Category Archives: Black Tea

Saturday Morning Tea

Tea.  Earl Grey.  Hot.

I’ve always wanted to say that but, between you and I, I’ve never cared for Earl Grey tea. I’ve always thought it to be too perfume-y for my taste. I’ve since discovered that perhaps I was being a bit too hasty in my judgment and it had nothing to do with Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Well, maybe a little.

Several months ago, a dear friend was in the hospital for a month. Each day that I would go to visit him, I would stop at the small cafe on the first floor on my way up to his room and get a cup of tea. The selection wasn’t extensive, to say the least (I know, I’m spoiled), and I found myself reaching for a cup of Earl Grey tea. And I liked it. Wait a minute, what? Granted, I laced it with milk and a little sugar but I liked it and found it quite comforting given the circumstances.

So, this morning, dear tea friends, I introduce you to a new love of mine – Earl Grey – this one called Natural Bergamot Earl Grey.

Earl Grey tea is a tea that has been flavored with the oil of the bergamot orange, a small fragrant citrus fruit grown in Italy. If you’d like to read more about its history, I wrote about it here. I find it fascinating that way back in 2007 when I first wrote about Earl Grey tea, my photos included a new journal, too.

This particular Earl Grey has a whole leaf China black tea base. I steeped it for 4 minutes in boiling point water.

Ah, there’s my new journal. I had dinner with a dear friend last night and she gifted me with a beautiful journal. I just love a new journal. It’s a trusted friend, carried with me wherever I go, helping me to record my thoughts, my feelings, my ideas. I’ve always had one as long as I can remember.

The tea brewed up strong and hot, just as Jean-Luc likes it. The best thing about this tea is how the flavor of the China black comes through, true and rich with a hint of earthiness. The natural bergamot oil is just the right level for me, not too overbearing and perfume-y but not too light either. Just right.

I enjoyed my Earl Grey tea plain this time but it will stand up very well to milk or cream, sugar or honey, whatever you’d like to add. As my tea cools, a sweetness becomes more pronounced and lingers in the finish. That sparked an idea about iced Earl Grey with a thick slice of orange or lemon. I’ll have to give that a try when the warm weather arrives.

Do you like Earl Grey tea? I’d love to hear about your experiences with it!

“Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. And whoever this “Earl Grey” fellow is, I’d like to have a word with him… “~Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, Star Trek, The Next Generation

Saturday Morning Tea

Good morning, dear tea friends! To start the holiday weekend festivities, this morning’s tea is a decadent treat – an India black tea (my guess is Assam) with cardamom pods and cocoa and cinnamon pieces – called Melange de Chamonix. Named after the luxurious resort in the French Alps, this is indeed a luxuriant morning treat. Yum.

I think my reindeer friends approve.

The dry leaves have an aroma of spicy chocolate liquor. With the addition of cardamom and cinnamon, I thought this tea would be more like a Chai Spice tea but the cocoa pieces predominant in the aroma and flavor so it is its own wonderfully unique blend.

Look at all of those lovely cardamom pods. I love the taste of cardamom.

I steeped the tea for 5-6 minutes for a rich, cocoa flavor with warm, spicy nuances. After sipping the tea plain for awhile, I poured half a cup and then added sweetener (mine is agave syrup) and a good dollop of whole milk. The flavor is strong enough to come through the additions and I found that the milk gave the tea a creaminess which I really enjoyed. I’ll say it again. Yum.

Comet seems to enjoy the aroma of the deep amber-colored tea liquor.

As much as I love tea with nothing added to it, this lovely tea sure has “spiced up” my morning!

I am going to Michigan for the holidays so there will be no Saturday Morning Tea post next Saturday. I will return in 2 weeks with some new tea to share with you in the brand new year.

Happy Holidays to all of you, dear friends. May your days be filled with light and love and many delicious cups of tea!

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”

~Ebeneezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Saturday Morning Tea

Taxation without representation.

238 years and one day ago, a group of colonists in Boston made a choice that changed the face of history. They refused to pay tax on tea without fair representation in the government and when the governor refused to allow the tea to be returned to England, they took matters into their own hands by dumping all the tea into Boston Harbor.

