Tag: Black Tea

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Murchie’s Paris Afternoon

Paris Afternoon by Murchie’s
Black Tea & Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.95 for 2oz (56g)

Murchie’s has provided me with Paris Afternoon for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Paris Afternoon is the first of three tea reviews that I’ll be writing about for teas that I received from Murchie’s. I wrote about my first Murchie’s visit back in 2015 when I reviewed Canadian Breakfast. This green and black tea blend came in a sealed (and resealable!) plastic bag. There’s a clear window in the front where you can see the tea leaves. I can definitely see more black tea than green tea present in the blend. The black tea leaves appear to be smaller while the green tea is more bunched together – especially the Gunpowder.

Paris Afternoon consists of black tea (Ceylon, Keemun, Assam, and Yunnan black teas), green tea (Himalyan and Gunpowder green teas), natural and artificial flavouring. The aroma of the dry leaf is primarily caramel, with hints of vanilla that make me think that I’ve stepped into a bakery somewhere. It’s a very inviting aroma that’s present in Paris Afternoon.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping Paris Afternoon in 180-212F (82-100C) water for 3 to 4 minutes. My initial steep of Paris Afternoon was in 185F (85C) water for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Paris Afternoon steeps to a beautiful golden orange. The aroma of the steeped tea reminds me a lot of caramel. I found on first taste, that I got a nice sweetness, with strong caramel notes. There is a creamy texture to the tea, with the flavour of vanilla, that I found in this, which made for a pleasant cup of tea. I found with the sweetness that I didn’t feel like I needed to add sweetener to it, but at the same time I think that Paris Afternoon would be a great afternoon tea option because it would be great with cream and sugar.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Paris Afternoon twice, adding an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found the first resteep was very similar to my initial steep, it had lighter caramel flavours and a mild vanilla flavour to it. For the second resteep, I found that it was really lacking the vanilla flavours, but the sweetness was still there. I would recommend Paris Afternoon for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Murchie’s Paris Afternoon. I think that this black and green tea blend does a beautiful job of being a dessert tea. There’s a nice flavour and sweetness to this tea that reminds me of some kind of caramel pastry – the creamy vanilla notes just make it so tasty. I think it’d be a great alternative tea to Earl Grey for afternoon tea. It does nicely for a resteep, which is a great quality in a tea that contains flavouring – which normally doesn’t do well for a resteep. It makes for a great mid-afternoon or post-dinner tea as the sweetness definitely evokes the feeling like you’re drinking something laden with sugar.

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Aroma Tea House’s Lychee Black Tea

Lychee Black Tea by Aroma Tea House
Black Tea / Straight
$5.00 for 40g

First Impressions

Lychee Black Tea from Aroma Tea House was a black tea that they had available for sampling at the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival. The black tea came in a resealable foil and plastic bag, with a simple label on the front that only tells me the name of the tea. Fun fact for those that don’t know, what we call ‘black tea’ in western culture is called ‘red tea’ in China. The leaves themselves are short, dark brown leaf pieces, with some lighter tips mixed sporadically. The aroma of the leaves is pretty much exactly like lychee. There’s a beautiful floral and fruity aroma, which is what lychee smells like to me.

I wasn’t able to find Lychee Black Tea on the Aroma Tea House website, but back in November at the Tea Festival, I had spoken to the people running the booth and had been told that Lychee Black Tea is a straight tea with no additives, so Lychee Black Tea is a straight black Chinese tea.

Preparation

No steeping directions from Aroma Tea House, but never fear! There’s plenty of information online about steeping temperatures and times for the variety of teas out there, including in my steeping guide. For this black tea, I opted to use 100°C (212°F) water for 3 minutes for the initial steep.

First Taste

Lychee Black Tea steeps to a beautiful golden orange. The aroma from the steeped tea reminds me a lot of lychee – both fruity and floral. The flavour of this black tea has a nice sweetness to it, with the fruity and floral flavours throughout each sip. There’s a bit of crispness to the tea, which lends itself to a nice mouthfeel. I found there to be a slight astringency at the end of each sip, which wasn’t very off-putting when coupled with the sweetness of the lychee flavour found in the tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Lychee Black Tea three times (four steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that with each steep, the flavour became more floral and less fruity. The sweetness was sustained throughout each steep, although by the last steep (fourth steep with the same leaves), there was less sweetness to it and almost all of the fruity flavour was gone.

My Overall Impression

I loved Aroma Tea House’s Lychee Black Tea. I really enjoyed this black tea when I sampled it at the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival, and really enjoyed being able to steep and resteep these leaves at home. The flavour combination of fruity and floral really made me think of lychee, had a great sweetness to it, and overall just made a nice cup of tea.

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Palate Tea’s Glenburn Monsoon

Glenburn Monsoon by Palate Tea
Black Tea / Straight
$7.00 for 100g

First Impressions

I first tried Glenburn Monsoon at the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival, where Palate Tea had this tea available for sampling and sale. The tea gets its name from the time of year that it is harvested – not spring, not autumn, but during monsoon season (which occurs during late summer), as well as from the estate/tea farm that it was harvested at (Glenburn, in India).

This black tea has a lovely mix of leaves – mostly short dark leaves with some lighter leaves mixed in. The aroma of Glenburn Monsoon is slightly salty, with a grassy aroma. It reminds me a lot of the aroma of some green teas.

Preparation

I opted to steep Glenburn Monsoon in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 minutes. If you ever come across a tea without instructions, you can see my steeping guide.

First Taste

Glenburn Monsoon steeps to a beautiful orange colour. There’s a lovely aroma that smells grassy. The tea itslf has a slightly thickened mouthfeel, which leads to a nice coating in my mouth as I sip it. The flavour is a mix of fruity and toasted nuts, which is a pleasant surprise compared to the grassy notes from the dry leaf. For a straight tea, it’s pleasantly complex and lovely to drink. There is a grassy aftertaste with each sip.

I did pour a second cup from my tea pot, and had it with a little bit of locally harvested honey and some evaporated milk. I found that the honey brought out more of the fruity flavour from the tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Glenburn Monsoon four times (five steeps total), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour of the tea became more fruity and less nutty with each steep, which was pleasant to drink.

My Overall Impression

I loved Palate Tea’s Glenburn Monsoon. I found this black tea to be wonderfully complex from the dry leaf and through each steep. While I liked the mix of fruit and nuts flavour of the straight tea, I found it to be even better for me with a bit of honey and evaporated milk. It has a great flavour, and I really liked the mouthfeel of this tea. I think it’d be a great addition to my afternoon tea line-up since I often like teas that take well with cream and sugar.

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