Tag: Black Tea

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Thay Tea’s Honey Bee

Honey Bee by Thay Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured

I received Thay Tea’s Honey Bee as a birthday gift in 2021, so I did not attempt to find the pricing on the Thay Tea website (but it’s linked above).

First Impressions

Honey Bee came to me as a birthday gift – and I’m always happy to receive tea, especially when it’s from a company that is new to me. Thay Tea is based in Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada and has a focus on organic looseleaf blends. The tea comes in a white sealed, resealable pouch with a white label across the front. It’s not cluttered, and has all the information that I’m looking for when it comes to trying a tea for the first time.

Honey Bee is a black tea blend that consists of: black tea, flower pollen mixture (safflower, marigold, and rose), natural flavour, and marigold flowers. You can see the tiny little balls of pollen in the blend, which is always fun. If you’re a sufferer of seasonal allergies, you’ll know that (local to you) bee pollen is commonly used for helping to decrease the symptoms of seasonal allergies – anything to help me sneeze less is greatly appreciated, especially with all that’s been going on the last two years. The aroma of Honey Bee is sweetly floral, with an almost malty fragrance to the black tea base. It’s nicely inviting with the honeyed notes.

Preparation

Thay Tea recommends steeping Honey Bee in 95-100°C (203-212°F) water for 3 to 4 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Honey Bee with 100°C (212°F) water for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Honey Bee steeps to a medium orange, with just little flecks that managed to escape my stainless steel infuser basket. The aroma of Honey Bee is floral, there’s a certain amount of honey sweetness, and then there’s the malty notes from the black tea base. The flavour reflects the aroma of the tea very well – with the floral and honey flavours, with the malty flavours of the black tea that are also just a smidge astringent. I found that the honey notes add a nice amount of sweetness to the blend, but it isn’t cloyingly sweet. It has a nice balance with the floral notes.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Honey Bee, but found that the honey notes were missing in the second steep – most likely because the pollen had suspended itself into the tea during the initial steep. If you’re a fan of the honey flavours in Honey Bee, I would recommend Honey Bee for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Thay Tea’s Honey Bee. There’s something playfully fun about Honey Bee. The use of pollen to add that floral flavour and honey sweetness makes for a nice blend. The black tea base adds a much needed malty flavour that make Honey Bee into a not-just-sweet tea, which makes it potentially pair well with a savoury treat. I would hazard a guess that it would take some cream well to add an extra level of decadence to Honey Bee – and if you need to add some sweetener, I would highly recommend honey over anything else.

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Dessert by Deb’s Maple Chai Sticky Buns

Maple Chai Sticky Buns by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

Maple Chai Sticky Buns came as part of my bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb. This black tea blend came in a bright shiny purple metallic pouch with a white and black label. The blend itself is quite pretty, and you can see it through the clear front of the pouch. The aroma of Maple Chai Sticky Buns is primarily cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. It has that heavy spice flavour that you expect to find in a chai blend, with hints of maple syrup throughout.

Maple Chai Sticky Buns consists of certified organic: black tea, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, Canadian maple, cardamom, honey, bee pollen, and calendula petals. It makes for a very pretty blend, what with the pale green of the cardamom and the bright yellow from the calendula petals.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Maple Chai Sticky Buns in 212°F (100°C) water for 5 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 5 minutes.

First Taste

Maple Chai Sticky Buns steeps to a nice golden orange. The aroma is strongly ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, with hints of maple throughout. It makes for a smooth cup of tea, with a nice level of sweetness that I imagine comes from the honey and maple syrup. The black tea base lends itself well to the chai blend, because it has a light touch of astringency that balances well against the sweetness from the honey and maple syrup, and also the heat from the warm ingredients (i.e. ginger).

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Maple Chai Sticky Buns once (second steep), adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep. The flavour is best with the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Maple Chai Sticky Buns. This black tea blend has a great aroma, with those warming spices that you expect to find in a chai blend. The maple adds a nice level of sweetness, I think what would really make me think more of baked goods (sticky buns) would be perhaps some vanilla extract or vanilla bean in it. The flavour profile makes it a nice autumn/winter tea, and chai makes for a nice tea latte option.

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Teakan’s Zhengshan Xiaozhong

Zhengshan Xiaozhong by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Zhengshan Xiaoshong is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Zhengshan Xiaoshong makes up 10g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Zhengshan Xiaozhong came as part of the fifth Exploration Kit from Teakan, and this black tea came in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with the usual (from Teakan) minimalistic white and black label. This black tea comes from Wuyishan, Fujian, China and was harvested in spring 2021. Zhengshan Xiaozhong, also known as lapsang souchoung, is known for being a smoked black tea that often reminds people of a campfire – this one is unsmoked so it lacks that camp fire quality.

The leaves are wiry, and deep shades of dark green to brown to deep, deep black. The aroma of the leaves is floral, woodsy, it reminds me of a walk through a local park that has a lot of cedar and hemlock. It has a lovely aroma, and it’s quite inviting with the floral notes. I definitely prefer the aroma of this tea to a traditional smoked lapsang souchong. Interesting enough, lapsang souchong – a traditionally smoked tea, is banned in Europe due to the smoking process adding a residue to the tea (but that’s also why there’s lapsang souchong produced with smoke flavouring).

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Zhengshan Xiaozhong in 90°C (194°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes (or 30 seconds for gongfu steeping). I opted to do an initial steep for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Zhengshan Xiaozhong steeps to a golden orange. The aroma is floral, woodsy, and almost a bit mossy. It reminds me still of a walk in a park, surrounded by trees. The flavour of this black tea is floral, lightly sweet, woodsy – just like the way it smells. It has a nice smoothness to it, no bitterness, and there’s a pleasant light astringency at the tail end of each sip. I find the mouthfeel pleasant, the floral flavour really shines through.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Zhengshan Xiaozhong five times (six steeps total), adding 30 seconds for each subsequent steep.  The tea does really well with resteeps, and has a great flavour profile that stays consistent for each steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Zhengshan Xiaozhong. This black tea tastes delicious, and does well with resteeping. I find the flavour is great – the floral and woodsy flavour just holds up well. I also greatly prefer the unsmoked variety of a lapsang souchong, mostly because some varieties taste very strong and make me think I’m drinking liquid smoke. The floral notes are pleasant, sweet, and I would highly recommend resteeping this unsmoked lapsang souchong.

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