According to Rishi Tea this tea consists of Bao Zhong oolong and natural coconut flavor. I often wish companies explained exactly what is meant by that but I suppose that would give their secrets away. Bao Zhong is a lightly oxidized Taiwanese tea. The dry leaves were long and twisted with a dark and dusty appearance. I steeped this tea using my Breville One-Touch Tea Maker with 195 degree water for 4 minutes. The liquor was a brassy gold color.

The base tea for this blend is wonderful. It is pleasantly fruity and floral while allowing the coconut to peak through. Typically we think of coconut as a sweet, candy-like flavor. That is usually artificially created though. This tea reminded me more of the natural, low key flavor of coconut oil. It may not be everyone’s thing but I love it. On the second infusion it was more easily discernable and a bit of toastiness also appeared at the end of each sip. I would definitely recommend this tea.

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Village Tea Company

Company Description:

Named for Charles Grey, a 19th century British statesman and prime minister, our deeply satisfying, aromatic tea is laced with the fragrant oil of the bergamot orange to bring you an incredible blend of traditional tea with a hint of modern spirit. We invite you to see what Charles Grey made such a fuss about when he found his escape in a delicious black tea.

This blend comes to you in 100% recycled and recyclable packaging.

Taster’s Review:

I am sure you’ve heard me declare this before, but, I love Earl Grey tea.  There is just something about the bergamot orange that makes it just seem to be made for flavoring the tea leaf.

This is an excellent variety of Earl Grey from the Village Tea Company.  Having not tried any of their teas before, I must say that I was rather excited to receive one of their nifty little “teaser” packages – a small cardboard cylinder “tin” that is just about the same size as a lipstick tube.

This packaging is quite impressive – I mean, really, how clever!  This little tube fits comfortably in a pocket, purse or briefcase, giving a whole new level of portability to tea time!   This is something that can easily be stashed in the desk drawer at work, or into a suitcase so that you can travel with your favorite teas rather than having to settle for the lackluster hotel “courtesy” teabags.  All this convenience, the tea stays fresh and dry… and these portable tubes are eco-friendly!  What more can you ask from tea containment?

Here’s more about the teaser packaging from The Village Tea Company’s website:

Travel Sized Tea to Go!

Our Simply Early Grey Teaser is our best blend of Indian black teas with bergamot orange essence packaged for a convenient sampling experience or for Village Tea on-the-go.

My gushing over the cool packaging of the Village Tea Company’s teasers aside, I am really enjoying this cup of Simply Earl Grey!  The bergamot flavor here is a bit lighter than many Earl Grey teas that I’ve encountered – and although I really like a strong bergamot aroma and flavor – I must admit that there is a very pleasing balance between tea flavor and bergamot taste here.

The black tea base is mellow and smooth – I certainly wouldn’t categorize it as robust.  This is not a tea that I would consider a breakfast or morning tea because it doesn’t have that verve that I look for in a morning tea.  However, this IS a truly excellent afternoon tea and would make a perfect choice to serve to guests.  There is no bitterness to the black tea and only a light astringency to it.  It is just … rather simply … a delicious, medium-bodied black tea base.

The bergamot follows suit by being a softer, smoother bergamot.  This is not the perfume-y tasting Earl Grey that you might remember when drinking tea at your great-aunt’s house when you were younger.  It has a deliciously juicy, citrus taste to it with hints of the signature “floral” taste that I so often attribute to Earl Grey teas.  But – please note – that these are only hints of those floral notes.  The bergamot here is very light and refreshing.

This really is “Simply” Earl Grey… and, simply delicious.

Filed under: Black Tea, Earl Grey Tagged: Bergamot, Black, Company, Earl Grey, Simply, Tea, Village Tea

The other day I stopped in at a relatively new coffeehouse downtown.  I had heard pretty good things about it and they apparently served loose-leaf tea.  I stepped through the door and walked into a very contemporary modern art space that was truly a gallery-slash-café.  It was inviting, bright, and ...

