Tag: Black Tea

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Trader Joe’s Earl Grey

Earl Grey by Trader Joe’s
Black Tea / Flavoured
$1.99USD for 40g (20 sachets)

First Impressions

Just wanted to start off with the fact that I’m really sad that this is my last tea that I’m review from my cross-border tea shopping haul that happened back in September. I’m pretty sure this just means that I need to go shopping again (right?).

I picked Trader Joe’s Earl Grey because I love Earl Grey, and I like to judge tea companies based on the quality of their Earl Grey blends. Earl Grey came in a cardstock box, holding 20 tea sachets. Each tea sachet is individually wrapped in a foil packet – so bad for the environment! However, unlike the last Trader Joe’s tea that I reviewed, there weren’t any staples holding the tag to the string or the string to the bag – so there’s that, at least? The tea bag material is slightly stained yellow on multiple bags, so I suspect that it’s due to the bergamot oil.

The aroma of Earl Grey is primarily the bergamot, such a nice rich citrus flavour! The black tea base isn’t as strong compared to the bergamot, but I can smell it. It reminds me a lot of an Assam black tea with its rich malty notes. Earl Grey consists of: black tea and bergamot oil.

Preparation

Trader Joe’s recommends steeping Earl Grey in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Earl Grey steeps to a deep reddish orange. The aroma of bergamot is strong in the steeped tea. On first taste, all I can taste is bitterness, the tea is very astringent. I did another initial resteep, this time at 3 minutes, and found that tea was more drinkable. I could taste the bergamot, and the malty notes from the black tea play well with the citrus flavours. At 3 minutes, I found no bitterness or astringency.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Earl Grey and found the flavour to be severely lacking. I would say that Earl Grey is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Trader Joe’s Earl Grey was just okay. Part of my problem with this tea is the packaging that can’t be composted or recycled (those foil-lined packets!), and that the tea was pretty terrible when steeped for 5 minutes (which is part of the recommended steeping times). However, Earl Grey did redeem itself when I did an initial steep for 3 minutes. The flavours were well-balanced, and it made for a decent cup of Earl Grey. That said, there are a lot of Earl Grey options out there that have less packaging (or more recyclable/compostable packaging). The flavour is on point for an Earl Grey, but it just doesn’t excite me as much as other bergamot black tea blends do.

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Adagio Teas’s Masala Chai

Masala Chai by Adagio Teas
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.00USD for 3oz (85g)

First Impressions

Masala Chai came to me in a resealable pouch that had all the necessary information on the label – which is always a nice touch. I have friends and family members with food allergies, so it’s always important to me to be able to check at a quick glance what ingredients are present in a tea blend (thankfully nobody has told me so far that they have an allergy to tea yet!). The rich aroma from the dry leaf is primarily that of the spices that are present in the blend. I can mostly smell the cinnamon and the ginger, as those are the strongest fragrances that I can pick out.

Masala Chai consists of: black tea, cardamom, ginger root, cloves, natural cinnamon flavour, and cinnamon bark. What’s nice is that the ingredients are easy to identify in the blend, there seems to be a fairly even distribution of most of the spices throughout the chai blend.

Preparation

Adagio Teas recommends steeping Masala Chai in 100°C (212°F) water for 7 to 10 minutes. I followed the steeping recommendations and did an initial steep of 10 minutes.

First Taste

Masala Chai steeps to a golden brown with a rich, spicy fragrance from the chai mix. I can easily taste the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. There’s a pleasant sweetness in the tea, which balances well with the spicy notes with this black tea blend. I do find myself searching a bit for the cardamom, which is a flavour that I quite enjoy in chai blends but I also do recognize that it can be easily overpowered by strong spices such as the ginger and cinnamon.

I did pour myself a cup of Masala Chai, and added a healthy amount of locally sourced honey as well as some evaporated milk. Like many chai blends, this is a tea that takes to the addition of sweetener and milk or cream well.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Masala Chai twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the first resteep was most similiar to the initial steep – it was a bit watery compared to the initial steep. The second resteep did not fair well, and frankly I did not enjoy it at all. I would say that Masala Chai is good for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Adagio Teas’s Masala Chai. The flavours of the spices were pleasant, and it did hold it fairly decently to being resteeped. I found myself wishing that the cardamon was more present in the initial steep, and would have liked for it to have a heavier presence in the tea. The other spices were well represented in Adagio Teas’ version of Masala Chai, and I found it to make for a nice cup of tea.

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Gypsy Soul Tea Co’s Pumpkin Spice

Pumpkin Spice by Gypsy Soul Tea Co
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.35 for 40g

First Impressions

I stumbled across a little shop in Pitt Meadows, BC a few weeks ago called Tomes & Tales. The one thing that really drew me to it was the fact that there was a sign outside that said that there was luxury loose leaf tea inside – it’s basically like a beacon to me whenever tea is mentioned! So of course I went inside and checked out the tea selection and bought a few to try. I figured it’d be seasonally appropriate to share my thoughts of Pumpkin Spice on October 31st, so here it is.

Pumpkin Spice came in a sealed (and resealable) foil bag. The other side of the bag is clear plastic so that you can see the tea itself, which is nice (but not always nice for storage if you’re not keeping your tea somewhere dark). The label on the front tells me pretty much everything that I really need to do to make the tea – from ingredients to steeping instructions with a brief description about the tea.

Pumpkin Spice consists of black tea, cinnamon, ginger, sweet blackberry leaves, pumpkin pieces, and cloves. The aroma of the tea is very strong from the spices, it does remind me of the smell of pumpkin pie/spice mixes. The ingredients are easily identifiable, which is nice.

Preparation

Gypsy Soul Tea Co recommends steeping Pumpkin Spice in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep of Pumpkin Spice was for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Pumpkin Spice steeps to a deep golden orange that is really quite fragrant. The aroma smells very strong of the spices that were present in the dry leaf as well. I can taste the black tea base, which is nice and smooth with no bitterness or astringency when steeped for the 3 minutes. I found that I could definitely taste the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. I can’t really taste the pumpkin, but pumpkin is a significantly milder flavour than the spices and it does smell and taste like a pumpkin spice mix – so it still evokes the memories of pumpkin pie.

I did add a bit of honey for a sweetener, and found it worked really well in bringing out some of the pumpkin flavour – although it really does linger in the background quite a bit.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Pumpkin Spice once, but found that the flavours were a little lacking. I felt like the spices just weren’t as strong as they were in the initial steep. I would say that Pumpkin Spice is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Gypsy Soul Tea Co’s Pumpkin Spice. I felt like the flavours did really well at representing pumpkin spice, and it had good warming qualities to it. While the pumpkin flavour wasn’t very strong, it did make me think of pumpkin pie/pumpkin spice, so it certainly did a good job. If you’re not a fan of plain black tea, I would recommend trying this one as a tea latte because it’s the season for PSL and not everyone is a fan of coffee!

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