Dark Fired Malawi 2011

Name; Dark Fired Malawi 2011

Type; Black, Africa, Malawi, OP 1
Price; £ 3.20 for 50 grams from Anteaques. 

http://anteaques.co.uk/blacktea/darkfiredmalawi

Brewing; 4 grams for .6 litres, 3:30 minutes at 100 degrees.

Review; Africa is perhaps the newest and biggest player in the tea world.  Most everyone has had an African black tea and simply not known it.  Most tea bag tea can trace its origins, or some of their origins to Africa.  Kenya is the number 3 tea producer of the world (FAO 2010), following China and then India.  Malawi accounts for roughly only 1.5% of the world’s tea production at spot number 14, however as the world of tea knows, small is sometimes better.

This Malawi tea has beautiful toasted caramel notes, sultanas and raisins, burnt citrus rind, and iron are all characteristics.  Africa is responsible for taking much of the Ceylon tea market away (when the Ceylon tea board doesn’t drive its customers away like it did back in the 90’s when it advocated the CTC, or better known in recent years when the scandal of importing African teas and then re-labeling them as Ceylon). 

What I particularly enjoy about this tea is the long whole leaf nature of it.  One can see how this tea does compete with the Orange Pekoe that Sri Lanka became so famous for, and won.  Mild tannins and now astringency also serve this tea well.

A new take on a classic tea!

Enjoy

-Tea Fan

Gyokuro 2011

Name; Gyokuro 2011玉露
Type; Green, Japan
Price; £ 9.95 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://www.anteaques.co.uk

Brewing; 9 grams for .1 litres, 30 seconds at 60 degrees.

Review; Gyokuros are a beautiful tea, both in taste, appearance, and history.  The un-brewed leaves are long, thin and perfectly pinate.  However to me the most interesting factor of a Gyokuro is its scientific composition.  Gyokuro’s are a Japanese Sencha tea that is shade grown for 3 weeks.  This shade growing changes the light spectrum so that the plant has to generate new types of chlorophyll to match this spectrum.  Meaning that this tea is a “super enhanced” green tea with artificially increased levels of chlorophyll.  What gets even cooler is that plants are only able to produce starch and cellulose molecules in full sun, with a scavenger pathway kicking in resulting in more simple sugars.  This entails that one should expect a sweeter taste to this green tea than a regular green tea.  Or at least I tell myself so.  It is thought that Gyokuro was first made in 1835 in the Uji by Kahei Yamamoto. 

Gyokuro is also the base tea that is used for the making of Matcha in the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  In order to make this fine power, the tea must be stone ground very slowly (talking about producing only a couple grams an hour) lest the power is heated too high from the friction and oxidizes.

Gyokuros are made in a specific pot, that you put in at least 3 times the amount of tea in, with a very small amount of water.  Quick infusions still deliver a powerful kick of flavour that results in multiple different tastes as one progresses from the first infusion to the sixth.  Further more because of its delicate shade grown nature Gyokuro requires 60 degree water so as not to burn the leaves.

Taste wise there are beautiful umami flavourings, as well as spinach, seaweek, sea breeze and a sweetness that leaves the mouth astringent.  Snow peas dipped in butter (and maybe a little salt) in your mouth.  No bitterness or astringency if made correctly.

I’ve also had Gyokuro made other ways including room temperature brewing and ice brewing.  Tea is such a unique and diverse product, and different flavours, aromas and tastes all can change depending on how the tea is brewed.

While this tea is particularly expensive, Anteaques again has provided this high quality tea at an affordable price. 

Enjoy

-Tea Fan

Balasun Darjeeling 2nd Flush 2011

Name; Balasun Darjeeling 2^nd Flush 2011
Type; Black, India, Darjeeling, Balasun, SFTGFOP
Price; £ 8.00 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://www.anteaques.co.uk

Brewing; 4 grams for .6 litres, 3:30 seconds at 100 degrees.

