LENA Send Message

Well, right of the bat, these leaves are intriguing. They are so long! In fact, they are so long, some of them could not lay flat in the strainer basket that fits in my cup. The leaves stood upright like uncooked spaghetti. Neat!

The aroma is that of cooked fruit and sweet smelling flowers. It also smells very vegetal. The taste is smooth and floral…but too green for me. I like my oolongs like I like my men…bitter and murky. Ok, perhaps that joke only works with my coffee. “Dark and roasted” is more like it when it comes to my oolongs. (Says the tea drinker with a vampiric-complected husband.) I’m glad I had the opportunity to try this tea, but it’s just not my cuppa.

I believe the first words out of my mouth were, “Woah, now THAT’S a big ball!” We only thought the Black Dragon Pearls were big. These puppies are HUGE!

I immensely enjoyed watching the ball unfurl. Although to be honest, there wasn’t too much unfurling going on during the first and second infusions. The bugger is solid. The second infusion opened it up a little more…but the ball is relatively intact. The taste is that of a solid, middle of the road oolong. It’s a little nutty…a little earthy. Nothing vegetal, not too roasted…just a tasty, slightly sweet oolong. On taste alone I would rate this tea around 80-85. Now, add in the entertainment factor and BAM it becomes an easy 90!

This tea would pair well with several dishes. It has that multi-functional ability. Chinese takeout for dinner…Dragon Balls. Need to impress some friends…Dragon Balls. Quiet night curled up with a blanket and a cat or two…Dragon Balls. Delicious!

I’m having visions of Dragon Balls in Sorapots dancing in my head!!!

Thanks Doulton! You rock…balls.

I’m drinking a comforting cup of Florence this morning as I quietly long for the beach. I’ve been in Florida since last Thursday. Now I’m back in good ole landlocked Tennessee and greatly missing the ocean. The tastes of light chocolate and hazelnut are doing the best job they can as I recall the dolphins and stingrays that I saw everyday at the beach. I still wish that Florence was a bit stronger. I always have to double the leaf for each cup that I make. I much prefer Charlotte au Chocolat from Dammann Freres. Doulton spoiled me with that tea!

Side note: While I was in Florida, I visited with my grandparents and shared breakfast with them over PG Tips. Some things just don’t change. My grandmother and PG Tips just go together. :)

This tea will put some hair on your chest! I really like it. Russian Morning is lightly smoky but definitely full bodied. It would be a great intro into the world of Lapsang Souchong. Training wheels, if you will. This tea is smooth and slightly pine-y…not full blown campfire. The blend of black teas meshes nicely. The thing that surprises me the most about this tea is how clean it tastes and feels in my mouth. The smoke is there…some sweetness too, but clean, clean, clean. Quite tasty! TeaEqualsBliss sent me a sample of this back in the day. I’m glad I finally got up the courage to give it a go. Thanks chick!

I think my tasting is off kilter today. Last night I burnt my tongue really bad on some Beef Pho. It was still very tasty…but I can tell my taste buds are still in a state of repair. As of right now, the tea tastes like light black tea mixed with tree bark. Oddly enough, it’s not awful…just kind of odd. There is a sweet note but the level of astringency is pretty killer. It’s bad when you take a sip of tea and immediately have to follow it with a drink of water to re-hydrate your mouth. The flavor isn’t the worse I’ve ever tasted, but it is far from the best. The astringency and thinness of the tea are the big downers.

Ok, after reading the other tasting notes on Black Frost, perhaps my taste buds aren’t too far off on this tea. If you are a Darjeeling fan you might like the flavor profile here.

I’m just now getting around to this sample I pulled out of the TTB. It’s a nice tea but it’s not standing out as anything super special. There is a teensy bake-y taste but it’s otherwise very ordinary. Brattle Street does have a nice clean taste to it with minor astringency. I ended up adding milk and sugar and it made a pretty good breakfast tea.

What an odd black tea.

Here’s my immediate tasting note…all taking place in my head:

“Oooh, this smells sweet like baking chocolate or dark coco powder…and sort of barnyard-y. sips Hmm? Interesting. This is black tea, right? Umm, I did not put honey in this. Why does it taste like I put honey in it? What the heck? Chocolate honey?!?”

The taste of honey creeps in until it is oh so sweet. The chocolate note lingers slightly bitter but pleasant in the aftertaste. I taste a light smoky taste that is apparent in some sips and not in others. This tea is complex and confusing. I must drink more in attempt to figure it out. What a terrible, terrible thing. :)

Thanks for another fascinating sample, Doulton.