Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nuvola Tea
Tea Description:
Sun Moon Lake Black Tea is a bright reddish-coloured tea with a fresh fruity and caramel scent. It produces a balanced, wholesome cup with an exquisite mellowness that warms your body and enhances blood circulation.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Sun Moon Lake Black Tea from Nuvola Tea is absolutely stunning! A really exquisite cup of tea!
The dark, long, wirey leaves produce a lovely, coppery colored liquid that smells sweet and fruity, reminding me a bit of fresh, juicy plums. The taste is lovely with notes of sweet caramel and a hint of chocolate. I taste a slight malty undertone, it’s very subtle but its there. There is a bright fruit note that tastes like a cross between citrus and and plum. The slight astringency toward the tail enhances the citrus-like tones.
The citrus notes also provide an interesting crispness to the cup, and even though the crispness is invigorating, I find this cup to be more on the mellow side rather than the robust side. Sure, it’s full of flavor, but this isn’t something I’d want to drink in the morning when I need that burst of energy. Instead, this is a tea to be enjoyed … drink it slowly during a lazy afternoon when you want to contemplate the beauty of an amazing tea like this one.
And be sure to infuse these tea leaves a second (and possibly a third time!) … it is well worth the effort. I found the second infusion to be my favorite!
Another outstanding tea from Nuvola Tea!
Spirit of the Sun from The Healing Cup
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where To Buy: The Healing Cup
Tisane Description:
Enjoy the taste of the sun in a cup! Orange peels take an unexpected twist with a spicy burst from cinnamon chips and a soft touch of vanilla. Drink a cup in the morning to start your day with a salute to the sun. Naturally caffeine-free.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This blend takes the classic flavors of a spiced orange tea and gives it a unique twist by giving it a rooibos base rather than the typical black tea base. I’m not ordinarily a big fan of rooibos, but I kind of like how the rooibos tastes with the cinnamon, orange and vanilla flavors. It still tastes citrus-y and cinnamon-y, but, it has a lighter texture and a flavor that is similar yet different enough to keep these traditional flavors interesting.
Ordinarily, I don’t really care much for the nutty/woody flavor of the rooibos, sometimes it comes off tasting of sour wood or just kind of funky. But, I suspect it is because this is organic rooibos that the flavor is better with this rooibos blend … and I think that makes a big difference in my enjoyment. I’m liking the way the nutty tones meld with the bright orange notes and the sweet, creamy vanilla.
The cinnamon is warm enough to help clear the sinuses (yeah, I’m still dealing with some of the symptoms of that cold!) but, not so hot that I’d categorize it as spicy. Instead, I’d say it’s got a mild spice that keeps the flavors lively while not so warm that I need something to soften the heat. It’s quite pleasant.
Overall, I’m really enjoying this – much more than I expected to! This would make a great “holiday blend” for those who prefer to limit their caffeine intake but still want something vibrant and festive to drink.
2011 Sun Moon Lake Red Tea from The Essence of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Essence of Tea
Tea Description:
This exquisite hongcha comes from Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan where it is grown on old trees (>100 years old). The leaves are hand picked. The quantities of this are very limited in each production.
The flavour is excellent with enough character to prevent it falling into that bland sweetness often found in hongcha.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have tried maybe a handful of the “Sun Moon Lake” type black teas and each time I try them, the more impressed I am by this variety. The flavor is sweet with notes of chocolate and rich, dried fruit notes (I taste notes of sugary dates and raisin). There are lovely notes of malt and something that’s been freshly baked – like a good, crusty loaf of bread. Something with a nice, chewy crust with it’s hints of caramelized taste.
This tea has a very pleasing, full-bodied taste and texture. It has a fair amount of astringency toward the tail, but no bitterness to speak of. There is a savory note that is most noticeable toward the end of the sip. This savoriness develops as I sip, but I don’t know that I would refer to it as bitter. It isn’t sweet, it is more like a sour note, like the hint of sour you taste when you bite into a fresh, juicy plum. It is mostly sweet, but there is just a hint of sourness in there to keep it interesting. That is what I taste here.
