Tea Runners

Taking inspiration from a Tealyra blend, I just steeped 2g of this hojicha and 1g of peppermint leaf, roughly 300ml water, 180F, for 3-ish minutes. This is a very pleasant combination, and yes, somewhat reminiscent of a mint-chocolate cookie. Highly recommend.

From my Tea Runners box this month, and I’m drinking it both hot and cold brewed this morning. This is a decent peach tea, with a good “fresh peach” flavour. I don’t detect any ginger in either the hot or cold preparation, which is impressive because ginger is not exactly a subtle flavour component. I was a bit perplexed by the white/green/oolong base, but it works. The base tea is subtle but present, adding a fresh, crisp, juicy vibe to the peach flavour without any astringency or bitterness. It’s a very solid flavoured tea, so I wish it were marketed on that basis without all the unwarranted claims of “health benefits”. And they need to either add more ginger or take it out of the name, sheesh.

Got this in a Tea Runners box, and the first time I tried it, something magical happened. I wasn’t really paying much attention because I was in the middle of making breakfast, so it was like: 1 tea spoon of tea in a basket in my mug, poured over boiling water, totally forgot to set a timer, got distracted by eggs, some unknown amount of time later remembered my tea (it was still hot, good drinking temperature). It had some really lovely honey and cocoa notes, and a lovely lingering aroma in the empty cup. Tried resteeping, but unsurprisingly, very bland. Ok, so next time I made it I did my typical 3g/300ml/3min/boiling water routine, and it just tasted like a pleasant but unremarkable black tea. Malty, maybe some mineral undertones and a bit of sweetness on the finish, but nothing like that first time. So this time I made it in the easy brew teapot (https://tearunners.com/products/tea-runners-easy-brew-glass-teapot) and went hard. 5g of leaf, 350ml, boiling water. At 5min I poured off maybe 25% to taste test – honey sweetness definitely there, no astringency or bitterness, no cocoa. Let the leaves steep with the rest of the water for another couple minutes and the liquor got DARK, I was a bit afraid. But actually still entirely drinkable! Malty, full-bodied, only a little bit of astringency on the finish. I could feel my English ancestors calling to me to add milk (unfortunately do not have any in the house). Interestingly, the earthy and cocoa notes only emerged once it started to cool down, but they were there. Now I just poured off the last 100ml or so that has been steeping with all those leaves the entire time I have been typing this. Again, lovely dark liquor. Not much has changed except that it’s stronger and finally starting to get a little bit bitter. I added a teeny tiny bit of coffee cream to this last little bit out of morbid curiousity and… nope, it’s strong but not strong enough to stand up to cream, lol. Anyway, fascinating tea. I’ll probably try the last bit of this sample gongfu, even though I suspect the teeny tiny leaves will be a pain in the gaiwan. Anyway, tell me your keemun-brewing secrets!

Last week was beautifully spring-like, prompting me to start reaching for a lot of floral flavors… but out here in Idaho we all knew it was our typical “false spring” and it’d likely be snowing again next week. And here we are in “next week” and it’s snowing. Thankfully a lavender Earl Grey seems to suit the colder and wetter weather, too.

This is a pretty potent Earl Grey. The bergamot is fairly strong and pungent, bordering on even a little sour. The lavender is present and leaves a bit of a floral aftertaste, but it is strong-armed a bit by the strength of the bergamot, which really dominates the cup. I used to only be able to tolerate a lighter hand with bergamot, but over time I’ve come to appreciate the more in-your-face ones, too. I can still enjoy this as a plain cup, but I personally prefer to use an Earl Grey like this to make London Fogs… the addition of sweet vanilla almond milk doesn’t hide the bergamot like I’ve found in lighter Earl Greys, so it is still delightfully citrusy while being sweeter and creamy. I also really liked this with a spoon of honey, which really brightened up the lavender, leaving sweet floral notes in the aftertaste.

A nice choice if you like your Earl Grey to pack a punch and aren’t averse to some floral undertones. Those that prefer a more gentle hand would be happier with a different blend.

