Empire Tea Services

Used the last of this to fill a tumbler for a day out in 40 degree drizzle. By far the best peach tea I have found. Tasted excellent iced – well 40 degrees anyway and not part of the plan. Have to admit I might have traded it for a pair of gloves.

Temple of Heaven green tea with peach and apricot flavors. According to the helpful guy at the shop/warehouse who gave me a sample, this tea was just freshly blended. It smells insane of peach and apricot, to the point I was a little nervous. The dry leaf is very black and very tightly rolled. Not having much experience with gunpowder I wasn’t sure how to measure it. I used about 1/2 tsp. It was maybe a little light. The liquor has a light green / amber tint. It appeared clear in the pot. After pouring, there was some residue in the bottom of the cup. The aroma is so delicious. It’s like holding the fruit in your hands. Still nervous. First sip – amazing. The flavor is much less outrageous than expected. It is like biting into the real thing with the added bonus that there is tea in the mix and I can taste it. With the second steep, the green tea jumps out even more. The flavors became even more enjoyable as the cup reached room temperature. Well balanced. I am generally not a fan of fruit or flower flavored teas. I do, however, have a weakness for peach. I have had many, many, bagged and bottled versions. This is way better than any I have tried. I will be ordering more of this.

Saying good bye to the oldest tea in my drawer. I haven’t proven to be the biggest fan of Keemun on its own but I do enjoy it blended with other teas. This is an excellent Ceylon Keemun blend. Today I saw this tea in an all new light. This is the first time I have brewed this immediately after Bailin Gong Fu, and amazingly they are far more similar than different. This one is almost equally malty but lightly more astringent. The leaf in the press has a sweet hay/chocolate notes aroma. This is a civilized cup with nice rounded edges. I bought this with a co-worker. When his half runs out, if he wants to keep it in his arsenal, I will reorder with him. This is just good.

Just noticed this is my 300th tasting note!

After today, I will have enough of this left for one more mug. That’s a shame. The trouble with this tea is timing. After I bought this, I started drinking the most amazing Chinese greens, and oolongs, blacks, and puerhs, along with some excellent fruit and herbal teas. This one kind of got lost in the drawer. This is a blend of Ceylon, Keemun, and a couple others I can’t recall at the moment. It is way better than anything I can buy locally from the grocery store but it is not the alien sensory journey I have come to love and expect. This tastes like tea. Extremely good black tea, but tea. Does that make sense? As I sit here sipping I am thinking how this is even better than I remember, at the same time I realize it is too familiar. That’s a shame. If you are looking for something to fill the gap between an English Breakfast and Prince of Wales this is your tea.

Resteeping the leaves from yesterday. Tea, a cream cheese Danish, and the boss is out of town. What a good start to a Friday.

Almost out of this one. The dry leaf smells of milk chocolate today. This is a solid black tea blend.

Another Day – another cup. Happiness factor high. My rating on this one is probably higher than it should be but I am comparing it to the Twinings bagged version that I really liked before I found this.

Today’s lab experiment involved a healthy scoop of this Ceylon Keemun blend and about 4 leaves of chocolate mint. Slightly below boiling water and 3 minute steep. This tea straight up is really fantastic. With the mint added, I am not as impressed as I have been when I have used it with other teas – ripe puerh for instance. Here, even though I went light on the mint, it tends to take over and be the predominate flavor. There is a hint of chocolate in the late sip. The tea base just gets a bit lost. Maybe I should have used hotter water? 2nd cup full roiling boil, 4 minute steep. Well it is more balanced, and I can taste the tea base and as it cools it gets better, but I’ve decided this base doesn’t need messing with.

Had to dig to the back of the drawer for this. 2 months to the day since I last logged it. A good simple blend of black teas with a lot of depth and flavor. Steeped three cups. See previous notes.

Decided to resteep yesterday’s leaf just to see if it would survive the night. The bite is gone. So is the hint of smoke. What remains is a smooth cuppa with delightful cocoa notes. Actually think I preferred this cup over the previous ones.

Kind of forgot I had this one in the drawer. Keemun and Ceylon. Now that it has aged a few months, the dry leaf smells of cocoa. Boiling water. 3 minute steep. The wet leaf has a slight smokiness and grape notes. This is a nice basic good cup of tea. A little bite, just a hint of smoke, a bit of malt, and fruity notes after the sip. Similar to the Twinings version but that is only in bag form. This is loose and very small cut pieces. It steeps easily a couple times and is quite flavorful.

Haven’t had this one in a while. A Ceylon Keemun blend. 1st steep 3 minutes. Enough bite to be interesting without getting bitter. Nice fruity aroma. A hint of smoke in the sip. 2nd steep at 4 minutes stood up nicely to pizza. Third steep at 5 minutes was the most pleasant.