Overall, the taste is very smooth and rich. It is one of those teas that would please even the most discriminating tea connoisseur. It’s stunning! Then again, I’ve yet to find a tea from this company that I’ve not enjoyed – they’ve all been top notch!
Sun and Cloud Mist Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas (better hurry on this one … at the time of this writing there were only 3 pouches left in stock!)
Tea Description:
Don’t let the silliness of this week’s label fool you. This is a serious tea: Seriously delicious. We’ve combined a premium Yun Wu (Cloud Mist) green tea with marshmallow root and all things lemon for a smooth, refreshing lemony green tea with some extra marshmallowy sweetness added in. Plus, you get a package with this cute kitten on the label!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Aww… just look at this label. Isn’t it cute? A lemony sun, marshmallow-y clouds, and an adorable kitten. How could anyone NOT buy this tea based on the label alone?
But if the label isn’t enough to draw you in – heck, maybe you’re a dog person – then the flavor of this tea should. It is one seriously tasty tea!
The base of the tea is a Yun Wu (aka Cloud Mist) which is a temporary departure from the usual Chinese Sencha tea that 52Teas usually uses in their green tea blends. While I do enjoy the Chinese Sencha that is the go-to green tea base for 52Teas, I must say that the use of the Yun Wu is very refreshing. It is a little lighter overall, and offers a slightly sweeter, nuttier flavor than the usual buttery Sencha tea, and I think that the Yun Wu melds very harmoniously with the lemon and marshmallow flavors of this blend.
And while I probably wouldn’t have thought of combining the flavors of lemon and marshmallow, I really like the way these two come together. The marshmallow flavor is a bit soft, but I find that it emerges more after allowing the tea to cool for a minute or two.
The lemon is strong, however, it is not overwhelming the other flavors of the tea. Instead, it saves much of its strength for the aftertaste, which ends up tasting a bit to me like Lemon Meringue Jelly Bellys (one of my favorite flavors), and it’s making me want to reach over for the jar that is just slightly out of my reach at the moment and start munching on Jelly Bellys!
But I won’t. I will instead enjoy this tea … and it is really so good. And as good as it is hot, it is even better iced! YUMmmm!
Sun Moon Lake Black Tea from Fong Mong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Fong Mong Tea on eBay
Tea Description:
Sun Moon Lake black tea can be declared “Red Treasure” in central Taiwan. Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County is surrounded with mountains and lakes with remarkable environment and typical climate. Heavy moist and stable yearly average temperature make the tea trees grow thick and rich tea leaves which produce carmine and perfectly clear liquor. Its unique sweet aroma and strong mint taste make it truly unforgettable. It is also the best ingredient to make “bubble tea” (the most famous Taiwanese tea drink on earth).
Taster’s Review:
I have really enjoyed the few Sun Moon Lake black teas I’ve tried thus far, and this is certainly one of the nicest I’ve encountered.
I love the aroma! It is so warm and comforting, that I like to hold the cup up to my lips and just inhale the fragrance. It smells sweet, rich, and has notes of fruit as well as some bold earthy tones and hints of woody scents in the background.
The flavor is so unique – quite unlike other black teas I’ve encountered. It has a fruity profile that is sweet and possesses hints of sour as well. It is bold and invigorating while at the same time maintaining a soothing sort of quality.
The earthiness here is not so much earth or peat as it is like the earthiness you might experience from a mushroom – like a Portabello. Sort of meaty like that. There are woodsy type notes to this as well, distant wood notes, maybe even a hint of smoke.
It has a fair amount of astringency, but it isn’t bitter. Then again, that could be attributed to my steeping – I steeped this at 200°F for 2 1/2 minutes. I suspect I could have achieved a very interesting cup using my gaiwan, but, I’m quite happy with the cup I brewed using my Breville One-Touch: it is rich, delicious and possesses so many interesting nuances, that I find myself sipping just to see what I might discover next. And that is one of the best qualities any tea can have!