Black Tea

Al Reef Ceylon Premium Cardamom

Black Tea

4/5

Last week I reviewed my last sample of Pu-erh, so switching it up again starting this week. I received this tea as a Christmas present and am really enjoying it. I’ve never had cardamom outside of chai tea before so I was excited to try this. This is a really high-quality Ceylan tea with a large amount of cardamom flavor. The cardamom is citrusy with a spicy hint, reminds me a little bit of bergamot maybe, but definitely, it’s own unique flavor. It smells amazing both as leaves and when brewed, it’s almost worth making just to smell it. The Ceylon tea is extremely balanced, sweet and earthy in a way that plays very nicely with the spice.

Side Note: I tried to find somewhere online you could purchase this from but didn’t have any luck, I found it at a local specialty grocery store, that’s probably your best bet.

Tea Leaves: Very strong cardamom scent
Region: Sri Lanka
Brewing: 212 degrees for 2-5 minutes
Purchased: Locally at Super green market–  $15 for 14oz*

Reindeer Fuel

Black Tea

3.5 / 5

Since we are in the midst of the Holidays, I thought that this week would be a good one to take a break from pu–erh and review this tea. This was a one-off giveaway from Adagio that I had missed, but some of my friends were nice enough to give me some. It’s a fun tea, with a nice mint and cocoa flavor added to a black tea. Definitely mintier than I was expecting, but in a good way. It reminds me of a more mellow (and better) cocomint tea. It has a hint of ginger, although nothing too strong. A great tea for the holidays, especially when you get it free!

Tea Leaves: Lots going on, smells like cocoa nibs
Region: North Pole?
Brewing: 212 degrees for 2-5 minutes
Purchased: Gifted, and not available form adagio anymore – sorry!

Sweetwater Vanilla

Black Tea

3.5  / 5

One of my favorite teas to warm up with on those first fall Michigan days. the vanilla really takes over flavor-wise – but in a good way. It smells a bit like sugar cookies once it’s brewed. The Ceylon tea is “High Grown” which supposedly is the best quality. It’s hard to tell a difference because the vanilla is so strong. It does have almost no bitterness which is what allows the vanilla to shine so I can see why they chose it. 

Writing these reviews that last few weeks I’m realizing how much I tend to gravitate toward Ceylon tea, I’ve always known I enjoyed it, but it’s interesting that so many of my favorites over the past few years use it.

Tea Leaves: Sweet vanilla aroma

Region: Unknown (Likely Sri Lanka)

Brewing: 3-5 minutes @ 212º F.

Purchased: Great Lakes Tea and Spice – $16.95 for 3.5oz*

Al-wazah (Swan Tea) Ceylon

Black Tea

4  / 5

I’ve drunk (drank, drunken, dranked? I don’t know, grammar is silly) more of this tea than any other. It’s been my go-to day in, day out, make my brain work a little better source of caffeine. If I do the math right, I’ve gone through just shy of ten pounds of this tea in the last two years. As I mentioned before, Ceylon is one of my favorite types of tea, and this is a great example of that. Smooth, earthy, just a hint of bitterness, it’s what I think of when someone says the word “tea”. It’s maybe not as exciting as some exotic blend or exclusive hand-picked first-flush, but it has a solid flavor plain, with milk, or milk and honey. It’s also the first tea I ever bought that had the tea grading right on the box which I think is cool. Equally important, it costs about $6 for 400 grams (about 14 oz) where I buy it locally. Exotic tea is fun but gets expensive fast.

Bonus: I really like the design of their packaging:

  • Photo of Alwazah tea box back
  • Photo of Alwazah tea box frton

Tea Leaves: Earthy, like fresh cut hay

Region: Sri Lanka 

Brewing: 3-5 minutes @ 212º F.

Purchased: Super Green Market – $16.95 for 3oz*
(It’s also on Amazon)

Mackinaw Breeze

Black Tea

4.5  / 5

This week I get to share one of my favorite teas over the past few years: Mackinaw Breeze. It starts off with a base of Ceylon tea, one of my favorite black teas. A lot of times when you get a flavored tea they skimp on the quality of the base tea, but this is a great Ceylon tea. The juniper berries, black currants, and strawberry pieces take that and add a lightness to it with the fruit notes that they provide. You wouldn’t think that you could add three different fruits to a black tea and maintain a good balance, but that’s exactly what this tea does. It smells absolutely amazing. I almost always drink this hot, but I know that a lot of people like it as an iced tea as well. Either way, if you get a chance you should give it a try, you won’t regret it.

