First, it was a great pleasure to see K S on Facebook this morning! Are we Facebook friends? Nope. But Teavivre posted a link to his review of a puerh tea they sent him to try!
Second, tunes&tea, I was planning to start posting what I was listening to now and then and I forgot! So I was listening to The Wind and the Wheat by Phil Keaggy but now I don’t remember what tea I was drinking, but I know I had popcorn so does that count? LOL!
This morning, I am enjoying a nice cuppa, and this is a really authentic cuppa. Daughter’s BF sent a box from Ireland. He was desperately trying to find loose leaf tea and it is sad that it is a hard thing to find in a place that we think of so strongly connected with tea! He said when he comes to America next month for a visit, he is going to get lots of loose leaf tea.
This tea has a rich, complex aroma. There is a light astringency. With food, like the strong cheese we are eating right now, I like it plain. If I were only drinking tea, I think I would want a little milk and perhaps a little sugar. This tea will definitely open your eyes as soon as you give it a good sniff. There is malt, there is raisin, there is TEA! The liquor is rich red brown.
This is a CTC tea so I only give it 2 1/2 minutes in the boiling water. Someone with more chest hair might want to give it a little longer.
I finally tried this as a hot breakfast tea this morning. I did add milk and sugar as I usually do with a black tea in the morning, with the exception of a few really lovely black teas.
The aroma of the loose tea was really fruity at first, reminding me of a Darjeeling. There was a slight sharpness to the tea as well and the characteristic maltiness one would expect from a blend of Indian and Kenyan teas.
This is better than grocery store tea, makes really good – no, make that great – iced tea, and while it isn’t an artisanal tea it is very, very reasonably priced….if you are in Ireland, that is. This is working nicely for breakfast at the beach, though at home I prefer my Harney English Breakfast which is 100% Keemun, or a nice pot of Queen Catherine, but I am definitely looking forward to making pitcher after pitcher of richly flavored, bracing iced tea with this – something I really don’t like as well with the other two. As a Southern style sweet tea, this was magnificent, reminding me a bit of Frank’s base last year for his iced teas. (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease bring back mango black!).
Very enjoyable!
