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It’s been a while since I’ve last posted. I don’t want anyone to think I’ve stopped drinking tea. If anything, I’m drinking more than ever. So…here I am…with proof!

At lunch a few hours ago, I was privileged to be served some exceptional iced tea in a local restaurant. Living in South Carolina, we were spoiled in that good iced tea (simply referred to as “tea” in these here parts) was quite common in most of our restaurants. Also, we are known to drink it all year round. However, like a lot of things in this day and age, the tea quality in some places has gone downhill while the prices have skyrocketed.

Although I drink my hot tea “straight up,” I usually enhance my unsweet iced tea with a packet of Sweet ’N Low and a lemon slice. (As an aside, I much prefer sweet iced tea but my doctor exiled it to my forbidden list.)

The tea I had this afternoon was terrific. It was just sweet enough, which isn’t always accomplished with just one packet of the artificial sweetener. The color was a dark amber (assisted by my always ordering the tea in a separate glass with no ice, and another glass on the side with ice). In my opinion, there are few drinking experiences more distasteful than watered down tea.

The taste was bold and brisk. There were no flavor notes missing from the astringency-free liquid. I will probably return to the restaurant soon just to get more of their iced tea. Of course, I might also get one of their great sandwiches to wash down the tea.

If you drink iced tea all year like we do here, or you’re a Summer-only iced tea drinker like you’ll find in a lot of towns up north, you can’t go wrong with this one!

I looked forward to opening up this tea sample for a unique (and maybe silly) reason this time. It just so happens that my wife and her cousin call each other Jin Jun. I don’t know why and I’m not sure they know either. However, it seemed like fate to give this one a try.

The unbrewed leaves/buds were long, gold, and black. The smell was quite sweet, like a breakfast coffee cake, which immediately ramped up my sweet tooth (more like teeth).

As instructed on the packet, I brewed the leaves for five minutes at 185 degrees. The steeped liquor was a golden color. The aroma was quite sweet and alluring.

The taste of this tea was splendid. It was similar to a freshly baked sugar cookie with chocolate and mild fruit and floral accents. A light and tender aftertaste followed each sip.

Like all Teavivre teas, it was quite smooth. My only challenge with their smooth teas is that I tend to gulp them down. I’m trying to change my ways and slowly savor these teas.

This is another winner amongst Teavivre’s ever-growing collection of fine teas. I’m giving away my age here, but when I was a young man (in the dark ages), I never hesitated to buy a Beatles record album, songs unheard, as soon as it came out. I knew it would be great and I would love it. This is how I feel about Teavivre’s teas. I’m confident I will never be disappointed.

My breakfast today featured the Wuyi Golden Buds black tea from Teavivre. As always, I was excited to try a new selection. Whenever I see the word “golden” in the name of a black tea, it usually means I won’t be disappointed.

This tea consisted of short brown leaves with golden buds dominantly blended among them. The aroma had a sweet chocolate sensation to it.

I brewed the leaves at 185 degrees for five minutes in accordance with the instructions on the packet. The steeped product had an orange/yellow color. The finished odor was mildly sweet with chocolate and caramel undertones.

The flavor of this tea was mild and soft, but delightful. Caramel and chocolate accents were in the forefront. The dominance of golden buds in the mix all but eliminated a recognizable black tea type, but I didn’t find myself yearning for that at all. It was quite tasty as it was.

The aftertaste was also mild and dissipated quickly. Astringency was completely absent.

Since the flavor of the tea is rather mild, it is custom-made for a dessert tea. However, it certainly brightened up my breakfast too.

Although I’d never tried Ying De Hong Cha YingHong #1 through #8, I was still anxious to sample #9. So, I made sure to debut it at my house as today’s breakfast tea.

The unbrewed leaves had an interesting sweet and malty aroma. I was reminded of waffles.

I brewed the long black leaves with gold tips for three minutes at 195 degrees. I always initiate new teas by using a company’s recommended instructions. This way, I don’t feel like it’s my fault if the tea has some unpleasant characteristics.
The concluded liquor had an amber hue. The odor was sweet and malty.

