The Legend of Earl Grey

From the teadog.com people, more on that distinguished chap who lent his name to a popular variety of tea.

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Indonesian Tea Production, Circa 1937

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Tea Review 1 - Twinings Red Bush

No, it's not a misprint. This is actually our first tea review, as it appeared at the site nearly seven years ago. I thought I'd dig it out of the archive and present it again just for the fun of it.

Tea Review 1 - Twinings Red Bush
Red Bush Herb Tea
Twinings of London

Nothing can take the place of tea. Tea, in this case, meaning a beverage made by steeping the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant - in it's black, green, white or yellow formulations - in hot water.

A problem for some tea lovers - present company included - is that tea contains caffeine. For those of us who have a sensitivity to this substance, the pleasures of the tea are somewhat negatively affected. Yes, I know there are various and sundry decaffeinated teas, but I have yet to discover one that doesn't strip out much of the flavor when it removes the caffeine.

Which is where red bush, also known as rooibos, comes into the picture. While it's not quite a caffeine free substitute for black tea, it's close enough to fit the bill until something better comes along.

Rooibos is derived from the Aspalathus linearis plant, which is grown only in the Cedarberg region of South Africa. When brewed it makes a "tea" with a dark tan/reddish color not unlike some varieties of black tea, though with a sweeter and mellower taste.

Twinings of London, one of the bastions of the English tea trade, has been doing their thing since 1706, but only introduced their brand of rooibos in recent years. Unlike so many so-called herbal teas, Twinings' brand of red bush consists of one and only one ingredient - rooibos.

Twinings Red Bush is good for drinking as a hot tea. It has a nice, smooth taste and doesn't suffer from being steeped for longer than the recommended three to five minutes. It also makes a nice iced tea and is especially good when mixed with another type of herbal tea, preferably something fruity. I've found that peach works quite nicely in a ratio of two parts to one part red bush and I usually toss in some loose green tea to spice things up a bit.

Contents: 20 tea bags per box
I paid: $2.50 (sale price)

Tea Review 116 - Adagio Teas Gourmet Tea Collections

Artisan Comfort Collection
Sweet Medley Collection
Adagio Teas

Up today, two collections of gourmet tea from Adagio Teas. Each contains five pyramid bags of six different teas. The Artisan Comfort Collection features mostly unflavored black, white, green and oolong teas and the Sweet Medley Collection contains flavored black, white, green, oolong, rooibos and a tisane.

I won't comment on each one of these teas, but there are a few that stand out for me. Not surprisingly, given my preference for unflavored tea, those are the ones I liked best. Especially noteworthy, at least for me, the Dragonwell, Oolong Goddess, and especially the Golden Yunnan, all from the Artisan Comfort Collection.

As for the Sweet Medley Collection, I liked the Peach Oolong best and I always go for a good strong Peppermint. Also surprising, since I don't like Earl Grey or vanilla, is the relatively palatable blend I came up with when I blended the former with the Vanilla Rooibos.

Artisan Comfort Collection
Jasmine Pearls
Silver Needle
Dragonwell
Wuyi Oolong
Golden Yunnan
Oolong Goddess

Sweet Medley Collection
Earl Grey
Citrus Green
Peach Oolong
Peppermint
Blueberry White
Vanilla Rooibos

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Tea Review 115: The Art of Tea

Biodynamic Breakfast
Classic Black
Mandarin Silk
The Art of Tea

My apologies to the good people at The Art of Tea, who sent some samples a while back. I'm not sure what happened but the review got a bit sidetracked somewhere along the way. In any event, here are some thoughts on a few of the samples I tried, which include two black teas and a flavored oolong.

Classic Black
I don’t think I've ever met a Yunnan black that I didn't like and this was no exception. Never mind that it's a blend of Yunnan black with Nilgiri, a black tea from India. It was quite good, with a very smooth, mellow flavor. I would have guessed that it was perhaps a high-end Ceylon, but I guess that shows what I know. This was a winner in the Black Tea category at World Tea Expo and I can see why.

