La Via del Tè

This is another Via del Tè tea I had put aside when I received the (huge ;-) ) order I made now almost 2 years ago. 2011 is the green blend of the Golden Jubilee blends the company put together in 2011 (the black blend being named 1961, the year Via del Tè was founded). Today I opened the pouch and immediately the smell of fresh strawberries came to me. According to the list of ingredients, this aroma is due to flavourings. It completely overwhelms the jasmine (from one of the 3 green teas in this blend, King of jasmine) or the pineapple supposedly present in this blend. Once steeped (at 80ºC, not longer than 2,5 minutes…all from info online as this is not indicated on the pouch, a shame really), the liquor is light yellow, and the aroma´s have turned more floral (because of the jasmine?). In mouth it sort of disappointed me a bit, as I hoped for a stronger green tea character, and I thought the fruity and floral notes in nose would translate better to the taste as well. It makes a nice afternoon tea, easy to drink even for people who aren´t into tea.

There was a time (when I studied in Yorkshire, UK where I would buy my teas at Betty´s, an “institution” over there for tea and coffee and all events concerning tea and coffee ;-) ) that I drank Lapsang Souchong quite regularly. I remember that even my father liked it although he ´s not at all a tea drinker.
So, I bought this LS from Via del Tè – for old times´sake??? – a few years ago, and hadn´t opened the pouch yet. In nose (for the dry tea leaves) the smoked character is clearly present, and it also steals the show once steeped, both in nose and mouth where it lingers on and on and on, giving a nice smooth finish. The slightly sweet sidenotes present in mouth when actually drinking the tea don´t mess up the experience, and might even make it easier to drink this tea. These also differ from the LS of my memories (Taylors of Harrogate tea), where the black tea backbone was stronger. Nevertheless, this is a solid LS I´ll enjoy a lot over the winter months.
Note : I drink my teas “black”, while a LS in UK is typically enjoyed with milk.

Finally then my personal favourite of the Tea Travels series.
The dry leaves smell of jelly bears, but during the brewing process the fragrances turn more elegant and less sweet, and they linger on and on : I happen to prepare my brew in the kitchen, then take it elsewhere in the house, and when I return to the kitchen, it´s still very present. Furthermore, the oolong tea opens up, which is nice to look at. I tried steeping the blend a second time, and although there´s a small loss in properties, the resulting brew is still very enjoyable (and fragrant!)
From the leaflet : "The charm of ancient China lives on in this blend that brings together the semi-fermented oolong tea and the precious buds of Yin Zhen “silver needles” white tea, once intended for the Emperor solely. Tea of serenity, with an enveloping aroma of red fruit."

Tuaregh is “A mixture of green teas perfumed with nanah mint, inspired by the ceremonial drink of the desert nomads. Three rounds of tea are traditionally offered to the guest : the first one is bitter as death, the second strong as life, and the third sweet as love.” (from La Via del Tà leaflet added to tins from the series)
Both green and mint fragrances come through, without any of them overwhelming the other. It´s really a lovely blend, and a real treat for the nose!

According to the tea company this tea blend Tat´jana is “Balanced and elegant blend of Indian, Ceylon and China black teas enhanced by the unique notes of orange and bergamot. A classic, highly-perfumed Russian-style tea created following the original recipes in vogue in the nineteenth century at the court of the Tsar.”
I love good Earl grey teas and this could well be one of those. Again, a natural fragrance that is present with dry tea leaves and continues lingering once the tea is brewed.

I finally got to open the tins of the La Via del Te Tea travels series I bought last year, and boy, how I have enjoyed these tea blends so far! This Shahrazad blend has a nice fruity fragrance, which is still present once steeped.
According to the tea company “A creation inspired by the princess of the Thousand and One Nights and the fascination of ancient Persia. A sophisticated blend of high-quality black teas, with an evocative fragrance of fruit and unmistakable hints of pomegranate, symbol of love and rebirth:”
The pomegranate (and the rest of the fruity fragrance) stays very natural overall. A true enjoyment for all senses.

This was the second Italian grown tea that my coworker brought back for us to try from her vacation – in theory just a flavoured version of the same straight green tea. Though, a quick glance at the tea leaves doesn’t actually totally line up – the shaping of the leaf seems much different than the Assolo.

I thought this was much more pleasant than the plain green tea. Obviously the inclusion of flavouring helps a lot and it is a really nice fresh tasting strawberry note – very European in style (which makes sense). However, it also just seemed like there was more body to the green tea, and it had floral undertones that weren’t present in the plain.

