teakruthi

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97
drank Lemon Kandy by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – L

4,000th tasting note here!  (Is that all?!  It seems it has been WAY more than 4,000…)Finished off one pouch of this one (the sample) but luckily bought some more for backup.   Nice lemon rind flavor.  On another lemon note, I could drink gallons of the Simply brand lemonade, to any lemonade fans out there… it is by far my favorite lemonade.  There is SO MUCH lemon pulp in it.  It’s so good.
2023 sipdowns: 66

Leafhopper

Congratulations on your many tasting notes!

Courtney

Whaaat! Congratulations on 4000!

ashmanra

Wow! Congrats!

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97
drank Lemon Kandy by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Another sample from Teakruthi!  Thanks so much. This is fantastic stuff.  Any lemon fan — you need to try this!  It’s so fresh and bright, and does have that hint of sweetness that makes it KANDY.  But really, it comes from the Kandy district in Sri Lanka, so that makes the name of the tea accurate as well.  The black tea is perfect with this lemon.  It tastes like fresh lemon, squeezed into the tea. Wow.  The second steep was somehow very light in flavor — maybe I steeped it stronger in the first cup.  If the second steep was stronger, this would be a perfect tea.  If you’re looking for a lemon black tea, this might be the best lemon tea I’ve ever had.  Unlike the Vanilla Earl (which I sipped recently), which is fickle, this tea is very straightforward and exactly as described.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2-2 teaspoons for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 4 minutes after boiling  // 3-4 minute steep  

Edit: with the black friday sale, this tea would be around $5 for 100 grams! Their prices couldn’t be better! Free shipping is at $20…

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85
drank Colonial Mornings by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Thanks so much for the samples, Teakruthi!  Honestly, personally I usually consider Ceylon to be the most boring of black teas… sometimes they just taste like cardboard to me… so a tea shop focusing on Ceylon didn’t sound great in my opinion.  BUT I’M WRONG.  These are unique Ceylon teas… completely disproves my Ceylon tea stereotypes. This plain black Ceylon tastes nothing like those poor quality Ceylon teas I’ve had in the past.  The quality obviously depends on many things.  Teakruthi is quality. A Twinings Ceylon is going to be very very different.   I really like this one.The dry leaves are about half an inch long, dusty black with hints of pink.  The fragrance of the dry leaves reminded me of a spicy tomato sauce… I had been thinking of pizza all day.  Hmm.  But the flavor wasn’t too much like a spicy pizza sauce.  I noticed almond, which is interesting because Teakruthi also mentions almond.  I like being reassured that someone (anyone?) is on the same page I am, when it comes to flavor notes.  There is a definitely a sweetness here.  Strong enough with a teaspoon and a half.  The “morning” in the name is accurate – this is a fantastic flavor profile for a morning tea.   Steep sessions can range from reminding me of a brisk Assam, to sometimes tasting like a Ruby varietal. I do love a good Ruby tea, so this tea is certainly many steps above the usual boring tastes-like-nothing-to-me Ceylon.  The second steep was a little bitter and I wouldn’t try steeping it so hot and so long again.  That’s my fault.  The first steep was delectable.  During another steep session, the second steep was just fine after waiting 3-4 minutes after boiling.  Thank you Teakruthi, for solidly proving to me that not all tea grown in the same place can fall under the same quality. 
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

eastkyteaguy

One of the things I’ve liked about teakruthi so far is that they focus on offering teas from each of Ceylon’s production regions. All too often I find that vendors who carry Ceylonese teas solely or primarily focus on black teas from the Uva Highlands or Dimbula, and personally, I often find those teas to be a bit too biting or a bit plain and boring. I get a lot more enjoyment out of some of the lower elevation teas produced in the South and in the Midlands. I also like that teakruthi doesn’t just focus on black teas. Though Ceylonese oolongs seem to be hit or miss at this point, I think Ceylonese white teas are unique and frequently highly enjoyable.

tea-sipper

Definitely. I have teakruthi’s white tea that I’ll be trying soonish.

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83
drank The Vanilla Earl by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s January sipdown challenge Tea #7: An Earl Grey

additional notes: I have already noted that as this ages, it seems to turn into a straight lemon rind sort of flavor. Definitely not bergamot, vanilla or even the black base. Maybe they have changed this by now? This is two years old already… I like their other lemon tea better, so this was a good time to finish this. The rating would be lower now.
2022 sipdowns: 9

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83
drank The Vanilla Earl by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

additional notes: SO as this is aging, it is taking on such a bitter lemon rind type of flavor! It is so odd. It’s almost like there is nothing vanilla, bergamot, or even black tea about this… since the black tea brews so light, even with 1 1/2-2 teaspoons. It seems like a cup of straight lemon rinds. Not really what I’m looking for with great name like “vanilla earl”. But again, this could be due to age here. Also, teakruthi already has a great lemon tea anyway…

Shae

Mmm, straight lemon rinds. I do love their Lemon Kandy tea. I’m guessing that’s the one you’re referring to.