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Category: Matcha Tea Company: DoMatcha (website) Ingredients: Green Tea Vendor Suggested Preparation: How to Make Matcha Video

DoMatcha Organic Matcha:
DoMatcha Organic Matcha

Bamboo Whisk:
DoMatcha Bamboo Whisk

Whisk Stand:
DoMatcha Whisk Stand

Mike at It’s All About The Leaf sent me some of DoMatcha’s Ceremonial Matcha – which is also organic – along with a Matcha Bamboo Whisk AND what looks to be a Whisk holder/stand (or at least that is what I am using it for) and I am very grateful!  So, it seems I have a LOT to review here.  First, I would like to review the whisk itself.

This is the very first WHISK I can now call my own and now have in my possession.  I’m VERY excited!!!  I guess that truly qualifies me as a tea freak when I am that excited and add 3 exclamation points on the end of that sentence, eh!?  Anyhow, when I first took this whisk out – I examined it for several minutes noting how clean and perfect it was.  The Bamboo seemed to be delicate but was in fact very durable.  The whisk bristles are very sturdy and precise!  At the end of the whisk everything seemed to curl under and I found myself ‘playing with’ it and was mesmerized at how those little bristles curled under ‘just-so’.  The first time I used it I was careful to go by the instructions that were provided.  They were easy to understand and seemed to work like a charm.  I have had matcha in the past but must fuss-up that I have been lazy and not very ‘official’ when it came to preparing my matcha.  Now that I have this whisk I will not look back!  I did find the Whisk Stand to be very useful and I will move on to that next.

The Whisk Stand is totally worth the $5 fee asked on their website!  Now that I am looking at their website and seeing how they have it displayed with the whisk I will certainly try that at some point….over the top of the stand, I mean.  I was using it inside the stand…poking the whisk up thru the hole at the top of the stand.  I would like to note that I don’t think this is incorrect – but – just another way to use the stand…or I will just keep telling myself that so I don’t feel like a moron.  But, seriously, here is why I think you can use these stands either way…when I store my whisk inside the stand verses outside as shown I don’t feel like it is as exposed and it really did help with the potential drips…there were none.  I found that this also helps with the shape of the whisk just as much as it would if it were displayed and dried on the outside of the stand.  So…like I said, I really don’t think either way is incorrect – I’ll just call it an alternative!

Now on to the Matcha!  The first time I tried this…I went ‘plain jane’ with Matcha and Water – whisking, of course.  It smelled like warm broccoli. It’s a dark vintage looking green in color yet very smooth and was very flavorful and smooth on the tongue…almost a milky taste.  The 2nd time I tried this Matcha I added it to something!  I had half of a smoothie left over that I was taste-tasting for a local chain. It was BERRY Flavored and consisted of: Ice, Yogurt, Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, and I ended up putting the same amount of this Matcha in it. Of course, it melted the ice – mostly – but it also was WAY frothy!!! This goes extremely well in a smoothie!  I actually like the the local chain’s concoction BETTER with this Matcha than without the matcha – I felt the smoothie minus the matcha was too tart…this mellows that out a little. This proves to me how versatile this Matcha is and I am eager to try it with other ingredients, as well as stand alone and challenge myself to improve my whisking methods!  There is always room for improve, isn’t there!?  In closing, I just want to say that I have had a lot of FUN with these products and am honored that they were sent to me to try and review.

You can purchase the DoMatcha Organic Matcha directly from the DoMatcha website.

Filed under: taza del día

alpha teacup set Filed under: taza del día

Filed under: taza del día

© ~nonsense-dreamer Filed under: té veo Tagged: Darth Vader, Tea Party

“El té carece de la arrogancia del vino, del individualismo del café, de la inocencia sonriente del cacao”. Okakura Kakuzo (1862 – 1913), autor de El libro del té Filed under: las historias

Filed under: taza del día

foto © david moir Cascos de Darth Vader re- imaginados por los artistas callejeros Niagara y Eelus son exhibidos por las asistentes de los subastadores Lyon & Turnbull (Kerry Wallace y Victoria Crake). Los cascos pertenecen a la colección de The … Continuar leyendo →