Premium Keemun teas from China blended with high elevation Ceylon teas. I drove 70 miles to pick this tea up at the warehouse. I am not disappointed. This is a loose leaf rotovane tea but it is not dust. This is quality tea blended to perfection. The leaf smells very rich and sweet like fruit and reminds me of a good tobacco. I don’t smoke – that is not the point. It smells so good I could inhale it all day but then I would miss drinking it. The brew is a very clear medium dark and there is no sediment in the bottom of the cup. I am not a big fan of straight black teas. This is one of the few I could drink everyday. I haven’t tried it iced but it would probably be great. There is no bitterness. There is no heavy aftertaste. The Ceylon is a solid foundation for the Keemun to build upon. It adds a fruitiness after the sip. I can chug this or sip it. I can drink it hot or let it reach room temperature. It is just good. Highly recommend especially if you think you don’t like unflavored black tea. You can get two cups from 1 tsp by steeping the first cup 3 minutes and the second for 6 minutes, with only a little flavor loss on the second cup.

I have to add an addendum. I went looking for this particular tea because I had a box of Twinings English Afternoon I really liked. It’s a bagged version of Ceylon Keemun blend. I wanted loose. After drinking two cups of ETS loose, I brewed a cup of Twinings to compare. It is kind of like chimpanzees and humans. We may share 97% DNA but that 3% makes all the difference in the world. The Twinings dust colored the brew almost immediately. It lacked the fullness and range of flavor but left an aftertaste. It had an annoying bite felt on the sides of the tongue and roof of the mouth. I poured out about half a cup. Just couldn’t finish it. This is a bit of an aha moment. For about the same money, Empire Tea Services blew the doors off Twinings.

Sip down. This is definitely starting to show its age but is still very tasty. The Earl White I am replacing it with has its work cut out convincing me I made a wise decision.

Tea of the afternoon. I have no idea what emperor’s pride leaf is but it makes for a good cup of tea. This smells so good just sitting on the desk. Of course sipping it isn’t so bad either. Drinking on this one all afternoon.

Yesterday’s leaf still had one satisfying cup in it.

I notice I am doing all flavored teas today. It wasn’t intentional. I will probably sip this the rest of the day. I am down to less than an ounce. Late summer I’ll take a day off work and we’ll go to the outlet mall 65 miles from here. Quite coincidentally this tea shop is only 10 minutes this side of the mall. Well, since I am already going to be in the area, we might as stop by. I need to restock this one, their Ti Kuan Yin and peach apricot, maybe some samples. This trip is getting expensive already and I haven’t even started.

I didn’t want this today… I needed it. I think this is my oldest tea, except for a puerh that growing older is doing wondrous favors. I absolutely will be restocking this one, along with their Ti Kuan Yin, and Peach Apricot. These are fantastic teas.

One of THOSE days. The office is making me insane. After lunch I finally brewed my first cup. I needed something peaceful but not boring. This nicely fit the bill. Finally caught what ashmanra called pepper notes in this. It is not an up high pepper note but more under the flavor, if that makes sense. It fades as the cup cools and I believe it is the sharpness of the bergamot reacting with the tea leaf. I normally don’t drink this hot. I let it cool until it is just warm, so I had never noticed this before. A new flavor note in an old favorite.

I normally love this. It is still a great tea, I am just finding it a bit too flowery today. I needed a break from black tea. This has been open awhile. Still very fresh but doesn’t seem to be what I wanted. Think I was craving an unflavored green. Maybe after three or four cups I will change my mind… Yep, it worked.

Backlogging – Had three cups of this yesterday. Not sure why I don’t see other reviews for Green Earls. I find black Earl to be bland and boring after getting hooked on green. I guess I am ahead of my time. Green is the new black.

Started my day with this favorite. 3 cups before overdoing the turkey. Time for a nap!

A good cup of tea is like a hug on a crappy day. I needed three cups today. One of my favorite teas. I sometimes drink nothing but this for days.

The last several days I have been running tea marathons testing the steeping limits of new teas. Today I need a break, so I am returning to one of my everyday pleasure teas. I thought I would log this because of something I read in another review. I meant to write down who said it, but alas I have forgotten. This person avoids flavored teas until they have been out a few weeks so the flavorings have time to soak into the leaf. That made me aware what I was experiencing with this tea was not my imagination.

At first, the bergamot seemed overwhelming. To tame it I was cutting this tea with my Ti Kuan Yin. The intensity of the bergamot has since balanced so this is no longer necessary. I did learn to appreciate the Ti Kuan Yin (also Empire Tea Services) from this experience and was really glad when I could start enjoying it solo.

Now that the Earl Green has had time to settle, the emperors pride leaf is more pronounced (and delicious) and I realize it is in part responsible for the perfume notes. This is a more flowery bergamot more than it is citrus, even though there is orange rind in the mix. With a little age on the batch this has become a very good tea. Earl Grey was my favorite tea for years until I discovered Earl Green. Empire Tea Services is my current favorite. At least, until I find a green with this quality of leaf that leans a little more citrus.

In the time it has taken me to write this, I have finished my first cup. Shazbot, I hope my kidneys are up for another marathon!