Author: Michelle

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Oteas’s Earl Grey

Earl Grey by Oteas
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Earl Grey for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Earl Grey and I go way back.  It’s pretty much always been a tea stash staple for me. It’s a very approachable tea – easy to source out and find, easy to steep, and easy to muck around with when it comes to adding sweetener and cream. I was pleased to find Earl Grey in the package that Oteas sent me, primarily because I’m always looking forward to try new-to-me Earl Grey.

Like the other Oteas flavours that I’ve reviewed previously, this one contains teas in biodegradable sachets – which is great for the environment! The tea has the very classic Earl Grey aroma – I can smell both the black tea base and the bergamot. Earl Grey consists of: black tea, cornflower, and essence of bergamot.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Earl Grey in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 4 minutes. My initial steep of Earl Grey was for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Earl Grey steeps to a lovely reddish brown. There’s a nice bergamot aroma to it, which is one of my favourite features of Earl Grey. The black tea base is tasty, although I note a touch of astringency at the tail end of each steep. The citrus notes from the bergamot are bright and add a sense of freshness to the tea itself. If you’re not a fan of the astringency, you can always opt to steep for a shorter period of time (e.g. 3 minutes) or add a touch of milk or cream to help temper the astringency. It is not off-putting though, and I find the tea to be quite tasty.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Earl Grey. I found that it wasn’t as delicious as the initial steep, primarily because most of the bergamot notes weren’t as strong as they were in the first steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Earl Grey. I really enjoy a well balanced Earl Grey, and I found that this one was quite pleasing to the taste buds. I drink Earl Grey quite often at home, but having the tea already preportioned into sachets makes it easier to drink tea on the go, or to steep a cup at work without having to deal with spoons and filter bags – just one less step to take before getting some tea! The bergamot flavour is delightful, and everything that I look for in a tasty Earl Grey.

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

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Oollo Tea’s Classic Oolong

Classic Oolong by Oollo Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight

First Impressions

I bought Classic Oolong as part of a mystery bag from Oollo Tea’s booth at the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival – unfortunately I’m unable to find the product page on their website so I can’t tell you how much it costs at this time (I’ll update this review if I get a hold of the information). This sampler contains 15g and the tea itself came in a vaccuum-sealed foil pouch (not resealable) inside of a floral patterned paper envelope.

The leaves are bright green, tightly bunched together. The aroma of the dry leaf reminds me of floral and pine tree. Classic Oolong comes from Maliba, Nantou, Taiwan and is single origin. Single origin describes the fact that it comes from one location – usually one tea farm/farmer and can be directly traced to the original location where the tea was harvested and processed. This is a huge difference from the majority of tea available via grocery stores, as you often don’t know where the tea came from aside from a general area or country of origin.

Preparation

There were no steeping instructions with Classic Oolong, so I went back to my own steeping guide. I steeped Classic Oolong using my Breville IQ Kettle‘s oolong setting (90°C/195°F) and my initial steep was for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Classic Oolong steeps to a light yellow. There’s a beautiful light floral aroma from the tea. On first sip, I can taste the floral, with a touch of pine in the background. It adds a bit of a ‘woodsy’ flavour to it, which is pleasant as it’s well-balanced against the floral notes. There’s some creamy notes that I can taste as well, which are delicious.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Classic Oolong a total of six times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour of the tea got deeper for the first three resteeps – becoming more of a golden yellow colour. The flavour became more floral and creamy and less pine. I found that by the third resteep, Classic Oolong had a very buttery flavour to it with a thick mouthfeel compared to the initial steep. I found it to be very pleasant.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oollo Tea’s Classic Oolong. I felt that it made for a lovely cup (pot…) of tea, and loved how the flavour profile shifted a little bit with each steep. I do wish that I could tell you more about the tea, so hopefully that information becomes available to me in the near future. The pine notes were a bit of a surprise, but I love how it gave way to a more buttery flavour profile. The leaves are a good quality though, as they resteep beautifully and allow for a good amount of flavour with each steep.

