Author: Michelle

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The Virginia Tea Company’s English Breakfast

English Breakfast by The Virginia Tea Company
Black Tea / Straight
$11.50USD for 2oz

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The Virginia Tea Company has provided me with English Breakfast for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

Much like The Virginia Tea Company’s Earl Grey, English Breakfast came in a cardboard container, with the loose-leaf tea in a wax paper bag, and it came with an tea ball infuser, wooden spoon, and 10 tea bag filters. English Breakfast is a fair trade and organic tea, which is a good thing to know. I like knowing that the people who grow and harvest the tea that I drink are paid fair wages (which is part of what International Tea Day was about). English Breakfast has a strong smell to the tea, almost malty smell to it like from an Assam, with some light plum notes to the dry leaf of the tea that are enticing.

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The English Breakfast that The Virginia Tea Company sent me was the $15.00USD version (2oz tea plus tea accessories). The tea-only version with 2oz of loose-leaf tea is $11.50USD.

Preparation

The Virginia Tea Company suggests steeping English Breakfast in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. The carton (and their website) suggests that the tea leaves can resteeped up to 3 additional times. I steeped English Breakfast in my tea pot in 100°C (212°F) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

After the initial 2 minute steep, I had a tea that was a deep orange colour. The fragrance that wafts up from my tea cup reminds me of the malty flavour of Assam teas. The tea itself has a very mild astringency that just leads to a slight mouthpucker at the end of each sip. There’s zero bitterness when steeped for the 2 minutes. English Breakfast has quite a strong taste to it, with the malty flavour from the black tea base and deep plum notes that show up at the beginning of each sip. The tea is quite smooth and enjoyable. The strength in the flavour, despite a short steep, is what I look for in a good breakfast tea. The tea is good on its own, but me being me, I added some sugar and milk to it and found that it tastes quite good with being doctored up as well.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped English Breakfast, adding 30 seconds per subsequent steep. I did a total of four resteeps (five steeps total with the same leaves). I found that the plum flavours were the strongest in the second steep. The third steep fared about the same as the second, although the plum flavours weren’t as strong. The fourth steep was quite similar to the first steep in terms of strength and flavour. For the fifth resteep, the flavours were very weak. The suggested three resteeps was a good number for enjoyable tea each time.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved The Virginia Tea Company’s English Breakfast. A good strong black tea is always appreciated in the morning, which is a great time for a cup (or pot!) of English Breakfast. I found this one did very well in terms of resteeping, which is shows the quality in the tea leaves. I found the plum notes to be delicious, and the malty flavour in the tea to be enjoyable. I might have even enjoyed this tea best with some sugar and milk, but it is good plain if that is your cup of tea. The tea and tea accessories version is a nice complete starter kit for someone new to loose-leaf tea, I really like that it’s a complete gift option, if you’re looking for a gift for someone.

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Grand Tea’s Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin

Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin by Grand Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$58.00HKD for 25g

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Grand Tea has provided me with Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

I always love a good oolong, so I was excited to try the Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin from Grand Tea. The tea leaves are tightly rolled and the leaves have a nice mix of light and dark green to them. There’s a light floral scent from the tea leaves. The leaves themselves are quite compacted and the floral scent to them is enjoyable without having a sweet smell to them. Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin is a straight oolong tea. For those that enjoy learning about different teas, tikuanyin is also called tieguanyin or Iron Buddha oolong. Grand Tea’s Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin is a non-roasted, green oolong.

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Preparation

I steeped Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin in 90C (195F) water for an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin steeps to a pale yellow in the first 2 minutes. There’s a sweet floral smell to the tea that just wafts up from the tea cup – it’s very inviting. While sipping this tea, I found that it has a slight nutty finish to the tea. The tea itself has no bitterness, with a pleasant, smooth mouthfeel to the tea as I drink it. The floral taste to the oolong is enjoyable, and the sweetness to the tea isn’t overpowering the complexity of the flavour profile as it changes from floral to nutty in the same sip. The change in flavour is enjoyable.

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A Second Cup?

I always resteep my oolongs, so it should be no surprise that I resteeped Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin as well. The second steep (steeped for 2 minutes 30 seconds) was deeper and richer in flavour, the nutty flavours at the end of each sip was more pronounced, and the tea steeped to a deeper yellow. I steeped the same leaves a total of eight times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each steep. I found that the flavours were the strongest for steeps 2 to 4, and began to lose its intensity after the fourth steep. The eighth steep was quite watery, so I would recommend up to seven steeps total.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Grand Tea’s Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin. I really enjoyed the complex flavour profile that this oolong has, the changes in flavour in the same sip is pretty enjoyable. I love a good oolong that can be resteeped over and over again, and this tea does not disappoint! Because it does resteep so well, it’s definitely a tea I would recommend starting the steeps in the morning and having throughout the day.

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Oollo Tea’s Alishan Gongfu Black Tea

Alishan Gongfu Black Tea by Oollo Tea
Black Tea / Straight
$15.00 for 25g

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Oollo Tea has provided me with Alishan Gongfu Black Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

This is the second of the two new teas that I recently received from Oollo Tea (the first tea was reviewed last week, the Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter). This one is a black tea with these lovely long but wiry tea leaves. It’s not often that I see black teas with long, big leaves, so it’s a bit of a treat to see this one like that! There’s a slightly sweet scent to these leaves, they have a soft fruity aroma that reminds me a lot of plums. It’s not overly fruity though, there’s a slight woody smell to it that plays nicely with the plums. Alishan Gongfu Black Tea is a straight black tea from Alishan in Taiwan, and it was harvested in the summer of 2016.

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Preparation

I steeped Alishan Gongfu Black Tea in 100°C (212°F) water for an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

Alishan Gongfu Black Tea steeps to a beautiful autumn orange liquor, the smell of these tea after the initial 2 minute steep has a fruity aroma which still reminds me of plums. On first sip, I can tell that this tea has a smooth texture. The tea kind of coats my mouth a little as I taste it. The plum notes are stronger in flavour, with a slight woody taste to it. At the end of each sip, I’ve noticed that there’s just a touch of astringency. Not enough to make the tea off-putting, but enough to know that it’s there. Alishan Gongfu Black Tea has a nice natural sweetness in the tea that helps to cut the astringency down just a bit.

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A Second Cup?

For my first resteep of Alishan Gongfu Black Tea, I found it had a more robust woody flavour with the plum notes more toned down. The tea itself was lighter in liquor, the level of sweetness had increased, and there was no astringency noted at the end of each sip. I definitely preferred the second steep over the first. I steeped Alishan Gongfu Black Tea a total of five times, adding an additional 30 seconds to each steep. By the fifth steep, Alishan Gongfu Black Tea was beginning to lose it’s flavour and be less enjoyable.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked Oollo Tea’s Alishan Gongfu Black Tea. I think that it definitely does better on the second steep than the first, so if you’re finding it to be not quite so enjoyable do hold out! It does get better! The woody plum notes are enjoyable, and I think it’d be a good tea to pair with a savoury meal, or to have with dim sum. It’s a fairly solid black tea, with a nice complex flavour profile. Alishan Gongfu Black Tea is delicious and does very well with being steeped repeatedly, which just shows the quality in these tea leaves. Despite all the good notes I have on this tea, I just don’t see myself wanting to keep a stash of it, which is why it’s getting a lower rating.

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