TBD Tea » Varieties

Enjoying Nilgiri tea from Corsley Estate

Cat — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:57:21 +0000

This week Cat and I have been drinking Corsley Estate TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe – one of the highest grades of Indian teas). Corsley Estate is nestled in the Blue Hills or Nilgiri district of southern India’s Tamil Nadu province.

This single-estate black tea is a classic Nilgiri tea with lemon notes and nice astringency with a light almost honey like sweetness. The liquor brews up with substantial body without being overwhelming and is very nice on its own without any additions. However, if you are so inclined, it could probably handle a splash of milk. Overall, a very pleasant and easy to enjoy cup of tea.

Kenilworth Estate and new tea coming our way

Ben — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:50:52 +0000

Cat and I have been sampling and tasting a lot of new teas recently because we are hoping to start offering a select number of them to our visitors to buy and experience for themselves.

Spring is in the air here in Portland and we have been enjoying a very nice single estate Orange Pekoe Ceylon tea from Kenilworth Estate in Sri Lanka. The tea we brewed is light, but not insubstantial with hint of fruit. Very refreshing change of pace from some of the heavier infusions we have been brewing up. There was no need for milk or sugar with this tea, although we’re never one to judge if you need something extra with your tea.

We’re debating whether to carry this particular tea or not — if you want to have a taste, let us know. This is a tea we first stumbled across several years ago, and specifically noted as a preferred tea. I was delighted to find that we were still enjoying high quality tea from this estate.

Stay tuned to TBD Tea as we launch our store and bring you one step closer to enjoying fine single-estate loose leaf teas from round the world. As we get a bit closer, we’ll get a Twitter feed going with our daily tasting notes as we drink through a wide range of delicious teas.

Dark Tea — Dark Mystery

Ben — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:21:28 +0000

One of our tea suppliers often tosses in samples of new teas he is considering offering in the future. With our most recent order came a small tea cake labeled Dark Rose, a dark tea. I have not had this product or even this variety of tea before. This is definitely a fermented tea, but not as earthy and complex as Pu-Er’s or Toucha that I have been trying recently. It was much smoother.

I am a little concerned that I did not properly prepare it. The directions that came included called for a very short steep of only one minute in boiling water in the cup. I followed the directions and got a very thin liquor which was sweet, but wonder if the tea cake should have been broken up more so the leaves could expand fully or given it a longer steeping time. If anyone is familiar with dark tea preparation please post a comment. As I have time to research dark teas further, I will elaborate on what I find.

Steeping in sweet Keemun

Ben — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:12:30 +0000

I have been drinking Keemun (Qimen) teas a lot recently. It is hard to believe that this variety of China Black teas are not often consumed by the Chinese. All the stranger because as I learned from my copy of the New Tea Lover’s Treasury that is on of China’s Ten Most Famous Teas. I guess this is good for those of us living in the west because there is more for export.

The sample that Cat and I have been drinking this week is wonderful with bright flavors. I love watching the leaves slowly unfurl in the infuser imparting the liquor with a deep amber color. The aroma is quite something too like toasted bread with an almost honeyed sweetness. Our tea seller tells us that Keemun was one of the original bases for some of the original English breakfast blends. Blending is fine, but this sample stands up all on its own.

Matcha in my cup

Ben — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:22:36 +0000

I ran through my all the teas that I keep at my desk yesterday, except for this packet of matcha, a finely ground green tea from Japan. I had been putting off drinking it because the preparation is different from the teas that I normally prepare. I thought it would be difficult to get a good infusion because proper matcha preparation is at the heart of the elaborate Japanese Tea Ceremony. After poking around a little on the web, however, I found that like most tea you drink it as you like. The only hard and fast rule being that you not use boiling water in the preparation of matcha.

I put teaspoon or so of the fine powdered tea into the cup and wisked it up with a spoon (I did not have a regulation bamboo whisk with me). I am still playing around with the concentration of matcha to water. If you never have had tried this drink it is surprisingly thick and frothy because the tea powder is suspended in the cup.

Earl Grey White Tip

Ben — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:02:29 +0000

Cat and I always enjoy a cup of Earl Grey. Recently, however, the blends that we have tasted have been either too weak or too overpowered by bergamot. This weekend we served some of our friends TeaSource’s Earl Grey White Tip. It was fabulous, quite well balanced and very aromatic. The bergamot flavor was subtle and the infusion was robust enough to handle the addition of milk. Kudos to Bill Waddington and the rest of the folks at TeaSource.

2nd Flush Darjeeling

Ben — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:40:16 +0000

This past weekend I had some 2nd Flush Darjeeling, I cannot remember the estate right now, but the leaves came from SerendipiTea. We had a pot after breakfast and it was a bit weak, even after steeping for four minutes. The aroma from the pot and the leaves were very nice full muscatel, but out of the cup it was very thin.

In the interest of full disclosure, Darjeeling is not my favorite, but this one seemed weaker than most. I’ll try it again but it probably needs to be steeped upwards of five minutes to get the full flavor as the seller’s site suggests. Better luck next time I guess.

David enters the TBD blogosphere

David — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 18:44:41 +0000

I’m here at my new Synotac home, enjoying the last of a Mao Jian green. Robin Stevens, a contributor to Fresh Cup Magazine, sent some along with her last article. It was made the women of Nanchang Women’s College in Taiwan. The liquor is quite light in color and has a subtle flavor, a little astringent (or is leftover from my yogurt?). Anyway, it’s rolled into tiny strips, around half the length of a silver needle and looks a heck of a lot like it as well—lots of tips. It’s a nice retreat from the (I know, horror of horrors!) machiatto I had this morning. I’m going to try and get a few infusions out of it, as I steeped it for only about a minute—let’s see what it will hold. Glad to be a part of TBD. Thanks Cat and Ben for creating the site—it’s very nicely done. i’ll be back… David

Tasting tea again!

Cat — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 17:04:21 +0000

Thanks to my fading cold, I don’t have the overwhelming need to constantly drink a hot watery liquid. And on the upside, I can now taste my tea again. This morning, I trying out a new organic Earl Grey. It’s from a mystery distributer, but it smells lovely.

Sadly, it’s just doesn’t taste that good. While I’ve been having mixed luck with my tastebuds and Earl Grey tea, this one is a bit harsh in a more absolute sense. Organic teas seem to be harsh in my limited experience. But, boy does that bergamot smell good!

Ben Begins to Blog

Ben — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 04:44:13 +0000

What’s in your cup? I started the day off with pot of Keemun Hao Ya from the folks at Rishi. Most of their description is apt, but did not get the smoky taste they note. Overall a robust cup to start the day and do the people’s work.

Special thanks today to Cat, my loving wife, who has created this space for you and me to talk tea.