Biodynamic Breakfast
Another nice black tea, though perhaps not as good as the aforementioned. Very smooth and flavorful. I've noticed that the components of breakfast tea can vary quite widely from one merchant to the next. There's no indication at Art of Tea's web site what makes up this one but it's worth a taste nonetheless.

Mandarin Silk
I'm not a fan of flavored tea - plain and simple. But I was kind of surprised by this one. I wouldn't say it bowled me over but given my general lack of interest in this sort of thing I'd say it's not so bad. It's a mix of Pouchong tea with lemon myrtle, marigolds and natural essence of vanilla. Perhaps a little heavy on the latter but pretty decent overall.

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Tea Review 112: Wiseman Tea Company

My apologies to the gang at Wiseman Tea Company for not getting around to this sooner. I've fallen behind on my reviewing lately but I'm making an effort to get caught up.

First things first. Wiseman sent samples of an Earl Grey and Genmaicha, but since these are both varieties that I've never cared much for I wont say much about them. Ditto for the Puerh. I will say that all of these seemed of a decent quality or better, if you're into this sort of thing.

Some of the Wiseman teas that I did like included a very good Rooibos. It might be tempting to think - as I used to - that all Rooibos is created equal, but this is definitely not the case. What set this one apart was simply that it was smoother and more flavorful than many Rooibos varieties I've tried.

Wiseman also provided a very nice Dragonwell. As far as reliability goes, Dragonwell might be among the tops of all tea varieties. I've been trying to think if I've ever run across one I didn't like and I'm coming up dry.

Among the surprises in this bunch were some of the flavored teas, which I typically don't get too excited about. Both the Shalimar Oolong (oolong, aronia berries, mango cubes, rose petals) and the Pearl of Fruits (green Tea, black tea, orange peels, rose petals, safflowers, and marigold petals) were interesting. But I think it was the South Sea Magic (black tea, rose blossoms, sunflower blossoms, cornflower blossoms) that stood out the most from this bunch. Not a bad combo as far as this sort of thing goes.

And how about that slogan?

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Drink Tea...Get a Job!

The Tea Council of the USA "Sip of Success" Dream Job Contest Offers Work Experience and Global Adventure to One Lucky College Graduate
(from a press release)

Almost two million college graduates are unemployed and a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers predicts companies will hire 22% fewer graduating seniors than they did last year. The Tea Council of the USA, Inc. is doing its share to help struggling college grads navigate the brutal job market. Its "Sip of Success" contest offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a recent grad to prepare for a great career and experience a unique and thrilling adventure on tea plantations in India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and the USA. College grads can create a two-minute video showing their passion for tea and knowledge of its many health benefits, for a chance to win this exciting prize.

This year's partners will include The Tea Board and the Tea Research Association of India, The Tea Board and the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka, as well as The Tea Board and the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. The winner will intern in all three host countries, as well as in the US.

One lucky college graduate will embark on the international internship mid-October of this year, with a tea tour of Darjeeling and Assam, India, the second largest global tea producer following China. The winner will remain in Assam to begin a 6-week intensive training program, after which he or she will travel to Sri Lanka for another leg of the internship, and then on to Kenya for the final week, returning to the US in late December, 2010. Sri Lanka and Kenya are the world's two leading tea exporters.

To top off the experience, in early January, 2011, the winner will participate in the US portion of the Dream Job internship at SalonTea, under the tutelage of nationally known tea entrepreneur Tracy Stern.

more

Image: Tea Council of the USA

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Tea Review 110 - Mate Factor Yerba Mate

Mate Factor

Yerba mate can be an acquired taste. I've managed to acquire it and I like it quite a bit, thank you. What I don't care for quite as much (same goes for tea) are most of the flavored varieties of yerba mate on the market. Of course, if you don't care for the taste of mate straight up you might prefer one of these.

