Tagged with tea talk

Single Origin Teas: Candied Chestnut

Dry Leaves
Brewed Tea
Wet Leaves

Tasting Notes

The dry leaves smell of rum and sugared nuts (think of those roasted nut stands in Asia).

The smell of the brewed tea is of roasted nuts and smokiness with a hit of sweetness at the end. The liquor is a light amber. The sip starts buttery and sweet and finishes with a woodsy smoke reminiscent of tobacco. The finish is brought back to an earthy sweetness.

I enjoy this tea and its complexity. It is great as an “oolong” because black tea would be too astringent (it is a black tea made in an oolong style). This tea borders on being almost too astringent, but it pulls itself back from the edge with the sweetness and smokiness. From the leaf I thought it would be much sweeter, but it is actually quite well balanced. I could see this becoming more indulgent with sugar and cream, but I like it just the way it is.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Brown Sugar, Chestnut, Earth, Rum, Tobacco

Description

Candied Chestnut is one of our holiday teas! Made with candied chestnut pieces on a black tea base, this sweet tea is perfect for the season (or any time of the year). Made using marron glace pieces, French chestnuts that undergo a candying process, our Candied Chestnut tea is one of a kind.

This Chinese black tea is made in an oolong style. The tea brings out a delicious nutty taste many people associate with an oolong (despite the fact that this tea was fully oxidized)!

Available through Single Origin Teas (Limited Edition).

Packaging

Disclaimer: This tea was sent to me by Single Origin Teas. All notes & opinions are my own.

Tea at Sea: Mountain Organic Indonesian Green Tea

teaatsea_green

One of the great things about the Steepster community is not only keeping tracking of the teas I have in my cupboard but also finding out about new teas and tea companies.

One of the new companies I’ve discovered is Tea At Sea, a Canadian loose leaf tea company with a nautical theme with offices in Vancouver & Montreal. They source their tea directly from the farmers so that they can guarantee the quality and freshness of their teas.

Tea At Sea was nice enough to send me a sample of their Mountain Organic Indonesian Green Tea which is “grown in the Halimun Mountains of Indonesia at 800m above Sea-Level [and] treated with natural spring water and fresh mountain air. The lightly oxidized tea leaves have a seaweed aroma, slight fruity taste of superior freshness.”

This tea is delightfully smooth and pleasant. The taste is very clean and smells sweet and vegetal. The sip opens with sweet grassiness and finishes with roasted rice. It has a nice, creamy mouth-feel and reminds me more of an oolong than a green. The aftertaste brings it back to a nice sophisticated green tea, similar to a green tea bread. It has no bitterness or astringency. I’m sad that I was only able to get two cups out of this sample package since this is a great tea.

While drinking I picked up on flavors of  baked bread, grass, minerals, plant stems, and roasted barley.

Image from tea-at-sea.com
Image from tea-at-sea.com

March & April #TeaSwap

Nattie’s Swap (March)
Brianna’s Swap (April)

I’ve really enjoyed organizing and participating in the Tea Swap the past couple months. The past two months I got some great treats from Nattie and Brianna. Nattie’s package came from across the pond and I was introduced to different tea companies and tea types (Chili Garlic Rooibos?!). Brianna sent me on an iced tea kick and now I always have a pitcher full of the stuff in my fridge. It’s amazing how the same tea can taste totally different when brewed hot versus cold.

Here are the teas I received:

If you want to get in on the next tea swap or share one that you participated in, head on over to the tea swap page!

Tea Swap Sharing

The Persimmon Tree® Tea Company: Wellness Blend & Green Caramel

Tins
Leaves for Wellness Blend & Green Caramel

persimmon_logoCheck out my other post about Lychee Burst & Jasmine Passion from The Persimmon Tree® Tea Company to learn more about the company and their teas.

You can head on over to their Facebook or website to learn more about them, or browse their teas.

Leaves

Wellness Blend Tea

Designed to do exactly what the title says, this blend of organic herbs, fruits, and spices works well as pick-me-up. Invigorating and life affirming, Wellness Blend combines the best flavors, herbs, textures, and tastes into an excellent elixir. Add flavor and wellness to your senses, your body, and your mind.

This tea has a nice balance of sweetness, acid, fruitiness, and spice. The tartness of the fruit and the spiciness of the herbs balance each other out, and the licorice keeps it bright and clean tasting. The combination of flavors is warming yet calming at the same time. The use of green roobois worried me since I don’t like red roobois, but this added to the fresh taste and to balance out the other flavoring a to keep it from being too potently spiced. The roobois is also more hearty and less vegetal than a green tea and can hold up to a longer brewing.

It is great to have a warm cup of this before bed time to unwind, especially since it has no caffeine.

Leaves

Green Caramel Tea

Our Green Caramel features roasted and steamed green loose-leaf tea leaves, rooibos and sweet caramel pieces. This low-caffeine treat combines just the right amount of body with the richness of the creamy caramel flavor. Enjoy on its own, or with a sprinkle of sugar as a low-calorie dessert.

For all of the ingredients in the description of this tea, I was expecting a sweet, burnt, and roasty cup. I got a clean grassy green tea with a subtle sweetness at the back. The second steeping of the leaves was a little more sweet. I did read on Steepster that others put more than the typical amount of leaves when brewing and preferred those results. Perhaps I will try over-leafing and see what that brew tastes like. 

Disclaimer: I was given these teas by The Persimmon Tree to review. All opinions and thoughts are my own. 

NYC Coffee & Tea Festival 2014

ct_nyc_web_02

This past weekend I went to the New York City Coffee & Tea Festival with my friend Stephanie. We were given press passes from Starfish Junction Productions and booked our transportation.

