Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Justea
Tea Description:
Our Kathryne Earl Grey tea is whole leaf Kenyan black tea leaves cold-pressed with organic Mediterranean bergamot oil.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Justea’s fundraising effort to support Kenyan farmers here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to try this Kathryne Kenyan Earl Grey Black Tea from Justea. I know you’ve heard me say it before: I love Earl Grey … and I’m always excited to try variations on the traditional blend … even with the variation has to do with the black tea base. In this case, a rich black tea from Kenya is flavored with my beloved bergamot.
The dry leaf aroma is superb. STRONG bergamot … and that’s just the way I like it! Here’s hoping it tastes as good as it smells!
My very first impression was that with this Earl Grey … I am noticing more of the bitterness from the bergamot. That’s not a bad thing (although generally when people say “bitter” people think of it as a bad thing), because bergamot is a bitter tasting fruit. After the first couple of sips, the bitterness subsides and I notice the tangy citrus notes.
The black tea base is smooth and well-rounded, and I like the way it works with the bergamot. This is the first time (at least to my recollection) that I’ve tried an Earl Grey made with a Kenyan black tea … and I’m very impressed with what I’m tasting … this is definitely one of the finest Earl Grey offerings that I’ve tried.
The bergamot is one of the best bergamot representations that I’ve tasted in any Earl Grey tea … I like that I tasted the bitterness. I like that I now taste the tart citrus. I like that there are underlying notes of juicy sweetness from the fruit. I like that I don’t taste anything remotely similar to perfume here. I like the way the black tea and the fruit are balanced. THIS is the way Earl Grey should taste!
Kathryne Kenyan Earl Grey tea is a stellar Earl Grey … I’d recommend this to all those who are Earl Grey enthusiasts! This one should be on your “I’ve GOTTA try that” list!
Kenyan Black Tea from Justea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Justea
Tea Description:
Our whole leaf Kenyan black tea is malty, fresh, clean and full bodied.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Justea’s fundraising effort to support Kenyan farmers here.
Taster’s Review:
This Kenyan Black Tea from Justea is AMAZINGLY good. It’s so rich and malty and robust! It’s a strong, full-flavored cuppa deliciousness! And I’ve got to tell you that I really appreciate Justea’s approach to help the Kenyan farmers to develop their farms to be financially stable. Want to read more about that? Here’s an article that was published in a local newspaper about the launching of Justea’s fundraising campaign to help the Kenyan Farmers!
This tea brews to a beautiful coppery color and has a sweet, earthy aroma. The flavor is sweet and molasses-y, with a strong malty note and caramel tones. It is pleasantly sweet and warm with notes of spice and hints of earth. There is a distinct “bake-y” kind of note, like a freshly baked loaf of dark bread (think a sweet squaw bread!) I also taste notes that remind me of dates and dark raisins.
And while it does have a sweet taste to it, I like that it is also bold and rich. It has that gusto that I look for in a morning black tea – this would be an excellent tea to choose for your morning cup of motivation! I’m drinking it served straight up with no additions, but, it would also taste great with milk and honey if you like to add those to your morning cuppa! It would make a great latte!
A truly delightful cup of tea – this is a tea I’d be happy to start my day with every day!
Would you like to try some of this tea? I’ve got three samples to send out to three individuals … if you’re interested, please comment on this post. Please include contact information so that I can contact you and get your shipping information. In addition, please tweet about Justea’s fundraising effort to support Kenyan farmers. Your tweet should include this link, and also please include #sororiteasister on your tweet so that I can easily find the tweet! I’ll select three winners of the samples on Monday, September 23, and contact those winners and ship out the samples to you!
White Whisper Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
White Whisper’s long downy silvery green buds have a delicate buttery flavor with light floral and peach notes. This remarkable tea originates from a small scale farm in Kenya and is pesticide free. More extensive information on our Kenyan teas can be found HERE.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I heard about this White Whisper Tea from Butiki Teas – a Kenyan tea – I really wanted to try it! I have really enjoyed the few teas from Kenya that I’ve tried, but most of what I’ve tried thus far have been black teas, and I was really interested to try this White Whisper.
And it is LOVELY! The description that Butiki Teas has provided (and that I’ve included above) is spot-on! This does have a delicate buttery tone to it, not quite as buttery as say, a Chinese Sencha might be, but, there are delightful notes of butter to this that I don’t usually find in a white tea. There are also delicious peach tones. These peach tones did not immediately speak out to me, it took a few sips for the peach to really emerge.
