High Noon Tea Co – One More Steep

Volcano Flower Burst by High Noon Tea Co.
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 1

High Noon Tea Co.’s Volcano Flower Burst came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s June themed subscription box.

First Impressions

I was really excited to receive a blooming (flowering) tea in my June subscription box from The Sugared Teacup. I enjoy flowering teas because they’re just a lot of fun – to watch it bloom, to admire the workmanship that goes into every single one of those beautiful flowering balls of tea, and the Volcano Flower Burst is no exception to that.

The aroma is quite floral, and you can see the hibiscus on the bottom and the amaranth on the top of the tightly bound ball of leaves. Volcano Flower Burst consists of green tea, hibiscus, lavender, and amaranth flower. I can definitely smell the lavender, but I don’t see any in the dry flowering tea.

Preparation

High Noon Tea Co. recommends steeping Volcano Flower Burst in 86°C (187°F) water until it fully blooms. I used 85°C (185°F) water and it took approximately 5 minutes to fully bloom.

First Taste

Volcano Flower Burst steeps to a light peachy-pink, which I do attribute a bit to the hibiscus. There was just enough to make it pink-tinged without detracting too much from the beauty of the steeping tea. I found the aroma to be very floral, but the flavour wasn’t as perfume-y as I was expecting (which is a good thing since I don’t enjoy drinking perfume). There’s a sweetness to the tea, and it’s a very light, crisp green tea flavour – no astringency, no bitterness, no saltiness that some green teas often have. I don’t see any lavender in the open bloom, but I do smell hints of lavender in the tea itself.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Volcano Flower Burst once and found that the tea was significantly less floral, less pink, and more of the green tea base was present. If you love the floral notes, you might not like the resteep (but if you love green tea, you’ll probably want to resteep it.

My Overall Impression

I loved High Noon Tea Co.’s Volcano Flower Burst. Like I said earlier, I really enjoy flowering teas and this was really no exception. I do wish that there was either more flowers present or actual lavender tied into the flowering ball itself – I could smell hints of lavender but I didn’t see any and that was a bit disappointing. I really enjoyed the green tea base though, which is what made resteeping it worth it (in my opinion). The colour is also lovely, just enough hibiscus to keep the pink colour there in the initial steep. If you haven’t tried a flowering tea yet, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go – they’re just so much fun.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Maple Smoke by High Noon Tea Co.
Black Tea / Flavoured
$11.00 for 50g

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High Noon Tea Co.’s Maple Smoke came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s June themed subscription box.

First Impressions

I should have known from the name of the tea that this was some sort of lapsang souchong, but do I ever listen to myself? (The answer is sometimes.) If you’re not familiar with it, lapsang souchong is a black tea that’s been smoked so it has a very strong smokey aroma and flavour to it.

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If you’ve ever wanted to drink a campfire, lapsang souchong is the tea for you.

Maple Smoke is a black tea that consists of: black tea, natural smoke flavour, safflower petals, and real maple syrup. I love maple syrup, and I think that’s one of the reasons why Deb picked this one to go into a Canadiana themed tea box. This tea smells incredibly strong of smoke. It reminds me of campfires and all the fun things to do with Girl Guides. Unfortunately for the tea, I don’t smell the maple syrup at all.

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Preparation

High Noon Tea Co. recommends steeping Maple Smoke in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 7 minutes or to taste. My initial steep of Maple Smoke was for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Maple Smoke steeps to a beautiful golden red and it smells both smokey and sweet (which I will be attributing to the maple syrup). The taste of this tea is, without a doubt, smokey. It’s got a nice smoothness to it in terms of texture, but the overall taste of it is strongly of smoke. I don’t really taste the maple syrup in this because the smoke is so overpowering as a flavour.

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I did attempt to doctor up this tea with a bit of sweetener (I used honey because I didn’t have maple syrup on hand) and some evaporated milk. The milk helps to tone down the smokey flavour, but doesn’t cut it down to the point where I can make out the maple syrup.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Maple Smoke, and found the flavour to remain the same – all smoke and no maple syrup.

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My Overall Impression

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I didn’t like High Noon Tea Co.’s Maple Smoke. If you’re a fan of lapsang souchong teas, this one will probably suit you a lot more than it suits me! I wasn’t a fan of the smokey flavour, because it made the tea taste very one dimensional. While I could smell the maple syrup after the tea had been steeped, I wasn’t able to taste it because the flavour of the smoke was so overpowering compared to the rest of the ingredients. If it had been less smokey, I might have enjoyed it a little bit more. If you’re trying this tea out and find it too smokey, a bit of milk or cream goes a long way to cutting down the smokey aroma and flavours.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.