Review; If the reader hasn’t caught on yet, Anteaques is usually my go to tea shop when I’m in dire need of a good cuppa.  Anteaques is where I have tasted the finest Darjeelings.  Andrew one of the owners goes to extreme care with selection of his teas and Balasun Darjeeling is a prime example.  Anteaques also has the highest level of selection of Darjeelings in the UK.  As I stated earlier second flushes are usually the preferred brew of a Darjeeling, and Balasun offers a prime example of an excellent second flush.

Balasun Darjeeling is Anteaques’s answer to Goomtee when they ran out of that precious dew.  It’s got much of the same muscatel tones, yet to be completely honest carries a bitterness if it is over or under brewed.  I have had to order this tea many times to get it just right, but it is well worth it.

A friend I was drinking with at the time described it as ‘very subtle, yet lots of perfume’.  I could not agree more, this Darjeeling is too fine for the likes of milk and sugar, and opens up to a beautiful honey liqueur reminiscent of mead and muscat wines.  Subtle start leads to a more complex sweet finish.

 All in all, this is a wonderful tea.  My only complaint would be the price, however that is not justified.  This is half of the price of the mediocre First Flush I drank from Jing, and at a quality that is un-rivaled this year.  

Enjoy

-Tea Fan

Cinnamon Anise Rooibos 2011

Name; Cinnamon Anise Rooibos

Type; Infusion, Rooibos (South Africa) along with Cinnamon, Star Anise, and Jasmine Blossoms

Price; £ 1.50 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/infusions/cinnamonaniserooibos

“The subtle sweetness of cinnamon, the floral notes of jasmine blossoms and the gentle spiciness of star anise are blended together with the rich honey tones of rooibos. A smooth blend which can be enjoyed all day and late into the evening.

Each flavour is wonderfully balanced with the rich and mellow rooibos base. Naturally caffeine free and low in tannins, this is a heavenly infusion, both purifying and lush.”

Review; Its not often that I review rooibos, or flavoured “teas” for that matter. But Cinnamon Anise Rooibos has been on my “to review” list for too long. I don’t really like rooibos, its…blah. I drink it when I want something warming, without the caffeine (I have a very low caffeine tolerance…which when I get around to reviewing Matcha will provide evidence of). That being said rooibos has some very interesting characteristics to it. This malty honey flavour that is almost a bit like Mead and a fruit juice mixed.

Add cinnamon, anise, and jasmine blossoms and you get a bizarre mixture. I wouldn’t say its possible to detect the jasmine blossoms on their own, which is what really adds to this blend, but provides this floral background to providing the harmony of the other spices. Sweet, and yet still spicy, reminds me of an oriental night with a cool breeze. Its very pleasant and impossible to over brew, which leads to a guilty pleasure of mine. Cooking with tea. I know I’m not the first to do this by a long shot, but cooking with the liquid tea I find quite pleasurable. Rooibos I find goes wonderful with a wholemeal loaf with a couple spoonfuls of honey, or instead of boiling rice in water, boil it in a green tea infused with jasmine blossoms.

And over the summer, I shall be doing over brewed Jasmine teas mixed with gin!

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

White Monkey, Chinese Green

White Monkey
Type; Green, China, Fujian, Tai-Mi

Price; £ 4.50 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/greentea/whitemonkey

"Harvested from the Tai-Mi mountain in the Fujian province of China, this green tea has a large number of white tips. The fine white downy hairs on these curved and tangled leaves give the tea its unusual name. It is a superb and delicate green tea with the soft texture of white teas and a grassy and slightly sweet taste.
For this tea, only the tip buds and one leaf are picked during early Spring. The leaves are then gently withered and shaped by hand to preserve the white down. If you enjoy both white and green teas, this is an fantastic amalgam with a sweet silky taste."