Very interesting to compare/contrast then two.

A coworker was recently on vacation in Italy and she stumbled upon this tea company that’s experimentally growing small batch teas in Italy, which is super fascinating! Obviously she bought a bag of each of the two flavours she found and brought them back for us to try.

I’m not really a green tea drinker anyway, so I wouldn’t have likely enjoyed this one regardless of the quality – but my takeaway after trying it was mostly just that the flavour was very flat. The leaves themselves were really beautiful and twisty with a deep jade colour but I kind of just got really dull grassier notes and not much else.

Still, it’s very cool to be able to say now that I’ve tried Camellia Sinensis tea grown in Italy!

My first impression when opening this tea was a sigh, thinking it would be a Christmas tea- like blend (which all seem to be so very similar to me, and they tire me quite quickly), but then the fennel got through and I started to appreciate the spices used in this blend. Once steeped, the strong and spicy character is confirmed, which makes it not only an ideal after-lunch drink (as recommended by La Via del tè), but also a nice wake-up drink (as far as I am concerned).
BTW, I am very grateful for the cinnamon or cloves or ginger in this blend not to overwhelm the rest.

I have had this tea sitting on my shelf for the past maybe 5 years, and am coming approaching the sipdown. I don’t reach for it very often because of the strange, strong, artificial fruit taste of it. I would rather reach for my Hediard Melange Quatre Fruits Rouges / Four Red Fruits Blend or…when I still had it, the superior Mariage Freres counterpart when I wanted something fruity. I usually brew this tea with honey and whole milk, which do a lot of work to take down the perfume taste and surprising astringency. It wasn’t until it mellowed out over the years that I was able to enjoy it more. What’s interesting is I don’t recall there ever being pieces of fruit (strawberry or papaya) in this tea. I only saw leaf and rose petals. It was not at all what I see of the tea pictured on the website. But then again, I also got this at a TJ Maxx for a discount. Despite how pungent and perfumed the aroma was, the tea itself, to echo another reviewer, seemed stale.

First tea of another large order of 10 teas I made over the Christmas period. I could buy teas from this Italian company in a private sale, which mainly means at more reasonable prices! as far as I know, I´ve never tried teas from this company but I thought their own blends sounded fascinating (and different from what I´m used to).
I also bought this Darjeeling, as I´m currently trying out some different origin Darjeelings (from different companies, that is) in replacement for a wonderful one I finished (and the tea company in UK called it a day as well, unfortunately). Enjoyable enough, but far less elegant than I what I expect from a Darjeeling TGFOP. I infused it twice with similar result.

Very pleasant Pai Mu Tan base scented with rose petals and rose buds. The rose scent is persistent both in the nose and the mouth, and lasts through two infusions. The result is a sweet tea, with hints of honey and a slight cinammon aftertaste. I like to drink it in the early afternoon, or after dinner.

Green tea with chamomile?
It did not work in matter of taste or aroma. Aroma is musty, herbal and naturally chamomile.

Taste is way too similar. The base green tea is not much apparent, it’s mostly chamomile and then some notes of generic herbs, maybe lemon balm bit stronger than others.

Not sure about relaxing purpose.

Brews dark red, very fruity in aroma. So fruity, I can not recall a single fruit.
Fruit is similar. Very fruity, berry like, quite tart.

Probably past its great times. Or just common fruit tea.

Just an individual teabag of this that a coworker brought in to the office for me to try; I don’t know that I’ve ever had a tea that came from Italy before? I mean, obviously the tea itself doesn’t come from Italy – that’s probably from Japan given how marine-y and sencha like the taste was. This is just an Italian tea company; and it looks like it was intended in part for consumption within the country but also maybe for export?

I thought it was kind of unpleasant – the base is really strong with a lot of sharp oceanic notes and grassiness to it that I kind of loathe in Sencha; and even ignoring the fact those notes aren’t really my jam they also just seemed to read as not very fresh? Like, the tea itself seemed pretty stale/aged. The strawberry was ok; but somewhat artificial and perfumey. Also not nearly as strong for what I would have wanted to mask the taste of the base. However, gotta remember this is European tea and it feels like a lot of European tea companies have a very different approach to flavoured teas. Like, they don’t seem to like to hide the taste of their base teas the same way North American tea companies do? Just as a generalized observation, anyway. Especially when you look at companies like TeaGschwendner, Fauchon, Dammann Freres, etc.

