In Love with #JusTea

Mount Kenya Black is the first tea I have tried from Justea and I’m already in LOVE. I adore the tins, the labels, the packaging, the SPOONS, and of course the Mount Kenya Black from Justea!

Before I get to the tasting notes I have to point out that this tea has one and only ingredient and that is 100% Rainforest Alliance Kenyan Black Tea. It’s certified. It’s also Non-GMO Project Verified. PLUS this company is a Fair Trade Federation Member. Mount Kenya Black Tea from Justea is small-scale farmer grown, pesticide-free, and no chemicals were ever sprayed on the tea leaves! This is a tea and company I can get behind for sure!

As for the tasting notes and profile – it’s just as impressive! This tea is strong and malty and reminiscent of cocoa and dried fruit such as plums/prunes or raisins. The caffeine is HIGH and makes for a great hearty morning steep or an nice eye-opener during your afternoon lull

This is a black tea that I was able to get 2 spiffy infusions out of! Something I’m always impressed by if a black tea can pull it off that is! I really like the strength of this tea but also the way it’s smooth at the same time. This is a REAL WINNER all the way around!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  JusTea
Description

Mt. Kenya Black: A sip of our whole leaf black tea transports you to the lush, jade tea gardens at the foot of Mt Kenya. This rich black tea is fresh and smooth, but packs a serious hit of flavour. Sweet and complex on its own, but equally superb with a splash of milk and sugar. Also delicious as an iced tea!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Georgia Mr Ramirez’s Hand-Made Black Tea from What-Cha. . . . .

There was a time when I was young, and I was afraid of straight teas. So, it just tasted like, um, tea? Without anything in it? What was the appeal?

I’ve since realized that tea by itself can taste like anything, depending on what type of tea it is, and where it was grown. Like grapes and wine, tea leaves can be altered by circumstance.

So Georgia  is a black tea. But it’s also more than a black tea, without anyone having to do anything. Which is kind of crazy.

This tea has heavy-hitting notes of fruit. I’m getting a very sweet raisin.

It reminds me a lot of Sun-Maid raisin boxes my mom used to throw in my lunch when fruit wasn’t on sale.

(Did you know that honeycrisp apples are around $3.99/pound right now? Even crappy apples like Red Delicious can get costly for a family of four. Raisins are a steal, friends.)

I loved those boxes of raisins. I loved how the beautiful Sun Maid lady was in a circle-halo like the Virgin Mary. I enjoyed pulling the stems out of the raisins. I liked their squishy pop. I was super-into digging into the bottom of the box to get the last raisins that were stuck down there. Raisin-scraping was just as satisfying as picking my nose, but socially acceptable. Every box was a project unto itself. No raisin was left behind.

I’d like to thank this tea for bringing back a very cherished childhood memory I’d completely forgotten.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Description

A smooth fruity black tea with a sweet gentle taste of apricots and prunes and completely free of astringent tones.

Completely hand-produced by Mr. Ramiz, who at over sixty years of age, is one of the most experienced and respected tea producers within Georgia. Mr. Ramiz produces small monthly batches of tea from his own private garden, which rarely exceed 20 kilograms in quantity.

Sourced direct from tea nomad Petr Sič who travels to Georgia multiple times each year in search of the very best teas and works very closely with the producers.

Tasting Notes:
– Brilliant smooth taste
– Sweet and light taste taste of apricots and prunes

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Mission Hill Black from Teabox

Today’s sample comes from Teabox, a company with stunning, simple-yet-effective graphic design on its website. You can search by tea type, regions, flush seasons, estates, etc. I’m still working on my own personal knowledge base about these things, so this is a great research tool.

misisonhillblack2This sample is a Spring 2015 Darjeeling from the Mission Hill Estate. My sample bag says that this has “notes of almond, zucchini, and magnolia.”

Of those three things, I honestly can only say I’m familiar with almonds. I was a horribly picky eater as a child, which sometimes hinders my ability to write knowledgeably about tea. (This is why my reviews tend to wander off-topic into metaphors/associations/feelings.)

