Black Third Flush (Autumn) Single Estate Darjeeling FTGFOP1 from Teabox

The scent of the dry tea leaves is bright and fresh with a richer, perhaps malty tinge. At first I was a little worried that my tea would end up tasting like a bale of orchard grass hay, but fortunately that didn’t turn out to be the case.

I steeped the tea according to the steeping recommendations on the packet, although I may have been a bit generous with the leaves. The leaves are on the small side but not superfine or too small to be good quality. They’re third flush, or autumn harvested, which means the flavor is different because the leaves are growing more slowly in the autumn as opposed to the rapid spring and summer growth of the first two flushes. This may be why this tea seems maltier and less floral than other darjeelings I’ve tried.

There’s a distinct black tea fragrance as soon as the leaves hit the water. The fresh, grass-hay fragrance note doesn’t go away but it melds with the heady floral and malt of the oxidized tea. I can definitely catch the floral scent in this tea, although the grass-hay scent seems to me to be more prominent than the malty scent that’s mentioned in the description.

After steeping, the liquor is a yellow-tinged orange color and rather dark, although it’s not one of the darkest blacks I’ve seen. As for flavor, it’s very floral and sweet, but it’s tangy too, with the astringency pulling at the sides of my tongue, but there’s no bitterness, which is nice. Although I can still catch the orchard-grass scent once the tea is steeped, there’s no grass/hay taste in the tea itself. Also, I know I said floral, but this tea is not strong-flavored; it’s delicately floral as opposed to being overwhelmingly jasmine-y.

This particular tea is just lovely with a bit of sugar. I’d say that’s my favorite way to drink it, with just a bit of sugar and no milk. Yes, it’s good with milk too, and I usually like milk in my tea, but here I find that I don’t like the way the milk cushions and muffles the tea flavors.

It’s a nice, warming, strengthening cup overall, and I’d certainly enjoy keeping this one in my stash! I’ll also have to go and check out some more third flush darjeelings to see whether I can find the characteristics I admired in this tea elsewhere or whether they’re unique to this tea alone.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: TeaBox
Description

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Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Strawberry Spritz Iced Tea From Teabox

300Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: Teabox 

Tea Description:

Strawberries – sweet and luscious – are the perfect summer treat and this tea blend is just as so.
Yielding a gorgeous brownish-red color liquor, this tea is complex, charming and subtle. Sweet aroma of fresh strawberries and mint makes the brew inviting. The mellow, silky-bodied liquor promises to render your palate with tangy flavors of strawberry and orange that linger on for the long haul Marked by a long, fruity finish, this medium caffeine tea is suited for a soothing sip throughout the day.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Strawberry Spritz Iced Tea just sounds amazing, doesn’t? It brings to mind relaxing thoughts of reading a good book while enjoying a bright and sunny day. So relaxing.  This blend is a lovely blend of black tea, strawberries, orange peel, mint, vanilla and cinnamon. Quite an array of bright and vibrant flavors.

Brewed up per the pouch instructions-190F for 5 minutes, I happily poured the brew into my mug.  I think I may have overleafed just by the aromas I’m getting from the tea. Darn!

From what I’m getting, this tea has amazing promise and may deserve a cold brew session.  There are strong sweet strawberry and orange notes in each sip. The astringent factor of the black tea base seems to be a bit stronger (again, probably due to overleafing!) than I would have liked. The rest of the flavors are mellow and give a nice background for the other flavors to pop. I wish the mint or vanilla was a tad stronger to give the tea a bit more of a complex feel and flavor.

This tea is pretty good. Even with my overleaf issue. I wish the strawberry notes or orange notes were a bit stronger, but all in all, very decent. I truly believe this is a blend that needs to be enjoyed as a cold brew.  Can’t say I would want a ton of this one but I’m very glad I was able to try the blend.

I didn’t realize Teabox offered flavored blends like this.  I’m off to see what other fun blends they have to offer! 