In either case, the gang at Mate Factor should have something that fits the bill for you. I don't recall hearing of them (though they've been around since 2003) before they approached me about reviewing their stuff, but with a great line of straight mate and a variety of flavored ones, all of it wrapped up in nice eye-catching packaging, they seem poised to take on that other yerba mate company, the one that seems to be the 800-pound gorilla of mate selling in these here United States.

I didn't much care for MF's flavored products, but don't let that steer you away. As noted above, I simply don't care much for any flavored tea, mate, rooibos and so forth. I sampled their Organic Dark Roast, which was a bit robust for my tastes. Converts from coffee drinking or fans of strong black tea will probably go for this one.

Other flavored varieties on the menu, Organic Mocha Mint and Organic Chai, Lemon Ginger and Hibiscus Lime. Oddly enough, it's this last one that I found most appealing. Oddly, I sez, since I usually don't care that much for hibiscus.

For me, the best of the samples that Mate Facto provided was their organic fresh green variety, which comes in a traditional "loose-leaf" variety or in tea bags. Good stuff.

Samples provided by Mate Factor
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Tea Review 105 - Mighty Leaf Ginger Twist & More

Ginger Twist
Mighty Leaf

I'm kind of fond of all things ginger, so I was excited to try Mighty Leaf's Ginger Twist. As they describe it, "our Ginger Twist herbal tea is a harmonious mix of lemongrass, tropical fruits, and mint fueled with a touch of ginger and ginseng."

This is all well and good, but the ginger seems to be something of an afterthought. This was a bit disappointing, considering that it is ginger tea. Putting aside the relative gingerlessness, however, this was not a bad blend. I'm not enamored of lemongrass, but all the flavors are so subtle and well proportioned that the end result is quite appealing.

Here are some brief notes regarding some other teas Mighty Leaf has sent along. They seem to specialize in flavored blends, which are not necessarily my cup of tea, but some of them are not bad.

White Orchard
White tea, melon and peach. I've always had kind of a thing for peach-flavored tea so this one worked for me.

Orange Dulce
Black tea with orange, vanilla and jasmine. The vanilla spoiled it for me but your mileage may vary.

Green Tea Tropical
Green tea with pineapple and guava. Another nice blend, though, as in most cases with flavored blends, the actual tea is overpowered by the flavored stuff.

RedUmbrella Tea
Canada’s Loose Leaf Tea Co.

Tea Review 96 - Mate Limon Chai

Organic Mate Limon Chai
The Tea Spot

Is yerba mate an acquired taste? Yeah, you could say that. Is it a taste that some people won't ever acquire, no matter how hard they try? Probably, though you could make the same argument about that other hot drink (coffee).

If you are new to yerba mate or if you've tried the plain stuff and found it wanting, don't give up yet. Purists might scoff at the notion of flavored mate, just as many look down their nose at flavored tea, but both can be a good entry point for people who aren't ready for the "real" thing.

Case in point, The Tea Spot's Organic Mate Limon Chai, a "blend of yerba mate with lemon ginger chai [that] offers an uplifting citrus spice to the earthy grassy undertones of yerba mate." The ingredients for this one - yerba mate, chicory root, citrus peel & essential oil, lemongrass, hibiscus, ginger, coriander, and cinnamon.


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Tea Review 90 - Portsmouth Tea Company (x3)

Irish Breakfast
Satin Oolong
Avalanche Rooibos
Portsmouth Tea Company

The good people at Portsmouth Tea Company sent along samples of a few of their teas recently. Here's my two cents worth.

Irish Breakfast
I haven't run across many breakfast blends that I really liked, but this one was a happy exception. Though they don't get as much attention as other types of tea, a topnotch Assam is a thing of wonder. This "hearty Assam blend" compares favorably with some of the best I've tasted and the tin was empty in no time.

Satin Oolong
I'm still not sure what to make of this one. It's described as a "milk-infused oolong," which means that the leaves are soaked in milk. This gives it a very strong buttery aroma. Not being a fan of butter or its awful aroma, I was put off by it and set it aside for a while. When I finally gave it a go I found that I could get past the aroma and the tea itself was quite good otherwise.