Martin Bednář

Lemon Kandy is a delish, Vanilla Earl is close behind for me. Indeed maybe it’s because of age, or not so well blended — as mine were truly nice bergamot flavoured.

tea-sipper

Yeah, Lemon Kandy! You’re probably right Martin… I thought there was more bergamot in previous cups…

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83
drank The Vanilla Earl by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Thanks so much for the samples, Teakruthi!  I felt terrible with my internet down not being able to get to reviews of teas from various tea shops.  It seems like I acquired quite a handful before my computer broke.  And then I feel like my chlorine sink water is ruining teas, so I really would like to figure that out before I’m posting reviews of teas.  However, I feel like I should do a couple, as it has been a while!
I was all in for a vanilla Earl Grey!  There seems to be many flower petals here… maybe too many… certainly more flower petals in my sample than the photo.  I do like my Earls brisk, and this Ceylon may be a little too light for my tastes, even with closer to two teaspoons.  I have certainly had worse bergamot teas, but this one seems more like lemon.  Sadly, not much noticeable vanilla in the fragrance or flavor.   As the tea cools, it is more of a smoky flavor somehow, with the bergamot turning to a lemon rind sort of flavor.  Somehow the tea and lemon are stronger, when the cup is cold?  But not astringent.  The second steep is stronger and more to my tastes.  Earl Greys are difficult to please, as well as vanilla teas, so with the added difficulty of both of these types of difficult to make perfect for me, this one is tough to love.  It’s not a bad cup, anyhow! 
Steep #1 // 1 3/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 14 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled  // 3-4 minute steep 

I’m eyeing a couple teas on DAVIDStea’s sale (Chagas, Movie Night, Cookie Dough) , but they already took down Sweet Potato Pie!  The day after Thanksgiving?!?!  I really like that Birch Gold Dipped mug too…

Roswell Strange

Not sure about the mug, but we sold out of Sweet Potato Pie (which is why it disappeared from the site).

tea-sipper

Sweet Potato Pie must have been a REALLY good one. haha

MadHatterTeaDrunk

An odd note in an Earl Grey, but it sounds intriguing, to say the least.

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80
drank Majestic Chai by teakruthi
2284 tasting notes

These teakruthi teas have been impressing me with their subtley. I saw that the main ingredient other than black tea was cardamom, and I worried because I’ve had too many chais that are too cardamom-heavy. The flavor here is totally balanced between the cardamom and the black tea. I didn’t use milk because I was afraid that would overwhelm the flavors. This is an enjoyable, light chai.

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drank Two Seasons by teakruthi
1789 tasting notes

Not getting much peach, mostly ginger and a black tea that is a bit astringent. The ginger is nice, cozy, and warming on this cold night.

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84
drank Afternoon Ritual by teakruthi
413 tasting notes

This is my last plain black tea from Teakruthi. (Thanks as always for the sample.) I loosely followed Eastkyteaguy’s parameters and steeped around 4.5 g in a 355 ml mug at 195F for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of pine, prunes, malt, and something pleasantly sour. The first steep has notes of pine, prunes, roasted almond, malt, toast, honey, and (thanks to Eastkyteaguy’s review) orange zest. There’s a fuzzy, not unpleasant astringency. I also get a hint of green grapes as I’ve done in a lot of Ceylon black teas. The second steep has softer notes of roasted almonds, honey, toast, malt, wood, and tobacco, along with a coppery aftertaste. The third steep is much weaker, with notes of malt, tannin, wood, and minerals.

This is a pleasant, complex black tea that’s still a lot more mainstream than Teakruthi’s other black tea offerings. I think it would be a good starting point for exploring Ceylon black tea.

Flavors: Almond, Grapes, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Orange Zest, Pine, Pleasantly Sour, Tannin, Toast, Tobacco, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 4 g 12 OZ / 355 ML

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78
drank Blissful Harmony by teakruthi
413 tasting notes

I’ve been super busy lately and haven’t had as much time as I’d like to do gongfu tea reviews, though I’ve had plenty of lazy gongfu sessions to sip down old teas. Western steeping seems to be a good compromise. Thanks to Teakruthi for the sample, and sorry for taking so long to get this review posted! I steeped around 4.5 g of leaf in a 355 ml mug at 190F for 4.5, 6, and 10 minutes.

