Hugo Tea Company

I under leafed this Hugo Tea offering a bit at lunch today but it was still really good with my Asian buffet leftovers. There is a noticeable freshness to the two greens I have by them, and they both pair very well with food. I find Steamed Cloud to be a bit milder than Pan Fired Pagoda.

The teas from Hugo Tea have been consistently good, and I like that they are organic. They are redesigning their packaging and it looks pretty sharp! I don’t work for them, and I have no agenda other than believing that this is young company shows a lot of promise and I hope they succeed!

Like Grace Rare Teas, they carry only a few teas but concentrate on quality. I wish them well.

Good heavens, why haven’t I had this one in a while? I had leftovers from our Asian Buffet takeout and decided to myself a small pot of this to have with it. Good choice, me, good choice.

This was so excellent with my food. When I have green tea with food I usually perceive it very differently. Not so much with oolongs, but definitely with greens. This one was so mouthwateringly fresh that I felt like I had springtime in a cup. Delicious.

Shhhh! Don’t tell on me!

I went out my front door and there was a small box sitting by the step. What’s this? I picked up the box and read the name. No way! Impossible! It can’t already be here. I casually walked into the kitchen, not drawing attention to myself, and opened the box. It is! It is! It is my Christmas present tea! Surely I can try JUST ONE. After all, I did ask for tea, I did place the order myself, and no one has any idea how much I ordered and from where.

After an agonizing three or four seconds of mental battle and rationalization, I carefully opened this one. The kids don’t know new tea is here because I controlled myself and didn’t do my SQUEEE dance.

Since this is a brand new company to me and most of us, I will go into a little more detail on packaging and such. First, the box is nice and sturdy, and obviously shipping was fast for me to be surprised that it is here already. Inside the box is a lovely handwritten note, a receipt, and a little brown paper to keep the tins from moving around. The tins are in pristine condition and are very attractive. You would have to involve an elephant to damage the packaging.

Opening the lid on the tin I find a layer of very thin aluminum foil to keep the tea fresher. Hugo Tea is presently changing their packaging, but if you order before the change is complete, be sure you keep that little circle of foil. It makes the lid nice and tight. Initially i didn’t put it back and when I reopened the tin I noticed that the lid came off a little too easily (unlike a few companies whose lids make me weep and I spill as much of the leaf as I get to drink because of obstinate lids) and though in normal circumstances it would be just fine, when is life really normal? People drop things, bump into shelves, etc, and if this tin fell it would almost certainly spill. Keep your foil, or put in a new piece.

Dry leaf: deep army green and somewhat twisty. Nice and full. Aroma is root vegetables like turnips or mustard greens.

Steeped: Nice medium gold color, fragrant, again of root vegetables but a wee bit milder now. First steep is root vegetable with a slight dryness and tingling to the tongue, the sort of green I serve mainly with food. Aftertaste is lingering, lots of staying power. I think of this as a tea that awakens you.

Second steep: similar to the first, but with a soft caress. Flavor remains much the same, but some of the root vegetable edge is smoothed out so there is a sense of a lighter, slightly buttered vegetable.

Mixing the two steeps together, I do not feel that I have something half way between the two, but rather that the first steep has brought the second up to full strength. This makes me think I should shoot for a third steep in a little while. There may be a fourth in here as well!

I wanted to compare Hugo’s Organic Morning Journey, which is no longer available, the their replacement, Full Steam. Thanks to TeaTiff, now I can!

I had just enough of this tea for one final steeping, so I brewed them side by side. I had assumed the Full Steam was the replacement to OMJ, as if they would be similar blends. As soon as I took a look at the leaf, I knew they weren’t going to be the same at all. OMJ has a high level of Darjeeling, so much so that once it was wet, the leaf was mostly green.

For this tea, the directions call for 1T + 8oz X 3 – 4 min.
This resulted in a dark brown cup. I used to really love this tea, but today the cup was literally screaming, “Wake up!!!”, and I did!
Bright, Astringent, bitter, floral, & lemony tart.
I can’t drink another drop until I eat!
It’s funny that I previouslly enjoyed this tea, but in comparison to the FS, I don’t know why!
And gratefully, it’s a sipdown! 329!