Boston Tea Party by Nathaniel Currier

All of the tea thrown into the harbor was from China. The bulk of the shipment was called “Bohea tea”, a common China black tea. John Adams recorded in his diary on December 17, 1773:

“Last Night 3 Cargoes of Bohea Tea were emptied into the Sea. This is the most magnificent Movement of all. There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity, in this last Effort of the Patriots, that I greatly admire.“

However, true Bohea tea is in a class by itself, being grown and handcrafted in Wuyi Shan (the Bohea Hills) in Fujian Province. So, without any further ado, I introduce you to Bohea Imperial Organic, the tea I’m enjoying in my cup this morning.

The beautifully handcrafted leaf is rather large and twisted. I steeped it for 4 minutes in boiling point (212 F) water.

As I poured the tea into my mug, a Keemun-like burgundy aroma greeted me. I also detected an underlying smokiness which reminded me of Lapsang Souchong.

I love the way the bare winter branches are reflected in the deep amber liquor in my glass teapot.

The flavor is rich and smooth with pronounced flavor notes of burgundy and smoke. This would be a most excellent choice for those wanting a tea a tad less smoky than regular Lapsang Souchong. I think it would also stand up very well to any additions like a splash of milk and pinch of sweetener. It does have its own dark sweetness so I would first try it without.

The holidays are fast approaching and I’m looking forward to celebrating with my family in Michigan. I hope that in this bustling time that you are able to find some quiet peaceful moments with a cherished cup of tea.

“You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough.  You must want it with an exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.”  ~Sheila Graham

Saturday Morning Tea

Good morning, dear tea friends! For this last Saturday in October, I’ve chosen an Assam which has been described as “a stout cup”. I wanted to review an Assam that knocks your socks off in strength and body.

Meet Langharjan estate TGFBOP Tippy.

Langharjan estate is located near the town of Naharkatiya in extreme northeastern India.

As you can see from the dry leaf above and its leaf designation, TGFBOP or “Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe”, this is a tea with a lot of leaf tip. I find that the tippier Assams are a lot smoother. And this one is so incredibly smooth.

I steeped the leaves for 4 minutes in boiling point (212F) water.

The aroma is lightly malty and rich with a hint of toastiness.

Despite the greyness of the day outside, my teapot glows as if a fire is burning inside of it.

This tea delivers in every way. Rich, malty, smooth as silk, my type of Assam. You could probably coax some astringency out of it by pushing the steep time to 5+ minutes. At that point though you might want to add some milk or cream.

Unbelievably, especially after the winter we had last year, a snowstorm is predicted for our area tonight and into tomorrow. I am not ready for this type of weather again so soon! I will need many cups of tea for comfort as the white stuff descends upon us so unseasonably early.

Stay warm, dear friends, with your hands curled around your favorite cup of tea!

“I like living.  I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” ~Agatha Christie

Saturday Morning Tea

Good morning, dear tea friends! In continuing Assam month here at Art and Tea, I have an unusual Assam filling my cup today, a first flush selection from the Amgoorie estate.

Most Assams are harvested during the summer months, or the second flush season. They are well known and loved for their characteristic full-bodied, hearty, malty flavor profile. This first flush was harvested in the springtime, the first growth of the tea leaves. While the characteristic Assam flavor notes are still there, it usually has a much lighter body.

Even though it’s a whole leaf tea, I steeped the leaves in boiling point (212F) water for only 3 minutes because it’s a first flush and since I wasn’t planning on adding milk. It can be steeped for a longer time if adding milk and/or sweetener, or if you like a brighter quality to your plain tea.

I found this photo of the Amgoorie estate factory. Being a confessed clean freak myself, I’m greatly comforted to know how clean their operation is there. Yes, tea leaves are usually sorted and piled on floors.

The wet leaf has a hint of cocoa aroma that is revealed in its flavor as well. The tea liquor is quite smooth with a fuller body than what I was expecting.

The color in my glass teapot reflects the myriad of oranges and reds flaming across our New England fields and forests.

The flavor is lightly malty with a kick of brightness in the finish.

The last 2 weeks have taken me on a journey I’ve never experienced before. Someone very close to me had major surgery and was in a Boston hospital for 10 days, 5 of those in the ICU. I was brought to a place of seeing and then knowing how your life can change forever in an instant revelation of news we all dread to hear. I felt my heart crack wide open as I traveled each step of the recommended path with my beloved friend and observed the compassionate caring of everyone there to help him through the long process. He is finally home and the healing has begun. Nothing is certain in this life, things change constantly and the best we can do is to live and treasure the moments each one at a time. Until next week, dear tea friends…

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” ~Joseph Campbell