Saint-James O.P.

From the poor neglectede queue! I’d just nearly learned the habit of keeping and posting from the queue regularly, and then Christmas and moving happened. So it’s time to get back in the swing!

Here’s another one out of the EU Travelling Teabox. It took a little detective work to find out what exactly it was, but I asked Google and eventually learned that this is a Sri Lankan black from the Uva district, Saint James being the name of the tea estate/factory. At least I found a tea factory by the name of Saint James in Sri Lanka so I’m going to assume it’s the same place.

Therefore,

Project Ceylon!

If I am correct in my aforementioned assumption then this is a high grown tea, which fits well with the very floral aroma of it. The more high grown a tea is, the more floral it will smell/taste in my experience. There is also a malty and slightly woody note underneath the floral aspect, but it feels like it really is struggling to get through all the floralness.

The first sip reminded me strongly of something but it was so fleeting that I can’t put my finger on what that something was at all. I think it was some sort of food. It was there again on the second sip, but less fleeting and I know what it was now. Persimmons. I’ve never tasted that in a tea before, but that’s exactly what it reminded me of. Possibly because I bought some last week and have been enjoying them. It’s been a long time since I last had persimmons, so I’m extra-aware of their flavour right now. There are other fruits involved here. I’m thinking mainly of things like grapes and possibly plums, but for me it’s large just persimmons.

When I first saw that this was a high grown tea I was instantly worried about the floral aspect, especially what with how floral the aroma was, but I needed not fear. The floral notes, while very much present, are actually quite controlled and there’s no hint of that slightly sour grassy note that I also tend to associate somewhat with high grown. Darjeeling tend to have that note in spades, and I’ve noticed it in many of the high grown Ceylons I’ve tried as well. This makes me wonder if this particular tea is actually closer to mid-elevation than I thought. In my book it would only be a plus if it were.

I found a small amount of malt and sort of brown sugar-y notes at the very bottom of it, but they were really not coming through much at all, so it was mostly the fruity notes with a highlight of floral for me.

This is actually a pretty good tea, and I hope whoever tries it next will enjoy it as well. I will let it remain a ‘try’ rather than a ‘take’, though. Unless I find it difficult to control myself when adding things from my shelves to the box. I was considering earlier what I could put in and it became clear that I would have to either take some more things out of the box or resist sharing some of my things. As I would prefer to share… I shall have to drink some more ‘tries’. :)

Project Ceylon reference map: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=211803378882467968316.0004d6ff92c6d663176b9&msa=0&ll=6.956929,81.038246&spn=0.135296,0.1478

(Husband says it reminds him of tomato soup… I don’t know, guys. I really don’t know.)

I was lucky enough to find this and two other Le Palais Des Thes on eBay UK. All three brand new and 100g packs and I couldn’t be happier with the find. :)

I plan on making wire wrapped gemstones today and watching films so I might as well start my day off with a black tea. As I was about to boil the kettle my new teas arrived and there is no time like the present so Saint James will be the first one I will try.

In raw form this tea is thinly rolled, curly and for the most part finely chopped into 1-2cm long pieces. The leaves are dark brown with a few flashes of burgandy wood coloured leaves mixed amongst them. It has a strong wooden, musky yet floral scent.

The tea is dark brown/black in colour once steeped and has a rich, malted aroma.

The tea has characteristics of malt, wood, flowers, cocoa and musk. It’s a little strange…it tastes like a normal black tea and then it changes to become thickly floral and cocoa like….I’m not so sure of what I make of it. I will have to have another pot of this and re-evaluate. I could just be having an off day with black teas.

3g / 200ml glaspot
single infusion 5m @ 100c

Nice ceylon, but lacks the complex flavours of my other ceylon “New Vithanakande”. Added a dab of honey to round up the flavour. Nice!

by Palais des Thés Advent – Day 6

A good, no-fuss, black tea. Nothing extra in here. Would make a great base for an iced tea pitcher.

This was my second cup from the Palais Des Thes sampler. The notes that accompanied it mentioned some chocolatey notes—I caught a few, but they were pianissimo. What caught my attention was light, sweet, bread-crusty, and malty. Definitely an afternooner—wouldn’t be heavy enough to open my eyes on a winter morning. But still very, very nice.

Palais des Thés Advent Calendar – Day 11 (from November backlog)

Meh, this is okay.

I’m pleased that it isn’t at all bitter after the recommended 4-minute steep. It’s definitely very drinkable with malt, bread, and dried fruit notes, perhaps a bit of honey. There’s also wood and a little touch of astringency. But mostly it tastes tea-ish, hah.

This tea is ok, it’s good but expansive for what it tastes ! At that prices I think we can find much better.

Sipdown (609)!

Midafternoon cuppa from earlier today; I’m split this weekend between a deep desire to work on sipdowns and also to continue my “2019 Goal” of drinking more straight teas at home in addition to at work (even if it’s not always Gongfu Style brewing). Thankfully, this was something that fell into both categories.

I did add a little bit of buckwheat honey to this because I was finding it pretty brisk/harsh just based on first little baby sips after steeping. I think honey was a good choice; it softened the sharp malty edge of the profile, creating a more balanced cup with malt, citrus, and rye bread notes and a slight cocoa/raisin undertone. I really enjoyed this one, actually!

(Even if it was a tea sachet)

Meh.
I had a pot of this one while waiting with a collegue at Gare de Lyon in a kind of design & snobbish café inside the station : le café premier.
Beautiful place but low service level. Not bad, low. More than 15 minutes before the waitress decided to ask us what we would like to drink.

I was happy to welcome a pot (but without lid !) of this tea. Good surprise, no lipton.
No possibility to choice the tea.Having said that I just requested “a tea please” whereas my neighbor asked “what do you have as beer”….of course a lot.

I was a little disturbed by the absence of lid on my pot so I may have understeeped the tea but it has a lack of complexity and body to me.
Correct but nothing more.
More a tea I would drink during a lunch without paying as much attention to.
To be correct with it, I would need to have it at home.

(been debating whether to put this one up or not … alas here it is)
warning: major digression ahead…
tl;dr: floral+wood scent, rusty taste, honey recommended.

The first smell from the bag was riddled with a note of honey and wood but the taste was actually not as floral as I expected. The liquid was a bit dry and rusty (does this even make sense? probably not…) – it felt as if the tea didn’t want to leave my mouth and was trying to cling on to my tongue for just a few more moments. The hint of bitterness in the after-taste reminds me of the doctor visits I had when I was very young – there was a dark sandalwood desk with creases like the skin of the grand canyon on a miniature map. There was the old doctor who never seemed to smile or pay any attention to his little sick and nervous patient, who wrote scribbles on thin, crisp, and semi-transparent papers that no one could understand but were somehow deemed almost sacred in the small clinic in front of his apartment. From the floor to the ceiling, two of the four walls would be covered by neatly organized cabinets with bronzed handles and tiny drawers full of crunchy Chinese herbs, dried flowers, unknown spices, and sometimes even cicada shells (like Kamaji’s boiler room from Spirited Away). Naturally, this ancient and uncomfortably bitter scent would roam through every corner of the room, making me quietly nervous and agitated. Yet when the doctor’s wife finally handed my mom a small bag of mixed Chinese medicine, I’d feel secretly relieved, knowing that the visit was over, and that I’d be better soon.

Oh but I digress…

I did not appreciate the roughness the tea left on my tongue so for the second cup I added a few drops of honey – granted, the sweetness overshadowed some of the complexity but that was nevertheless a good decision in my opinion. Honey tempered the tea and then it was just a smooth and pleasant ride down.