Avalanche Rooibos
Portsmouth calls this one "a delightful combination of apple bits, lemongrass, ginger, orange peels, basil and red pepper." Works for me. I don't care much for rooibos served hot, but I've taken to drinking quite a bit of it iced these days. This made for a nice change of pace from straight up rooibos, though my preference was to tone this one down a bit by mixing the two.


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Tea Review 89 - Tavalon (x4))

New York City Breakfast
Serenity
After Dark
Organic Kama Chai Sutra
Tavalon LLC

The good people at New York City's Tavalon recently passed along samples of a few of their blended teas and tisanes. Here's the lowdown:

New York City Breakfast
"A hearty blend of the world's best black teas from India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia created for the New Yorker palate."
A new one on me and apparently a Tavalon creation. I like Assam and Yunnan black teas, but have never been much of a fan of breakfast blends. This one was better than most when served hot and even better than that iced.

Serenity/After Dark
"A relaxing caffeine-free herbal blend consisting of Chamomile, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Rooibos and Vanilla."
"A sweet & sour, caffeine & sugar-free blend of Chamomile, Blood Orange, Cranberry, Apple, Cherry and Hibiscus flowers."
Chamomile is another "tea" that's never done much for me. But both of these tisanes benefit considerably from the fresh and intensely aromatic ingredients that have gone into them. Serenity worked better for me than the very fruity After Dark, but that's a personal preference again.

Organic Kama Chai Sutra
"An organic blend of Assam tea, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla beans."
I've tried to come to terms with chai (Earl Grey and lapsang souchong too). I really have. But I've determined that none of these items are really my cup of tea. Once again, though, the ingredients in this one seemed to be very fresh and flavorful. If you are a chai lover it might be worth looking into.

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Tea Review 86 - Revolution Variety Pack I

Variety Pack I
Revolution Tea

Revolution Tea's niche seems mostly to be flavored teas and tisanes. They've made it to a few store shelves in my part of the world, but I'd never gotten around to tasting any. Recently the company was kind enough to send a few sample packs. Here, briefly stated, are some thoughts on one of them.

Tropical Green - A real mix of flavors, including orange peel, peppermint, jasmine, lemon verbena, marigold, blue malva and pineapple. I prefer my green tea straight up, but this one's not bad.

Sweet Ginger Peach - I didn't taste much ginger here, but I've always liked the mix of peach with black tea. This one reminded me of a smoother version of Good Earth's China Black.

Earl Grey Lavender - Earl Grey has always ranked low on my list of preferred teas. The lavender in this one actually made it tolerable, though I might not choose it for everyday drinking.

English Breakfast - A good Assam tea is one of the finer things in life. I wish I was so fond of Ceylon, but I'm not. If you don't share my anti-Ceylon bias, you'll probably like this one just fine.

Golden Flowers Herbal - I've always found chamomile kind of bland. Revolution remedies that with a good dose of peppermint - and some marigold flowers. A nice blend.


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Tea Review 84 - Snapple Red Tea

Mandarin Orange Red Tea
Snapple

As a general rule, bottled tea doesn't float my boat. I can sum up my reasons pretty succinctly - too sweet. There are exceptions, but they're few and far between.

Given that, I wasn't prepared to be impressed by Snapple's new line of red teas, which are made with rooibos, an herb grown in South Africa. But I figured I'd try to keep an open mind.

Snapple Red is available in Acai Mixed Berry, Peach Pomegranate, and Mandarin Tangerine flavors. I sampled the latter. According to the label, Snapple Red "contributes to a healthy immune system." Yeah, whatever. Ingredients include crystalline fructose sugar and pear juice concentrate, among others. Rooibos is number five on the ingredients list, oddly enough. I'm not sure what to make of that.