Review; At a recent tasting I went to, White Monkey was the favourite chosen by the tasters. It has a unique characteristic of the Chinese green teas, mixed with the silky smooth texture associated with a white tea, that lets it sit on the tongue and dance. I find the leaves to be some of the most beautiful of all, trypanosomes curled around each other. Due to the high number of white hairs on the leaves I find one can actually brew this for longer than one would normally brew a green (I usually brew a green for around 2-3 minutes), as it has such a sweetness to it that follows through with savory chestnuts. Honestly I don’t make this up and dare any and all readers to give this tea a try. To me this is one of the highlights of Chinese green teas.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Sencha, Fuji,

Sencha (Fuji)
Type; Green, Japan
Price; £ 3.60 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/greentea/senchafuji

"This is a very high quality large leaf Japanese sencha. It has a wonderful crystalline green colour and a superb flavour that eclipses those of other green teas.
Like all traditional senchas, the freshly picked tea leaves are lightly steamed to prevent them oxidising and turning black. This distinguishes them from most of the Chinese green teas, which are usually pan fried to prevent the oxidation. The steaming process gives the sencha a more intense, distinctive, flavour."

Review; It seems only fitting to write a review for Sencha after the review of Dragon Well last week. As I have mentioned before there is a distinctive difference between Chinese and Japanese teas and that is the nature in which they are dried. Japanese teas being steam-dried gives a stronger freshly cut grass, or seaweed taste. As Japanese Tea Master Mio Shapley said, “only with Matcha does one drink tea, all other teas are but the essence of tea”.

Wiser words have not been said in my opinion and holds true with Sencha. This essence of tea, one can taste the chlorophyll on ones tongue. Senchas like Dragon Wells, and like Darjeelings, have famous regions, and estates that they can come from, though often times this element is missed in the west. A statistic I once read stated that roughly 80% of all Japanese teas stay in Japan for consumption. I find Sencha to be one of the best teas to drink for studying for exams, especially if over-brewed.

Interesting things can be observed when it comes to comparing Japanese and Chinese green teas and where they are pre-dominantly consumed. Chinese teas have a trump in Europe while Japanese green teas are trump in North America and Australia/New Zealand.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Dragon Well, Longjing

Dragon Well
Type; Green, China

Price; £ 4.50 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/greentea/dragonwell

"Dragon well is a renowned green tea with distinguishing broad and flat leaves. With its gentle sweet fragrance, delicate, clean, chestnut-like taste and cloudless jade green colour, it is an extraordinary and unique green tea.
Although first documented during the Tang dynasty (610-907), it was in the 17th century when Dragon Well (龍井茶) was given the status of Imperial Tea by the Chinese Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi. The highest grade tea was reserved solely for the Imperial household."

Review; While we’re on the subject of classics, Dragon Well is perhaps the most well known Chinese green tea. And there is certainly diversity to it. Without knowing much about whether this is pre-rain or what grade, lets dive in. Dragon Well is easy to distinguish in the leaves, broad flat leaves that have been pressed flat, yielding a beautiful aroma. The taste follows and magnifies this aroma with the tell tale chestnut taste coming through. Dragon Well is to China what Sencha is to Japan, in that both have surprisingly levels of grades, and can leave an beginner drinking a misnomer. China has a particular problem with its quality not always matching, so as I’ve done before, I urge caution when buying Chinese teas, and to never buy online unless you are buying from a vendor that knows what he is selling. As I briefly mentioned name branding is prominent in the tea world, and if one can sell a knock-off Dragon Well, it’s a considerable amount of more money. Perhaps this is why the distinctive leaf shape and character is important to examine before hand.

The nicest component of a Dragon Well, its sweetness. No sugar need be added, and hopefully I don’t need to mention that no milk should be added (it is a green tea…). This Dragon Well was purchased from Anteaques, however almost any good tea shop will carry this tea. A following review will probably be done in Pekoe with a pre-rain Dragon Well as well as their house Dragon Well.

Oh and please never brew a green tea at boiling water.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Margaret's Hope 2nd Flush SFTGFOP

Margaret’s Hope
Type; Black, India, Darjeeling, SFTGFOP, 2^nd Flush

Price; £ 2.60 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/blacktea/margaretshope

“The teas of the Darjeeling region are often known as the "champagne of teas". They are prized for their lighter tastes and fruity aromas. The Margaret's Hope Estate is over 140 years old and produces some of the most popular Darjeeling teas. This tea is picked in early June (2nd flush) and has all the wonderful Darjeeling flavours.