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

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Tea Experience: The Secret Garden Tea Company

The Secret Garden Tea Company
Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC
High Tea – $35 each

I recently went to High Tea at The Secret Garden Tea Company, which is located in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood of Vancouver, BC. This lovely location boasts both of a shop section and a dining section, with seasoning high tea menus that change every couple of months. I went in March 2019, so the food selection is different now. There are also vegan and gluten-free high tea options, at $40 per person, as well as a children’s menu at $25 per person.

Both my friend and I selected different teas  – we each got our own teapot that came nestled in a tea cosy that had The Secret Garden Tea Company’s logo and name embroidered on it. The place settings were tea cups and saucers that differed from each person, which added a sense of whimsy to it. The sugar cubes came in a tea cup with a pair of silver tongs – which I found to be just darling.

For our tea selections, there was an extensive list of variations of Earl Grey, along with some non-Earl Grey tea choices.My friend opted for the Organic Creamy Earl Grey (black tea, bergamot, vanilla), which she told me was delicious. I had the Lavender Earl Grey (black tea, lavender from Provence, France, cornflower petals, and natural flavouring) because I’m just all about the lavender these days.

The food arrived in a three-tier stand. The bottom being savouries, then the scones, and finally dessert.

For the savouries, we had the Secret Garden Egg Pinwheels, Chicken Caesar Sandwiches on Butter Biscuits, and the New York Pastrami and Avocado on Mini Croissants. I found the Egg Pinwheels to be a bit low on flavour, I think it might have been better with some pepper. The open-faced Chicken Caesar Sandwiches on Butter Biscuits had some great flavours, but I think the star of this tier would have to be the New York Pastrami and Avocado on Mini Croissants. Mostly because the kitchen selected some perfectly ripe avocado to go into those delicious little sandwiches, the balance between the pastrami and the other ingredients was just perfect. I felt that the savoury tier was quite generous – for each of us there were 3 Pinwheels, 2 Butter Biscuits, and 2 Mini Croissants.

The scones tier was quite fun. There was the Petite Fruit Scone, which was paired with the Raspberry Jam and Devonshire Cream, and a Savoury Chedder Cheese and Chive Scone. I thought that the Petite Fruit Scone was delicious with the sugar crystals baked into the top. But my favourite would have to be the Savoury Cheddar Cheese and Chive Scone. It was heavenly and I’m still surprised at the fact that I enjoyed it more than the sweet option since I’m normally all about the sweets.

Finally – the sweets! There was the Tangy Mini Lemon Tart – I had this one first and was a bit let down by it. I’m a huge fan of lemon curd, but I found that the ratio of lemon curd to tart crust was just a little bit off for me. I think a thinner crust would have suited me better, but that’s one non-foodie’s opinion! Then there was the Chocolate Coconut and Mandarin Roulade Cake which I found to be rich and delicious. The toasted coconut on the outside provided a light crunch, while the chocolate cake was just oh-so-rich. I definitely made happy noises when eating it because it was just that good. Last, but not least, was the Maple Pie with Vanilla Chantilly Cream. While I was a little bit confused by the blue-grey colour of the vanilla chantilly cream, the Maple Pie itself was tasty. It had a great maple flavour without being overly sweet, which is probably no easy feat since maple syrup is practically pure sugar. My favourites from the sweets tier would have to be the Roulade Cake and the Maple Pie.

I had a wonderful time at The Secret Garden Tea Company, and I can see why it’s a favourite for afternoon tea in Kerrisdale. Their branding is on-point and well represented throughout the darling shop and dining area, and I love the fact that they offer seasonal menus to change it up and allow patrons to read over the varying menus on their website. The service from the ladies working at The Secret Garden Tea Company on the Monday that my friend and I went was top notch – starting from the hostess who greeted us at the door to the knowledgeable server who was able to offer her thoughts on the different Earl Grey options. It’s a lovely spot in Kerrisdale to go in for tea, and they even offer High Tea daily at three different serving times! I would definitely go back for tea the next time that I’m in the neighbourhood.