As I drank this one, I kept telling myself I could taste the rooibos, but I wasn't really sure that I could. The tangerine flavor was a bit more pronounced, but overall things were pretty understated and - surprise - not over sweetened. This one's also caffeine-free, for what it's worth.

Not too bad, but I think it would probably go down a lot better on a blazing summer day, as opposed to a frigid winter night.

I doubt that I'll seek out another Snapple Red, but if I was really hot and thirsty I probably wouldn't turn one down.


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tea, green tea, food, food and drink, Snapple, rooibos

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Tea Review 83 - Mateveza Yerba Mate Ale

Mateveza Yerba Mate Ale
Mateveza LLC

I've mentioned Mateveza a few times now. Recently the good people who make it were kind enough to send me a bottle.

Mateveza is made with yerba mate. If you scout around here at the site you'll find that I've written about it a good bit. I don't drink beer much these days but I discovered yerba mate a few years back and developed quite a taste for it.

Along with the sample of Mateveza, I also received a small amount of the yerba mate used to make it. It was good, but I suspect that I'm not quite enough of a connoisseur to make much of a distinction between different yerba mate varieties.

As for Mateveza, I have to admit that I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised. What I found most interesting about the product was that there were two very distinct flavors happening at the same time - the sweetness of the ale and the bitterness of the yerba mate.

Which worked quite well, in my opinion. The two tastes offset each other nicely. If you're not a fan of yerba mate - and it can be an acquired taste - you may not agree. But it's certainly worth a try.

Recommended.

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tea, green tea, food, food and drink, yerba mate, beer, ale

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Tea Review 80 - Rishi Rooibos (x2)

Jamaica Red Bush
Blueberry Rooibos
Rishi Tea

I've never been much of a fan of flavored tea. That's tea, in the strictest sense of the word, as in the beverage made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. But when it comes to rooibos and its African cousin, honey bush, it's a different story. While I can drink either one plain, in my opinion, they both benefit from the judicious addition of flavorings.

Which Rishi Tea does quite nicely, at least with the two flavors under consideration here. What caught my attention with both of these blends is how strong and fresh the flavoring is. In each case, when I opened the package, I was nearly bowled over by the aroma - and I mean that in a good way.

Jamaica Red Bush was a little less to my liking than the blueberry, but that's a matter of personal taste. Its a blend of organic ingredients, including rooibos, hibiscus, honey bush, lemongrass, schizandra berries (a new one on me), rosehips, licorice root, orange peel, natural passion fruit flavor, natural essential oils of orange, tangerine and clove, and natural mango flavor (sheesh). The overall aroma and taste of this one tends toward citrus and it's very nice.

But it's the Blueberry Rooibos that made me sit up and take notice. These Rishi guys are on to something with this one. It's a blend of rooibos, blueberries, schizandra berries, hibiscus, natural blueberry and strawberry flavors. The interesting touch here is that the blueberries are real or, as the packaging puts it - "real wild blueberries."

As a result, the aroma is so strong that you could actually use it as potpourri if you didn't care to drink it. Or you could do both. I made some into a batch of iced tea and the smell permeated the entire apartment. Oh, and it tastes good too.

Recommended on both counts, with a very high recommendation for the Blueberry Rooibos.

Image: Rishi Tea

tea, green tea, food, food and drink, Rishi, rooibos

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Tea Review 73 - Sol Mate Energy Beverage

Sol Mate Sparkling Yerba Mate, Original
Sol Mate Sparkling Yerba Mate, Lemon Lime
Sol Mate Beverage Group Ltd.

Tea Guy has nothing against bottled teas and tea-based soda type drinks, at least not in theory. In practice, it seems that a lot of manufacturers pushing these beverages err on the side of over sweetening. But that could just be me, since I'm not really a sweetened beverage kind of guy.

I wrote about Sol Mate a few months ago, but recently I had a chance to sample both of their flavors. The company says the product is "the world’s first organic sparkling mate energy beverage." Which kind of makes it sound like an energy drink. In reality, at least in my ever so humble opinion, it's closer to a soda, albeit a rather lightly sweetened one.

