Britannia Teas and Gifts

1.5 tsp for 300mL. First infusion at 90 for 6 minutes, second infusion at 85C for 5 minutes.

I used to make this with hotter water. (The packet copy says to use boiling water — yuck, I didn’t care for that at all.) Tonight, I cooled it down a bit.

First infusion: Formosa oolong from Britannia: A darker oolong. Toasted. Smells like tobacco flowers and stonefruit. A strong taste that’s nuanced with oak, peaches, minerals, and distant smoke.

Second infusion: More stonefruit and some creaminess. Toast and oak in the scent but none in the taste. Upping the rating from an 80 to a 90.

Packs a caffeine punch, too.

1 TB per 500mL pot.

A twiggy oolong with gorgeous, varieated leaves. Not detecting any of the fruity notes Formosa Oolongs sometimes boast. This one brings to mind tobacco more than peaches. The leaves are not tightly rolled. It’s a bit temperamental and needs a careful steep. I like it, but I like my Ti Kuan Yin better.

1 TB for 450mL water.

Silly me. I tried drinking this beautiful oolong while preparing supper. The multi-tasking dstracted me from the oolong, and the cooking smells overpowered the oolong. Note to self: drink oolong while sitting down. Meditate a bit. Sip some more.

I really enjoy this ti kuan yin. A bit bakey, a mineral on the 2nd infusion. Clean. (Two minutes 1st, 4 minutes 2nd.)

1 TB for a 500mL pot.

A bakey oolong. No fruit notes, but those amazing Ti Kuan Yin nuances. Refreshing. Sharpens my mental focus. Calming. Slightly sweet finish. Encourages meditation. Beautiful light-gold liquor.

1 rounded TB for 450mL water, bare.

Decaf black tea is often terrible. But caffeine keeps me awake, and I can’t get my favourite tisane, so, depserate, I thought I’d try this one.

Not bad. I’ve tasted far worse. It does retain body and taste of a good Ceylon, but it still has that bitter, almost burnt harshness that I’ve detected on every decaf black tea I’ve ever tried. Still, good enough to enjoy as a bedtime cuppa. I wouldn’t bother with it during the day, though.

1.25 tsp for 300mL water @95C, stepped 4 minutes.

I’ve been hoarding this one for at least four years now. I really should drink it up.

That said, it ages extremely well, getting more oaky and winey.

It’s a bit more smoky than one might expect, but that goes great with the oaky and butted-toast notes.

I love a good Keemun. This one, as I recall, was sensibly priced. I’ve had fancier Keemun, and I’ve had some disgraceful slop called Keemun, bit this one is just lovely.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped five minutes.

My local indie teashop, Britannia Teas and Gifts, no longer exists as a bricks-and-mortar store, though the owner does appear at popup markets. I asked her a while ago if she had any Keemun left, and she did: either in a few 50g bags, or in the great big 2 kilo vacuum-packed brick that came from her wholesaler.

I bought the 2 kg brick. Yeah, that’s how much I like Keemun.

There are grades of Keemun I prefer to Organic Panda # 1, but I am very pleased to have the Panda in my life This is a complex, fairly oaky Keemun, and it can, if you use too much leaf or steep it too long, get tarry. No tar at 5 minutes, though, just some rising smoke. Dark copper liquor. Lots of oak, as I said, and toast, some smoke and orchid, and even some plum-raisin notes in the finish. I’ve tried this Keemun with milk and sugar, and I don’t find either brings anything extra out, but that’s a personal preference. This is a dependable and unmistakable Keemun, taking on some winey notes now as it ages. Decent caffeine punch. It also cries out for blending, maybe with a creamy Assam. A favourite, and each time I drink it, I remember why.

1.5 tsp for 350mL water @ 5 minutes, drunk bare.

Got a BIG mug as a Christmas gift at the office: snowman’s face, with a hat … a lid. Hot tea!

I steeped a little extra on this one because the mug takes so much water. As ever, a good hit of Keemun. Some days I say on Facebook that I’m ‘powered by Keemun’. Love love love.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @98C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

The 4-minute steep is my new sweet spot with many black teas.