Ms. Theresa has decided our next tea drinking protocol will be to linger over various tea varietals, to determine which ones are worthy to be in our cupboard. She described it as an Olympics of teas. We’re starting this today, with a couple of different pathways, the first one being “Breakfast Blends”.

The protocol here is that we’ll be drinking a different breakfast blend for awhile, as the first cup of the day. There is no rhyme or reason to the order of teas drank, or anything like that, we just want to try all of our breakfast blends, & there are several, enjoying each one for what it is, culling out any we don’t really care for (as if there will be any), & if any of them stand out as superlative, they will be elevated to some level of glory, although that may or may not really happen, LOL.

This one is interesting, in that it seems to be a little different every time I have it. Sometimes I adore it, & other times it is a little too bright. Today it’s been very satisfying: A bold bass, a grapey brightness, a little more astringent than I tend to like, but with an earthy midsection as it cools that I love. I don’t have much left, & I still really want to compare it to the newer version. I guess I need to do something about that.

Yes, this tea is no longer available.
Yes, I still have some, LOL.
Yes, I want to get Hugo’s newer black breakfast blend.
No…sigh…I have not done it yet…
I need to do it before I drink all of this, just for comparison’s sake.

So, I accidentally oversteeped this today, which really brings out the Ceylon aspect. I need to not do that next time.

Another tea I needed this morning!
Thank you Tyler!
I know this one is no longer available, & I do want to get some of the newer one, but it may be awhile, as I am short of funds. Luckily, I have enough tea here to last for the rest of my life. Although I’m sure there will be purchases made during the upcoming HoliDaze season.

Now, to my harp to practice for the choir rehearsal I have today at UMSL.

Now I’m working on a pot of this! It’s a very different, much brighter profile, than the double knit, but equally delicious. Of course, it’s no longer available, but Tyler’s new breakfast blend, Full Steam, is!
You can get some here: http://www.hugotea.com/

And check out this article, featuring Tyler & some other innovative young people: https://www.facebook.com/HugoTea/posts/534394656639739?comment_id=3244126&notif_t=comment_mention

Me Friends, twas Morning that I set sail alone,
on a Journey to parts unknown.
Twas early, twas dark, & without me compass I’d be lost, but for this cup of grog.
She’s a real eye opener, this one, both bold, malty, & bright. Onward through the fog…

First, Thank you Jason! Everyone missed logging our teas, and I’m grateful to see that things are back in order. You are awesome!

I had to leave the house early today, without having drank any tea. It’s a rarity, for sure, but I was getting a much needed massage, and I’ve learned from experience that I shouldn’t drink tea before I get a massage. I’m sure you all understand why. Luckily I didn’t have to drive far, and the massage was awesome and wonderful. As soon as I got home I turned the kettle on, and reached into my black tea shelf, for something I haven’t drank for a few weeks, and this was it! It went down quick and smooth, a brisk and bright start to my day filled with students, a few errands, and NaNoWriMo!

And so, my black tea rotation begins again!

I’m a little antsy today. It’s day 5 of NaNoWriMo & although I started day one off with a bang, writing 4002 words, days 2, 3 ,& 4 were a washout. I had gigs, I had a boyfriend to entertain (& he’s been neglected A LOT lately, poor baby). Today I have a mix of students & free time, & although there are some things I’d like to get done, writing is a priority. I’d like to get back on track!

I started the day with yoga, meditation, & journaling. Then I had an awesome pile of gluten free pancakes, possibly the best recipe I’ve found online yet. http://www.elanaspantry.com/silver-dollar-pancakes/

The tea? Hugo’s Organic Morning’s Journey. I’m on my 2nd cup (not a resteep, I don’t feel that it resteeps all that well) of this bright & yet dark brew. Ahhh, yes…I feel the caffeine level rising…good morning, all!

First off, I just ordered this on Friday evening, & it arrived today! Now, THAT’s service! Thank you Hugo for sending it so quickly!

I’ve been feeling a bit unsatisfied tea-wise today, I’m not sure why. I started with my beloved Imperial Breakfast Summer Blend, which I love, running it through 3 steepings. There was nothing wrong with the tea, I just wanted more… I did a green tea sampling, but still I wanted more… Maybe it’s just because I only had one full strength cup of black tea today…yeah…that’s probably it. I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning, house-plant maintenance, & re-arranging of things today, & I haven’t sat around & enjoyed just sipping tea in my sun-room as much as usual.

