Tea Tastings – an adventure in teas

For me, a good cup of tea fills my soul. It warms me, refreshes me, and depending on the tea, I can reflect on memories around this tea. But its 2020 now and there are new teas to explore, so I am stepping out and finding different teas to enjoy, new memories to get started. Come along this journey with me. I will share my impressions, likes and dislikes. Hopefully, you will find this information helpful on your tea tasting adventures.

Admittedly by habit, I am a lover of English Breakfast, Lady Londonderry, and Rooibos. Two of my favorite Rooibos are Lemon Souffle and Provence. However, of late, I have wanted to try some different teas…to broaden my palate.

So let’s talk tea. I don’t claim to be an expert but a fancier of all things tea and an explorer of the many different types of tea. I want to give credit to the New Mexico Tea Company for many of the tea descriptions as well as their delightful shop but the impressions are all my own!

I recently had the opportunity to visit a delightful treasure for tea lovers – the New Mexico Tea Company https://www.nmteaco.com/ located at 1131 Mountain Road, Albuqeurque, New Mexico. This shop is nestled on a small street, its reserved sign let’s you know its location. Once you enter, it is clearly a tea lovers adventure. You step into a small entry way that opens to shelves of tea accessories and then into the tea collection room where all the teas are displayed. With a small sample on each larger canister, you can go from tea to tea taking in the aroma and deciding if you want this one or that one. And of particular merit are the pictures on the front of each tea container. Some of them are absolutely beautiful, drawing you in to study the tea a bit more (I have included a picture of each tea because of this). Of course, you look for your favorites but also recently, I was there to step out of my usual tea repertoire. There was an additional room of accessories but we wandered back into the tea selection room. The associates were extremely knowledgeable and helpful when selecting. My sister and brother-in-law were in town and we had a delightful time. Almost giddy, I came away with only 5 teas – and will definitely be going back. A gem for our community for sure. Here were my purchases – Tie Guan Yin Oolong, Milk Oolong, Chocolate Earl Grey, Provence Rooibos, and Scottish Breakfast.

Tie Guan Yin Oolong

I started with the Oolong teas. I had long wanted to try them and went with Tie Guan Oolong and Milk Oolong.

• 

• 

In trying a basic Oolong, Tie Guan Yin was the recommendation to start with. As outlined by the New Mexico Tea Company, ‘Tie Guan Yin is sweet and thick with a hint of orchid aftertaste. The look of this brew is a subtle yellowish-green, and the first steeping unfurls the rolled tea leaf to reveal large, juicy green leaves. It tastes much like its aroma: Bright and incredibly fresh, with sweet, mellow grassy undertones.” For me, it was an acceptable tea but not one that I would immediately choose. Steeping time for this tea is two minutes – its brew will look light yellow green amber.

Milk Oolong

Then I tried Milk Oolong. This tea is similar to Tie Guan Yin in its fresh green taste but cultivated to produce an aroma similar to milk.  This tea was amazing and a bit mysterious. When you smell it – it definitely has this creamy tone to it. When you brew a pot, its amber color is deceiving and the taste is definitely Oolong but then you get this gentle flavor of milk. It is actually quite comforting. When taken without anything, its very gentle and then this unassuming creamy flavor coming in after you sip. I then sweetened it with just a bit of sugar – and that was delicious. But likely in “tea heresy” I used some leftover orange zested sugar that I had (Orange Cranberry Sugar Cookies https://teastheseason3.com/cranberry-orange-sugar-cookies/) and it was amazing. Somehow the orange flavor and the milk came together and it became absolutely delicious. I am now a fan! Steeping time for Milk Oolong is 4 minutes and it will have the color as the Tie Guan Yin but a very different flavor.

Chocolate Earl Grey

The next tea was Chocolate Earl Grey. As described by the New Mexico Tea company Earl Grey was “named after the 1830’s British Prime Minister, Earl Grey. This is the western world’s most popular tea. Earl Grey has traditionally meant any type or blend of tea which is scented with oil of bergamot, a fruit resembling an orange found in the Mediterranean region.”  In the past, Earl Grey has not been a favorite of mine. Earl Grey is a favorite of my daughter-in-law, so we did this tasting together. We were excited to try the Chocolate Earl Grey. An elegant twist on the British tea classic, Chocolate Earl Grey artfully combines rich, black tea with Italian bergamot (the highly aromatic citrus fruit) and a silky, sweet touch of chocolate. I have had other chocolate teas and in fact, for my Christmas Tea Party, I will generally serve a chocolate black tea. Its not overly rich and has just a hint of chocolate as you drink it. First straight out of the pot, nothing added, you get a very gentle but clearly present taste of chocolate, not overwhelming at all or in the way – just comfortably there. It is perfectly blended with the taste of Earl Grey. Then we tried it with a little sugar. Amazing! Then a little milk. Again a great addition. Then together both a little milk and sugar – and it was delightful. Though by itself, it tasted delicious, in combination with the other items it just enhanced the flavors all the more. I will definitely be using this as a final course tea along side my sweets. Now beginning to change my perspective on Earl Grey. Perfect. Steeping time for Chocolate Earl Grey is four minutes.

Provence Rooibos

Provence Rooibos…one of my absolute favorites. I first had this on the East Coast in a small tea room and I was in love with its rooibos flavor and subtle gentle foral perfumes. If you are not familiar with rooibos teas, they are actually not teas in the purest sense. “Rooibos, (Afrikaans for red bush; scientific name Aspalathus linearis) is a member of the legume family of plants and is used to make a tisane (herbal tea). For this particular blend, there is a flavor of a floral and fruity bouquet; and a very present perfume of lavender notes.” No sugar or milk for me in this tea – just the plain fragrance of the brew is enough to satisfy. I love the colors in the loose tea – you can see the rich amber tones so familiar to rooibos but also little pieces of the floral notes, reflecting its delicate sensibilities. Steeping time for Provence Rooibos is 5 minutes.

Scottish Breakfast

Scottish Breakfast was the last tea that I purchased (at least this time around). As I have said, I am a regular consumer of English Breakfast and I use this at many of my teas for the scone course or the savories. So I wanted to taste another Breakfast Tea. As described by the New Mexico Tea Company, this tea is like a “proper Highlander, robust, malty (not unlike a good Scotch) and full of life and vigor. Highlanders liked their tea very strong and insisted on hints of cask oak to remind them of their clan’s own special elixir, single malt Scotch.” Which is exactly what I tasted when I tried this tea. A black tea, Scottish Breakfast for my palate, was a strong brew. Its color was rich and had that beautiful black tea depth to it. My tasting was first by itself, then sugar, then milk, then milk and sugar. However, I found its robustness a little strong for me and wondered if it would compete with items I might pair it with in an afternoon tea. However, I would take this tea with milk and sugar and enjoy it in the morning to get my day started. Scottish Breakfast is steeped for for 4 minutes.

I have shared what I tasted, which I know is only a small sampling of what the tea world has to offer. I enjoy these teas alone, together or in parties. I encourage you to do the same and share your experiences.

Let me brew us a small pot in some special china. Pass me your cup and I will offer you a shortbread. We can enjoy each other’s company and sip on some tea.

Again my thanks and appreciation to the New Mexico Tea Company, for their assistance, their selections and their descriptions. Visiting this establishment is a must for any tea-lover, whether in person or online.

Get a copy of our free Tea Tasting Guidelines. Have fun exploring and tasting some new teas!

Products used for this recipe. Click on the image for more information:

This post contains affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. Look through the products and enjoy!