This Keemun has yet to disappoint. Robust in the oakiness with a winey, smokey finish. Light body. Beautiful dark copper liquor, no murkiness. Mineral, stone fruit, and honey notes. Superbly refreshing. Could get bitter if steeped too long.

4 tsp for 750mL @100C for 5 minutes and 30 seconds in the Breville, basket cycle on. Drunk bare.

Fresh batch. Winier than the last batch. Distant smoke. Liquor in the glass Breville pot is more red than brown. Some floral and toasty notes. A thoroughly enjoyable Keemun.

1 scant TB for 450mL water, bare.

I’ve written about tasting notes many times before, so I’ll keep my comments brief today and just note that this Keemun, along with a few crackers, can quickly settle my upset stomach.

1 TB for 450mL water, bare.

Feeling sick this morning. This exceptionally smooth and tasty China black, in tiny sips, is helping to settle my stomach.

It’s so good to have teas you can rely on.

1.5 TB for 600mL pot, bare.

Still a light body with just 1.5 TB (versus 2TB yesterday) in my wicked little pot. Smoky, though, in that winy Keemun way. Not as Russian as yesterday, when I made a concentrate that might echo that comes from a samovar (I sooooo want to try tea from a samovar). Sweeter finish. Stronger than when I brew it by the mug, but I prefer it either 1 TB for 450mL or 2TB for 600mL watered down.

Adding honey … (equivalent of 1tsp … I am using the Honbibee dried honey pastilles, which I do NOT recommend) … honey mellows this tea nicely without dominating, and thereby ruining, it.

2 TB for 600mL pot, bare.

STRONG. And ohhhhh, so good. I did need to water down my Keemun concentrate almost 50%, but I think I might like it even better this way. Made strong, this Keemun gives off more oakiness and more smoke. Cries out for dark fruit, or maybe sugar in the mouth while drinking it – Russian-style.

Is Keemun black tea the base for Russian Carvan tea?

Either way, I feel quite fortified now, stronger than the late snowstorm tormenting my little city, certainly strong enough to outline the next book (always daunting).

1 TB for 450mL water, bare.

This tea gets better each time I drink it. Picked up a fresh batch at my local tea shop yesterday and got deeply happy as I drank a good, long hot cup of this yesterday evening. Detected a very subtle earthy note – very subtle, not pu-ehr earthy – some fant smokiness and an odd but delightufl tasting note in a black tea: that bright “leafiness” yu find in some green teas.

I’d tried a Keemun Concerto at Britannia a few years ago and did not care for it. This Organic Keemun Panda #1 is much, much better.

1TB for 450mL water, bare.

I dunno about burgundy — never did drink much wine — but this Keemun does remind me of some of the oakier malt whiskies out there. That said, it’s also distinctly, unmistakeably, good China black tea. No malt, light body, deep Keemun … well, smoky wine without astringency. Seriously good tea. Very warming.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

Some days, only Assam will do. My body craves Assam, craves something in those leaves that’s not in Darjeeling, let alone any non-India tea. No idea what that is. I still love Yunnans and Darjeelings and Himalayans and Keemuns and oolongs, but nothing can replace a good Assam. Steepsterite Claire recently commented she likes for her black teas to not only wear Doc Martens but kick her with them; a good Assam does that.

This Assam Gingia is a second flush and quite strong. Notes of malt, of course, but not suck-your-mouth-dry malt, molasses, honey, freshly baked bread,and sunshine. No bitterness. On a winter day, with yet more snow coming down, it’s a dire necessity. It’s TEA.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @ 98C. (Slightly obsessed with making black tea just off the boil lately.) Steeped four minutes. Drunk bare.

I love a good Assam. I also love a good Darjeeling and a good milk oolong and a good caravan and a good jasmine green … because these teas are unmistakable.

I’ve said before that I favour the Kopili and Gingia estates for Assams. Damn Fine’s Captain Assam also blissed me out, and I am dying to try their new Tiger Assam. George Orwell in his famous essay ‘A Nice Cup of Tea’ talks about Indian black tea in particular making you feel stronger and braver. He must have meant Assam.

