Full-Steam Black Tea [renamed 100 Year]

I took this tea to work today – thought I would drink a cup or two and toss the rest back in the box. That didn’t happen. This is fabulous and I drank it all day. It’s big and bold. I didn’t get any chocolate, but it was malty and caramel ? toffee? dunno – something sweet.
I really like this. I don’t think it’s really complex, but it’s interesting enough to drink all day. It’s a great tea that take abuse well – that’s a must for me at work. All in all I was really happy with this one.

SSTTB

I drank this tea while waiting for the plumber to arrive this morning…
feeling anxious that it wouldn’t be a simple fix.
This tea (from my swap with TeaTiff-THANK YOU!!), immediately stopped my mind from swirling with worry…
How can you worry when you’re sipping something like this?!
Malty, with chocolate notes…and so, so smooth.
I love teas with this sort of mouth feel and deep aroma.

The fix was a simple one. The plumber was in and out in no time…and after he left, I looked at my tea cup and said, “You knew, didn’t you? You were trying to tell me to calm down.” Tea is so smart.

SSTTB

This is a malty, malty cup. Definitely my favourite of all the Hugo teas I have tried. Robust but not astringent or bitter. It also has a hint of sweetness that borders on the edge of caramel. Yum!

In other news, I have a 7 pound Yorkie who grunts. Full-on grunts like a pig. Lately she has a new trick of burying her cookies in the backyard which results in three things: (1) she gets covered in mud, (2) our other two dogs fight her for the cookies, and (3) other animals (i.e. raccoons) try to come into our yard in search of cookies. In light of that, my step-dad and my Yorkie are now fighting because he won’t let her outside to bury her cookie. Her response? A steady stream of angry grunts.

This is one of my go-to morning teas and right now I’m going to it. And it is good. See previous notes for more.

This is a generous sample from TeaTiff – thank you !!!
1tsp 8 oz 205F
This tea is everything I need for a morning. It’s full bodied sweet malty dark bitter sweet chocolate with rye bread notes. So many flavors in a cup everchanging. Amazing!!!
Thank you so much TeaTiff for giving me the opportunity to try this fabulous tea!

I had an early, exhausting morning of teaching and now I’m in a semi-awake afternoon slump. I needed tea! Not just any tea, though, tea to get me going! Full steam ahead? Thanks to Sil for a sample of this one!

At first I was a bit meh about the flavor of this one. While it was still quite hot it was a bit flat and had a bitter edge. As it cooled to warm it got better and better. Suddenly the bitterness is gone and instead there is a nice depth of flavor. It reminds me of a black dragon pearl, except not pearl-ized, so I would guess that this has its roots in a Fengqing black tea. A bit chocolatey, a bit malty, a hint of grains. Overally quite tasty once it cooled, but I am going to ding it a bit for the not so awesome hot flavor. We’ll see how the next cup goes, maybe it’ll get adjusted. But definitely a nice tasty black tea.

Thanks go to TeaTiff for a sample of this! The aroma is marvelous! It’s bold with sweet dark chocolate notes. The flavor is bold, malty, and has notes of dark chocolate with a sharp sweetness. This made a wonderful morning cup! Thanks again :]

Part 2 of my Hugo Breakfast Blend comparison…
Whew, much better! The leaf material in this one was much darker, long, & twisty. That alone made me feel better. The resulting tea was a deep mahogany. The formula:
1 tsp + 8oz X 4min
Sweet, smooth, malty, with elements of chocolate, red wine, caramel, & even a twist of orange. The texture is smooth & full, with a bright tingle on the tip of the tongue. It’s also much easier on the tummy!
Full steam wins over Organic Morning’s Journey, without a doubt!
Thanks to TeaTiff for sharing a generous sample of this tea!

I had tried this sample from TeaTiff a while ago when I first got it, but refrained from writing about it until I could have another cup. This morning is rainy and cool, and Full Steam black is just the thing to get me going. It’s sweet, malty, roasty, and robust. I think someone else had mentioned it had some rye bread flavor, and I would agree. Mmmm nice notes of cocoa and rye bread, warm and roasty! Very good! I will have to check out Hugo’s other teas as well because I just might need to place an order!
Thank you, TeaTiff for introducing me to this!

I just love Hugo Teas. I haven’t been disappointed by any of them. They just really know how to do straight black tea blends so well!

They might be awesome for other teas too; I’ve only had their black teas. OMG.

I’m celebrating hitting 210 with this cup. It’s a cup I can savour and enjoy; steep and resteep. I’m not drinking it because it’s in a ziplock bag that’s taking up room, or because I want to decrease my cupboard. I’m drinking it because it’s a vibrant and flavourful tea that feels like an appropriate reward for dropping my cupboard down 35 teas since the 19th and the *Sil*pocalypse.

Now that my cupboard is physically smaller (less fiddly bags around) I’m no longer in sipdown mode. I’ll try and focus on drinking some of my older teas now – I have 7 teas that will be in my cupboard for 1 year in the next two months, and it’s time to drink them to keep things fresh! (Except for Tardis. I still have 3 .5/6oz of that and I doubt it’s going anywhere fast. Mmmmm… Tardis.)