Wow! These white tea leaves are huge! I’m a bit concerned that I didn’t get a proper balance between the white and black teas in the blend because the black tea collects at the bottom of the bag, but we’ll see. The first steep is a smooth combination of malt, honey, flowers, grass, and autumn leaf pile. There’s a lot of sweetness from the white tea and not much astringency from the black. The second steep is grassier, but still smooth and sweet; the flavour falls off in the third.

This tea lives up to its name and harmonizes the white and black teas nicely. I found it to be a pleasant evening cup and agree with Roswell Strange on the rating.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Floral, Grass, Honey, Malt, Sweet

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 30 sec 4 g 12 OZ / 355 ML

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79
drank Cinnamon Chai by teakruthi
2284 tasting notes

I was thinking about Harney’s cinnamon tea when I picked this one, so I was surprised by how mild this is. The black tea is very nice with no bitterness, and the cinnamon is rather muted. This is one you wouldn’t want milk with because it would overwhelm the flavors. It’s definitely not a spicy chai. It’s just a mild black tea with light cinnamon. Not bad.

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drank Wild Monsoon by teakruthi
15575 tasting notes

Gongfu Sipdown (887)!

Is it weird to finish off a Ceylon black tea Gongfu style? Yeah, probably. Do I care though? Not really – it tasted good, and that’s really all I care about…

I sipped on this one after work, while enjoying some fresh raspberries, earlier in the week. I was having trouble finding fresh raspberries last week when I was craving them, so now that I had found them I simply could NOT resist having some with tea. There wasn’t a ton of longevity to this session; after three infusions the leaves were tapped out and I also was brewing for longer time increments than I do in a typical session. However, the flavour was excellent – malty and full bodied, with baked bread and raisin notes. As well as a thick mouthfeel with a playful amount of tannin.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_BCg6NAcH7/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YzFeP6iCXk

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drank Wild Monsoon by teakruthi
15575 tasting notes

Had a regular Western style mug of this one yesterday morning, just hot and straight. It’s really nice and makes for a very good mug of “classic” tasting black tea. Quite malty and coppery, with a nutty note that strongly reminds me of walnuts. Light, pleasant astringency on the back of the teeth. Would be good with honey, but I appreciate it a lot for what it is on its own!

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drank Wild Monsoon by teakruthi
15575 tasting notes

Finally gave this tea a go – it was the last of my batch of free samples from teakruthi that I’d yet to try out. I made it up as a larger Western style of mug to drink while just lounging around and catching up on some comics so it wasn’t something I was giving my undivided attention to. More of just a casual cup.

I liked the flavour a fair amount – lightly sweet and nutty but mostly just a little bit malty. However, as nice as the taste was I found it a bit boring overall and really simple/lacking nuance. It was also just a smidge flat/weak. The thing I was craving most of all from the profile by the time I’d finished the mug was just more body in general – that would have gone a long way. I could probably at least partially achieve that through longer steep time or maybe just more leaf in general. I’ll have enough left for some more experimentation if I remember though…

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97
drank Ceylon Emerald by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Additional notes: If you’re looking for a fruity Gunpowder, this is THE ONE. It is the ultimate fruity green tea. A great mix of fruits. I bought some more a couple months ago because I loved my sample so much. I’d say this batch looks like it has slightly less fruit pieces than my previous sample, but it’s still plenty fruit flavored. So so good for hot days. The second steep is also amazing. Probably a third would be too.

Edited to add: A third half cup steep was still plenty fruity+delicious. I probably could have done a full mug and it would have been fine and full. SUCH a good tea.

derk

Sounds good. Every gunpowder I’ve had has been overwhelmingly vegetal and smokey.

derk

Oh no wonder it’s fruity with all those fruity bits!

Leafhopper

Your high rating makes me want to finally try the sample of this I got last year!

tea-sipper

This one isn’t really vegetal or smokey – but I get what you mean. Maybe gunpowder ages to taste more like that? I think the gunpowder was a good choice for all that fruit flavor, as I can still taste the green tea.

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97
drank Ceylon Emerald by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Thanks again for the samples, Teakruthi!   The fruit here almost looks fresh in the blend — and so many great fruits here – strawberry, pineapple, mango and peach!  Wow.  I can’t ask for a better combination than that.  There even seems to be more fruit than green tea, but the fruit is so very tasty.  Since Gunpowder Green is stronger, the lesser amount of green tea to the fruit balances it out anyway. The flavor is fantastic — creamy yet full of fruit, with that amazing hint of fresh green tea.  And it is quite the tightrope walk balance of tasty fruit to green tea flavors.  This is a must-try blend — I’ve tried plenty of fruit green teas in my time, but this one is unique.  You will know it when you you’re parceling out some leaves in the teaspoon.   I will definitely be ordering this one.  I could drink it by the gallon. 
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 35 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep  

Kawaii433

Sounds delicious!

