Tag: Murchie’s

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Murchie’s Earl’s Garden

Earl’s Garden by Murchie’s
Green Tea & Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$7.95 for 2oz (56g)

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

First Impressions

I was very excited and eager to try this tea when I opened my package from Murchie’s. Any tea name with the word “Earl” in the title makes me think of Earl Grey – which is a lovely classic black tea blend that I love and also have really high standards for. Earl’s Garden came in a plastic sealed, resealable bag with some information on the front of it.

The label calls it a green tea, but there were was clearly some oolong in that blend there – along with some jasmine. Which basically made me think that I’m in for a real treat! The first thing I noticed is the strong aroma of the jasmine and a hint of citrus from the bergamot. The green tea and oolong tea are both present, I’d hazard a guess that it’s maybe a 50-50 blend (or possibly just leaning a bit more towards the green tea). Earl’s Garden consists of: Chinese green tea, oolong tea, natural and artificial flavouring, jasmine flowers, and bergamot oil.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping Earl’s Garden in 175-180°F (79-82°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was in 175°F water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Earl’s Garden steeps to a beautiful golden yellow with a very fragrant floral aroma from the tea itself. I found that the flavour of jasmine is the most obvious, followed by the floral and creamy notes from the green and oolong tea base. There’s a light hint of citrus notes in the background of the tea, which is strong enough for me to know that it is bergamot. It does remind me of being in garden, because the jasmine is very present.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Earl’s Garden twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each steep. On the first resteep, I noticed that the jasmine flavour was considerably less, along with the bergamot and both flavours were virtually gone by the second resteep. The base teas – green tea and oolong tea – do resteep quite well. There’s still that natural floral and creamy flavours that I noticed in the initial steep that are very much present throughout each steep.

If you’re a fan of the jasmine and bergamot, I would do at least one more steep. If you’re a fan of the green tea and oolong base, continue steeping until you exhaust the flavours.

My Overall Impression

I loved Murchie’s Earl’s Garden. I think it’s a clever spin on a popular classic. While I had initially hoped that the bergamot would have been added in with a heavier hand, I found it to be quite pleasant. Present in the flavour profile, but not overpowering the flavours of the green tea, oolong tea, or the jasmine flowers. I think that the tea was very well balanced between each ingredient, and found that the flavour to very pleasant. I never once found that the tea was overly perfumed with the floral notes, which is always a risk when using any sort of floral ingredient. This tea definitely feels a bit delicate tasting though, and would be a lovely tea option to have with a spring or summer tea party.

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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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Murchie’s High Roast Ti Kuan Yin

High Roast Ti Kuan Yin by Murchie’s
Oolong Tea / Straight
$3.95 for 1oz (28g)

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First Impressions

I bought High Roast Ti Kuan Yin at the same time that I had bought the non-high roast Ti Kuan Yin Oolong (my review was published in November 2016). Ti Kuan Yin Oolong is also known as tie guan yin oolong or iron Buddha oolong. There’s just a lot of oolong tea going around in my home these days and I don’t mind one bit! I’ve really come to love and appreciate oolong tea.

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High Roast Ti Kuan Yin is one of Murchie’s “top shelf” teas, so the minimum purchase amount is 1oz rather than their standard 2oz for non-top shelf teas. The only ingredient in this tea is the oolong tea leaves. The dry leaf of High Roast Ti Kuan Yin  has this almost earthy quality that is a little bit difficult for me to describe, it’s not the same wet earthy quality that pu’erh teas often have. There is some light, subtle floral notes, and an almost nutty quality to the smell of the tea that reminds me a bit of roasted chestnuts.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping High Roast Ti Kuan Yin in 82-90°C (180-195°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I started off my first steep at 2 minutes.

First Taste

High Roast Ti Kuan Yin steeps to a deep golden orange. It has a nice toast smell to it. On first sip, the first thing that comes to mind is toast and bread. There’s a very light, almost missed floral taste in this tea. I really had to concentrate to pick out the floral notes though. The nutty quality in the dry leaf is still present in the steeped tea, with the roasted chestnuts taste mingling well with the taste (and smell) of freshly made toast. It’s an interesting combination, to say the least!

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped High Roast Ti Kuan Yin a total of seven times. I found that the flavour was the strongest for the 3rd steep, and the flavour stays fairly consistent up to the 6th steep. By the 7th, the flavour was really starting wane. I wouldn’t do much more steeps past number seven.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked Murchie’s High Roast Ti Kuan Yin. I’m always a sucker for a tea that can be resteeped over and over again, and High Roast Ti Kuan Yin does deliver on that part. While the taste of roasted chestnuts and toast is an interesting flavour combination, I found myself wishing that the floral notes were more present in this tea. It’s definitely a tea that is enjoyable, but it’s not necessarily a tea that I would find myself wanting to make sure I had topped up whenever I ran low. High Roast Ti Kuan Yin is a good tea but it’s not a favourite for me.

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