Tealet Doke Rolling Thunder
Country of Origin: India Leaf Appearance: mottled greens and browns with some silver tips Ingredients: oolong tea Steep time: 30 seconds Water Temperature: 175 degrees Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan Liquor: amber Rolling Thunder from the Doke Tea Estate in Bihar, India has been on my wish list for a long time. When +Tealet had a sale around Christmas I could not resist ordering some. It is unusual both because it is an oolong and because of where it comes from. The taste was malty, floral and sweet with a mild fruity quality. I wouldn’t quite call it muscatel but was sort of grapey. There was just a touch of astringecy but I would definitely advise…
Tealet OP1 with Tea Flowers
Country of Origin: Sri Lanka Leaf Appearance: long, dark and somewhat twisted Ingredients: black tea, tea flowers Steep es Water Temperature: 212 degrees Preparation Method: porcelain teacup and mesh infuser Liquor: bright reddish brown As soon as I saw +Tealet post about this one, I just knew that I had to try it. Not only is it from the Amba Estate in Sri Lanka that I have heard so much about but it also has Camelia Sinensis flowers blended with it. Although not very large, they still made me do a little happy dance when I opened my tin for the first time. It’s not often that you find such large, whole leaves from this region.…
Tealet LongWu Dragon Well Green Tea
Country of Origin: China Leaf Appearance: jade green, flat Ingredients: green tea Steep time: 30 seconds Water Temperature: 175 degrees Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan Liquor: pale gold There’s nothing quite like a good dragonwell and this one was fantastic. I was generously given a tin of this tea at a spur of the moment food court tea tasting at the Javits Center. I just love the flat, broad shape of the leaves. A small amount of fuzz was visible. This is often an indication of the quality. The aroma before and after steeping was so clean and fresh. Full bodied with strong notes of chestnut, the taste was classic dragonwell all the way.…
Tealet Gu Ha Sheng Pu’er
Country of Origin: China Leaf Appearance: dark, compressed, lots of buds Ingredients: sheng puerh tea Steep time: 30 seconds Water Temperature: 212 degrees Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan Liquor: deep gold I first shared this tea with +Elyse Petersen from +Tealet and +Natasha N from The Snooty Tea Blog during an impromptu food court tea tasting. I was excited to be able to taste it at home since foam cups and not quite hot water isn’t the best method of preparation. The first infusion was herbaceous and full bodied with a thick mouthfeel. There was an interesting cooling aftertaste along with a lingering sweetness. As each infusion progressed an earthy astringency came to forefront. That will mellow out with time…
Podcast Episode 4: Interview with Elyse from Tealet
+Elyse Petersen from +Tealet is one of the most enthusiastic tea lovers that I have had the pleasure to meet. I’m so excited to share my recent interview with her. We talked about everything from tea to Hawaii and Tetris. I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did! Here are some the links Elyse mentions in case you want to check them out: Tealet: http://www.tealet.com Free Hawaii Tea: http://www.tealet.com/tea/profile/38 Wholesale Auctions: http://www.tealet.com/wholesale Vimeo Page: https://vimeo.com/tealet/videos
Tealet Genmaicha
Country of Origin: Japan Leaf Appearance: dark green, somewhat flat with lots of genmai Ingredients: Yanagi Bancha, toasted sweet mocha rice Steep time: 3 minutes Water Temperature: 195 degrees Preparation Method: ceramic teapot Liquor: greenish yellow, somewhat cloudy I’ve always enjoyed genmaicha. It’s my go to comfort tea on a cold day and it even helped me survive Hurricane Sandy. This particular rendition is probably the best one that I’ve ever had. The taste was nutty and sweet with a buttery mouth-feel. No wonder genmaicha is called popcorn tea! I couldn’t resist snacking on a few pieces of popped genmai before steeping and they were delicious. I found this tea to be quite a…
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