More Earl Grey: Lady Grey & White Tip Smoky Earl Grey from Sanctuary T

I received a package from Sanctuary T on Saturday morning. I had requested a number of samples from them after they had e-mailed me; I hate to be a bitch but to be completely honest the tea from this company is the only promotional/sample package of tea I've looked forward to in awhile. Their website is bad ass, they have tea-based spices and they have good flavors. I also respect tea companies that divide their teas into flavored and unflavored, AND have the werewithall to offer Lapsang Souchong, which is surprisingly hard to find in decent quality from most tea purveyors.

I've sworn off most flavored teas, but I will never give up Earl Grey. One would have to pry my tin of Kusmi Anastasia from my cold, dead hands... earl grey has long been one of my favorite teas, and I don't care if it's flavored, or if I am at some point verbally abused by a mouthy Brit at some point in my future for adding milk every so often (oh! the horror!).

First, Sanctuary's stuff is beautifully presented. Their tea tins are chic, the leaves themselves are beautiful. I requested two earl greys, gyokuro, genmaicha and darjeeling, plus their spices (more on those later).

The Lady Grey is wonderful. This is an earl grey flavor that I like to add milk to on occasion; if you brew it strong and add milk and sugar it's great as a rare nighttime treat. Overall, it is best plain, with nothing added... the lavender flavor is prominent and almost a bit soapy, the tea itself is strong and dark, with a bit of sweetness and limited astringency. Overall it is full flavored and absolutely perfect. I could not be happier with this tea. It smells amazing.

The White Tip Smoky Earl Grey is the real winner of these two, though... all you smell is strong smoke lapsang souchong when you open the tin, but the fine bergamot flavor comes to when you take a sip. It is not even obvious in the smell; you'd think you were drinking straight lapsang judging by the smell of the leaves.

I am psyched about both of these teas, namely the White Tip Smoky. I will probably purchase this in the future... and I am very much looking forward to trying the other samples sent. Sanctuary has done an amazing job of categorizing, presenting their teas well, offering interesting tea-based products that are still rare in the marketplace, and offering quality and diversity. Props! Stay tuned ~

Zhena's Gypsy Tea Raspberry Earl Grey... yummmm!

I was not a huge fan of the Gypsy Tea breast cancer line of teas -- they served as mediocre iced teas with strange flavors. I did happen to pop a bag of raspberry earl grey into some hot water this morning, and it was DELICIOUS. It's an amazing idea... why has no one else offered me raspberry earl grey?!

I will say that based on the other two tea tins I've been sent, I don't like the Republic of Tea-style sachets. I like the Revolution Tea ones (kind of plasticy looking pyramid bags); I think regular tea bags are gross, and they are even more gross when they have no string and are (for whatever odd reason) circular. Optimally I would want this tea in loose leaf; it's not overwhelmingly strong or tasteful in the bag, I made about a 16 oz cup with one bag and it could be stronger.

Anyway, this tea is very flavorful. It's decent earl grey with delicious raspberry flavor that doesn't taste fake or chemical. I really am not sure why I have never had earl grey flavored with raspberry before... it seems like a no-brainer. These guys may not have impressed me with their women's teas or whatever, but this raspberry earl grey is excellent.

Zhena's Gypsy Tea Pink Tea for Women's Health

I received a box of Gypsy Tea's product a week or two ago. It was somehow lost and sitting at a FedEx distribution center. Since I am a slacker and never check my own voicemails, I didn't bother to call FedEx back for an additional week.

So anyway, I received two canisters of tea, plus a variety of single sachets. Noticing that some of them were berries, cherries and fruit-flavored whatever, I took them home to make iced tea. For two reasons. One, it is hotter than Hades in Upstate New York right now and drinking anything warm makes me want to hurl. Two, because I absolutely hate fruit flavored tea (ever since Tazo's Passion... otherwise known as warm Kool Aid).

These teas are all Pink Tea for Women's Health varieties. Thus far I've made a pitcher of mild iced tea out of their cherry, pom, acai, wholeberry. The cacaoberry is still left for last... but based on the tastes of the others I doubt it will be much different than tasting tart, strangely-flavored water. The acai is AWFUL. In case anyone hasn't noticed, acai doesn't taste good as it is, and it most certainly does not taste better blended with tea. The cherry has a grotesque manufacturing taste that I struggle with EVERY TIME I taste any kind of tea that's "cherrry flavored." It is a terrible artificial, synthetic plastic taste. I believe the pom berry has some kind of spice in it, which nixed my novel idea of iced tea... no one wants to taste cinnamon pomegrante cold tea. It is not refreshing.

The wholeberry on the other hand was pleasant. I liked that one. It was mellow, sweet and straightforward. I didn't taste any bizarre spices, it didn't taste like melted plastic.