This tea boils up to a very light brown tea. Don’t be fooled by the color. It’s super-robust. It reminds me of English Breakfast which, traditionally, includes Indian elements (this tea is from Darjeeling, India).missionhillblack

It has a lot of rich, deep notes, but alongside that are coppery, bright sparkles. If I were to liken this to music, it’d be like a cello  accompanied by a lovely child’s voice. Like something that one would play in a rustic church.

I typically prefer blends, and I’m always happily surprised when I find something that’s “straight” I adore. This is one kind of tea from one place from one season. It has no additives; however, it packs a lot of depth. I totally recommend this one.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: TeaBox

Description

AROMA

Lifted bouquet of aromatic white flowers.

APPEARANCE

Light amber

TASTE

A restrained cup, slightly sweet, with soothing herbal nuances accompanied by notes of white flowers and toasted nuts.

COMPLEMENTS

Best paired with caprese salad.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Talayar Limited Edition Black Tea from The Tea Shelf

talayarTea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: The Tea Shelf

Tea Description:

These limited edition teas are crafted by hand by selective picking and gentle processing, resulting in exquisite teas with the right twist and form. A knobbly gnarly look with peaks of silver and the odd bright green, they have gentle hints of spice when infused. The tea completely blossoms into individual leaves without any signs of wear or tear; the magic of hand rolled. This is indicative of the care taken in the picking and processing of these teas. The golden liquor captures the delicate floral character, and broad brush strokes of spice, particularly pepper. These teas are an embodiment of tea in its finest form from this region.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Oh sweet mama this tea is singing to me!

This particular tea is a tea I won with a tea best tea bud of mine on a Facebook contest.  I know! I never win those contests either but I won this go around from The Tea Shelf, so first off- thank you The Tea Shelf for an amazing sampling of your teas.  It is much appreciated!

Now, to the tea!

This specific tea is a black tea and from the little symbols on the pouch this tea is indulging, low caffeine, floral, good for anytime and is to be drank plain. ( Can I say how much I adore these little symbols.  I didn’t notice them until I was reviewing the tea but so fun! ) While steeping, this tea had such a beautiful lovely floral fragrance.  I couldn’t wait for the 3 minutes to be up so I could take my first sip!

First sip and just wow.  This tea has the it factor for the afternoon.  Really good.  The floral notes are gorgeous and provide a sweet backdrop for the smooth yet slightly astringent finish.  The tea has this nice contrast between sweet and savory going on.  The description depicts a tea with a pepper like profile but I’m not getting that right now.  I’m getting a more sweet savory sort of malty tea that is going down smooth and really enveloping my whole mouth.

This tea is making me happy right now and this is only the first infusion.  I’m curious if the more infusions and time I spend with this tea if i will be able to get more of those pepper notes to appear.  If not, I’m quite satisfied with what I have.  This is hitting the spot this afternoon.

San-Te-Ria from Lemon City Teas

santeriaTea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: Lemon City Tea

Tea Description:

You forgot to make an offering to your orishas today? No wonder you’re feeling so tired. Have a cup of San-té-ria. This blend of premium black tea will get you so awake, it’ll seem like divine intervention..

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is sipdown #13 on my epic journey to sipping down my tea stash before I can buy more.

What a great tea too! This tea is very well done and is giving me the pep in my step for the rest of the afternoon.  This tea can be bought as a loose leaf tea or tea bags.  I had the tea bag variety which is lovely for when I’m at work.  Boil some water and plop in the tea bag.  A few minutes later, TADA! Lovely tea.

This particular tea is a blend of different black teas.  From what I’m seeing on the back of the package this is Premium Whole Leaf Nilgiri Tea-Hand-Blended with Yunnan Golden Buds. Well, whatever it is blended with, it is good!

San-te-ria hits all the right notes that I like in my black teas.  Not overly malty with a hint of dryness, but by no means overwhelming.  A smooth sipping tea.  This one definitely has those trademarks and more.  I’m really liking it and before I knew it, the cuppa is gone.  (Insert sad face here).

I can tell this tea would be amazing iced.  I think I’ll try that with the next infusion.  And if you wanted this to be more flavored like, I bet throwing in a vanilla bean would be amazing.  This tea has that flavor profile of slightly woodsy.  Just thinking of adding vanilla beans makes me crave cuppa.

This tea does its job.  It has such a nice cleansing taste to it after drinking a few flavored teas.  Gives my taste buds a nice break.