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

Golden Monkey

Golden Monkey
Type; Black, China, Fujian *Edit 4/2/12

Price; £ 2.00 for 100 grams from Better Beverage Company.

http://www.betterbeverage.co.uk/

Review; Surprisingly this tea is rather nice. What got me to buy it was the large quantities of tips that are distinctive in this black tea. Chinese black teas have this nice malty, caramel sweetness to them that is often missing in other blacks. For value, I find this tea hard to beat. Don’t get me wrong though, Better Beverage should be embarrassed about some of the teas they are selling. The Darjeeling? I doubt it. Also much of their tea is stored next to coffee, which may be why the black teas I’ve tried from there are much better than the greens. Better beverage like Anteaques sells tea, not packaging, however with less of a finesse and care than Anteaques does.

This Fujian black *edit 4/2/12 is a wonderful example of what can be had from black teas in this region. Described by a friend of mine as the aroma one gets when one walks into a clean stable, there is a horse musk in the air. Good colour in the brew, rich amber, that one should be mindful of not to let over-brew.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Formosa (Oolong) ((Teaism))

Formosa
Type; Oolong, Taiwan, Un-roasted
Price; £ 9.50 for 50 grams from Teaism.

https://teaism.com/TeaShop/ProductDetails4-75.html

Review; “Formosa” from Teaism, is suppose to be a Dong Ding, or a Milky Oolong, but is impossible to tell due to the lack of flavour. Honestly considering where this tea came from, I have to say this might have possibly been the biggest disappointment in teas I’ve had for a very long time. “This top-quality Formosa oolong has large wiry leaves. Use 2 tsp per 8 ounces of 190 filtered or bottled water. Steep 5-6 minutes. You can infuse several times”. No no no.

“Top-quality”? BS. No que no batman an oolong has large wiry leaves, kinda part of the definition of oolong tea leaves. Infuse several times? Nope hard pressed for the first. I’ve decided to do an experiment where I’m going to let it brew over night and see if more flavour magically appears. Oh, update, looking at the website, spring 2010. Right…might have gone stale except that this tea was purchased November 2011.

Don’t Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

As my flat mate said, “If Tetley made an oolong”

Xin Yang Mao Jian

Xin Yang Mao Jian

Type; Green, China

Price; £ 9.00 for 100 grams from Pekoe Tea.

http://www.pekoetea.co.uk/?pagename=Xin%20Yang%20Mao%20Jian

Review; When it comes to green teas, there are two main schools of thought, pan dried and steam-dry. These two schools represent the Chinese and Japanese ways of tea with Chinese teas being made predominately in the pan dried fashion resulting in the tell tale style undertones of chestnut, and the Japanese resulting in a crisp fresh green of freshly cut grass.

While this tea continues the Chinese traditional method of pan drying it is certainly one of the more unique teas. Relying on a Wikipedia article until my new book arrives, Xin Yang Mao Jian is suppose to be one of the top 10 teas of China. And this I can easily believe, crisp and fresh, little astringency. The light amber hue, tickling the tongue, Xin Yiang teas are wonderfully full of flavour. However despite being a Chinese green, my first thought would not be that of chestnuts, its…hard to explain. While that may seem like a lame response especially for a blogger review, if I try to explain it; sounds more like “the essence of the tea”. And by the “essence of the tea” I don’t mean the freshness or the greenness I associate with the essence of Japanese green teas, but just a slight curl at the edge of the tongue as it sits in ones mouth. Second brew still brings out many flavours, this is a superior tea.

Pekoe tea does a wonderful job of packaging their teas, and it does show. This tea was actually purchased months ago, however is still incredibly fresh. Vacuum sealed in plastic/metal packets this does add to the cost.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan (changing from Tea Fanatic to Fan, as I’d like to be less of a fanatic this year)

Yellow Gold Oolong/Tie Guan Yin

Yellow Gold Oolong

"There’s a new gold rush in town and while we can’t promise it will make you rich, this Yellow Gold Oolong tea will definitely make you feel like a million dollars. The hand-rolled leaves open beautifully to create a complex mix of sweetness and tangyness topped off with notes of fresh grass."

Type; Oolong, China, Tie Guan Yin

Price; £ 12.98 for 100 grams from Eteaket

http://www.eteaket.co.uk/teaboutique/info_B01.html

Review; As promised, please find delivered my review of Yellow Gold Oolong. There remains two predominant traditional styles of oolongs, if indeed one wants to try and categorize them as such; which can be defined as light and dark. The dark presenting more roasted, higher levels of oxidation. The lights presenting as delicate and floral as buds on a bush. Oolongs are defined, along with being a completely different style to processing tea, as a range of oxidation and fermentation ranging from almost zero like greens, all the way to 90 percent, close to black teas. Yellow Gold Oolong is one of the few teas to have captured my soul. the first time I tried it, I opened the tea pot searching through the leaves for the mysterious source of the fragrance to identify. Years have now passed, the fragrance remains, that of tea. If this review is already seemingly more loopy, and "poetic" than normal, it is a direct testament to this tea. Teas are meant to alter our mind, bring consciousness, invigorate us.

There is literally not a single bad word to be said, floral, delicate, the floral scent first reminded me of a peony, or a gardenia. With such a heady scent, it is truly amazing to realize a tea when it is at its full potential.

I have already done a review upon Tie Guan Yin before for the observant reader to notice. However this one I have felt needs specific notice. For those curious about Tie Guan Yin, this is a surprisingly decent wiki article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tieguanyin. However there has been a growing trend in China to title almost everything Tie Guan Yin. Even greens or blacks have managed to procure the name, as in a failed attempt that the name by proxy deliveries the delicious notes to the palate.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fanatic

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"