Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
We have waited a long time to bring in our own house Assam. Now we have one to shout about and have made it a Canton signature tea. It is a blend of two, high grade, Khongea Estate teas – one of which has just won the North American Tea Championships in the Assam category. That’s how good it is. The family-owned estate is known to us and we are delighted to be working closely with them. Do what Assam is made to do and steep the leaves for several minutes to get a really good, strong, dark liquor that is smooth and rich with notes of fruit. Not heavily malty, but brisk and full-bodied making it a classic breakfast tea which works well with milk. As with all of our teas, it can also be brewed light and quick and enjoyed it without milk. The golden tips you can see in the dry leaf is the higher grade CL.GFBOP: Clonal Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t think that Assam teas are actually my favorite type of black tea but I can’t deny that when I find an Assam tea in my stash of teas to try, I’m a happy sipper. Assam teas may not be my favorite, but a good Assam tea is certainly always welcome in my teacup – I love that rich, robust, malty flavor that it provides.
And this Canton Assam Black Tea from Canton Tea Co. has what I typically look for in an Assam tea, although it is a little different than what I would normally expect.
This Assam is a bit smoother than I’m typically used to in an Assam – it isn’t quite as astringent. But the trade-in for that is that it does lack a little bit of the strong, hefty body that I usually expect from an Assam. It’s not quite as strong or sturdy as a typical Assam – although this would still make a great breakfast tea. It’s still a robust, bold tea – but it’s a little lighter and smoother than what you might be expecting from an Assam.
It’s also not quite as malty as I usually expect. There is still malty notes here and hints of caramel. It’s still pleasantly sweet. But, I’m getting more sweetness from a stone fruit (plum) note than I am from caramel or malt. I also taste hints of raisin that are quite nice.
It’s still a full-bodied tea – it’s just not quite as rugged as I usually experience with an Assam. But that’s OK – it’s still really good and it reaffirms for me just why I get excited when I am offered a new-to-me Assam to try.
I like that I can try a tea and have an idea of what to expect and get something a little different than I expected. That’s one of the great things about tea and why I encourage people to try different teas! Even if you’ve tried Assam teas in the past (and this applies to any other type of tea as well) – and even if that experience wasn’t all of what you wanted, you shouldn’t give up on Assam. Try new teas and you might just find one that you not only like, but LOVE! It’s a journey well worth taking when you find that tea that becomes your new favorite.
So if you’re looking for a new Assam to try – you should consider this one! It’s lovely!
Sugarcane Black Tea from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
This black tea is wilted and then fired briefly in Yunnan red cane sugar (an unprocessed sugar similar to muscavado). The tea maker learned the sugar technique from a Fujian tea master in Wuyi, and brought it back to Yunnan to make it his own. Just a small amount of sugar is used in the firing process, it is mixed with water and added to the wilted tea leaves during the frying stage of the processing, giving the brewed tea a pleasingly balanced sweetness. Having proved popular with both Tea Club customers and Canton staff, we had to bring this tea into our collection.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The name of this tea attracted me to it right away – Sugarcane Black Tea. Just the sound of it sounds like it’s going to make my sweet tooth very happy. So, when Canton Tea Co. sent me a sampling of it, I was very excited to try it!
I read a little bit about the process this tea undergoes to earn the name “Sugarcane Black” – apparently, the tea varietal used here is Zheng shan xiao zhong which is the same tea that is smoked to become Lapsang Souchong. But instead of smoking this tea…
… freshly picked tea is wilted and then briefly fried in tropical Yunnan muscovado style (un-processed) red sugar. The sugar is mixed with water, and used sparingly in the frying process of the leaves …
To brew this tea, I used my Kati Tumbler. I measured a bamboo scoop of the curly leaves into the basket of my Kati and added 12 ounces of boiling water to the tumbler. Then I let it steep for 3 minutes. The tea brews up lighter in color than I expected. Lapsang Souchong tea tends to be very dark, but this is a color that is somewhere between amber and light copper.
The flavor is delightful! The sweetness imparted onto this tea from the processing described above is delicate – this isn’t too sweet. There’s a nice balance between sweet, sugary notes and the natural fruit and floral notes from the tea. It’s very mellow and pleasant.
There is an overall lightness to this cup – it’s not a hefty or robust type of tea. This isn’t the tea you’d want to grab for that first cup of the day. Instead, this is the kind of tea that you’d want to share with guests or enjoy on a quiet afternoon when you can curl up and simply relax and take in the joy of this tea!
Really nice. A rather unique tea – certainly something that I’d recommend to all those who enjoy something a little different.
Organic Metabolic Energy Tea from Fit Life Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea & Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: Fit Life Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Ready for liftoff? Increase muscle energy and boost mental agility with an invigorating cup of Organic Metabolic Energy Tea. It’s packed with potent antioxidants and natural caffeine from sustainably grown whole green tea leaves blended with traditional rainforest energy tonic.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ll be honest and say that I really wasn’t looking forward to trying this Organic Metabolic Energy Tea from Fit Life Tea Company after I read the ingredient list:
Ingredients: Organic Green Tea, Organic Yerba Mate, Organic Eleuthero Root Ginseng, Natural Flavoring and Organic Stevia Leaf.
First of all: Mate and ginseng in one blend? That sounds TOO earthy to me. Then there’s the stevia. I really don’t like it when a tea company feels the need to sweeten a tea for me. I like to decide whether or not the tea should be sweetened and if it does, I like to decide how much and what type of sweetener will sweeten it.
But, I decided to give it a try anyway.
