The Tea Merchant

It’s immediately noticeable from the first sip that the vanilla in this tea is different from what I normally expect to find in an Earl Grey Cream tea. It has a much heavier feel to it and now that it’s been pointed out to me, does remind me of ice cream made with an egg custard base. If you haven’t had the opportunity to try this type of ice cream, then you’re really missing out because it is absolutely sinful. As the tea cools the flavor of the vanilla becomes much stronger, which is one of the reasons why I prefer it hot instead of iced. When I know I’m going to have a busy week I like to make up a huge pitcher of tea in advance since I don’t always have the time to be hanging out around my hot water pot. With this tea I noticed that after a few days in the refrigerator the heaviness of the vanilla overwhelmed the other flavors in the tea, making is somewhat difficult to tell that this is an earl grey. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a great tea to drink iced, it has an interesting creamy orange flavor, but this isn’t going to be my preferred way of making this tea because I find myself really missing the flavors of the black base.

Now, while I may have mentioned not enjoying this as much iced, it is a whole other story hot. The 4 ounce package that I splurged on isn’t going to last nearly as long as I had hoped; in the last week I’ve run through nearly an ounce of this tea trying to ward off the chill from the sub zero temperatures we’re having at night. I’ve really enjoyed the way the French vanilla, bergamot, and black base blend together, although I do prefer a longer steeping time so the black base comes out more than the vanilla. This comes down to my personal preference, while I have a massive sweet tooth I find that at a 3 minute steep the French vanilla is a little sweet for my tastes and is much better balanced with a 4 minute first steep and 5 minute resteep.

For the complete review please visit my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/2/25/tuesday-tea-french-earl-grey-the-tea-merchant.html

Tea & Cards TTB #8
I spent a good part of my day at a brewery today, so suffice it to say, I had a lot of non-tea beverages today. Anyway, when I finally got home, I wanted a nice pot of tea to wind down with a bit, and this one looked so pretty in the bag that I just went for it. I goofed a bit and underleafed, so it was a bit watery, but I still got a very strong vanilla flavor. I don’t think I’ve ever had vanilla oolong (as opposed to vanilla black), but I found the combination quite nice. I’m glad to have this tea to cozy up with at the end of a long, cold day!

There are several reasons why this tasty oolong deserves such a high score. Any of them taken alone would have justified an 81-90 but combined this pushes it into the 90’s for me.

First, DO expect vanilla. Lots of it. Particularly on the first infusion. But even with the tons of vanilla, you can still taste the oolong so it’s not like drinking a pure vanilla shake. The liquor is incredibly smooth and has a creamy mouthfeel, I suppose hence the name silk dragon. Once you add any kind of sweetener (I like stevia leaves or raw honey), then the first infusion is pretty much a vanilla eden. What an awesome desert. That alone, however, would have only put the tea into my 75-79 score range, as I make my own fresh vanilla extract and can slap some into anything for flavor and aroma, although this does cut down the cost of it dramatically.

Next, this tea has a lot of patience. I’m on the 5th infusion and it still tastes wonderful. I’ll do a side-by-side tasting of multiple steepings for further comparison later, I didn’t save any from the previous infusions because it was very tasty. The vanilla hasn’t faded away, although maybe the oolong is coming through a bit more prominently now. Since you can also make so much tea from the leaves, I have found an awesome use for this as well — combine a bunch of steepings into a container, add some sweetener of choice, let it sit in the fridge overnight, filter it, then carefully run it through the sodastream. Boom, cream soda tea. From 2-3 tsp of leaves I can make a liter of this tasty beverage, and unlike some other teas which carbonate poorly, there is no astringency or bitterness for the bubbles to highlight so it really does become like a cream soda to me, minus any of those calories.

This is also my new vanilla blender for teas. Any time I want vanilla in something, I’ll reach for this (first I need to buy a supply, as I have now finished the sample I ordered). There are several reasons why it goes into blends so well. One, unlike vanilla blacks, greens and rooibos, the oolong is so mellow that it does not fight or overpower even the most delicate of nuances from other teas. Unlike vanilla whites, i’m not paying white tea prices for something to blend into other teas. My favorite blend so far: 1 part Slik Dragon, 1 part Bourgeons De Yunnan from Palais des Thes (any good Dian Hong will do), and 1 part Spice of Life from Teavana (still trying to replicate that using fresh nuts & spices). Makes a 10-12oz cup, add 1 tsp raw honey and you have yourself a nutty vanilla creme brulee in a cup. OMG lovely.