The floral tones are soft and meld beautifully with the peach notes. The one word I’d use to describe this cup is delicate. It has a very soft taste, but it’s really quite enjoyable. I love the subtle qualities of this tea.
And the tea holds up for quite a few infusions. I managed six – each subsequent infusion just as lovely as the first. Different … yes, but still quite delicious. The flavors begin to emerge more with the later infusions, and then become more harmonious.
A really lovely tea! If you’re a white tea fan – you really should try it!
French Blend from New Mexico Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Tea Blend
Where to Buy: New Mexico Tea Company
Tea Description:
This French blend has a bright coppery colour, and Ooh-la-la floral notes from ‘crème de la vanille’, Jasmine and Lavender deliciously blended with flavorful Ceylons, pungent Assams and malty Kenyas. Truly a unique and wonderful tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I mentioned in one of my reviews for the 12 Days of Christmas countdown with Della Terra Teas, I also hosted a swap on Steepster using the 12 Days of Christmas theme. Basically, participants were to select a tea that would seem inspired by the lyrics of the song, The 12 Days of Christmas. I got Day 3: Three French Hens, and this is one of three teas that I selected to send out to the participants of this swap. (The participants didn’t have to send more than one tea, I chose three teas for a couple of reasons, 1) I couldn’t narrow down my choices to just one, and 2) since I had day three, I thought three teas just seemed to work within that theme … I sent them three “French” teas.)
And as I mentioned above, this is one of the three teas I selected. I chose this tea for a couple of reasons, first, the tea had a blended base of green and black teas, and since the other two teas I was selecting both had black tea bases, I thought the green tea would offer a bit of variation from the others. Second, I wanted a blend with lavender in it, and this tea has it. Third, I like the fact that there are other floral notes to this tea – specifically, jasmine and rose.
I am really happy with this choice. Since it was both a black and a green tea, I chose a lower water temperature (180°F) and steeped it for three minutes. The first couple of sips were rather astringent, but after allowing the cup to cool a couple of minutes, I found that the astringency waned. There is still some dry astringency to this, but it is actually quite nice, as it seems to cleanse the palate a bit.
This is a beautifully floral tea. It is exotically sweet with the notes of jasmine, rose and lavender, and there is a underlying creaminess to it too thanks to the vanilla tones. The base of black and green teas seems to be a goo choice for this blend, the black tea offers a bit of earthiness and a pleasantly rich flavor with hints of malt and even the faintest wine-like quality, while the green tea lightens the cup a bit so that the black tea doesn’t taste too heavy nor does it overwhelm the flavors of the flowers … or the vanilla for that matter.
A very enjoyable cup. I like the way everything is balanced. I can taste each element of this tea: I taste the black and the green tea, and that doesn’t always happen with blended teas such as this; I taste the vanilla, the jasmine, the rose, and of course, the lavender. These floral elements meld together so nicely, they don’t seem to compete with one another, instead, they work together to create a very luxurious tasting cup … like something you might sip at a French cafe while taking in the scenery.
Lifeboat Tea from Williamson Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Williamson Tea
Tea Description:
Lifeboat Tea is a lovely full-flavoured, family-owned tea that has been created to provide sustainable funding for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) – the charity that saves lives at sea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I had my misgivings about this – especially since I did recently have another Kenyan black bagged tea. I didn’t want to compare the two, because they are two separate teas, from two separate tea companies. Even the bags look different – these are the round tea bags without a “fetch-string” or tag on it, looking a bit like a rescue ring buoy. No, it’s not colored bright orange or anything, it just kind of evoked that image given the name of the tea.
This really isn’t so bad, though. I find it to be quite robust with a pleasant malty tone. A nice sweetness to it too. It is not unpleasantly bitter, but I suspect that had I oversteeped it, it might be. It has just a hint of bitterness to it, suggesting to me that if the teabag had been left in the water a few more seconds I might have a bitter cup of tea. But as it is, it is certainly not unpleasant, and I find the slight bitter tone to it gives a nice contrast to the overall cup.
This is not a bad cup of tea – but again, I must say that I’d rather it be a loose leaf tea rather than a bagged tea. But, because it is bagged, it does make a great choice for cold-brewing for iced tea. Even though it’s getting cooler (autumn is finally here!) I do still enjoy a glass of iced tea in the afternoon and with my meals, and this tea – iced – is really lovely. Particularly nice with a thin slice of lemon.