Tea Leaves: Delicious berry scent

Region: Sri Lanka 

Brewing: 3-5 minutes @ 212º F.

Purchased: Great Lakes Tea and Spice – $16.95 for 3oz*

*Prices are at time of review and may have changed.

Tea Review: Bailin Gongfu Black Tea

Black Tea

Name: Bailin Gongfu

Type:  Black

Region:  Fuding, Fujian, China

Bought At:  Teavivre.com

Price:  $8.90 for 3.5oz

First Impressions:  Awesome little one-use bag!

Review:

This is the first tea I have reviewed from Teavivre, and I was impressed. This black tea has a deep richness and gentle sweetness that I immediately loved. It’s a very dark black tea with a roasted nutty finish and if brewed correctly is one of the best “plain” black teas I have had. The smell when brewed is strong and delicious. Be careful to brew it as directed, below boiling.  If brewed incorrectly (too hot) it will pick up a little bitterness. Nothing horrible, but it’s a shame to waste it. Another thing I loved is that the tea came in little individual baggies.  I don’t know if this is just because it was a sample, but it was a fun little surprise that made me feel like I was in China, if just for a little bit.

My Rating:
4  / 5

–brent

*Disclosure (And Thanks!): This was part of a free sampler I got from teavivre

Tea Review: Hazelnut

Black Tea

Name: Hazelnut

Type: Black

Region: Sri Lanka

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Sweet, Nutty Smell.  Reminds me of flavored coffee.

Review:

Finally, something that tastes as good as coffee smells! I like this tea in no small part because it reminds me of the flavored coffee  that always smells so delicious, but tastes so bad. A darker black tea, it tastes very warm and nutty. It has an amazingly smooth finish for a black tea, and has just a hint of sweetness that leaves you crazing more.  I like this extra strong, a really nice way to put a hop in your step on and a smile on your face, especially on a cold winter morning.

My Rating: 4 / 5

Tea of the Week – Caramel

Black Tea

Name: Caramel

Type: Black

Region: Unknown

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Sweet, sugary smell

Review:

A somewhat disappointing tea. You can definitely taste the caramel, but it isn’t the sweetness of the caramel, it’s the aftertaste.  It isn’t bad, just not sweet enough for my tastes.  It does have a fuller, roasted caramel flavor though, which is still nice. It smells delicious, and doesn’t taste bad. A decent tea, just a little bit of a tease for a sweet tooth like me.

My Rating:3 / 5

–brent

Tea of the Week – Keemun Concerto

Black Tea

Name: Keemun Concerto

Type: Black

Region: Anhui province of China

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $3 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Earthy, Sweet

Review:

Well, once again it seems I am apologizing for the long gap in between reviews, but I promise August will be better (no really!) I recently have tried a bunch of new teas and am really excited about reviewing them! First up is a really smooth black tea from Adagio.  It smells sweet and earthy before being brewed, and picks up just a hint of smokiness as it brews.  It brews up really nicely, the smooth warm, earthy taste of a quality black tea that I find myself preferring over the green tea I used to love so much. It has just a hint of a bitterness in the last seconds of the aftertaste, but it is hardly noticeable. A good tea, there is nothing remarkable about it, but it gets the job done when you need a good start to the day.
My Rating:

3 / 5

–brent

Tea of the Week – Black Dragon Pearl

Black Tea

Name: Black Dragon Pearl

Type: Black

Region: Yunnan, China

Bought At: Teavana

Price: $15 for two ounces (25-30 cups)

First Impressions: Little tea balls!

Review:

This is hands down my new favorite black tea, I bought this a couple months ago at the Chicago Teavana on their recommendation, and I absolutely love it.  Aside from the coolness factor of the tea being in almost perfectly shaped little spheres, it makes an awesome cup of tea.  It smells wonderful, and is the smoothest black tea I have ever tried. It has the typical earthy flavors you expect from a black tea, nothing flavored.  What really sets it apart is the amazingly light smoothness that it has.  It’s kind of hard to describe, but you should definitely check this one out!

My Rating:

4.5 / 5

–brent