La Belle Epoque

This teabag came as a free sample in one of my recent Lupicia newsletters.

I love art, so I was really into the name of this one! After I realized it was predominately a darjeeling blend, I do wish I had steeped it at a somewhat lower temperature than boiling.

I got a dark brownish-red tea liquor in my cup. There is definitely a lot of second flush darjeeling going on here, and another element which I am guessing is an assam? It has a very woodsy and spicy element in the cup. Sipping on it plain wasn’t too bad at all, but it was also nice with a touch of soymilk. Overall, not bad, but I don’t think I need any more.

I had to buy this tea because of the name. I am, after all, a creature formed in the 20th century and my sensibilities, thus, have been trained to respond to various stimuli. I’m not the kind of person who responds to “Blue Light Special” or “Blue Plate Special” or “Savings!”. But anyone who would like to attract my attention can do so by a soupçon of French or un po’ d’Italiano. Adding an evocation of the past (vintage, Edwardian, Victorian, nostalgic) wins bonus points and I’m happily ready to separate myself from the contents of my wallet. I ordered “La Belle Epoque” in one of those Pavlovian moments. Who wouldn’t like a drink from “La Belle Epoque?”

I am so happy to report that this is a wonderfully robust Darjeeling. Darjeelings are quickly becoming my first morning brew of choice. This one steeps rapidly and quickly becomes an almost deep red color. Slightly smoky, woodsy, spicy, the tea tastes as if a dash of salt had been added (could that be the Belle Epoque?) but it really works in this tea as a piquant note.

Having now finished my second cup, I am nostaligic for me. This blend is certainly going on my list of teas that must be re-ordered.

My first experience with Lupicia was good. Although they don’t have the almost instant delivery of Upton’s; they delivered within 8 days of having the order confirmed and included two free samples.

I think this is the freshest of my randomly found Lupicia samples. This is surprisingly good! It’s a nice balance of smooth and brisk. The Darjeeling comes through strong, but the other teas in the blend are equally present. I usually hate drinking black tea straight, but I drank the whole cup this way! Yum! This is a solid choice if you like Darjeelings. I’m thoroughly enjoying this. :)

My 10th tea from The Book of Tea. So now The Book is 1/3 completed! :D

This tea has a beautiful and nostalgic name. Frankly speaking, I don’t really get what the “nostalgic aroma” means… does it refer to the fruity and earthy aroma that I got? Anyway, it smelted lovely and comforting, especially on a cold winter evening! At first I thought it was just an innocent cup of Darjeeling, but then I found out that it had a unique salty aftertaste that I had never got from other Darjeeling teas. Even more unexpected was that it had a tinge of spiciness that became detectable as I kept drinking. I don’t think I like the tea more because of the savoury aftertaste and spiciness, but they appear to make this blend special memorable. A tea that leaves a deep impression… perhaps that’s why they call it La Belle Epoque? ;)

This was very good, and I didn’t actually realize it was a Darjeeling until after reading these reviews! I got it free in a Lupicia mail order and it was a very interesting taste.

I actually usually shy away from Darjeeling, I don’t know why, it usually tastes too light and acidic or something to me, and I often go much heavier and maltier (i.e. Assam or Yunnan Gold) when picking a Black tea. But this was really quite good, I had it without milk and it was quite a powerful taste. At first the colour and texture made me think it was actually a Pu-Erh!! It is a bit woodsy. Maybe there is some mix in here. In any case it’s a great blend of some sort, and I enjoyed it a lot more than a straight Darjeeling.

Fourth sample of the eight samples in the Lupicia pack. Halfway through already. I should really buy more sample packs, but then I would rather look for more Japanese or Chinese tea samplers, as I have realized that I do quite often prefer these teas over Indian black teas.

Nonetheless, it is an Indian blend that is on the breakfast menu today. It is the La Belle Epoque, which I guess you do not even need to know French to understand what it means. (Thank you, French influence on the English language.) I found it quite fitting to be saved for today as I am celebrating my birthday, and could use some nostalgia before moving on to the new year and new age.

And indeed, when the strong smell arises from the deep red coloured liquid pouring into the cup, I do indeed feel a slight bit of nostalgia – or maybe just a hint of imaginative refinedness.

The taste is strong and robust at first, yet contains very round chocolate darjeeling elements which become more present as the breakfast goes on. I guess a strong Indian blend is best consumed accompanied by a light meal, as they tend to be a little too strong alone for my taste. (Better prepare some good pastries for the Ceylon sample!)

All in all a good tea, a pleasant breakfast and nice start of the day.

Sipdown (2990)!

To be honest, I really haven’t done much exploration at all of Lupicia’s straight teas since their blends have always been so much more interesting to me. So, I’m kind of glad to get to try a few now! Dry leaf aroma on this one was very nice. Fruity and muscatel but with hints of florals and spice too.

Steeped up, it’s nice but not mind blowing. I can taste all of the notes I was getting in the aroma: muscat grapes, florals, and spice. Cinnamon, specifically. However, it’s also a little more flat/muted than I’d have expected and there’s a strong woodiness that I’m only feeling so-so about. That’s NOT to say it’s flat tasting overall. Just flatter than anticipated. As it cools more of the fruity notes come out though, and a touch of honey as well. The woodiness also mellows a little. So, it got better over the course of the mug and was perfectly fine for a blend of plain black teas, with the emphasis on the Darjeeling.

Day 8 of the Lupicia advent calendar. There’s one sachet of this, which I’m actually totally fine with. When I realized that this is a classic-style black tea blend that includes Darjeeling and therefore has a high likelihood of pain, I decided to give it to my iron-stomached black-tea-drinking partner instead. He asked for it as a cold brew, so it brewed overnight in the fridge. I had a few sips for science and the rest was his. This was very low on the astringency, perhaps because we cold brewed it. The best way I can describe it is “like Lipton but better.” It tastes like a standard black tea but smoother and a little fruity. Report from partner: “I added some agave, it was fine, it just tasted like black tea.”

WIth a name like La Belle Epoque, expectations were rather heightened. It’s a nice, standard Darjeeling blend. It is smooth and brisk with a slight hint of the promised muscatel. It’s sort of the black turtleneck of tea: a solid, reliable performer but nothing to get excited over. It’s a good quality tea with no bitterness or astringent notes, but nothing to distinguish it from any other of the hundreds of blends just like it. I am an inveterate straight tea drinker, so I am judging all my Darjeelings and other black blends without milk/sugar.

I did just get the Lupicia Book Of Tea, so I have 100 bags to work through. Quite a fun project for the upcoming bleak winter.

Sipdown 4

I remember enjoying this, but cannot recall a single thing about the flavor.