Wow! This is actually really tasty. It’s sweet but not too sweet and even though I was worried about the earthiness, it’s not so earthy at all. It has a very refreshing taste to it. It’s citrus-y and very drinkable. It reminds me a little bit of a very watered down Tang. Yes, the drink the astronauts took to the moon. It doesn’t have the same gritty texture of tang, though. (Fortunately!)
It’s pleasantly sweet with a really enjoyable, fruity flavor. That said, I don’t taste much green tea in this. I also don’t taste much Yerba Mate. Since I love tea, the fact that I found these flavors lacking in this is a little disturbing to me. But not disturbing is that I don’t taste the ginseng either.
To brew this, I hot-brewed the sachet in 8 ounces of 185°F water for 3 minutes. Then I let the tea cool completely before I poured it into my BPA-free drinking bottle from Fit Life Tea and refrigerated it overnight. Before I let it cool, I did take a sip of it to find out if I’d like it better hot or iced.
Just like the Teatox tea from Fit Life, I prefer this tea cold. It has a refreshing taste and the texture is light and smooth. And I even feel like it’s elevated my energy level too!
I don’t know that I’d actually drink this as an actual “tea” because it simply doesn’t taste like tea. But I would drink it as an energy drink which is what seems to be it’s purpose. And since it’s an energy drink that doesn’t rely upon troublesome amounts of sugar to enhance the drinker’s energy, I’d say Energy from Fit Life deserves a thumbs up!
Yunnan Gold Pearls Tea from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
These attractively gold-flecked, marble-sized black tea pearls have been hand-rolled from high-grade Yunnan Gold leaf tea into perfectly compressed spheres. They make a delicously smooth, medium-bodied brew. Each pearl weighs around one gram, so use just two or three in a small teapot. Made in Fen Qing, in Yunnan, they are ideal at work or on holiday.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve been reviewing tea for a long time and while my time as a tea reviewer is about to come to an end (but I’ll talk more about that later!), in the years that I’ve been reviewing tea, one thing that has never gotten old for me is receiving a package of tea in the mail. There are few things that elicit as much joy for me as receiving a parcel of tea.
And my excitement was doubled when I opened my package from Canton Tea Co. and found that it included a sampling of their Yunnan Gold Pearls! I love pearl teas as it is, but I have a special fondness for black pearls because – well, I guess because they’re awesome!
The flavor that comes from black pearl teas like this one is outstanding. Sweet and smooth. No bitterness and very little astringency. It has a heartiness to it which surprised me given how short a time I steeped the pearls. Some malt notes as well as notes of cacao and caramel. I taste a distinct note of stone fruit as well. Quite yummy!
I steeped my first infusion of the pearls for just 2 minutes and the cup is incredibly smooth and very flavorful. It surprises me just how much flavor it has after steeping for 2 minutes. The pearls had not completely unfurled so you know I’m going to resteep!
My second infusion was even more flavorful than the first – which is quite unusual when it comes to most black teas! But not with these Yunnan Gold Pearls! The flavor is still rich and flavorful. I’m tasting more notes of earth this time around and lovely hints of peppery spice. I still get those lovely notes of caramel and cacao and a beautiful malty tone.
Truly a treasure, these Yunnan Gold Pearls!
Organic Dragon Well Green Tea from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
This delicious organic Dragon Well is grown in the hills of Zhejiang Province near Long Jing, the village where this famous tea originated. The green tea leaves are picked young and taken back to the village where the skilled tea masters use their bare hands to press them flat in a hot, dry wok in the traditional way. This arrests the oxidation process and ensures the liquor carries the notes of freshly cut grass, rounded off by a soft, nutty flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a really good Dragon Well – or Long Jing Green Tea – and this Organic Dragon Well Green Tea from Canton Tea Co. is REALLY good.
Whenever spring approaches, one of the questions that’s often asked among tea drinkers is ‘where are you getting this year’s Dragon Well? And while there are many fine purveyors of exceptional Dragon Well teas, this Organic Dragon Well from Canton is one of the better Dragon Well teas that I’ve tried and I’ve tried quite a few. Only a few of them are teas that I can recall from memory as being really good – this would be one of those ‘really good’ Dragon Well teas that I’ll remember!
It’s so sweet, lightly grassy/vegetative with hints of butter. The buttery notes give the somewhat grassy taste more of a vegetable type of flavor, evoking thoughts of freshly steamed green beans that have been lightly drizzled with melted butter. It has a pleasantly creamy texture. There’s very little astringency (next to no astringency!) and no bitterness.
And it’s a tea that keeps on steeping! I got three very flavorful infusions out of one measurement of leaves! So get your mileage out of this tea and take it for a couple of infusions!
I’ve often heard that the proper way to drink a Dragon Well is in a tall glass with the leaves sitting in the bottom of the glass and as you drink the liquid, keep adding more water – and you drink it like this all day long. Now, I’ve never tried my Dragon Well like this. The truth is that my first experience with Dragon Well wasn’t a positive experience.
I don’t know if that bad experience with the Dragon Well was because at the time I was a bit of a novice when it comes to brewing green teas in general and the water I used was too hot, or if it was possibly because the Dragon Well that I had at the time was of a lesser quality, all I know is that I did not like it!
And after that experience, I was very hesitant to try another Dragon Well. Until I finally did and I realized, “HEY! I like this!” That realization could have been due to the fact that I knew better ways to brew green teas or again, it could have been the quality. But, I’m more inclined to believe that it had more to do with the fact that I knew how to steep a green tea at that point.
But because of that first experience, I’m hesitant to try my Dragon Well teas a different way. I found the way I enjoy them, so why fix it if it ain’t broken, right?
Back to THIS Dragon Well – this is one I’d suggest trying. This could be your new Dragon Well!