1765 Tasting Notes
Anyone who knows this little shop in Bloor West village – they just had an entire shipment of product stolen from them. I feel terrible for the couple. They looked so distraught.
This is one of the very last tea shops in Toronto and has been around for as long as I can remember. If you’re able to support them as they recover the loss, please stop by!!
(I have no idea if insurance can or will cover it, or if those payments would arrive in time to relieve any financial burden, I just thought it would be nice to spread the word while I can).
As for the tea… delightful! I really like my tea super bold and strong and this one got about halfway there. I’ll try it iced next as I suspect this profile will lend itself wonderfully to that.
They gave this to me at the tea festival as a sample, the green box from the pic that is. One of the better teas I’ve tasted from tea tang!
I expected a coppery mess, considering the package was free, and 20g… but no, I find it delightful and bright with a decent kick of caffeine though not the strongest I’ve had by any means.
I suppose this is what quality “copper” notes are supposed to be eh? It does taste very vaguely metallic, but not in the overpowering way I’ve experienced with other Ceylon teas. In fact, I would say it’s a balance of stone fruit, malt and copper that blend together so well its impossible to distinguish the lines. A complex tea, yay! Impressed. If I had more, it would even become a go to in my weekly rotations, and I don’t think I have EVER said that about a straight Ceylon…
After having had this a few times, I am in very like, almost love with this tea. Probably because I enjoy maple, but it isn’t my fave. If maple is your jam? this will be YOUR jam. Wait. Is maple jam a thing? cuz if it is I so wanna try that.
Anyhow. I’ll keep this one on my rotation going forward for as long as it’s around, though I don’t think its really a staple item. It’s quality enough that I’ll use it for gift giving, and I like to have hidden jems (not jams in this case) in my back pocket so that should give you an idea of how highly I regard this tea!!
NOMS
I threw some of this into a mango smoothie the other day. With vanilla yogurt (it was all I had at the time) and some peppermint matcha. Oh and a ton of ice. It turned out really nicely!! Not overly sweet, which is what I wanted to avoid. The mint made it super refreshing and balanced out the other spices perfectly. Now, my peppermint matcha is pretty old so the potency is kinda meh. But it was super strong when I first bought it.
Anyhow. I’ll totally try this combo again if I can!
I’m not so big on this one as a straight up tea, which I kinda expected. Definitely needs a latte style treatment. Normally with chai I don’t bother heating up the milk because I prefer the spice balance when I just add some dairy milk. But this one? it’s kinda bitter with just a few dashes of milk. And I found the same with almond milk as well. So next up, I’ll see if I can do it up cooked in a big pot-o-milk.
Also! I added some to soup. That was really good. But I’ve made three or four soups in the last few weeks and I can’t recall which. Woops.
Ok so it isn’t surprising that this tea is finicky. Yanno, cuz those white teas are entitled princesses haha
(all jest! I’m politically neutral and accepting, of course. Just mocking the media here…)
Anyhow. The balance of peach flavour vs steep time and amount of leaf/water needs more research. Hmmm. Lowering from 93 to 89.
That’s kind of you and despicable of whoever hijacked the tea.
I went to their website to see if I could order something, but it looks like they don’t ship to the US unless I am missing something,
thank you gmathis!
Ashmanra – oh wow you’re right! I only ever bought from them in person and never thought to check that. Thanks for pointing that out