In any event, this is not a tea I can recommend. I do feel bad pooping on a line of teas that are contributing profits to breast cancer research, but there are better ways to contribute than drinking strangely flavored teas. If the cacaoberry tea blows my mind I'll let you all know, but I am not getting my hopes up.

Tea Spring Tan Yang Jing Zhi

I finally bought 50g of my favorite black tea in the world last night on TeaSpring. I've become increasingly afraid that it is no longer going to be available... I would've bought more, but I'm broke. I haven't bought tea in a VERY long time, especially non-oolong tea.

Tan Yang Jing Zhi at TeaSpring
Read my review of this tea!

Seven Cups Tea Blog

As promised, below is a link to my article on the Seven Cups Tea Blog. I wish I had more time to better-write this article, but it works :) Enjoy.

2 Years, Too Much: Perspectives on the U.S. Tea Industry

Questions & Comments: On Flavored Tea

I received an interesting comment/question on my last post from Alex, another tea blogger (his blog is here):

I have to applaud your taste with regard to flavored tea. I like a lot of flavored tea, but I dislike the majority of it. I like the traditionally scented stuff (i.e. Jasmine, Osmanthus, or Rose Chinese teas) and I tend to like the types made by blending herbs with tea, especially herbs in the mint family (mints, shiso, basil, lemon balm, bergamot, etc.). I grow many plants in the mint family which I blend in teas myself. I've even been thinking of separating flavored teas into two or possibly three categories on RateTea.net...(1) blends with only herbs / fruit / flower / spices and no flavoring. (2) blends containing "natural flavors" (3) blends containing artificial flavors. Do you think this would be a worthwhile endeavour? It would be a huge amount of work, but it would allow people with the same concerns that you and I have to easily sort through things. I don't have a sense though of how many people with these concerns are out there! It bugs me, because companies like Upton, which are excellent with certain pure loose teas, also sell teas with artificial flavoring!

This is yet another reason to avoid flavored teas at all costs. Your main obstacle, of course, is differentiating "natural" from "artificial." I was drinking a can of Diet Sierra Mist last night, and saw that it said on the can, "with natural flavors!!" As in, it's something to be proud of, when you can use lemon flavoring made from real lemons versus artificial lemons. Soda is all chemicals, though, and at least in my warped mind, lemon natural flavor is still compacted down and processed and still sort of... well, artificial.

The problem with tea is that you'll get a coconut flavored tea with coconut flakes, but coated or scented with artificial coconut flavoring. I would imagine that sometimes the tea manufacturers themselves even have no idea if they are using flavors derived from coconut, or if it comes from a plant in New Jersey which manufactures the hamburger flavor for McDonald's. Further, your second obstacle is getting the correct information from whatever representative is in charge of answering your question for the tea company... they have no real obligation to tell you the truth. Tea is not really regulated in any consistent or official way; they don't have to disclose their ingredients. They'd be tempted to tell you all ingredients are natural... when it's much more expensive to derive flavors from their natural origin than manufacture them with chemicals and buy them in bulk.

As for herbal teas, I never much cared for them. I do like flavored earl greys; earl grey is already flavored with oil of bergamot, which may or may not be natural. I know that a lot of Adagio's herbal teas are genuine herbs, because when they sent me lemongrass one time, I made tom kha gai with it, and it tasted perfect. But much like buying processed food in a supermarket, you never quite know what you are getting. Outfits like Serendipitea, Adagio and Mighty Leaf probably use some legit ingredients, but I had an apple flavored green tea from Serendipitea, and I am not stupid enough to believe that they squeezed granny smith apple juice onto the leaves. Same with any other fruit flavored teas... some of Adagio's taste particularly terrible.

I guess it's up to the individual reviewer to accept teas s/he is comfortable with: I see no problem with herbs like mint and flowers like osmanthus, but you still never quite know what their origin is. Some Moroccan style teas have definitely had added mint flavor, as you cannot possibly make a mint flavored tea so strong with just leaves (even though mint is very powerful in flavor). Some flowering teas have herbs or tasteful flowers in them, but those things always tasted terrible to me; as for me, I may indulge in some mint and ginger teas sometimes, but overall I am not into herbal teas... I will be keeping earl grey around, flavored or un-, because I love the bergamot taste.

In the end I might suggest separating or labeling your reviews of herbal, but you really can't always distinguish what the ratio of natural ingredients to artificial flavor is, and in this industry, I don't forsee people being honest, or even having much of an idea from where the flavors are derived.

New sampling rules & assorted snobbery.

Yesterday I wrote a very long article for Seven Cups Tea Blog. It'll be posted sometime soon.

I've decided that from now on I will only be accepting samples for unflavored, unadulterated tea, unless I've specifically requested flavored tea. I do have some flavored samples I plan on reviewing; mainly unique flavors that I have not seen elsewhere.

