Buckingham Palace from Culinary Teas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Culinary Teas

Product Description: 

A special blend served at Buckingham Palace, flavorful with brightness and body. An exotic character with soft hints of Earl Grey and Jasmine. Superb for afternoon tea settings.

Taster’s Review:

I was rummaging through my tea stash, looking for a “different” black tea to drink this morning, and I came up with this one. Interestingly enough, when I visited the Culinary Teas website, this one just happened to be the tea of the week!   Along with that distinction comes a 20% discount!  (But hurry!  I don’t know when this offer expires)

This is a great blend.  There are so many different tastes going on … one moment, I taste the tangy bergamot from the Earl Grey, the next, I notice the malty tones from the Assam.  Then I notice the lingering essence of jasmine.  And somehow, all these dynamic flavors work together quite harmoniously.

The black tea base is well-rounded.  It is comprised of Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan teas … as well as several others.  This blend is full-flav0red with a fair amount of astringency.  I taste hints of sweetness as well as a bitter tone that arrives just before mid-sip.  There is a nice malty tone to this tea, as well as a biscuit-y kind of flavor … you know that freshly baked bread kind of note that is experienced every once in a while with a good black tea?  Yeah, that’s in there too.

And then there are the notes of bergamot and jasmine.  The bergamot is a sweet, tart-y kind of taste that plays off of the astringency from the tea very well.  It is at the moment that the astringency is recognized that the bergamot comes through the strongest.  The jasmine is more like an insinuation.  I will take a sip, considering it as my palate explores the flavors it offers, and all of the sudden, my mind says “wait… was that jasmine just now?”  I love it when I find a tea that keeps my taste buds guessing.

Such a beautiful, contemplative cup of tea, this Buckingham Palace.  And now that my cup is empty, I want more!