Classified as "Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe" (or FTGFOP), this tea is a top grade Orange Pekoe or large leaf tea. Like many other estates in Darjeeling, Margaret's Hope's tea bushes grow slowly due to the high altitude. This plays a large part in producing the tea's characteristic and highly prized taste.”

Review; Ah Darjeelings. One of my true loves. The observant reader will probably have noted that I have an obsession with Darjeelings. Those that know me in real life know that I will do almost anything to get my hands on a delicious first flush. The Margaret’s Hope is a second flush, and will probably receive more of a scathing review than the previous two other Darjeelings reviewed.

Margaret’s Hope has a name for itself. Name-branding isn’t unique to clothing, and occurs very frequently in the tea world. Lets face it, this tea blog is about name-brands. Margaret’s Hope due to recent acquisitions of nearby tea-estates is now one of the largest tea estate in the Darjeeling region of India. And for such a surprisingly large area, it is blended (all teas are blended in the estates) consistent. 2^nd Flush, strong muscatel notes on the nose, but surprisingly little flavour to compare with the taste. A beautiful tea in its own, but branding itself as the “Champagne of teas” I would not say is truthful.

Really one cup or so of Margaret’s Hope will due it justice. A bit of a plane jane if you will in that no complex taste really develops, nowhere to go after that initial first sip. And don’t add milk or sugar! It’s a Darjeeling! Not an Assam or some Tetley tea bag for pete’s sake. I have now tasted the Margaret’s Hope for four years and as I said above, it is consistent. There is little variability in it unlike other Darjeelings (I’m looking at you Goomtee, oh you were so delicious last year…and surprisingly disappointing this year).

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Blue Lady

Blue Lady
Type; Scented, Scented Black, Sri Lanka, Ceylon FOP

Price; £ 1.90 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/scentedtea/bluelady

"Our version of the classic Edinburgh Blue Lady tea. Exotic fruit flavours burst from this rich Ceylon tea. It is blended with blue corn flowers and yellow sunflowers for a striking appearance.

Passion flavours are the predominant fruit taste in this tea. Together with the natural citrus of the high grade Ceylon (FOP) this creates a natural fruity blend."

Review; Blue Lady was and is a classic when it comes to scented teas. Or at least due to a bias of where I have lived is such. Blue Lady first blended in Edinburgh Scotland, swept through the UK 60 odd years ago in a hay day. Much of that faded in the present days but it seems to be making a comeback with no surprise.

With a mild Ceylon base, Blue Lady can also be scented with grapefruit. The blend from Anteaques is made with passionfruit giving a more exotic taste to this class. Cornflowers, safflowers and sunflowers also scent and flavour this tea making it surprisingly fruity and floral yet not over-done. I would not add milk or sugar to this tea as either would destroy this beautiful palate.

What little astringency is in the tea is quickly over-powered by the added scents, making this tea in my opinion perfect for afternoon.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Lemongrass and Marigold

Lemongrass and Marigold

"A startling blend of lemon grass, freeze-dried strawberries and marigold blossoms. The strawberry flavours burst through the tangy lemon grass to create an intense lemon berry blend. The marigold blossoms add an absinthian whisper.

Freshly cut lemon grass has an extraordinary, slightly rose like, lemon aroma. Marigolds a bitter-sweet, anise like flavour. Together with the freeze-dried strawberries, the combination is both intense and exhilarating."

Type; Infusion, Indian/Mixture, Lemongrass, Strawberry, Marigold, Lemon , Apple, Pineapple

Price; £ 4.00 for 100 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/infusions/lemongrassandmarigold

Review; Describing this infusion is always very interesting. It rapidly became one of Anteaques's best selling "teas" (Tea is strictly defined as from origin of Camellia Sinensis). I'd imagine as summer progresses this will only increase. At the tea tasting comparison I briefly mentioned before with Bouteaque Blue Mist, this infusion actually took first place. (There was a bit of contention over whether an infusion should be allowed to take first).