Long story short, I am sick of flavored tea. I no longer want any rooibos; I'm sick of weirdly flavored and overflavored black, green and oolong tea with assorted chunks of whatever in it. If you'd like to submit your tea for review, please only submit tea with no added artificial flavors. In fact I'd prefer you ask me before you send ANY samples.

I am also VERY happily accepting teaware, as I have not spent very much time reviewing different steeping contraptions.

Boston Tea Company Coconut Joy Black Tea

I always am a bit skeptical when people say things like "finest grade" or "highest quality" or whatever. When I first tried this Coconut Joy tea I made it way too strong and it tasted like Assam. I used to drink tea so strong I felt like it was rotting my insides... at my ripe old age of 26 I just can't manage the strong stuff anymore. Those days have gone the way of horseradish vodka (another very sad departure).

I am a sucker for coconut. I like pretty much anything that contains this flavor... and this tea really isn't too bad, though I can promise you this ceylon is not "highest quality." I really don't feel that much of any ceylon I have had has been "highest quality." One or two samples have stood apart over the years, but ceylon is generally cheap, decent-tasting and takes flavoring well.

This ceylon is not very sweet... some ceylon is sweeter, some is more brisk, or tastes more like wood or honey. This is very brisk, with not a lot of sweetness (hence my confusion in the beginning). It is also extremely strong. I wouldn't use more than a teaspoon and a half for a 20 oz. cup, really. That's how strong it is. I actually wouldn't be completely against adding milk to this, or drinking it iced. I don't really like it very much hot, but it could make a refreshing iced tea with a touch of sugar, or a vastly improved hot drink with some milk and sugar.

I don't know if the ceylon used is sweet enough for the flavor, but it can easily be remedied. The coconut flavor is pleasant, it isn't grossly artificial or synthetic-tasting. Much like the Vanilla Almond oolong, I am just not so sure the tea itself is very good; though the price is decent, and for coconut flavored potential iced tea, this is a good choice. Probably one of the better coconut flavored teas around (doesn't even come close to beating the painfully overpriced Golden Moon Coconut Pouchong, though).

In any event, not terrible, not perfect, but makes great iced tea, good coconut flavor but needs a bit of sugar.

Boston Tea Company Vanilla Almond Oolong

I have been an oolong snob for quite a long time; that said, I usually frown on flavored oolongs. There are a few companies that make good flavored oolong: Golden Moon makes an awesome coconut pouchong; Naivetea makes good flavored green oolong; etc.

Ultimately my favorite oolongs remain unflavored... what is so special about oolong is that it has flavors of its down, flavors that are so robust you think they may have been added... one of my favorite oolongs of all time, Iron Arhat, tastes to me like doughy apple pie. I can't get enough of it.

This Vanilla Almond oolong from Boston Tea Company is good. It has a roasted, almost burnt taste that could be partially due to the almond flavor. There are slivers of roasted almonds in here, and also little streams of yellow that I see added to some flavored teas, most likely for decorative purposes. What I like about this oolong is that it isn't overly sweet; the vanilla and almond flavors are present, but not entirely overbearing. It brews surprisingly light considering the color of the leaves and the strength of smell when opening the bag.

What I don't like so much about this tea is that I find the oolong itself to be bland. It's deep brown and has a full roasted flavor, but the flavor profile more or less halts after its roastedness. I think that this oolong is appropriate to use, because the dark, roasted flavor works perfectly with the vanilla and almond... but if this oolong were to be sold naked, devoid of added flavor, it would not be desirable at all. It cannot hold its own... which is why it is used as a base for flavored tea.

That said, anyone into (flavored) oolong will enjoy this; the flavors work well together and the oolong itself adds enough character to be worth drinking. The leaves themselves are quite beautiful considering the mediocre quality of the oolong itself -- remember, with oolong, you get what you pay for: I did not expect to get Almond Blossom at $18.99 for a 1/2 lb.

Boston Tea Company Reviews Coming Up

Despite my e-mail a number of months ago to all of my tea company contacts, I am still receiving samples and receiving e-mails requesting permission to send tea for review. I somewhat grudgingly give my address, knowing full well I have a limited amount of time to review tea these days, and that fact will probably remain.

I received an e-mail from Boston Tea Company last week, and chose a number of their teas to review: Vanilla Almond Oolong, Mint Chocolate Green, Apricot Green, Earl Grey Citrus, Coconut Joy and one or two more. I haven't been feeling flavored teas lately and have been mostly drinking sencha; however, they had some interesting blends.

