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Today I am enjoying Mighty Leaf tea’s Orange Dulce.
From the package:
“Like a lusciously rich dessert, Orange Dulce is a dark brew teeming with notes of orange, vanilla and jasmine blossoms.”
Orange Dulce is a black tea that requires four minutes of brewing time. While drinking the liquid very hot from my brew mug (see yesterday’s post), I could really taste the vanilla notes, but the cooler the tea became the more the orange flavor was pronounced. The orange and vanilla combination is fantastic. They really pair well with one another. The jasmine accents were extremely subtle, and almost indistinguishable.
This tea would be great paired with any dessert. I may need to bring a tea bag or two with me when I visit Disney next month. Although I must admit, the offerings of tea at the Disney resorts are quite extensive and – despite being tea bags – are of good quality. Look out for my Disney posts in the coming months.
Jason and I enjoyed a nice lunch at the Museum of Fine Arts this afternoon. I was impressed to find several offerings of Harney & Sons teas at the Galleria, a Parisian style sidewalk–think indoor sidewalk–cafe. Had I not decided to look at the dessert menu, I never would have known that they had a selection of tea, but luckily I brought my appetite with me to the museum.
For the final course, I decided on a Vanilla Bean cheesecake with berry marmalade, which I thought would pair well with the black tea blend English Breakfast. This blend was an organic tea made of Chinese keemun tea leaves.
According to The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea, the body of an English Breakfast is full and the flavors vary with the blend, but in general a good one has “hints of orange, clove, smoke, and a little honey.”
I had my tea with milk and sugar, and it was delightful. This is my first foray into the world of Harney & Sons, and I most certainly will be back for another visit.
If you are new to the world of tea, an English Breakfast tea is a great place to start.
Late morning tea:
British Breakfast black tea by The Republic of Tea
This morning when asked how I liked my coffee, I replied, “I do not drink coffee.” I think most people are nonplussed by this response, but the person asking, a fellow tea drinker, retorted, “How about tea?” My unusual request was for black tea with milk and sugar.
The cafe in my office building sells a limited selection of teas from The Republic of Tea. I did not know what to expect upon my co-worker’s return from this coffee-tea run, but was pleasantly surprised.
The British Breakfast according to RoT’s web site is a robust blend of quality black leaves–a savory mixture of China, India, Ceylon and Kenya leaves.
I am embracing the British way of drinking tea: with milk and sugar. While I would not think of adding dairy or sweetener to an unblended green, oolong, or white tea, I find it adds to the drinking experience with black tea.
I would have preferred to have been able to distinguish between the origin of leaves used in this tea, but I think higher quality of teas will have to be consumed for a better evaluation.
Today I felt parched and went downstairs to get a drink in my office building’s cafe. The cafe offers teas from The Republic of Tea. While I was reluctant to try these teas insofar as most tea snobs–not that I am one–wouldn’t try this brand, I relented and gave it a shot. I am so glad I did.
There were a few to choose from, but the one that really stood out for me was a flavored black tea, Vanilla Almond. The black tea does not come from any particular estate, and is flavored with Madagascar vanilla beans and almonds from unknown origins. This combination is well paired, and is a nice treat. I must admit my sweet tooth enjoys dessert-like teas, and this was no exception. By the end of the day, I had had two 16 oz. cups of it. I will be substituting my morning chai for this tea. For one reason, it is about three dollars cheaper, and for another, it has fewer calories since it is sans milk. (The Republic of Tea says that this tea can be made into a tea latte by adding milk, but I don’t think it needs it.)
As you might have gathered from recent posts, I am hitting the iced tea lately. I have always been partial to iced drinks, and really had to adapt to hot beverages in Massachusetts’ capricious weather that was unthinkable in my former home, Florida. I think it is important to drink what your own personal whims dictate, and mine have been enjoying the four offerings of iced tea each day at Tealuxe. Over the past four days I have enjoyed four teas, which all are available hot, so I will be able to enjoy them even when they cannot be found cold.
kir royale iced tea from Tealuxe (0 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
Tealuxe description:
A warm and sweet mixture of various red berries and fruits. Set apart by the tangy flavor of black currant. Give yourself the royal treatment, Kir Royale treatment.
Tastes a little of blackberry juices. This is an herbal tea, and I am really not one to compliment an herbal tea.
vanilla jasmine iced tea from Tealuxe (108 Newbury Street, Boston)
Tealuxe description:
A “must have”. Start with the tastiness of good Ceylon vanilla tea and add sweet jasmine. The result: two flavors that were meant for each other.
