Bogart

Oh…so you want to be center of attention!? Oh…you want to be the leading man? Well, let’s just see what you’ve got, sir!

This has a bit of nose trickery going on! At first sniff it reminds me of a chai. 2nd sniff it changes it’s mind and resembles a perfect wintery-type blend. Then…just when you think you’ve figured it out…the individual components smack you in the face! You are quite bold, mister! I can smell Cinnamon, Vanilla, and almost a buttery-creme in there with a bit of nuttiness.

The color is a rich brown.

My first sip was very slippery…yes, slippery! Smooth and buttery cream-like tones. The after taste is reminding me of Hazelnut. The 2nd taste…still slippery with the cinnamon popping out more. As I continue to sip I inhale at the same time to be presented with an ever-so-slight smokey scent that passes just like a breeze.

This is an interesting cup to say the very least.

Almost a competition for the leading role? Perhaps. I’m so happy Doulton let me “bogart” some of this from her stash! (har, har)

I have a cat named Mrs. Palmer, who has an enormous crush on my oldest son. Mrs. Palmer looks at me with disdain and superiority (which I love—every cat lady loves a superior cat) and she tolerates my husband. When my son comes around she gets this goofy dazed crazy happy expression on her face that I call “Spring Awakening”.

Leland Tea’s Bogart has given me “spring awakening”. I am a somewhat cautious tea drinker—I prefer to start out with a small sample at 1 or 2 bucks. Then I might buy more. Untasted, sight unseen, nothing known about Leland Teas, I purchased not one but two full orders of Bogart (and quite a few of their other blends). I ordered on April 12 and today, April 19th my tea has arrived. Very good record, considering that I also got teas today that were ordered on April 3rd.

Upon first sniff I fell in love; first taste confirmed the love, and I think that the explanation is that Leland Teas uses some Lapsang Souchoung in the blend. If you don’t like smoke, you would barely notice it, however. The predominant taste is the hazel nut, followed by the vanilla and the cinnamon. The nuttiness is divine and the vanilla is excellent. The cinnamon wisely remains a back-up player and does not try to take over the show.

I’m ready for more and I still have that “spring awakening” expression on my face. The question is will I be able to stop and try other teas? I have, from Leland, “Tiffany,” and “Garbo’s Peachy Blend” and “Kisses!” and more!

I’m letting myself be inspired by the Steepsterites and trying this one tonight, also a Doulton tea

this smells absolutely lovely. It reminds me of these biscuits that my mother bakes for chirstmas, but it doesjn’t actually smell jparticularly christmassy, which is kind of weird when you think about it considering the biscuit-y smell. Supposedly if you blend it with laspang souchong the description says that it will supposedly become ‘a coffee lovers dream of tea’.

Errrr….. Right. Except coffee isn’t smoky and lapsang souchong flavour =/= coffee flavour. STOP MIXING UP COFFEE AND TEA, THEY ARE TWO VERY SEPARATE THINGS, ARGH! I’m getting a bit weary of many tea-drinkers’ snobbery that coffee-drinkers are somehow inferior because they “only” drink coffee. ‘Drink what you like and like what you drink’ they say and then they do their utmost to make the coffee-drinker see the light. Attend a coffee tasting. Coffee is just as diverse and interesting and with just as many details for the nerd as tea.

But that was a bit of a tangent. Where was I? Oh yes, aroma. After steeping it’s even more cake-y and a bit chocolate-y. Or maybe more Nutella-y than chocolate-y. Or, no, not Nutella. LU Bastogne. That’s it. Do you get those out there in the Big Abroad? A sort of syrup-y cinnamon biscuit.

What a surprise to taste! Again, Bastogne, definitely. Also reminds me of that chocolate pu-erh from Numi, it’s a very very similar flavour.

I like this one better though, and I’m in a funny sort of situation where having one tea is forcing me to go and dock points from another tea. It feekls strange.

Also in spite of the rant up there, I also want to try and mix it with some lapsang souchong.

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act II scene 3

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The Tempest, Act IV scene 1

Oh, how this tea has been calling to me ever since Doulton’s box arrived. This was the main smell that I experienced when I opened the box. This is what’s been fragrancing my room. It’s sort of an intense vanilla/hazelnut tea smell. It sorta intimidated me.

Oh, this is good. I’ve only ever had hazelnut as a syrup in a latte (not my favorite) so I think that my mind picked up on the vanilla more. But wow. I think “hug in a cup” isn’t just something that Leland flippantly put in its description in order to sell more tea. It does seem like a holiday tea, but I’d take it a step further: this is more like the warm loving heart of most holidays. And Stephanie nailed the description of the second infusion: a cinnamony snickerdoodle!

This was the highlight of my day by far. I even kept the leaves for a final steep after I got home from work. Yes, three is definitely this tea’s limit. And usually I love contemplating where one of these teas fits in Shakespeare’s cannon, but this one was on the verge of infuriating. It’s not a tragedy and it should be one of his better plays. Could I call a tea “Shakespeare” the man? That didn’t sit well with me. Then I looked up a play that I’m not too familiar with: The Tempest. Aha! It’s got the family drama of many holidays but ends well. Many critics have even speculated that the character of Prospero was the embodiment of Shakespeare himself.

And then it happened. I was looking at this quote on one of the websites that I’ve relied heavily upon for these notes (enotes.com) and I read the commentary and almost fell out of my chair. They refer to Bogart’s famous last line in The Maltese Falcon: “The stuff that dreams are made of” and how Bogey had suggested this line himself (as far as anyone knows the misquote was unintentional). Well, I shall misquote intentionally: “This tea is such stuff as dreams are made on.” TG

I am so glad we made it to Leland. Bogart was everything I imagined! My husband and I shared a pot and both loved it. I bought the large tin ( actually 2 smalls since they were out of large, which is even better for freshness sake.) they were packed full too ( but not to the point of crushing the leaves)

Part of Doulton’s Nabokov Prize!

I see Doulton’s on a mission, here. Clearly. ;) And it looks like she’s winning more converts with every steep!

The first thing I got was smoke, but warm, comforting smoke. And dulce de leche. Smoky dulce de leche, then. Like smoky, comforting, familiar trenchcoat. Which is appropriate! The smell and taste are both classic. The colour is a rich, warm amber that suggests maple syrup.

The most this needs is an eensy bit of raw sugar. I’m talking tiny. The thing about sugar is, like salt, it’s a flavour enhancer more than anything else. It shouldn’t dominate (well, OK, except in sugar cookies and rock candy); it should only compliment. Don’t add cream, whatever you do. I did, thinking a tiny drop would enhance the creaminess, but it was too much. It overwhelmed the lovely delicacy of this tea.

Before the cream, it was a lovely, sinuous, wafting thing. Like a smoking jacket belonging to someone who only smoked really nice tobacco in a pipe for years, perhaps taking it in the library after dinner with a snifter of single-malt.

Trenchcoat, smoking jacket. I’m sensing a theme. No fedora, though. Definitely no fedora. ;)

Very original and it smells really good. I like the creaminess. I’d like to try this tea with everything minus the Lapsang. I like that they tried adding it in here, but to me it doesn’t work.

Oh my god…this tea is delicious! It tastes just like it smells—sweet roasted hazelnuts with a touch of cinnamon, cocoa and maple. I can’t believe how good this is, I’m really enjoying it. It’s like hazelnut pralines. But it’s not too sweet—it’s just perfect!

I stopped by Leland’s Tea Shop on my way home from work today meaning to buy this. And I’m so happy I did. Very warming and comforting on this cloudy, cold evening—just like they describe it.

I’m off to brew another mug!