I received the teas a day or two later in big transparent sealed plastic bags; I was surprised by both the quantity and the quality. The green tea is deep green, flat, with long dark leaves. Nothing is crushed. The oolong tea is tightly rolled, dark brown, with slices of almonds in it. I rarely receive tea so quickly with such first-sight quality. I'm looking forward to reviewing these teas and will be working through them in the next few weeks. First up will be Vanilla Almond Oolong.

Adagio's UtiliTEA Green Tea Kettle

I owe the kind folks at Adagio an apology, because they were amazing enough to send me this bad ass kettle, and I completely forgot to review it, despite the fact I use it ALL THE TIME.

Before I even get into how compact, cool and convenient this kettle is, I will point out that ALL of my teaware comes from Adagio, with the exception of my gaiwan and Yi Xing pots. Their glass mug & infuser set is what I drink tea out of at work, all day every day; their ingenuiTEA, which I have reviewed, is another excellent tool.

Adagio's UtiliTEA kettle has taken the place of any and all tea preparation methods I might have had before; I used to use one of those cheap water boilers; I have a teapot, but am not patient enough to wait for it. This kettle is awesome - and while I was skeptical initially about using the one feature it is renowned for--preparing water of correct temperature for green tea steeping--it seems to work well (though I admit I do let the water sit for a minute or so regardless of the fact the dial is turned to green).

This teapot is small, compact, easy to clean, and easy to use. The metal exterior does get EXTREMELY hot and the steam practically explodes from the mouth of the kettle; the on and off mechanism is easy to use, and the pot sits on a sturdy, well-reinforced and insulated electric burner. It takes about 2 minutes for water to boil all the way.

The one thing I would keep in mind is that if your water has any kind of added crap in it, make sure you carefully clean the inside of the kettle periodically. I use spring water for all of my tea; using chlorinated or fluoridated tap water just seems like a waste... if you do use tap water, clean the kettle regularly. This would happen with ANY kettle, and you don't want the water to leave a residue. Overall I would suggest that if you have to use any kind of water, use bottled or spring water instead of crappy tap water... especially if drinking expensive tea.

The utiliTEA kettle is one of the best investments you can make; it prepares water perfectly for everything from gyokuro to iron goddess to darjeeling to keemun and yunnan. It's not expensive considering the time it saves and work it performs for you; if you don't already have one of these, I would seriously suggest buying one immediately. I personally want a second one for my office!

Adagio UtiliTEA Green Tea Kettle

Best Kukicha Twig Tea

I think I've found my second-favorite kukicha twig tea. Twig tea, for some odd reason, has been one of my favorite types of tea since about 13 years old... it's difficult to find flavorful kukicha, and most of what I've managed to find out there is crap. Red Leaf Tea has some pretty good stuff, but the best I've had thus far comes from Choice Organic Teas. Kukicha SUCKS in a bag; even the stuff from Choice Organic is less than optimal, as it is crushed and compressed into a crappy little tea bag (remember that no matter how organic it is, there's always a chance the quality sucks). My second problem with Choice Organic is that you can either order it in a 2 oz. packet (not enough), or a 1lb or 2lb bag. These options do not work for me.

And so, a few weeks ago, I wandered over to Mountain Rose Herbs, a website I frequent and point other people to -- they have excellent tea, though their selection is not the best, they've got some good stuff. I've ordered Earl Grey from them before, and this is the ONLY website I can find powdered galangal (I make my own tom kha gai, and you cannot make this soup without galangal, which it seems you can only find in Chinatown).

ANYWAY. Their kukicha, at $9.75 for 8 oz, is decently priced (shipping seems to kill you on this website, so order other stuff while you're there). The packaging could be something other than a paper bag lined with plastic, but when you're dealing with so many bulk items, it's understandable. The kukicha arrived super quickly and is incredibly smooth, with creamy vanilla undertones and LONG twigs, which means it hasn't been rummaged through or compressed too much previously.

Kukicha is extremely healthy tea, low in caffeine and high in antioxidants. While it's classified as a green tea, there is negligible chance of these twigs becoming bitter; it's also a suggested tea for the macrobiotic diet. Anyone who has been reading this blog knows I couldn't care less about the health benefits of tea, but as someone with a consistently nervous stomach and chronic insomnia, this tea is risk-free to drink at night, near bedtime, and will never upset your stomach like black tea and some very oxidized oolongs may (and do, on occasion).

Thanks, Mountain Rose Herbs. These people have gained quite a few customers from me already, and if you like kukicha, or are looking for GOOD kukicha the way I frequently am, give these guys a shot.

Other Kukicha reviews on Authoritea (including reviews of green kukicha, which I am not a fan of, nor do I completely understand):
Rishi Tea Kukicha
Yogic Chai Coconut Kukicha Chai
Culinary Teas Kukicha
Serendipitea Kokeicha
** Choice Organic Teas' Kukicha (Twig Tea)
Yogic Chai Kuki Masala Chai