Starts off smoky-sweet and quite smooth. Mineral notes like deep limestone spring water are strongest, next come the toasted woody acidity. Leafy greens like kale add some slightly bitter notes one would expect.

As you progress through infusions, sweet floral notes begin to appear and become more pronounced, sometimes a dash of cinnamon and honey, bitter notes fade into the distant background. Comes a bit earlier if you start with a rinse, which makes a more well rounded start, but I kinda enjoyed the more distinct phases/evolution.

A fun journey with a few unexpected twists and turns, and was a fun brew to show my Mom (who I am introducing to quality teas slowly) how flavor profiles can change dramatically as you resteep.

TTB #19

It is a nice dessert oolong smelling and tasting strongly of vanilla, but also of some undefined milky candy sweetness. Not bad for a flavored green oolong (its dry leaf looked pretty awesome too).

Now that I have the last few sips of it cold, it actually reminds me a little of Golden Moon’s Coconut Pouchong.

Ah, I was gone from you for too long, delicious coconut white tea. I made a pot this morning and it’s got the faintest ’I’ve gone off’ taste to the coconut. I’ll finish the cup I have, but the rest of the pot, and the rest of the dry bag, are getting disposed of soon. Sad, because I love this tea and if I remember correctly, the maker of it is no longer in business.

I should have written this note earlier when I was drinking the cup of tea from this pot that actually tasted pleasant. I made this with more tea than I think I usually do since this is my first brew with a pot than a portable steeper, I think. Hard to say. Anyway.

The first cup tasted good. Sweet and light though it was a little overwhelmed by my lunch. I polled the Steepster chat and that was the best suggestion offered for a tuna fish sandwich tea pairing. Wasn’t horrible.

Second cup is after I had to go to a psychologist appointment (reason why later) and a meeting and I re-heated it in the microwave and blech, this is bad. I have one cup left and I think I’ll just drink that cold.

So yeah. One of my co-workers was murdered last night. What the fuck is wrong with people?

I was sure I’d reviewed this tea recently since this is the second time I’ve had it at work in the last few weeks but apparently not.

Still good. Coconut is still good, does not taste like soap. My colleague likes it too.

Nice nice nice. After and still being very sick (and still sorry to the people who are supposed to be getting tea from me), I’m making tea for the first time in days and it had to be this one, something sweet and light and delicious.

I have a headache again so I can’t appreciate it fully but I’m managing to forget it sometimes between this wonderful white coconut tea an the Sherlock fanfiction series that I’m deeply invested in.

I really really wanted a coconut tea this afternoon, on my sick day home from work. I’m not really sick but I got to sleep late and then slept super poorly and just could not get out of bed this morning. And by the time I felt better, it was past noon, so I just gave up on the whole day.

I told myself I wouldn’t open any more packages but I had no coconut teas open and I recently got this from The Tea Merchant in my order of teaware (and this, not a free sample, a whole couple of ounces I think). I’m glad I ordered it though because it is so very VERY nice.

I haven’t had many coconut teas before, much less white tea with coconut but I think right now that it is the perfect combination. There is a definite sweetness to this and a vanilla lingering taste. I’m also picking up something that is trying to taste like alcohol, without the alcohol burningness. Like maybe rum, I think. I usually don’t like rum in any form but it’s combining quite nicely in this. I wonder what’s causing that? Natural flavours ingredient perhaps.

At any rate, I’m glad this is so good because I’ll have to drink it up quickly before the coconut turns to soap. But this is, definitely, a very nice tea.

Cold steep resteep; about 18 hours in the fridge. More hay notes and a slightly floral finish, but it’s not as nice as the first time around. It reminds me a lot of straight white tea but much stronger in flavor. I don’t think I’ll be getting this one again, and I’m starting to consider putting it in the swap pile for someone who’ll like it more. I still have at least half the bag.