Then the mail came, with my Hugo’s order! Now I’m enjoying a cup! I bought this tea because Nik pointed LiberTEA’s review of it out to me, & he was right, it sounded like my kind of cuppa! Thank you, Nik! You get a big HUG!

The dry leaves are a pleasing mix of charcoal, mahogany, & a little beige. The scent is rich & bright. My first cup was just what the doctor ordered: Bold, tasty, a little different from the teas I’ve been drinking of late. It’s a beautiful red orange brew, & there is a brightness & a grapey-ness to the taste that lifts the flavors & adds an edge. I brewed 3 cups in all: First, the original, 2nd a re-steep of those leaves, which still had a good color, but not a lot of flavor. 3rd I brewed new leaves & added Stevia, because little Terri wanted to try it sweet. (Her actual words, “I haven’t had anything sweet ALL DAY”.) Now I’m enjoying that sweet cup, as I feel the caffeine lifting my spirits.

This is a tasty, robust black tea. It’s a nice one, a change of pace that will make a good addition to my morning (& sometimes afternoon) black tea rotation! You can get it at http://www.hugotea.com.

I have officially survived midterms and our move to a new apartment! We went from the Sunset district to a lovely place by Dolores Park. Our neighbors are very friendly and the kitties are excited by all the birds they can see outside the window.

I’ve been having this in my thermos for the past two weeks and it’s really lovely. Very smooth blend, good amount of body, and not at all bitter. A lot of full unbroken leaves in this tea and I am really impressed by the quality for the price. Hugo Tea, if you want to sell this in a larger tin, I would certainly not complain!

This is even better today after the contrast from all the Adagio teas I had in the previous two days. This is a real tea; a tea with depth. It’s SO GOOD.

People were talking about darjeelings yesterday and that reminded me that this blend has darjeeling in it too (and it might be my only darjeeling…). So, with that in mind, I had to have this tea. It’s so brilliant and good.

Sometimes you drink a tea sample, and only have enough to enjoy two cups, and then poof! It’s gone. And months go by, and even a year goes by and you’ve had hundreds of cups of different teas in between, and yet, you still find yourself thinking about this cup. This one that got away.

And then you email the company to see about ordering something similar and is there a way to make the shipping to Canada more affordable, and they reply back that they can offer you a custom black tea package deal and throw in that tea that got away since they can see you’re such a huge fan of it…

And it finally arrives!

And the tins are beautifully packaged and the box smells amazing. There’s no question which tea to try first. And it’s just as good as you remember! Your memory doesn’t fail you. Everything is so amazing!!!

(And I highly, highly recommend ordering from Hugo Teas due to their incredible customer service. I did the entire transaction through Facebook and they were very quick/responsive, as well as adding several dashes of humour.)

I ordered a sample box from Liberteas and was delighted when it showed up today! She managed to stuff 23 samples in there, and nearly half of them were from 52 teas, so now I’ll have a better idea of what those crazy blends are like. Each little bag is nicely labeled and has the brewing instructions too so I don’t have to worry about not knowing what the heck I’m doing. I don’t know how often she does these little sample boxes, but I highly recommend it as a great try-me package – you can check her profile for the link if anyone is interested.

I should mention that I had a good amount of say in what I wanted her to send but I decided that besides trying some 52 Teas, I’d like to be surprised.

I ran out to check for mail before I made any tea, so once I opened this treasure chest up, I picked this one because of the name and I am off to a great start on this sampling journey!

I have a really hard time describing it – it’s very complex but I guess it’s a blend of three different teas and each are contributing something to it. I love how smooth every sip is, and slightly malty, but more and more into the cup I’m getting fruity notes and cream too! I think I have enough in my sample pack for at least two giant 16oz mugs so I look forward to trying to puzzle this tea out.

Hmm – maybe Assam and Darjeeling? Not sure of the third.

I really love this though. Guaranteed that if I ever order from Hugo, I would get this!