Winter Spice Chai from Teabox

Fullscreen capture 4182016 33441 PMTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Teabox 

Tea Description:

A perfect tea for winter mornings. Take in the warm aromas of toasted almonds and spicy ginger as you brew a cup of this decadent chai blend.
Along with the mellow sweetness of almonds the liquor has notable spice accents which make for an inviting, astringent cup of tea. Sip it plain or with some sweetener, this tea will see you through chilly winters with its comforting warmth.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This tea. . .this tea has me all sorts of confused! I want to love it but there is just something holding me back .. . .

This blend is a chai blend that sounds amazing with all the right notes.  I will admit that I am not always the biggest chai fan but this one just sounded amazing and had come highly recommended.

I brewed this up per the instructions on the package and was ready to be overtaken by amazing flavors of sweetness and spicy love.  But when I took my first sip, I was greeted with a very overpowering whole mouth feel of astringent notes and not really the warm toasted almonds and spicy ginger.  I looked at the packaging again to make sure that my parameters were correct and noticed that they say to add in sugar/honey to the mix.

So I grabbed some honey and added some in (not something I do very often).  And VIOLA! Those harsher astringent notes gave way to the decadent chai blend that they describe. Sweet with a subtle punch of spiciness from the ginger.  All that you could ask for and more from a chai. Really delicious and the honey just mixes in so well. A wonderful chai for sure.

Since I had to add the honey to get the notes to pop I can’t say I would ever want to buy more or try this one again but I am very glad to have tried it and will have no trouble infusing more for another cuppa!

 

Namring Special Autumn Darjeeling Black from Teabox

teashotTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Teabox

Tea Description:

Autumnals from Darjeeling are known for their smooth and aromatic make. This blend tugs at the senses with its rich floral bouquet, although retrained. While light in cup, this tea impresses with its fullness.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Wow! Teabox has some pretty impressive teas and I have to say this one is fabulous and perfect for the chaotic week or so we’ve had in my family!

This tea had such a lovely almost floral aroma to it while it steeped. I steeped the tea per the instructions on the package and have to say they resulted in one gorgeous cuppa!

I love my Darjeelings for the lovely well balanced and smooth flavors they offer. I don’t like I’ve come across one I don’t like yet. This one (like I said) had a lovely floral aroma but the flavors were full blown malty with a hint of a citrus touch here and there.  One of those whole mouth feel sort of teas that really help you ease into your evening with class.  But be warned, this tea is one that will be come astringent quite quickly and will leave you with a rather mouth drying tea if you don’t goble it up while it is freshly brewed.

Another stunning example of the wonderful teas Teabox has to offer!

 

Organic Breakfast from TEABOX

BreakfasTea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: TEABOX

Tea Description:

A harmonious blend, this is the kind of tea you turn to when you need a hearty cup before the start of a day.
Beaming with smooth, sweet flavors of dates and honey, and refreshing bite of coriander, every sip satiates you a little more than the next. It has just the right amount of astringency to toggle the smoothness of the tea without distorting the balance, rendering, thus, a gratifying experience.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

If you are looking for one of those eye opening brisk teas to drink in the morning, look no further! This tea is exactly what you are looking for!

Organic Breakfast is a really nice solid breakfast/anytime tea that gets your blood pumping. The caffeine is pretty high in this delight but wow is it ever tasty!

I brewed this tea up per the instructions on the pouch and was excited to try it out. The malty almost bread like notes were making me eager to try the first sip!

I was greeted with sweet bread like notes of honey. Almost a malted bread honey if that makes any sense. This is one of those teas that gives you that whole mouth feel. Really good and was hitting the spot this morning. Definitely perked me up!

Word to the wise tho, this tea becomes incredibly astringent when it cools. To the point where I had trouble drinking it. If I hadn’t been at work, this tea wouldn’t have even had a chance to cool. I would have gobbled it up right away!