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drank Ceylon Emerald by teakruthi
2284 tasting notes

Brewed at quite a low temperature to make sure I wouldn’t get bitterness, but then the fruity flavor didn’t infuse too intensely. The main flavor is the gentle green tea. There’s a little bit of what seems like pineapple in the background. It needed extra sugar because I’m not too huge a fan of green tea flavor. But I’m sure this would be great for someone who is who wants just a hint of fruitiness. The more I drank it, the more I ended up enjoying the freshness of the brew.

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90
drank Majestic Chai by teakruthi
4169 tasting notes

Thanks so much for the samples, Teakruthi!  This chai is intriguing, as it focuses mostly on cardamom.  I’ve never seen a chai blend with only cardamom and really, there aren’t many teas with cardamom at all.  There are plenty of cardamom pods here, cut in half, with the lovely Ceylon black tea base.   The Ceylon is medium bodied and lets the flavor of the cardamom be prominent while itself being sweet and smooth.  The fragrance and flavor of cardamom is definitely present and strong. The second steep, just as much cardamom to the flavor. It’s very calming, sweet, creamy, mellow.  It’s a nice change for the taste buds once in a while, instead of the “all the spices” sort of chai all the time.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled  // 3 minute steep

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87
drank The Vanilla Earl by teakruthi
2284 tasting notes

Not the boldest earl grey I’ve had, but it’s flavorful enough that you can enjoy it without milk. I liked the addition of the delicious vanilla because it adds some complexity that sets it apart from other EGs. I finished my sample in no time at all. It’s heavier on the creamy vanilla than on the bergamot, but I didn’t mind.

tea-sipper

Do you remember how you steeped this? I’m tasting hardly any vanilla…

AJRimmer

I’m not very vigilant about proper steeping, so I can’t give specifics. But it was at a relatively low temperature for like 3-4 minutes.

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drank Ceylon Gold by teakruthi
15575 tasting notes

Gongfu Sipdown (806)!

I decided to finish off the last of this sample Gongfu since I had a pretty solid experience with it that first time I brewed it this way. I can’t recall how long my previous session was, but this one was pretty short. Short and sweet, though! Four pleasant steeps, more of a malty and creamy profile with sweet woody undertones and bits of red fruit and creamed honey. Smooth, round mouthfeel.

A coworker also surprised the tea lab with croissants, so I got to enjoy part of this session with a super buttery, flaky croissant which was just to die for (and very complimentary)!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7q7O-Ng1ej/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDXOzr0GoA4

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drank Ceylon Gold by teakruthi
15575 tasting notes

Gongfu!

Thank you very much to teakruthi for providing this sample! I decided to try it Gongfu as that’s how I would normally prepare any silver needle/bud style white tea for myself. It was a solid session, but I do feel I’d have gotten a stronger impression of the overall flavours present were I just drinking it Western style, so I will keep that in mind for when I revisit this tea.

Here’s my write up from instagram:

Gongfu at work this morning; complete with kiwi berries to snack on! Sipped away at one of the samples provided by teakruthi – Ceylon Gold. Full bodied and dark for a bud composed white tea – notes of malt, buckwheat honey, watered down molasses, and cocobolo. The fruit didn’t really work with the tea, so I just brewed out the leaf and then ate my morning snack instead of having them together…

I actually brewed out this tea during the session – ok like for this style; around eight or nine ok steeps, and one pretty crappy one right at the end, which is when I decided to call the session.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pyEmHg70-/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znnm744Tiwc

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69
drank Cinnamon Chai by teakruthi
6444 tasting notes

Sipdown (226)

I made this as both plain and a latte because it is pouring rain in London (or it was) and chai just seemed like the right fit.

The plain cup has a nice cinnamon flavor. Smooth and a bit woody. I like this type of cinnamon because to me it is more natural/high quality vs. the cinnamon used by other tea companies that tends to be overly sweet or tastes like red hots.

The latte was a bit thin but in fairness I steeped the tea and then forgot to set a timer so it could have been understeeped. However it was creamy and had a hint of cinnamon that served its purpose and made for a warming cuppa on a rainy day.

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69
drank Wild Monsoon by teakruthi
6444 tasting notes

Sipdown (269)

This tea has always been a decent cup but nothing beyond that. It is just sort of a solid option but a boring one. So while each cup I had was enjoyable enough, I am also perfectly content saying good bye. Thank you teakruthi for the chance to try it!

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