Spring Ching Classic

I had the pleasure of attending a girlfriend's bridal shower recently.  Being a fellow tea lover, she included in her game prizes little tins of T2 teas.

I managed to score myself a tin of Lung Ching Classic!  I was quite stoked as it was a tea I was yet to sample.

The next day, I was at work and decided to indulge in a much needed break and try my new tea.  I filled a glass teapot with an infuser with boiling water and waited until it had cooled to about 80 degrees celcius.  I plopped in a teaspoon of the spear-shaped green leaves and watched them unfurl and dance for about 2 minutes before removing the infuser to prevent the tea over-brewing.

The smell was subtle, but strong.  You could barely catch a whiff of it but when you managed to inhale a few molecules the actual smell was divine.  The tea leaves barely coloured the water.

I decided to jump straight in and taste it.  The flavours were deceptively strong for such a light green tea.  It was an interesting mix of citrus-y lime and woodsmoke.  Both fresh and old.  Strange, but true!  It didn't taste astringent in flavour but it did leave a dryness in my mouth.

It tasted just like the weather that day.  It was raining but you could see pockets of sunshine between the rain clouds creating a strange dichotomy, just like the flavours in the tea.  I imagine in being a great summer/spring tea.  Both cooling and warming all at once.

Ah, what a beautiful break.  Now back to work!

Darjeeling Maikaibari

Recently I had the time to make a visit to one of my favourite tea places, The Tea Centre in Sydney's Glasshouse.

I decided on the devonshire tea which features a tea of your choice from their huge range of teas plus a divine fresh scone (a very large fresh scone too!), strawberry jam and double cream...YUM!

I chose to try their Darjeeling Makaibari FTGFOP (Organic).  Makaibari is a tea plantation in the hills of India and it makes some delicious teas.  The letters in the name of the tea indicate the grade; in this case Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe!  There's a mouthful.  This is the finest grade of tea and I am reliably informed by wikipedia that it also stands for "Far Too Good  For Ordinary People".  I can't say I agree.

Anyway, before diving into my delicious scone I took a deep whiff of the liquid gold.  It smelled smoky.  It also smelled strongly of cooked tomatos with a hint of fresh bread.  Perfect for a cool winters day!

I took a quick slurp to increase the flavour and it exploded in delicious savoury tomato and pepper flavours. 

I am always partial to tea with milk and sugar so I added a little of both.  The tomato flavour remained but now it had a soft sweetness.  The peppery flavours were dampened by the milk becoming a smooth woody taste.

It was like the taste of a lounge fireplace, with a beautiful roaring wood fire, a good book and a mohair blanket.  I daydreamed awhile before remembering my scone was getting cold.

Mmm....now to get lost in the creamy, crumbly scone...

Tingly Mint Tisane

One of my favourite tea empires (or is it empiresses), Madame Flavour has released some delicious organic tisanes.  For the uninitiated, a tisane is a herbal tea.  Since herbal teas don't actually include tea leaves in the brew, they aren't strictly tea at all.  Hence, tisanes.

I had the pleasure of trying the new Organic Mint Tisane.  Unlike many teas, even the organic mint tea bags are tasty looking.  Bright green mint leaves and tiny blue flower petals (cornflower petals I expect) jumble randomly in the cute cornsilk bag.  Even the smell is quite amazing.  I opened the packet to be greeted by the most intense scent.  Like inhaling a packet of Mint Slice biscuits.  Yum!

The brewed tisane looks like liquid gold.  It is a beautiful yellow with a less intense minty smell.  More like a vintage mint, but still fresh enough for a big sniff to clear the nose.

The taste is really beautiful.  It starts in the mouth as a slight minty taste almost like mint on a green tea base but without any of the astringency that marks green tea.  Then it develops after swallowed into a tingly minty taste all over your mouth.  I've very invigorating without being overpowering.  Each sip is a little warm zing of freshness!

Such a lovely way to start a summer's day or even for an afternoon pep up!

Madame Flavour does Pear

Green tea now comes in so many flavours it can be a minefield to work out what you like.

One I tried some time ago now is the Green, Jasmine and Pear from that divine teahouse, Madame Flavour.

I first got into Madame Flavour teas about a year ago.  I was wandering along George Street near Martin Place in Sydney when I had thrust into my hands by some marketing people three tiny boxes.  Each contained a beautifully presented cornsilk teabag with each of English Breakfast, Sultry Chai and Green,  Jasmine and Pear.  I headed back to work and immediately tried out the tea.  It was lovely!  The taste aided by the beautiful presentation: each in a tiny cardboard box with a silver lining and containing a little note explaining how to enjoy the tea.  It was so beautiful, I immediately hunted down Madame Flavour online (http://www.madameflavour.com.au/) and ordered a box of the English Breakfast.  A few days later it arrived with a handwritten note from Madame Flavour herself thanking me for my kind words and including a huge box of all different types of individually boxed teas!!!

The combination of the quality of the tea, the presentation and the generousity of the owner mean that I simply cannot say how much a love Madame Flavour!

Anyway, she does a mean Green, Jasmine and Pear.

It smells fruity and very strongly of jasmine.

The taste is of a traditional jasmine green tea however it has a mellow sweetness which introduces the pear.  It is more an aftertaste than the main fanfare but I rather like it.

It is a strong tea so those that find green teas a little too strong or astringent would probably prefer a lighter green tea flavour.

I, for one, am a fan.  So Green, Jasmine and Pear has been featuring as the green of choice in my tea box for the last twelve months and it has been very well received by my tea guests.

I would highly recommend checking out Madame Flavour's website.  Even if you don't particularly care for tea, you will still enjoy the beautiful graphics and words.  For the standard tea lover, I highly recommend the English Breakfast.  For the herbal tea lover, I recommend the White Tea with Rose (I know it is still a real tea but it is so light and sweet that you would never know).  She has also recently introduced some real tisanes to the mix.  I have not yet tried them but I be sure to report once I have!