The flavor was like a healthier version of my favorite malted waffles. A sweetness was notable, but not overwhelming like my waffles. The difference was that I usually douse my waffles with enough maple syrup to make my teeth hurt. This tea should not spike your sugar levels like that. There were also slight fruity notes that were as welcome as blueberries on my waffles.

The tea was also tremendously smooth with no bitterness. The aftertaste was soft and gentle.

This is another winner from Teavivre. Although I drank it at breakfast, this would also be a wonderful lunch tea.

Another Teavivre tea sample that I looked forward to trying was their Hua Xiang Xiao Zhong black tea. Even though I couldn’t pronounce it, I figured I would have no problem drinking it. Thank you Teavivre for this sample.

The long black leaves in the sample packet were probably the darkest tea leaves I’ve ever encountered. Their aroma was like a hodgepodge of sweet, fruity, and flowery elements.

I steeped the leaves for five minutes at 195 degrees. The brewed result was a surprisingly light color for black tea. It reminded me of melted butter.

At first sip, I thought I detected a sweet potato flavor accent. However, as I got deeper into my cup, I realized the flavor was actually sweet like caramel, surrounded by fruity and flowery soft tones. I don’t normally gravitate toward flowery teas, but this one expertly uses the flower attributes as a flavor enhancer, versus the star of the show.

This tea was also buttery smooth down the gullet. It was another one that I had to use constraint to savor rather than gulp.

Even though the light brewed color made me wonder if the flavor would be light too, that was not the case. It had a gentle, yet full, extremely satisfying taste, with no astringency or overbearing aftertaste.

Teavivre has come up with yet another exquisite tea that I could drink all day. In fact, I like it so much that I will work on trying to pronounce it!

It’s a beautiful Tuesday here in the southern United States. The day has been made even better and more exciting with a sample of Teavivre’s Premium Golden Monkey Black Tea.

This Teavivre selection is one of my favorite teas in the whole world. You know the old mental exercise: “If you were shipwrecked all alone on a deserted island, what would you want to have with you?” – No brainer for me! This tea would definitely be in my backpack!

Right out of the package, the unbrewed leaves carried an intoxicating aroma of freshly baked bread. A pleasant sweet note also arose that made me want to hurry up and steep this baby immediately.

I followed the instructions on the packet and steeped the long dark and golden leaves at 195 degrees (actually, 194 degrees is recommended, but there is no such setting on my tea maker- close enough). I also set the timer for Teavivre’s suggested three minutes (they recommend a brewing time of one to three minutes).

The final product was a bright amber color. The steeped aroma that wafted from my cup had the fresh bread characteristic with sweet honey undertones.

This has to be one of the smoothest black teas out there. Every one of my sips, from first to last, was like silk. I had to slow down to savor each mouthful to avoid gulping it down.

The flavor was extremely pleasant, light, and sweet. Bread with honey were immediately brought to mind.

Astringency? Forget about it. There is nothing of the kind. Just pure flavor utopia.

I don’t just like this tea. I LOVE this tea. I would drink it all day if I could.

My wife and I were at a street festival on Saturday. Besides sampling a lot of great local baked goods, we stumbled upon some interesting loose tea packets at one of the booths.

I decided to purchase a small packet of Royal black tea, packaged and sold by Farm Fresh Fare, a local store based in Fort Mill, South Carolina. I occasionally pick up small samples of tea when visiting street festivals. Some I really like, some not as much.

In this case, the unbrewed black leaves smelled like Ceylon to me. I steeped them for five minutes in boiling water. The final liquid had a slightly honey-sweet aroma. The color was a dark reddish-gold.

I was somewhat surprised by the bold, yet quite smooth taste of this tea. I didn’t detect Ceylon in the flavor. Instead, it was more like Yunnan or another Chinese tea. Whatever the exact tea is, it is quite tasty, flavorful, and goes down effortlessly like water. There was no astringency and the aftertaste was equally pleasant.

I am more than satisfied with this tea and am already planning to purchase a larger packet next time. This was one of those times when taking a chance paid off. Maybe this would be a good time to buy a lottery ticket?