Which is a good thing, if you ask me. Both flavors have a light taste with just a little bit of sweetness. If you're looking for a strong yerba mate taste, you're likely to be disappointed. The yerba mate content here is very understated. But that's probably a good thing if the company's planning to get their product to the largest numbers of consumers possible - and I'm assuming they are.

As I was drinking Sol Mate, I couldn't thinking of Steaz, who make a similar product that's based on green tea, instead of yerba mate. Both products are quite a bit lighter and less sweet than the average soda or bottled tea and both are quite nice. Another reference point would be Kombucha Wonder Drink, who do something along the same lines, but with kombucha as the base for the drink.

In any event, both flavors of Sol Mate get the thumbs up. Give 'em a shot.

tea, green tea, food, food and drink, yerba mate, Sol Mate, Steaz

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Tea Review 68 - Yerba Mate (x2)

Del Cebador Superior
Sara Suave

I've had my say about sample packages of tea. I'm not going to go off on that tangent again, except to say that it's nice to be able to try teas without having to buy a large amount. Ditto for yerba mate.

I recently ordered six quarter pounds of loose yerba mate. As I've been working my way through the pile, I've found a surprising amount of difference between the different brands. Last time around I reviewed Canarias and Amanda, products of Brazil and Argentina.

This time I'm going with two brands from Uruguay, a place where - if I've got my story straight - they drink more yerba mate than just about anywhere in the world.

At first glance these two brands seem quite similar. Both are pretty finely ground, with no obvious traces of stems. Aroma is pretty similar too. Both kind of reminded me of the burnt sawdust smell of a heavily used wood shop. That might sound like a bad thing, but it's not really.

As for the taste, the first time out I liked the Sara Suave and not the Del Cebador Superior. After some more sampling I reversed my position. To my clunky taste buds Sara Suave seemed kind of tasteless, while Del Cebador Superior had a nice smoky overtone - tasting kind of like it smelled, actually. I definitely prefer the latter over the former, but I would take the Amanda over either and probably over the Canarias as well.

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Tea Review 66 - Yerba Mate (X2)

Canarias Yerba Mate
Amanda Yerba Mate

I know - yerba mate is not tea, at least not in the strictest sense of the word. But, as you've probably noticed, we take a pretty loose approach to semantics here at TGS.

Canarias yerba mate was the first "real" yerba mate I ever tasted. Real, in this sense, referring to loose yerba mate, consumed from a gourd (mate) using a filtered metal straw (bombilla).

Though I'd tasted yerba mate in tea bag form before, my first experience with Canarias almost caused me to spew a huge mouthful of it across the room. Given the fact that, since then, I've worked my way down to the dregs of a one kilogram bag, I guess you could say I've developed a taste for the stuff.

Canarias is apparently a product of Brazil. It's a mix of smaller leaves and what I'll refer to as dust - I'm not sure of the correct terminology. It's got a pretty strong flavor, compared to some of the other yerba mate I've tasted since, and it's got more than a hint of bitterness. That's not necessarily a bad thing, at least not as far as I'm concerned, and I think I actually prefer it to some of the smoother yerba I've tasted.

Amanda hails from Argentina and it's one of those smoother varieties of yerba mate, though not by much. It's got less dust, larger leaves and some light colored stems. I gather that the latter are not considered a desirable quality when it comes to yerba mate, but I could be mistaken about that.

Amanda was not nearly as pungent as Canarias and it had a fresher taste, kind of "greener", you might say. I don't know that I preferred either of these over the other. I think it's just a matter of what you're in the mood for.

There are a quite a few yerba mate merchants on the Web nowadays. Do a little snooping around to see which one you like the best. I ordered the Canarias from Natural Latitudes, who were kind enough to provide me with my mate and bombilla, and the Amanda from Yerba Mate Cafe. Also noteworthy are Yerba Mate CC, who claim to have "the most complete inventory of Yerba Mate Tea from South America, available anywhere!"

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