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Black Tea Tea Reviews

Tea In The City Yunnan Gold & Wuyi Black Tea Review

10th December 2016

Hey Guys!

A short while ago I was sent some tea by Tea in the City for me to review. I received two blends, both black but worlds apart!

The tea arrived beautifully packed in stunning matte white and matte black tins, opening them really felt like an experience 🙂  The tins were well sealed and look great standing together on my tea shelf, another nice feature is a plastic lid with a pull tab under the lid of the tin which really helps to keep the tea fresh.

both-tins-lid-off

Yunnan Gold

This tea is quite a high end tea with a malty flavour with hints of cocoa. The first thing I noticed about this tea is it’s appearance, it doesn’t have the usual dried black leaf that you find in most black tea, instead it’s composed of larger less dense fine golden leaf buds. The tea is quite spaced out in the tin and as a result it has less in the tin than the Wuyi Black but the leave’s larger size allows them to really open up when the water hits, so a little does go a long way.

The smell of this is really incredible, as soon as you open the lid it fills the room. It’s one of those teas I find myself asking everyone to smell and then everyone always asks me if I can steep some for them, it’s such an inviting fragrance. I find it has a nicely complex flavour that’s deep and malty with a cocoa after taste, definitely a tea I can just drink all day!

 

Wuyi Black

The second tea included by Tea in the City is Wuyi, a black tea from the Wuyi mountains. I have a bit of an obsession with teas that are deliberately flavoured with other ingredients, anything from fruit to chocolate. The most surprising part of Wuyi for me is how amazingly flavoured it is, without any other ingredients. Upon opening the tin a Turkish Delight-like smell erupts in to the room, a sweet floral aroma that I can only describe as addictive.

The flavour has a delicious deep black tea flavour but with an indulgent rose flavour alongside it, I’m not usually even a fan of rose flavours but I just can’t get enough of them in this tea. The tea steeps to a beautiful almost red, copper colour, making it perfect for glass teaware and it’s a tea that will be welcome at any social gathering.

I’ve been hiding away from the cold with Netflix recently in the evenings and found this tea is the perfect companion to snuggle up with!

 

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with these teas from Tea in the City. All the way from the packaging, through to the aroma and flavours, these teas really do add a touch of class to an evening.

If you haven’t already had a look at the tea available from Tea in the City I really recommend it, you can find them on their website.

A huge thanks to Tea in the City for sending me their teas to review, it’s very much appreciated 🙂

Thanks very much to all my readers, come say Hi on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram for more tea fun or leave a comment below!

Bye for now! xXx

 

Black Tea Fruit Tea Iced Tea Rooibos

My First Tea Sparrow Tea Subscription Reviewed and Taste Tested!

29th August 2015

Tea Sparrow were kind enough to send me a monthly subscription box this month which I’m thrilled to be able to review for you all today. You can find out more about Tea Sparrow on their website.

I’m happy to share my pictures with you as I cover these four fantastic teas, read on to find out why a tea subscription service could be perfect for you!

All of the teas included by Tea Sparrow over the summer months are teas that are also great iced, this is a really nice idea to keep the subscription service exciting over the summer months.

The parcel arrived and it fitted straight through my letter box in a nice smart brown box. Inside were 4 very different teas, this months selection is Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos, Pineapple Coconut Oolong, Citrus Sunburst and Mandarin Rose Tea. I also received a nice note explaining how to get the best out of the Oolong tea included in this months subscription, which is a really nice touch 🙂 All four teas are from different sources so the variety is great and they aren’t in any way similar, I’ll cover them in more detail below!

 

Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos

Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos

This tea is from Aromatica Fine Teas and is really special! When I first began relentless tea drinking I wasn’t really a fan of Rooibos, I found it a bit sickly but I’ve had some truly great rooibos since then and this is one of them!

It smells fantastic, like sweets or dessert and the smell fills the room as soon as the water hits the fiery red leaf. The Earl Grey flavour is very definitely there and works amazingly as the vanilla sweetness swirls around with the bergamot. This tea is a beautiful colour and would be perfect to share with friends in glass teaware.

Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos is also very economical and the amount provided by Tea Sparrow will be enough to enjoy this tea many times, I’m on about mug 10 and still have a lot left!

 

Mandarin Rose Loose

Mandarin Rose

Mandarin Rose

Mandarin Rose is sourced from Mighty Leaf Tea. I was a little skeptical about this tea as I’m really not a fan of floral tasting tea but it actually is pretty amazing. Upon opening the packet I was greeted with a burst of a sweet rose smell just like Turkish Delight which I love! The rose petals are a nice size and a beautiful pink colour, paired with high quality black tea leaf. This tea kinda tastes just like a liquid Turkish Delight, and I think because it has a black tea base the rose element isn’t too overpowering.

I also tried this tea iced on one of the few sunny hours this summer and it was AMAZING, the smell becomes sugary sweet when it’s iced and provides the perfect refreshment on a hot day. I took the opportunity to get my Kilner mug set out and drink through a stripy straw, I’ve gotta say it tastes even better through a straw! :p

 

Close up Iced

Citrus Sunburst

This fruit blend is from Tiesta Tea and is another great choice by Tea Sparrow. The smell is mainly citrus but with beautiful berry notes in the background, it smells amazing loose.

When I first added the water it turned a luxurious deep red colour. It smells literally intoxicating when it’s steeping, I found my self hovering over the mug breathing it in as it brewed. It has a multi-layered flavour that’s expertly created using a combination of the sweet berry element with the citrus tone.

Next I decided to take this tea for a spin iced and I’m so glad I did! I used two teaspoons which was enough to fill my bottle and I was also able to refill it from half full to get even more use out of it. It’s so refreshing as the pomegranate and apple flavours bubble to the surface while the citrus seems to take a slightly more refined approach than when hot.

 

Pineapple Coconut Oolong Loose

Front

Top Down

Pineapple Coconut Oolong

I’ve saved the best until last! This tea has been created by Samovar Tea and I can honestly say it is one of the best teas I’ve ever tasted, Tea Sparrow really flexed their curating muscles with this one! 😀

I opened the packet and there was an outburst of a birthday cake like smell, I’m not really sure why as pineapple and coconut aren’t traditionally birthday cakey, either way this is a smell you need in your life! I decided to go all out and invite my favourite ‘special occasion’  teapot to the party. The prepared tea is a nice pale liquid that I still feel smells of vanillary cake, it’s also massively economical as you can brew the leaves 3 to 4 times and experience the full range of flavours this oolong offers.

I LOVE this tea, often tropical flavoured teas have way too much pineapple in them and the other flavours don’t get a look-in but this is different, the pineapple and coconut waltz across your tongue in perfect harmony. I urge you to try this fantastic creation, you won’t be disappointed!

 

Final Thoughts

I’ve been looking at tea subscription boxes for a while now and always felt that I’d need to find somewhere that I could trust to only send me good, enjoyable teas. Tea Sparrow are that company, all four of these teas are beautiful and the presentation and variation of this subscription box really shows that this service will provide you with expertly curated teas, from sources you probably wouldn’t ever find on your own. The amount of each tea provided is very generous and really will go a long way, Tea Sparrow’s service is actually really great value based on the quantity and quality of the tea you will receive.

Ask yourself, what could be better than a box bursting with character-filled teas arriving once a month, without you having to hunt for them yourself?

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review, I had so much fun with these teas and loved writing this review. I also had so much fun taking the pictures, these teas were deserving of my favourite teaphernalia 🙂

Thanks for reading! xXx

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