I recently bought a pound of this tea, flavor untasted. I’m becoming brave (or reckless) in my old age. What intrigued me about this one was that it was advertised as an English breakfast tea blend of four black teas from three countries: India, Sri Lanka, China. That all sounded good to me and worth checking out.

I opened up the pouch and the aroma that shot out was a pleasant combination of, yes, more than one tea type. Black China teas are my favorite and my sniffer could definitely detect their presence in this tea. I also perceived the existence of Darjeeling and possibly Assam, all coming together nicely in the unbrewed whiff.

I steeped the brown leaves for five minutes in boiling water. This resulted in a golden amber colored liquid with a pleasant aroma containing tea and sweet undertones.

The taste of this tea was very smooth and full of flavor. The four teas melded exquisitely into a total merger of sweet and malty deliciousness. No bitterness was discovered anywhere.

I should also add that I drink all of my teas straight up. I never add milk or sweeteners. I prefer to experience the teas on their own merits.

If a tea plantation can figure out how to create this richly combined flavor from just one tree, they will have a huge winner on their hands. But, until then, I will just appreciate this exceptional blend as it is.

Pu-erh tea is one of those entities that people tend to love or hate. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground, even when someone WANTS to love it. I happen to be a guy who loves Pu-erh. However, let me qualify that by saying I love GOOD Pu-erh. I have tried one or two Pu-erh selections that left me less than enamored.

I am fairly new to The Tea Spot’s offerings, having discovered them in a great pastry café in Myrtle Beach a few years ago. I’ve had great experiences with their Bolder Breakfast and Earl Grey selections. So, when I saw that their Pu-erh tea was on sale, I figured it was worth a taste.

When I opened the one-pound pouch that I purchased, I was instantly greeted with the familiar rich and leathery aroma of Pu-erh. I steeped the medium-length black and brown tea leaves at 212 degrees for five minutes, as recommended by the folks at The Tea Spot. The brewed result was the color of black coffee. The smell was leathery but not as strong as I’ve experienced in the past with other selections of that variety.

Another surprise (somewhat) was the flavor contained a gentle fortitude. It was quite pleasant and smooth, without slapping my tastebuds. A leathery and earthy zest was front and center, but it was in no way over-powering. I did not detect astringency anywhere. Even the aftertaste did not overcome the bowl of cereal that the tea washed down.

To summarize, the flavor is rich but not oppressive. This is a very tranquil Pu-erh tea that probably won’t trigger the most committed Pu-erh skeptic’s gag reflex.

For the last few years, I’ve been in a kind of tea rut. I’ve quietly settled into my favorite five or six black teas, rarely venturing out into unchartered waters (not sure if this is a pun). However, I’ve been wanting to try out teas by The Tea Spot after a pleasant experience with their Earl Grey at Myrtle Beach in February.

So…for my first venture into the The Tea Spot universe, I decided to purchase some Bolder Breakfast from their website. I chose that blend because I need all of the caffeinated help I can get to fuel up my brain in the morning, and that blend seemed to be advertised as caffeine-fortified. I also learned that Bolder Breakfast is their #1 top-selling tea.

The purchased pound arrived in a sturdy decorative pouch. When I ripped open the seal and plunged my honker into the bag, I was deluged with a strong, but pleasant, flowery and chocolaty aroma. The full brown tea leaves were peppered with calendula flowers and sunflower petals.

I followed the directions on the pouch and steeped the leaves, flowers, and petals, for five minutes at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The brewed blend smelled sweet and chocolaty with flowery accents close behind.

My first sip produced a flavor of chocolate mixed with flowers. There also was a twang of another flavor which I almost chalked up to astringency. However, I then remembered that this blend also contained aged Pu-erh tea as one of its ingredients, in addition to black teas from China, India, and Sri Lanka- twang solved.

This is a surprisingly gentle tea, considering all of its different components. The pronounced dark chocolate essence is more than satisfying to my relentless sweet tooth. In my case, the rich sweetness of this blend more than cancels out any twangs that might materialize.

All-in-all, this is a delicious tea with many fine attributes. As for the effects of the bolder caffeine, I don’t know yet, but I do seem to be typing faster than usual!