05 Keemun Congfu from Joseph Wesley Black Tea – Tea Review

I always recommend Joseph Wesley Black Teas for people who want really good black tea. I put in order a few months back for one of their beautifully handmade chawans, but also snagged their 05 Keemun Congfu. More packaging! I always enjoy Joseph Wesley’s packaging. Dry Leaf and Steeping Instructions Joseph Wesley’s 05 Keemun Congfu has thin delicate leaves with odd gold tip. The scent of this tea is strong, heady, and fruity. I am in the process of finding a good ratio for steeping blacks, and turns out there is very little info out there on how to gongfu a… Continue reading, hoot!

52 Teas 2015 Holiday Teas – Tea Review

52 Teas had a Holiday tea kickstarter a few months back and I was able to preorder for the entire set! All the teas sounded pretty good – Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Eggnog Chai, Gingerbread Houjicha, Cranberry Orange Cider Rooibos, and Peppermint Marshmallow Melting in Hot Chocolate. It looks like you can still purchase the teas at 52 Teas from their Holiday Tea section, but you’ll want to act fast as they are seasonal teas. I wasn’t in a Christmas mood until this week, so now I finally got around to sampling the entire lineup (barring I drank 2 of… Continue reading, hoot!

Christmas Spice Black Tea from Secret Garden Tea Company – Tea Review

Ah yeah, let’s roll out the Christmas themed teas! Let’s start off with Secret Garden Tea Company’s Christmas Spice Tea. This tea seller is from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hurray my hometown! Dry Leaf Christmas Spice goes with the angle of the holidays being of cranberries – lots of plump dried cranberries in this tea with a strong spice scent. Upon looking at the ingredients list, this tea contains black tea, citrus peel, almonds, vanilla bean, clove, rose petals, and cardamom. Steeping Instructions I went with my default western style steeping method for black tea – boiling water, 10 oz mug,… Continue reading, hoot!

The Tea Spot Connoisseur Collection – Tea Review

Today’s tea review is of a collection of fancy teas! The Tea Spot Connoisseur Collection contains samples of four luxury teas – Organic Black Pearls, Golden Pu’er, 88th Night (shincha), and Organic Silver Needle White. This collection is quite interesting as you get a wide range of teas from pu’er to white, rarely do you see pu’er thrown in a collection like this. The Connoisseur Collection is true to the name as it is an expert line up of teas. The Tea Spot also sells the teas individually. The Tea Spot Connoisseur Collection comes in a set of four little tea tins. Looking on their site, you… Continue reading, hoot!

Spumoni Green Tea and Mexican Hot Chocolate from A Quarter to Tea – Tea Review

More A Quarter to Tea teas! Not too long ago I was sent four teas. I reviewed the more autumn teas eariler and here is the rest. Let’s get to it! Spumoni Green Tea YES SPUMONI! I’ve suggested to many tea sellers to make a spumoni tea. Spumoni is one of my favorite ice creams. There is a restuarant I regularly went to in Vancouver, The Spaghetti Factory, and the end of every meal is the delicious spumoni ice cream. Spumoni seems to vary, but usually it is pistachio with a mix of usually chocolate, vanilla or cherry. A Quarter to Tea’s… Continue reading, hoot!

Autumn Tea Blends from Plum Deluxe – Tea Review

I love autumn blends, I can’t get enough of spice, pumpkin and apple teas over a black tea base. Plum Deluxe is an online tea seller of organic tea blends. Besides the online tea shop, they also do a Tea of the Month Club. $10 a month you get one 1oz tea + sample. For $16 a month you get two 1oz teas. For both plans you get free shipping and savings on purchases at their online shop. What is good about their set up is you can purchase a blend or two at their shop to check them out… Continue reading, hoot!

A Quarter to Tea – Tea Review

Today’s tea review are teas from A Quarter to Tea, an online etsy shop. Admittedly, I got a soft spot for etsy sellers, since I am one myself as I sell crochet critters and patterns. I have four A Quarter to Tea teas and I’ll be reviewing two today, and the other two soon. For today’s review I selected fall themed teas. Little Orange Tea Owl is here in a pretty simple Halloween costume. Apple Almond Spice Cake Black Tea This black tea blend is a limited edition! The dry leaf is organic nilgiri black tea, hojicha, chicory, clover and chunky almonds, shattered cinnamon sticks… Continue reading, hoot!

Tie Guan Yin Black Tea from Sanne Tea – Tea Review

Hmmm, a Tie Guan Yin Black Tea? That sounds pretty different, sign this owl up! This tea is experimental and processed in smaller batches, made by a second generation tea master. This black tea is from Sanne Tea, online seller of farm to cup Taiwanese Teas. My sample is from September 2014. I like the information listed on the sample, especially the oxidation and roasting level. Dry Leaf Tie Guan Yin Black tea’s leaf looks like matte black ribbons with the odd brown or gold tip. The leaf has a sweet honey scent. Steeping Instructions I didn’t completely follow the steeping instructions on the sample.… Continue reading, hoot!

No. 03 Classic Chinese Black Tea from Joseph Wesley Black Tea – Tea Review

Everything I tried from Joseph Wesley Black tea has been excellent, I can’t recommend them enough if you are a black tea lover. A couple good tea friends have told me No. 03 Classic Chinese black tea is a really good one from Joseph Wesley. When I ordered the Qimen, I sneaked in a tin of Classic Chinese black tea. Of course with Joseph Wesley, their teas have an awesome modern design that I love. Enclosed leaflet with the tea. Dry Leaf Classic Chinese Black features delicate and wiry black tea leaf with the rare golden tip. The dry leaf is… Continue reading, hoot!

Bitaco Colombian Black Tea – Tea Review

Bitaco is a tea seller I came across at the World Tea Expo 2015. What is interesting about Bitaco is that their teas are grown in Colombia! Awhile back I reviewed Bitaco’s Green tea line up.  Awesomely, they also have black teas! Similar to the green tea review, let’s drink the unflavored black before getting into the blends. All three teas I used 3 grams of tea and steeped it in boiling water for 3 minutes, western style brewing. Bitaco Colombian Black tea Tasting The dry leaf is long and wirey, similar to green, but a dark rich colour. The leaf… Continue reading, hoot!