, so to speak.

¹ I don’t get wine, either. It all tastes like grape juice + rubbing alcohol to me. =)

² http://steepster.com/bleepnik/posts/126825

Ok, so I finally had time to get back to tea tasting.
Unfortunatly, I don’t much care for this one. I’m still new at the different tea varieties so maybe it’s that I’m not fond of ceylon. To me this tastes closer to coffee then other teas. (and I really don’t like coffee). I do get the “fertile rainforest” tastes but I don’t care for it. I tried it plain and then with cream and sugar but this follows the trend for me that adding sugar and milk doesn’t help me with teas I don’t like plain. Anyway, not for me. I’m curious though if it’s just because I don’t like ceylon as everyone is saying this is the best ceylon…

This is the best Ceylon I have ever had. It’s creamy, strong, smooth and I can brew it directly in the pot and it doesn’t get bitter even over a half hour!!! Amazing! I LOVE this tea!

Bold like an assam, but beautifully balanced and very delicious. Possibly the best Ceylon tea I’ve had (generally not a fan). The immediate impression involves a wonderfully smooth toastiness. Has some woodiness, along with an unexpected sweetness at the end of the swallow that lingers. Package says it takes well to milk and raw sugar, but it’s so good I didn’t even want to add them (and I’m usually shameless about that stuff!). I would definitely order this again.

Hummm….Perhaps I’m just not a Ceylon fan. Today was the second time I had this tea. I can’t remember if I added anything to it the first time but I remember a very bright tea flavor but I just wasn’t wowed. This time I thought I used plenty of leaf, but after adding some milk it just seemed completely overpowered. Too mild for a breakfast tea for me – and I can just imagine hubby complaining about it being tasteless. Could be an afternoon tea, but I just have so many more better options than this for the few times I manage to get in an afternoon cup of tea.

I love this tea when I’m in the mood for black. It’s initially milky, with a smoky hint, later full bodied caramel with toasty aftertaste. I could sip this all day, and I love to re-steep my teas. I let it steep a little longer than most.

This is excellent. A nice, dark, flavorful tea with such a smooth taste.

The dry leaves smell sweet, which a “bready” quality. They actually remind me a little of banana bread for some reason. These are nice, long, full dried leaves that expand and unfurl to release some great flavors.

The tea tastes nice without any sweetener, but since I prefer my black teas to be on the sweet side, I added just a touch of sugar. The dark tea has a raisin-like taste, but without being particularly fruity. After a few sips it gets sweeter (maybe it’s because the tea is cooling), with a taste like the burnt sugar crust on creme brulee. And it does this all without being overly sweet.

I’m sad I only have a sample. After I finish all my Golden Moon samples, I’ll probably order 3 pr 4 of my favorites. This is definitely on my short list.

Not your grandma’s Ceylon.

Sample. First steep at boiling and 4 minutes was really bitter for me, even with my usual touch of half&half and honey. Dumped it out. But based on other reviews, I decided to steep it again, but this time for 3:30, and that was better. Had plain, then added some sugar, then some half&half. All were fine. To me, just tasted like a mild black tea.

Made a bland tea. When I examined the steeped “leaves”, I noticed that this tea was full of stalks and twigs. Hardly any leaf at all. Bad batch?