The taste is very unique. It almost interacts on the tongue similar to Champagne, affecting several locations at the same time. A tart zest that progresses into a distinct sweetness. Complex tastes for an herbal infusion (I am an eliteast), it certainly enjoys a benefit of never over-brewing. I enjoyed this tea with two other friends, and while we got to laughing at some of the descriptions and trying to describe the tea, I feel it is only fitting to relay their opinions. "Yellow" "sweet, citric, lemon out the citri, tantalizing" and apparently "it tastes just like tang". I believe the addition of Marigold flowers was a wonderful decision. In China Marigold tea is the most popular tea to drink during the summer. The flowers have a wonderful tartness to them that just seems to complement the heat of the day.

Regardless the flavours are well presented in this tea, and while I would never have really imagined strawberries and lemongrass ever working together, they both add subtle characteristics and notes to each other.

I strongly suggest trying this infusion for the summer.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fanatic

I have felt the need to include some of the other reviews my friends thought up.

"tastes like pondweed"

"lemongrass and flowers"

"Lemsip without bitterness"

followed shortly by "maybe it just says a lot about Lemsip"

Goomtee Darjeeling 2nd Flush FTGFOP1

Goomtee Darjeeling

"A sensational classic Darjeeling tea."
Type; Black, Indian, Darjeeling, FTGFOP1 Second Flush

Price; £ 17.50 for 100 grams from Anteaques. (Edit 17/5/2011 JING tea removed)

Review; Sending tea, and taking pictures for a friend has prompted a review of this tea. Before I get into the grit, a bias should be announced. I love Darjeeling tea more than life sometimes. This tea is also the second most expensive tea I have consumed. And it has currently ranked as my favourite. Of the 85 known estates (I'm quoting 85 as that was the number published in this book http://www.flipkart.com/b/books/darjeeling-tea-golden-brew-srijeet-book-8181891864, while some website publish numbers as high as 92), I have had the privileged of only trying a third. I've previously lamented over Darjeelings and how wonderful and fantastic they are on my review over Marybong Darjeeling First Flush. However Goomtee is perhaps the first second flush to amaze me.

Goomtee is a small estate, located high in the Himalayan mountains in the northern most region designated for Darjeeling. Perhaps this is what leads to its mythical brew. If one was ever curious about the "muscatel" tones that are so often used to describe a Darjeeling, this is the tea to base your definition. Fruity in a sickly sweet sort of way, this is most certainly not a tea to adulterate with milk or sugar. I have felt the need to put that in bold; a tea of this class, of this quality, to be ruined by such inferiour products is a sin. Floral notes can be tasted too, which bring to mind wild summer flowers growing after a storm. The fruit is hard to distinguish but I would say almost imagine a pear cider wine with cherries mixed in. Muscatel. I know its overly pretentious, but this is a tea that's best description is a mood. Calm. Tranquil. When I was preparing for exams I actually had to limit my consumption of this tea as it is entirely possible to spend hours of inner peace accomplishing nothing but relaxation. Not overly astringent, it does leave you thirsting for more.

I have actually placed an order of JING's version as I am skeptical of the quality that they are selling. An edit may appear later for this review of that tasting.

(Edit 17/5/2011 JING tea; Inferior tea, I have removed the link from the top of the page as I would not encourage people to try it as a good example of what a Goomtee should taste like. JING Goomtee tastes more like a Margaret's Hope, or a mixture of several estates. No to little astringency. Maybe a full review will come at another time, however we will see if time permits.)

Here is the wiki page to Darjeeling Tea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_tea) but I strongly suggest reading the above book to gain a better appreciation behind the tea industry itself. There are too many books published about "tea" without actually saying anything.

Cheerio!

-Tea Fanatic