English Tea Store

I’ve finally added a large portion of this to my stash! Drinking it with some milk & sugar while hanging out with my kitty. He keeps sticking his nose in it, I guess it smells good to cats too! It is so so delicious, one of my favorite everyday teas. Up there with Paris for sure! Thanks so much to Azzrian for introducing me to this awesome tea.

Thanks to the very generous Azzrian for this sample! I mentioned offhand that I forgot to add it to my order at ETS and she offered to send me some, and I am SO glad I got to try this. This tea is enchanting! Usually I can pick out individual flavors quite well, but here they all blend so perfectly you just get hints of them: berry, citrus, floral, even some honey notes. With no additions it’s a bit sweet, but a natural sweetness that seems to come from the berry flavor. The floral is so light, almost airy, and the citrus is nicely in the background and not overpowering at all. Everything here is in perfect harmony: I can see why it has so many great reviews!

I love lavender. Half of the houses on my block have a big bush growing in the front yard, so everything smells of it in summer. It’s a smell I associate both with childhood and with sophistication, since it’s French and thus fancy (or at least my kid brain thought so!). Of course I love lavender tea, especially when combined with earl grey whose citrusty notes seem to balance out lavender’s floral nature well.

This blend is pretty heavy on the lavender, which personally I love. It’s very floral and rich, but you can still taste the bergamot and tea base. My favorite of the lavender greys I have tried by far!

I have been neglecting my Steepster friends! NaNoWriMo has kind of taken over my life, and every time I think about writing a tasting note my brain goes “noooo, you could use those 200+ words in your book!” I shamefully admit that I haven’t even kept up with everyone else’s tasting notes!

But on the bright side I should hit 36k words tonight—I am actually shooting for about 80k words instead of 50k, which should be enough to wrap up my plot. And then I get to do national novel editing month, haha. Anyway, I’ve been drinking this tea hot and iced kind of nonstop. It’s become my inspiration tea. I grew up on Earl Grey so when I think of ‘tea’ it is the first thing that comes to mind, and this is one of my absolute favorite kinds. Plus, you know, it’s nice to have a tea with a name based on a book when you’re writing!

I caved and bought a larger quantity of this in my recent ETS order, it’s just so delicious! A wonderful twist on Earl Grey, not as rich as an EGC but with just the right amount of sweetness and light floral undertones.

This tea is the reason I ended up placing an order at English Tea Store, since I seem unable to resist teas with clever literature references in the name. Not that there’s a big market for that, but come on… Dorian Grey! A tea of fleeing beauty! Their “samples” are a full ounce so I ended up with quite a bit of a ton of different teas (I got 3 “sample packs”), but this is the one I’ve been wanting to try the most. It’s too hot for tea, really, but today that isn’t going to stop me!

I love earl grey and pretty much any variation of it (as long as it’s not, like, rooibos banana earl grey) but I have yet to have one with caramel. I was worried this would be a bit dessert-y instead of a nice afternoon tea, but the caramel is pretty light here. Sometimes caramel teas can get a little heavy, but the taste is quite soft and almost airy here. I found the same thing true of their chocolate mint—sweet teas, but not enough to push them into dessert territory. This looks like a very floral blend with tons of whole dried flowers (it’s so pretty!) but the floral tones are also quite soft and subtle. The bergamot is also there of course, since it is an earl grey after all! And the base is nice and malty, but not too overpowering and with no bitterness or astringency.

This strikes me as a very romantic cup, both because of the name and the wonderful melding of flavors. Soft, subtle, gentle, and warming. Definitely one of the best earl greys I’ve tried!

Thank you to Azzrian for the lovely sample.

So after I researched for a bit how long to properly brew this, I’m not sure how long I steeped this for since I was doing other things at the time and forgot to time it. Oops. My guess is around 4 minutes.

It’s not bad for a type of tea I normally don’t like. Not quite as flavorful as the puerh cafe I had a little bit ago, but I’m going to try and steep it again for longer to see if I can taste the flavor more. It’s definitely drinkable, and it’s not too bad as an iced tea, either. In fact, I might like it better iced. It’s a LOT like coffee.