I’ve been drinking this tea daily while at work, and it has really been good to me. Not only has it been consistently tasty, but it has been very forgiving when I am less attentive than it deserves. Mornings at work I need all the smiles I can eke out of my otherwise bleary face.

Ack!! I over tea’d this cup! The swiped tea mug had it’s cruel, cruel revenge!

FYI, the difference between the s.o.‘s David’sTea Perfect Mug and the FORLIFE mug that I usually drink from is about 3 ounces. A 12 ounce capacity is not like a 15 oz. Do not just double the measurement and call it ‘close enough’ to two 8 oz cups. :-/

Edit: try two: less tea and more good.

I am by no means an expert on green teas. My ability to describe them generally begins with ‘fishy’ or ‘grassy’ and doesn’t extend far past that. I think I need a flavor wheel-type device. Do they make those?

This one. Hmm. Now that I ‘learned the cup’ I can see myself drinking a lot of this tea, so I am glad I have a good stockpile. I’ve had one failed and two successful 12 oz cups tonight. I like it. It is a tiny bit astringent, but not bothersomely so, a little grassy and a little sweet and floral smelling with just a hint of seaweed. Actually very well rounded.

This was FAR too easy to drink. Someone drank my tea again. :) It is 8 pm and I have downed far too much green tea, and now I have nothing left to review. Will try again soon.

Edited, the rematch! Round three: FIGHT!
Wow. A Mortal Kombat moment. I think sipping green tea and watching Mortal Kombat fatalities collected onto YouTube is pretty much never what a tea company has in mind for their product. Still fun, though, in an odd kinda way. Anyway, on to the tea. This is really demmed good! The dry leaf is a beautiful deep green and the broth seems hearty to me, a rich full mouthfeel with barely any astringency. I blame my mis-steep the other night or making it seem astringent then. I like that this is one of the first deep greens that I have tried that doesn’t make me think of the fish-based plant fertilizer I use for my orchids.

Enjoying an interesting cup of this tea thanks to LiberTEAS
It says there are three kinds of black tea in here but I am going to INSIST one of those “black” teas is a puerh!
I am going to do a full review for http://sororiteasisters.com/
What I will say at this time before fully immersing myself in the cup is do not hesitate to do multiple steeps.
I am on my second cup and it has changed a lot – very good stuff.
I like steep two more than steep one as the puerh flavors are coming out stronger.
Earthy, sweet, interesting.

Mondays and Tuesdays are my “weird” days, because my husband is off work, and we spend a good deal of the time running errands and getting things done that we can’t do during the rest of the week while he is working. But, today, it would seem that hubby is enjoying resting, and it is well deserved on his part, so I am enjoying a cup of tea before he is ready to get rolling.

This is really so good. One of the very best breakfast/morning blends I’ve encountered that I didn’t craft myself. Rich, robust, malty, and delicious. Smooth. A great tea to get the morning started (even if one’s morning doesn’t start until nearly afternoon).

Backlog: well… sort of. I’m on my second cup of this. The first cup was just so good that I couldn’t even spare time to type out a tasting note, I needed to focus on my cup of tea.

That is to say: Oh WoW! This is seriously GOOD!

Definitely one of the smoothest black blends I’ve come across. It’s so smooth that it doesn’t need milk or sugar to make it smooth … it just is. It doesn’t have a real “kick in the cup” type of quality that I generally look for when I consider a tea as a breakfast blend or morning blend versus a later in the day type of tea … but don’t let that fool you. It’s still invigorating and morning cuppa worthy – absolutely! It just takes a subtler approach toward the end goal – wakefulness!

It is bold yet smooth. Creamy with notes of malt and caramel, hints of chocolate in the background. Fruit notes – but the sweet fruit notes – of sweet date, grape, and even a hint of sweet apple. Now, imagine those fruits drizzled with honey. You get the idea.

By mid-cup, I notice some spices start to emerge. Slightly peppery, but very slightly, just enough to get the palate to notice something different in the background but not enough to disturb the smoothness of the cup. Maybe a hint of cinnamon.

Truly a remarkable blend. I would go so far as to say, if you had room for only one breakfast tea in your cupboard, this should be the one. I don’t think I could ever limit myself to just one, but, if I had to, this would probably be the one I chose. It’s so good… very good!!!