Neither jasmine nor vanilla was very strong in this black tea blend. I have recently grown tired of jasmine tea, but decided to try this one insofar as none of the other offerings interested me and I had a hankering for tea. This was a nice surprise, and my first experience with jasmine in a black tea.
pear & green tea (iced) from Tealuxe (108 Newbury Street, Boston)
Wonderful combination of green tea and pear flavor. I just love the pleasing yellow/green color of a green tea especially when it is iced and in a transparent cup.
white blueberry iced tea from Tealuxe (0 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
Tealuxe description:
Rare White Tea from the Fujian region flavored with sweet blueberries. A wonderfully smooth and subtle treat. Try it hot or iced.
This is my third chance to try white tea, and each time I have come away with the feeling that white tea does not have a very strong flavor. This was also true of this tasting, but this time it was suited to the subtle blueberry flavor.
Meeting or Late Afternoon Tea:
Constant Comment (tea bag) from Bigelow
This black tea is “flavored with rinds of oranges and sweet spice,” and is a perfect afternoon pick me up. I can only imagine the delightful pastry accompaniments that would go well with this tea. No milk or sugar required, this tea is perfect as is, but according to a description on Amazon.com, sugar brings out the flavor of oranges.
Soothing tea while watching the Celtics in the playoffs(Game 2 vs. Cavaliers):
Bond Street english breakfast blend from Upton Tea Imports (Hopkinton, MA)
Description from Upton:
A hearty blend of Ceylon and Assam teas, developed by a famous London company. Rich and flavorful even with extra milk.
This is my third black tea in a week. I am really enjoying the heartiness of black tea that is complemented with milk and honey. I used a little too much honey in this cuppa: there was left over honey along with some dust in the bottom of my cup that I, regretfully, decided to drink. The steeping time on this tea was three minutes, and the leaves were finely ground. (Sorry, could not tell you the leaf grade.) I only used a tablespoon of tea, but easily could have added an additional quarter tablespoon for a stronger brew.
Tea for my evening bus ride:
gingerbread tea from Tealuxe (0 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
Description from Tealuxe:
Ceylon Black tea flavored with bits of ginger, cinnamon, and orange.
This tea, while good, was not anything I have not tasted before. It reminded me of different masala chai I have tried. Perhaps it was the bits of ginger and cinnamon that gave me this sense. This is my first experience with Ceylon, or Sri Lankan, black tea, and I can say that I could not make out any distinguishing characteristics; I will have to try different varieties of Ceylon tea, perhaps one that has not been flavored. Steeping time on this blend was a scant two minutes. I added whole milk and honey. Next time I am craving chai I will reach for this cuppa, because it tastes similar and it’s cheaper.
Mid-morning tea:
pure assam from Taylors of Harrogate (tea bag)
Leaf grade: Broken Orange Pekoe
I am not normally one for black tea, but a coworker offered me this tea bag, so I gratefully accepted. Since I am not accustomed to drinking black tea, I am fairly lost when it comes to what should go into my tea. Ordinarily I am a purist and prefer my tea as is, unadulterated, but I was willing to forgo my tea principles and try something different, despite doing so completely blind. I added milk and sugar. Perhaps I should have tried the tea before adding anything, but nevertheless, I did like the results. Assam has a strong tea flavor to it reminiscent of the characteristics of coffee: powerful, brisk, and full body.
Today I had a very bad tea day. I tried three iced teas and they were all less than desirable. For lunch I drank a Diet Lemon Snapple. I know, I know, what was I expecting from a diet tea? Well, Jason makes excellent iced tea with splenda and the taste does not suffer. This tea tasted of sweetener and artificial flavoring.
With my dinner I had an iced thai tea with half and half and sugar. I don’t skimp when I buy teas that were made for milk/half and half and sweetener. While I really wanted to like this tea (the visual appeal of this tea is so inviting), it just wasn’t what I wanted. I guess I was expecting something creamy, and I could only taste the ineffable chalky orange liquid.
After dinner I was set on recovering from my miserable tea-tasting day, so I went to Starbucks and decided to try an iced green tea latte. Mistake #1: Never order something you have never ordered before, and expect it to compensate for a miserable experience. I saw the barista poured in a copious amount of milk and some green powder. I would like to say the powder was matcha, but I doubt it was. Just a major letdown.