This tastes like a liquid thin mint. Lightly chocolatey, very minty, a hint of creaminess. Sugary-sweet too, since I added a ton! Hey, it’s a dessert tea. There’s not really a whole lot of “tea” going on thought… there’s that standard “tea” flavor in the background but no stand-out notes. However, I find myself liking ETS’ base black for blends like this. Some companies (I’m looking at you, Adagio) have ones that steep up bitter unless you get it just right. For something like chocolate mint tea I want something easy that I don’t have to fuss over or baby.

So I’m finally able to drink tea again after a week’s hiatus and I am separated from my stash! Right after a swap full of new goodies too. Ah well, at least my box from ETS arrived while I am away! Their samplers are BIG, given the price I thought they’d be teeny packets but they’re decently sized. 1-2 ounces of each, and the samples come out to well under $1 each.

This is an odd tea. It’s very strongly vanilla-y with some mellow spices. Not a bold chai by any means, it’s more like “lightly spiced vanilla” than “vanilla chai” but I like it. Lots of cinnamon, a bit of clove and ginger. It’s the vanilla that is at the forefront, and it’s almost creamy too. Very nice for late nights, minus the caffeine. The base is pretty innocuous, with a nice “tea” taste but nothing really to stand out.

The weird part is the sensation I get drinking this. You know that juicy feeling when you first bite into a slice of watermelon? It’s like that (minus the watermelon flavor)! Seriously, very strange. Kind of refreshing, actually, though this took some getting used to. So this is more like “Juicy Spiced Vanilla… with some tea.”

I had ordered this for a friend of mine who isn’t too keen on tea, but seems to like fruity tisanes like this one. I didn’t tell her it was a children’s tea. :)

Well, after I gave this to her, she was nice enough to open the pouch and give me enough to brew a cup of it for myself so that I could try it, since this is one I hadn’t yet tried.

I’m not crazy about hibiscus, but I was hopeful that there was enough other ingredients in this to keep the tisane interesting. But after I steeped it for five minutes, it looked like hibiscus … which worried me.

Fortunately, the hibiscus adds a lot of color to this but not a lot of its syrupy texture or tart flavor. Yes, there is some tartness, but, some of the other flavors balance that out a bit, making this a pleasant sweet-yet-tart kind of tisane. It has a candy-like taste to it, reminding me a bit of sweet-tarts. I don’t taste much of the individual fruit… but I am enjoying the way they all sort of meld together. I can also taste the rose which is a nice surprise.

It’s a little tart, a little sweet, a little fruity and a little floral. Overall, an enjoyable cuppa, but not something I’d drink on a regular basis.

Interesting. This is very similar to the Formosa Oolong I had from Tea Emporium, only richer. Deeper even, like coffee… Brisk! but also refreshing in it’s fruitiness.
I agree with Azzrian, it’s rather clean and a dark oolong indeed! Big thank you for the sample Azzrian!
(sorry for the short review, again!! I just got home… it’s almost 11!)

Sipdown! 816.

Fairly similar response to last time, that this is a reasonably generic dark oolong. Tasty, but nothing overly special. I may have understeeped a bit though, so am missing out on some of the oolongy goodness. Will have to address that with cup #2.

Pretty much the same opinion of this as last time: a good solid dark oolong with a pleasant woodiness and slight sweetness. I could drink this regularly quite happily! Thanks again to Azzrian for letting me taste this one!

Mmm, a tasty toasty, roasty oolong with nice roasted oolong aftertaste. Light aroma, good flavour. I definitely would drink this one again, although it’s nothing particularly special.

Going to give more infusions a shot in a few minutes :)

Woah! Second infusion at a random temperature for waaaay too long is actually really good! No bitterness at all! Really impressed! Bet it can last another few.

Thanks for the sample, Azzrian!

I really should not be having this much caffeine right now but the family decided to finally watch a movie at 1:30 am … so Chronicle and Pu-erh it is!
This is an excellent pu-erh and a good starter one for those who want to venture in but are on the timid side. The flavor is excellent! You know the caramelized sugar on top of creme brulee? That is what this tastes like! Full of yum!
Then add to that an almost incense like woodsy note – slightly spicy – kashmir is what it reminds me of. DOUBLE YUM!
Even for those of you who are experienced with pu-erh – you will love this – a wonderful desert tea!

