Tea Tasting
Cups, Cozies and China,  Enjoying Together,  Uncategorized

Tea Tasting 2 – the adventure continues

January 8, 2020

So many teas, so little time……This is the second installment of my tea tasting adventures. This time I was joined by my beautiful and delightful daughter-in-law. Hope you get inspired to try some new tastes or just enjoy some tried and true.

Hadley's Tea Shop Logo, Albuquerque New Mexico
Hadley’s Logo

I recently had the pleasure of visiting another tea shop. Hadley’s Tea Shop in Albuquerque New Mexico. Hadley’s has long been a purveyor of teas in the area. This establishment has a casual atmosphere that invites you to sit and relax with a cup of tea. There is a nice assortment of teas, pastries and accessories to browse through which is always tempting. A nice place for a Cream Tea.

I came away choosing 3 teas to bring home for our tasting – Vanilla Black Chai, Monk’s Blend Black Tea, and Lady Londonderry Black Tea. Now I have had Lady Londonderry and used it for years, but needing to refill my tea canister, went ahead and purchased but also put it in the mix of my “formal” tasting. Now as I have said before, I am by no means an expert in the whole world of tea, but I do like to explore, have fun and enjoy the moment.

  • Hadley’s Tea Storefront
  • Hadley’s Tea Selection
Golden Teapot from Hadley's Tea Shop
A gift from my daughter – small golden teapot from Hadley’s Tea Shop

Setting the Stage

Bringing my daughter-in-law into the mix, I wanted to not only use her palate as a second taster but also to have some time to enjoy the tasting. I set the table up for us to enjoy a moment of time away from all the busyness and focus on the tea tasting as well as any other conversation we might share (which can be substantial when we get together). So it was a blessing for sure.

Tea Tasting Setup with teapots, plates and teas.
The table is set for tea tasting

We were going to taste 3 teas, so I setup the table accordingly. The usual hot water pot, tea infuser,cozy, timer, milk and sugar, water to cleanse our palate in between teas, and a shortbread to munch on. I selected 3 pots that would provide 3-4 cups, knowing that we would try a 2nd cup but likely not a whole full pot.

Now the cups – I have a tradition at my house. I like to have my guests at times choose their own cup. Since I have so many and it can become a great conversation piece, I enjoy watching folks take their time in selecting their favorite. My daughter-in-law will request to do this at times and its just some of that extra pampering that comes with having tea. We will use a fresh pot and fresh cup for each tasting.

3 teacups lined up for display.
Just a few cups lined up for tasting

Tea Tasting Process

There are several sources that outline a formal process for tasting tea. My process has evolved over time and reflects a simple way for tasting and enjoying.

  1. Assemble and setup brewing station and table
  2. Place a small amount of the loose tea in a bowl or plate. Smell the tea and note flavors or scents of the raw tea.
  3. Steep the tea according to the directions.
  4. In a fresh cup, pour a portion of tea. Observe the color and the smell of the steeped tea.
  5. First sip the tea with no additives.
  6. Then begin with additives –
    1. Sugar alone
    2. Milk alone
    3. Sugar and milk
  7. Discuss impressions – likes, dislikes, possible pairings with food.
  8. Repeat process for additional tastings, getting fresh cups and pot

Here’s a guide to help you have your own tea tasting fun either by yourself or with your friends. Click here to download .

TEA-TASTING-STEPS for the Daily EnthusiastDownload

As I stated earlier, I am not a tea sommelier but I do want to follow a reasonable consistent process. And its been fun. So let’s talk about the teas….

Vanilla Black Chai

  • Vanilla Chai
    Steeped Vanilla Black Chai
  • Loose Leaf Vanilla Black Chai
Vanilla Black Chai

The Vanilla Black Chai is a black tea (usually Assam) that is flavored with vanilla and the familiar Chai spices – cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and pepper. We loved the tea by itself – it has that familiar and popular Chai taste. With sugar, the spices were accentuated. Milk added a boost to the vanilla flavor. Both sugar and milk produced a very soothing and enjoyable cup of tea. Clearly our preference, we both felt that the tea alone would be best when paired with scones or sweets. I steeped for 5 minutes. Recommended steeping time is 5-7 minutes.

Monk’s Blend – Black Tea

Loose Lead Monk's Black Tea - ready for Tea Tasting
Monk’s Black Tea

This tea is a known favorite with its dramatic flavors of grenadine and vanilla. Both in the loose leaf state and the steeped tea you could clearly smell the grenadine. This was fun and unexpected. The steeped color is a rich brown classic for a black tea. In tasting, without any additive you were pleasantly pleased with the presence of the grenadine but not overwhelmed by it. With sugar, those flavors were enhanced as well. With milk, it created a very creamy mellow tea that once again, was very enjoyable. For both my daughter-in-law and myself, we favored this without additives but agreed that this was a new favorite tea. Steeping time for this tea is 5 minutes.

Lady Londonderry Black Tea

  • Loose Leaf Lady Londonderry black tea
  • Steeped Lady Londonderry
    Cup of steeped Lady Londonderry black tea.
Lady Londonderry Black Tea

We ended our tasting with the classic Lady Londonderry Black Tea. This tea is a black tea with overtones of strawberry and lemon and is a favorite for afternoon teas. Both the loose leaf and the steeped tea readily give off the familiar aromas of strawberry and lemon. In the steeped form, the tea preforms well alone, with sugar and with milk. One sip and I am in a tea room enjoying afternoon tea! Steeping time for this tea is 5 minutes.

Again, these three teas were a welcome addition to my tea repertoire. However, we did agree that the Chai might not be our first choice in an afternoon tea setting. We found that both the Monk’s Black Tea and the Lady Londonderry would both be excellent choices for afternoon tea and felt they were best suited for the scones and sweets course, with maybe a little sugar but even best for our tastes just plain…but of course, that was just our preference.

After the tasting is done, dishes and cups, teapots and plates ready to be cleaned
After the tasting is done, cups and pots to be cleaned.

After we were full of our teas, having tasted some shortbread, we had the cleanup to do. What a great way to engage people in understanding and really tasting their tea. We had a blast. So on to another tea adventure to find and share and this time….a larger group!

Tea Tasting plates and cups cleaned and ready to be put away
Tea Tasting Cleanup

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