Gingia doesn’t have the raisin notes that some Assams do, but it does remind me a bit of bread and roses, as I’ve nattered about before. The liquor is dark but clear. Agreeably malty — could get assertively so is steeped over 5 minutes — with some molasses notes in the aroma. It finishes sweet, with a bit of Assam pucker. Medium to heavy body, with a creaminess in the mouthfeel that makes for a pretty damn sumptuous cup of tea. I rarely add milk to tea, but this Assam would handily stand up to milk. Dependable and superb.

1 rounded TB for 450mL water, bare.

Yes, yes, YES! Oh, baby, that’s one beautiful Assam. Trash-talks Kopili Estate Assam (I have to keep the competing tins separate so there’s no clagning brawl in my kitchen) and makes Captain Assam stare intently. Dry leaves are very tippy and smell a bit like raisins and sunshine. Tastes malty, of course, but not heavily so — there’s a real brightness in this Assam. Body is almost heavy and - wow- creamy. Mama’s got her a new favourite. Comforts and fortifies. Drink this, and you can do anything. Or at least you might think you can. ;)

1 heaping TB for 600mL pot, 1 packet of stevia, no milk.

Blueberries. I adore blueberries. And they grow wild, rampant and lush here in Newfoundland. Not the great big rubbery monsters that import from South America in the winter months, no: sun-warmed, low-bush, get-down-on-your-knees and eat em off the bush bits of deep blue heaven.

So I’m spoiled for blueberries. And I honestly believe the best wild ones grow here.

And I’m leery of flavoured black teas. Hubby, however, adores flavoured black teas — and blueberries — so he bought us a nice sized packet of Wild Blueberry from Britannia.

The aroma: redolent. Seriously penentrating blueberry. REAL blueberry, not that powdery horror that might scent an eraser.

Black tea base is quite mild—China blacks, I’m guessing. I followed instructions — three-minute steep — and got a beautiful amber liquor, clear all the way through, with that delicious, now almost winey scent of blueberries. I also used water just off the boil so as not to scald the fruit, ’cause yes, there are dried real blueberries in here!

The light sweetening does bring out the berry taste, but I think I’ll drink it bare from now on so I can taste the black tea, too.

Lovely flavoured tea. I’d recommend this for evening-in sipping, or in place of / alongside port, cognanc etc.

1 TB for 500mL water, no milk or sweetener.

I find Kenya Black Dryer Mouth — so named for the malty pucker it can cause — tastes and feels like a cousin of Assam. It’s brighter in scent and liquor than an Assam, more like a Ceylon that way, but it’s got maltiness, baby. Smooth finish, no bitterness.

Dry leaves look black; steeped leaves turn a beautiful dark rust with some dark green.

Light to medium mouthfeel. Not as creamy or chewy as a good Assam (can ya tell I’m out of Assam and dying to have some this morning?) but very, very good. Bright and feisty.

Many Irish Breakfast blends use Kenya teas.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @80C, steeped two minutes, drunk bare.

Cleaning out my tea cabinet to make room for my Persian tea glasses, and I found this beauty in a good tin. Why don’t I gave this more often? (I say the same about Dragonwell.) Mostly because there’s only a standard kettle at my workplace, so it’s hard to judge water temp.

Biscuity, a bit sweet, and a creamy-green taste. Refreshing and a bit different after a lot of Keemun. This is a first infusion; I am guessing the leaves are good for at least two more steeps.

Mmmmmmm. Mild. Biscuity, as the shop promises. No grassiness or astringecy. Slightly nutty mouthfeel. Clean finish. Not one of the cheaper teas, but not ‘Oh, do I gas up the car or buy tea’ expensive, either. Soothing.

Far away smoke on the fragrance, as of a distant bonfire. Some china black tea and rooibos taste, then chai with Indian black tea, then cinnamon and a light warmth from the chai, and, finally, smoke.

Warming. Sophisticated. No one aspect dominates. Harmony. A very special blend.

(I drank this once plain and one with light sweetening but no milk.)