A couple of years ago, I discovered Tao of Tea would deliver to me in Australia, so I started buying my organic spearmint and chamomile from them in bulk, along with tea bags that make 1 gallon of tea, so I could make the iced tea that runs in my veins, and is thus necessary for life.
When I needed to re-order, I decided it was time to find a black tea I actually like drinking hot. I used to love English Breakfast, but it’s become too tannic to my taste buds. I mostly drink my chamomile, spearmint, and lavender blend, changing up the proportions depending on time of day, and I’d really like to add a pinch of a nice black tea to it in the mornings, along with an occasional mug of all-black.
So I went to Tao of Tea, loaded up every black tea they had in stock, read the descriptions and chose 4 that were all described as light, or fruity, or whatever (when did tea tasting get so posh?). They arrived today! And thank goodness too, because I was down to one teaspoon of chamomile.
Added my favorite tea pot, bought from a local potter, and one of my favorite tea cups and my favorite tea strainer balls, bought at our local tea chain called T2. For ambiance.
They are:
Wild Lapsong (the bamboo container): Smooth and rich with sweet aroma and notes of Peach and roasted yam (?!)
Basic Orange Pekoe (that’s my baseline): Light bodied with balanced sweetness and astringency. Aromas of turbinado warm brown sugar
Neela Green herb, floral and citrus aromas. Full smooth taste with a subtle turbinado sweetness
Ceylon Black Tips Deep, full-bodied tea with balanced sweetness and astringency. Aromas of raw sugar and molasses give way to black cherry and dark fruit.
Uh huh.
So staring tomorrow, they’ll be getting auditioned, both alone and in my normal herbal blend. I’m excited and hopeful that I’ll find one (at least) I love.
Enjoy!
How exciting — the arrival of a new consignment of tea is always a reason to celebrate! I hope you‘re going to enjoy all of them.
Ahhh! I picked the right day to have time and remember to check your blog. Black teas are my favorite and I’m cheering hard for Basic Orange Pekoe because it sounds so good.
I tried the Wild Lapsong today and really liked it. (Of course I did, it’s a limited edition tea.)
Beautiful teapot. Orange Pekoe brings me back – my grandmother was partial to it. (I’m more of a Darjeeling or Ceylon Black girl, myself.)
Now is the time of year when I start transitioning from sunbrewed mint iced tea to hot tea.
Thanks – I found it and the potter who made it at an outdoor market just outside Melbourne. He had some beautiful things, but I was sold on the teapot when he showed me that the spout honestly does not drip, and that you can pour/tip the teapot all the way to the vertical without the lid falling off because he made it to be specially weighted. I use it all the time and live in terror that something will happen to it and I won’t be able to find him again.
I use the spearmint in my iced tea too. 🙂
That looks wonderful! I love the tea pot and cups! I hope they all turn out to be winners!
Those tea cups … my MIL gave them to me as a xmas gift one year, and I adore them. Oddly, she got me 2 cups/saucer of one pattern, and then 1 cup/saucer of 2 other patterns. But I love them all so much I don’t care – and I’ve never been a matchy-matchy kind of person anyway (much to my own mother’s dismay, lol).
Matchy-matchy is overrated. 🙂
Definitely!