Fellow tea-lover Stephanie was travelling over 8 hours from Pittsburgh (and I was 5 hours from DC), so I was worried that the festival would be a waste of time or lame. We weren’t able to make the VIP session on Saturday (due to travelling), but we got there around noon Sunday and we were so happy with the festival!

I think it would have been even better if we made the VIP session since my only complaints were: too crowded at times and more food needed.

Tea tasting at Yezi Tea

One of my favorite things about the festival was learning about new teas, tea companies, and meeting the people behind the teas. A great example of this was Yezi Tea. After walking through aisles for a while and snacking on a crepe, we happily plopped down on two stools in front of this booth and watched them prepare their teas in traditional Chinese style. We paged through their impressive booklet of what teas they have and sampled around 10 different teas and learned about their company and different teas.

Yezi Tea - Long Jing, Da Yu Ling, Jin Xuan

Unfortunately, we fell in love with almost all of their teas. Stephanie & I have a soft spot for Taiwanese tea and I especially love oolongs because they’re so nostalgic for me.

Together we got: Da Yu Ling Oolong, Jin Xuan Oolong (Milk Oolong), Tie Guan Yin High Grade (Goddess of Mercy) Oolong, Wen Shan Pouchong Oolong, Gao Shan (High Mountain) Black, Long Jing High Grade (Dragonwell) Green, and Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Pearl) Green.

Another company that really connected with us was Ajiri Tea. It was one of the first companies we visited and we were drawn in by the packaging.
Ajiri Coffee & Tea
Ajiri Black Tea with Ginger

Here is some more information:

Women in the Kisii region of Kenya design and handcraft each label using dried bark from banana trees. […] Each label is unique, and often features a scene from day-to-day life. Inside of each box of tea is a twine made from banana tree bark and decorated with bright paper beads. The women hand cut, roll, and lacquer long, triangular strips of colored magazine paper to make the beads, and twist dried banana bark to make the twine.

In Kenya, it is especially difficult for women to find employment. […] Currently, five different women’s groups, totaling over 60 women, are creating artwork for the Ajiri Tea Company.

After hand-picking our favorite labels for coffee, I also picked up some Kenyan Black Tea with Ginger. Once I found out the profits went to educating orphans in Kenya, I felt even better about my purchases.

Jeni’s Tea – Buddha’s Palm

Before we went to Yezi, we stopped by Jeni’s Tea. They had put their loose leaf tea into wine glasses for smelling purposes, which I thought was a great idea. They also had a lil’ old Taiwanese Grandpa in the corner measuring out teas with a scale, which was endearing (and cute!). We tasted some of their teas (Stephanie got some Gao Shan Mountain Tea and Bao Zhong I believe), and I zeroed in on a nice, red oolong named “Buddha’s Palm”. Their packaging was very beautiful, though the tea was a bit expensive. I also thought it was a bit odd that their logo didn’t match the aesthetic of their packaging or the elegance of their tea, and since they don’t have a website, it is nearly impossible to find out more about their teas.

Chai Diaries – Kashmiri Green Chai & Chocolate Kisses
Chai Diaries – Press Package
Chai Diaries – Press Package

Though we met with them at the tail end of the festival, I really enjoyed learning about Chai Diaries. I talked with the owner about their teas, Ami, and loved the flavorful and strongly scented teas. I picked up some Passionfruit Oolong, Kashmiri Green Chai, and Chocolate Kisses. I was given some teas to sample, including Blood Orange, Assam, Darjeeling Second Flush, Dragonwell, Jasmine Green, and Masala Chai. I was drawn by the youthful, colorful packaging, as well as the owner/founder’s passion for her tea.

Joseph Wesley – Press Package

I was instantly drawn to Joseph Wesley’s tea. We swarmed to the booth like moths to a flame. The packaging is simple, colorful, elegant, and modern. We both enjoyed meeting and talking to Joseph and learning about his teas. Stephanie picked up some Lapsang Souchong and I received a few samples, including: Dian Hong Congfu, Bai Lin Congfu, and Lapsang Souchong. I tried a little bit of the Bai Lin Congfu (#6) today and it was a very pleasant cup of tea!

A&D Damn Fine Tea – Chinese New Year & Caravan Blends

What really surprised me is that so many of the teas were close to me! Damn Fine Tea (pictured above) was a pleasure to talk to and they’re actually located in Maryland. Stephanie & I both were drawn to their friendliness as well as their great artistic packaging. I had to grab the limited edition Chinese New Year Yunnan Gold Tips tin, as well as the smoky smooth Caravan smoked tea. Stephanie nabbed the Mount Gray which I fully intend on pilfering from. The whole vibe of their stand reminded me of a Wes Anderson film in a quirky and artistic way.

In addition to Damn Fine Tea, Capital Teas (Maryland/DC/Virginia), and Sahpat Teas (Maryland) were also representing the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

Fashionista Tea Tasting
Fashionista Tea – Press Package
Sahpat Teas – Toasted Almond & Fruity Sangria
Zenzeu – Pina Colada Green, Champagne Blanc, Chai Wedding
RUNA Guayasa
Samples
Chai Mookie Chai Blends
Moon River Baked Goods
Hernan Mexican Hot Chocolate

I met some great companies and tasted some amazing teas and coffees while I was at the festival. I do wish there were some more food options (other than a $10 crepe), since tasting all the teas and coffees can lead to some caffeine jitters. While it was a bit over-crowded at some points, I really enjoyed myself in the afternoon once the crowd had cleared.

Gift Bag

If we would have got there earlier or went both days, we might have been able to attend some of the informative seminars or workshops. But, maybe it’s for the best because then we would have spent more money and not been able to explore New York on the other days.

Regardless, Stephanie & I both enjoyed dumping our loot out onto the floor and seeing each other’s piles. We then, in a post-trick-or-treating Halloween-style, proceeded to swap and barter with each other.

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