Tea reviews
All posts in the Tea reviews categoryBai Hao Oolong (Oriental Beauty) Superior Grade from Life in Teacup
From Xinzhu County in Taiwan comes this bai hao oolong, sent to me by Gingko from Life in Teacup.
What a tea. It isn’t as aromatic as some Taiwanese oolongs, but the real treat is in the mouth. One sip and I was amazed at how the tea’s honeyed sweetness coated the mouth. I’ve had bai hao oolongs before (reviewed one here), but this one is, without a doubt, the best I’ve ever had.
Denong Brick from Bana Tea Company
From 2006′ autumn harvest comes this ripe pu-erh, a wonderfully smooth tea with one dominant flavour: almonds.
Margaret’s Hope Hand Rolled Special Grade 2009, Darjeeling 2nd Flush from Thunderbolt Tea
Most of the time, I try to review teas that you can buy, should you feel so inclined. Today’s tea, unfortunately, is already sold out. But I’m going to taunt you with my review anyway.
Margaret’s Hope is a tea estate in Darjeeling, India. This is their hand-rolled, special grade 2nd flush tea, a spectacular white tea boasting huge, lush leaves. And I mean seriously huge. Some of the leaves stretch for about two inches. No broken leaves here.
Can you tell I’m impressed?
Bi Lo Chun Reserve from Teas Etc
Just a few weeks after reviewing Chicago Tea Garden’s Golden Bi Lo, I turn to Teas Etc’s Bi Lo Chun Reserve, a delightful green tea with a remarkable nose.
Bi Lo Chun is a specialty of tea makers in Jiangsu Province, China. This particular sample from Teas Etc (a free sample, by the way) features lovely white downy leaves, indicating that the leaves were harvested at a young age.
Golden Bi Luo from Chicago Tea Garden
My fellow tea blogger, Tony Gebely of World of Tea is starting Chicago Tea Garden, an online tea store that’s just days away from launching. He sent me samples of two of his teas a few weeks ago, one of which is this Golden Bi Luo, a rare black tea from Yunnan Province, China.
Golden Bi Luo is made in the style of Bi Luo Chun, a green tea that is the specialty of tea makers in Jiangsu Province. Like Bi Luo Chun, Golden Bi Luo is rolled into little balls, but it has a lovely golden tint. This tea scores very highly on the attractiveness scale. It’s beautiful to behold.
Copco 16-Ounce Stainless Steel Thermal Mug
Just a few weeks after I received the Travel Buddy tea mug for Sinterklaas, the folks at Copco sent me the latest addition to their Total Tea range: a stainless steel tea thermal mug.
There are a few things I really like about the Copco thermal tumbler, but there is one definite standout feature: the twist-to-stop steeping feature, a device that allows you to control how long your tea steeps for. It’s simple, intuitive and shows that Copco understand tea drinkers’ needs.