So yeah – tasted, added to my tally of teas I’ve tried. Not personally impressed though.

I received this tea bag with my Pink Parcel this month. I’ve never heard of the brand before, but according to the little brochure that explains where the “for you” items come from, they can be purchased from Harrods and are hella expensive – about £30 for 20 or something fairly ridiculous like that. The packaging doesn’t give much away – no ingredients, for example. It smells lovely, though – very fresh and lemony. One thing that is highlighted is the “innovative” cotton tea bag. I probably wouldn’t say innovative, exactly – Mighty Leaf have been doing similar for a while, except that theirs are nylon, but the woven pouch idea in general isn’t new (unless these guys were doing it first and I just didn’t know. Apparently they’ve been around since 1961.)

I gave the bag the recommended 5 minutes in boiling water. The bag looks to contain whole chamomile flowers, rose petals, and lemon verbena. Brewed, it smells more “herbal” than it does dry, and just a touch floral.

To taste, I’m actually quite impressed. There’s a creamy lemon flavour at the forefront, then the sweet, honey-like almost-cloyingness of chamomile, with just a touch of rose/lavender floral at the end of the sip. I’ve had other “lemon cream” tea that are equally good, but it’s always nice to find another one (especially when you’re least expecting it.) It’s supposed to be a relaxing tisane, and I guess it would be. I’d definitely drink it on an evening as a pre-bedtime cup.

What I’d be less willing to do is pay the quoted price. Harrods is an overpriced tourist trap anyway, so I’d not buy tea from there if I had any other choice, but if I could find this from an alternative supplier (or maybe direct from La Vie del Te, who are based in Italy and have a website…) at a more reasonable price then I’d definitely consider buying more of this one (or trying some other blends…) Best not to look, though. It’s such a slippery slope :)

I’m happy to have had the opportunity to try this one; I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to, and the quality appears to be there even though it’s bagged. Unexpectedly good!

this is one of the best milk oolong i have ever had! i normally don’t fraternize with the likes of a flavored tea as i am a firm believer that tea, it’s cultivation, and terrior are quite enough to make the world of tea reach far beyond the ability of my pallet. that being said if i can’t find a way to order this tea soon i’m booking my flight back to Italy cause i can’t life without it! upon first sip i am overwhelmed with the flavor of butter and cream, but somehow not to the point where i loose the flavor of the high quality tea it is obvious was the base for this scented tea. the regular hints of raisins dates and almond that i expect from an oolong are waiting for the cream to make way culminating in a slight appley finish. i love this tea!

This time I brewed this for one minute more than previously.
More nutty, better. I just drank it happily without remembering to notice misstakes and all, so I guess it was a good cup.

First try, according to sellers suggestion.
Quite balanced a bit sweet, a little weak body. Mayby 4 minute brewing or 95 degrees makes it better, or mayby not. Mayby this is the quality of tea. Quite good, but I miss the quality of Wulong back home. Italy ,Brescias best tea shop.

I brewed in 75°C and 3 minutes like the man said(company). It tasted kinda like Lung Ching. But I’v had better. A bit grassy a hit of sweet,quite too watery. Mayby I am making injustice for thease teas by using water from the espressomachine boiler. I miss propper waterboiler.

Very good tea !!!! I loved it and im still fascinated with this filtrofoglia bags are hmmm a miracle besides they are pretty cute.
Talking again about the tea I can describe the flavor as a perfect tea for a summer lunch, perhaps rainy day perhaps not, but its simply great for a summer lunch alone or with that special person. Its a strong green tea in his class and its a very good quality too, it worths the price and I will keep drinking this for a while because its really yummy :)

This tea i taste it in Florence. Its WOW! i totally advice to all green tea lovers this good quality green tea mint. I loved the fact that comes with a FILTROFOGLIA bag which means if for many cups of the same bag which is quite cool since the tea its pretty good. I like it with very hot water and slowsly drink it since like that the sweet refreshing flavor can come into my mouth and remind me that im in Florence.

my favorite christmas tea! the smell is awsome, and the taste is sweet, fruity and well balanced.
sugar crystals look like big and bright diamonds, and give some extra sweetness to my cup if I decide to pick up a spoon of tea with a crystal in it and put it in the teapot.
Perfect for winter and Christmas time.