This tea never ceases to amaze and satisfy me. I was in a very foul mood, and wanted tea, as well as just wanted to relax with the process of making tea. It really is calming.

So I scoured through my stash, and found that I had enough left of this for one big cup, so I steeped it all. This tea is good with milk or lemon, but this time I decided to add lemon instead of milk, like I usually do. The lemon helped bring out the lemon and strawberry flavour in there, and I really just love this tea. <3

Mood improved, thanks to a wonderful cuppa!

Backlog from this morning!

So since I had skipped tea a lot these past few days, I decided I needed to dive back in with a tea that I really liked to remind me why I love tea. (That’s what happens to me when I stop drinking tea for a while—instead of craving it like crazy, for some reason, I feel uninterested and don’t want to make any.)

And since I already added a detailed note for this tea, I am going to just go crazy: OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE THIS TEA SO MUCH!! IT IS SO SO YUMMY AND WONDERFUL AND I TRIED MILK IN IT THIS TIME AND OH MY GOODNESS!!

Now back to the nice, formal stuff: The malty flavor came out a bit this time, along with a citrusy taste and a nice sweet. (The strawberries and lemon, again.) Milk made this tea very smooth and creamy, and it was very nice. I really do love this tea!! (Upped the rating a bit…)

Thank you Azzrian! I can see why you love this!!

This tea…I don’t know how to explain it properly, really. I highly enjoyed this tea. But there were some complications, I guess you could say. I’ll explain in my tasting note, so don’t worry.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. It had a floral aroma, with a hint of something citrus. Reading over the ingredients/tea description, it mentioned strawberry and lemon, so that makes sense. It’s a nice scent, and not too strong. Dainty, light, sweet. :-) Steeping it was about the same, though I find that steeping for most of my teas always kind of mutes the scent. It’s not bad, it’s just how it is. The color was nice, too, a dark reddish brown.

Taste: This is where I faced problems. It was REALLY GOOD! It was!! But I can’t really find the words to describe what I was tasting. One of the tea descriptors was “malty” and I don’t think I know what that tastes like yet. It also had a floral, sweet taste too it, which was nice, and that citrusy/fruity taste, but I couldn’t place the tastes. It was very yummy despite not being able to properly describe it, and I am very pleased with it. I’m glad I have enough for several cups, which also means a little bit of experimenting, but not TOO much! Oh, just because I always put how I make it: two packets of sugar in the raw. I think next time I may try a bit of cream. Don’t know though.

I also steeped this in a mug, like my other tea, but it turned out better because this mug held about 8 oz, and I properly filled it. So no diluting for today! :-)

So here’s the first in a series of very generous samples sent to me from Dylan and Missy. As I understand it, this is from Azzrian via Dylan and Missy.

I really, really enjoy this. The dry leaf has a a very powerful orange smell, and the leaves themselves are very dark. Once brewed, the color is a reddish orange mixture, and the smell of orange blossom subsides so the oolong scent can take over. The flavor is heavy on the toasty oolong, with a nice delicate orange blossom follow up. Note that this is not a citrusy tea, it’s more of a subtle floral note. It’s very sweet on it’s own, so I can’t really see the need to add any sugar or honey.

I’m going to have another cup of this in a moment, but after the first I think I can say that I’ll be placing an order to keep this one on hand.

Reducing rating a tad as I have had better darjeelings now.
Full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 9th

Here is a brief Snippit as I am still writing it now.

It is a smooth tea, perfect for morning or afternoon with some tea sandwiches. I am having cucumber sandwiches with mine today and it is lovely. I think however the reason it is so lovely with my sandwiches is because it is fairly bland and does not compete with my otherwise mellow food flavors.

Sweet, mellow, smooth, and caffeinated, just what I needed this morning and all of the things I am not!

Nothing like a cup of Lady Londonderry to warm up to on a very snowy day!

Sitting here with the Lady this morning enjoying an always satisfying brew.
Trying to wake up – at least she is waking me up gently. :)