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.

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.

Sampler Sunday! It’s my birthday and I bought myself a small carrot cake, because why not? I thought a simple black tea would go well to accompany the sweet, so I went through my black tea blends and of the three I had stashed, I asked Todd which one I should go with and he “liked the sound” of this one. It was a freebie sampler I got from the Lupicia San Jose store when I visited on my trip last November… to think that storefront would be closed a few months later!

Since there is Darjeeling in this blend, I decided to drop the temperature a bit from what I usually brew my blacks at (205F) to 190F. I kept the steep length the same (3 min) since it looked like mostly whole leaf in my sachet. The brewed tea was a lovely brown shade with a touch of coppery hue and smelled very malty, with some notes of baked cinnamon bread, and a slight floral undertone. Thankfully this cup did not turn out too strong, and perhaps it could’ve turned out that way had I used warmer water or steeped it longer, but this pretty much hit my perfect zone for a black tea, which was a smooth medium bodied brew that can be taken nicely plain. The flavor was a nice malty flavor with a natural sweetness to it, reminding me of baked bread with a touch of honey, and there was a slight cinnamon spice and subtle citrus note toward the end of the sip. There was also a very subtle floral sweetness lingering in the background, which was quite nice as well.

Brewed at these parameters, this was a lovely cup, and went nicely with my indulgently sweet carrot cake!

Interesting blend; I can taste the darjeeling with hints of other leaves. This is a smooth, lightly warm-sweet tea.

2017 Note: Lupicia also has a special premium line of their teas under the umbrella term “La Belle Epoque”. When I was visiting Japan, I was not able to find Emerald Earl Grey because it is now part of the La Belle Epoque line and only one of their branches carry this line (Jiyugaoka branch). You can order this special line of teas on the Japanese Lupicia website but they only ship to Japanese addresses.