Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The London Tea Room
Tea Description:
Enjoy the morning as an expat with this gorgeous blend of organic black teas, hints of vanilla, chocolate and orange, and toasted croissant. Lovely with a touch of milk and a bleepful of Henry Miller. Our own blend, crafted by the tea sommeliers at The LTR.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My SororiTea Sister, Azzrian, sent me a sampling of this Parisian Breakfast Black Tea Blend from The London Tea Room. I can’t recall having tried any other teas from this company, so it’s a thrill to be able to try this one!
The above description suggests hints of vanilla, chocolate and orange … I definitely taste the orange. The vanilla is much more subtle, and the chocolate, sadly, is so faint that if the description did not suggest the notes of chocolate, I wouldn’t necessarily have noticed them. If I focus on the sip intently, I taste chocolate, but because of the somewhat harsh tones of the tea leaves, the chocolate almost tastes burnt to me.
As I just eluded to, the black tea base is somewhat harsh and quite astringent. I found the tea to be a little too harsh without adding a little bit of turbinado sugar, and with this addition, the flavors of orange and vanilla began to emerge. Without the sugar, the tea was on the verge of being bitter, and that is after steeping for three minutes, which I don’t think should be too long to brew a tea!
As the tea cools, it becomes much more palatable, and I start to notice the chocolate tones without the aforementioned burnt taste. I also start to notice a sort of “baked” taste to the cup, like freshly baked bread. This becomes a much more enjoyable cup as it cools, but I don’t think it’s enjoyable enough for me to want to order this tea for myself. If offered it, I would accept it, but, if offered another selection, the other selection would have to be something I really disliked for me to choose this one over the other.