Got this in January’s TeaRunners box, and at that time I tasted it hot, and it was good but unremarkable, you know? Typical African black tea, full bodied and brisk, big assamica vibes. But then yesterday I drank it after a long (nearly 24h I think?) cold steep and I was blown away by the fruity notes that emerged! Like purple grape juice, blueberry compote, blackberries… I’m not sure why I was so convinced that the colour of the flavour was dark purple, but the impression persisted for the entire mug. So I set up another cold steep last night, same parameters (5g in 500ml DavidsTea Nordic Mug) and I was so impatient I had a little taste this morning and… no fruit notes. Hmm. So I’m going to keep steeping and cross my fingers that it wasn’t a fluke and just needs more time. :)

I haven’t been able to figure out where Tearunners sourced this from, which is a bit annoying, because if I can make that fruit thing happen again I’m definitely gonna want more. Most places selling a black tea from Luponde Tea Estate online have it in CTC form (BP1 grade), which I think they’re sourcing from Metropolitan Tea Co, which… excellent, multiple domestic vendors to choose from. But the tea I actually got was definitely orthodox, not CTC… probably FOP or BOP from what I remember of the dry leaf. My best guess is that Tearunners sourced it from Simpson & Vail at some point in the past (actually, yeah, I just went back to look at https://steepster.com/teas/simpson-and-vail/90857-tanzania-luponde-black-organic-tea-fop and the description of the tea is the same) but it no longer even exists on the S&V website (for comparison, their Kenyan black FOP still has a page on the website where it’s marked as being out of stock). What does that mean?? Yes, I know I’m overthinking this. Anyway, if anyone on steepster has the CTC black from Luponde please go cold steep it and report back on your results, lol.

Mmm… I kind of forgot I had restocked some Keemun black tea a while ago, and as the Pineapple Express is rolling through here in the western US, this robust Chinese black is really hitting the spot against the dreary and wet weather. I wouldn’t say it is exemplary among Keemun blacks, but it is exactly what I was expecting… Rich with malty notes leaning into a savory flavor of leather and smoke with an overall brassy mineral quality and a hint of bittersweet cocoa at the back of the throat. It’s also very smooth rather than tannic or drying. I really enjoy this type of tea!

This tea is basically a chai with an oolong base, which I don’t think I’ve personally seen before (and feel should be done more often!) The base oolong is a darker variety with lots of roasted, earthy, and nutty notes, which I think is really complimentary with the spices. The spices are gently warming, with the cinnamon coming out a bit more on the front of the sip with the ginger and clove lingering pleasantly afterwards. The tea says it includes “pumpkin spice flavoring” rather than “pumpkin pie” flavoring, so there are no notes of pumpkin or vanilla. I think the closest tea I’ve had to this one is a houjicha chai, though this doesn’t have the woodiness the houjicha chai had. It’s a very enjoyable cold weather tea! I’m not sure if it would hold up to a latte the way a traditional black tea-based chai would (I haven’t tried it yet!) but it makes a perfectly fine plain cuppa with cozy roasty notes and warming spices for a winter day.

Had a mug of this today and just enjoyed how straight forward and accessible the fresh peach flavour was. Not a candy style of peach at all, but more the kind of tender yellow fleshed peach you might pick up at a roadside fruit stall in the summer. It compliments the white tea base well as it’s still pretty light but has just a bit more coarseness and body compared to some "fluffier"or more delicate and floral white teas and has some of that hay/strong undertone to it as well.

Cold Brew!

Pleasantly surprised by how lovely this was! It wasn’t super complex tasting, but the balance was very well executed. I could distinctly taste the fresh, grassy and almost bamboo-like medium bodied green tea as well as a very authentic raspberry note. The raspberry had just a little bit of a tartness to its top notes, but was mostly fairly mellow with a nice natural sweetness. The whole cold brew had the sort of vibe of a really “classic” RTD iced tea like Pure Leaf, but was just clearly using much nicer ingredients/flavours.

I liked how straight forward everything was. No need for added sweeteners to delicious, but classic and neutral tasting enough to still have room for customization if you wanted. I’m thinking a splash of lemonade cold be nice, or as the base for a more summery cocktail? It’s a “backyard BBQ” feeling tea where you’d make a big ol’ pitcher of it and it would be a really nice crowd pleaser.

I’ve had this a couple times now and as much as it might be the tea for some, it’s not one i feel compelled to keep in my cupboard. the description says malt and molasses but for me it’s just semi astringent and has a taste to it i’m just not up for.

Gongfu!

I haven’t gone out of my way to put together a really solid tea and cheese pairing in a while, so this afternoon I decided to treat myself to a nice session of Big Red Robe paired with some dill infused gouda!! I already know that I love the way the rich, nuttiness of gouda pairs with a more roasted and earthy oolong, so I was pretty sure the inclusion of dill to this cheese wouldn’t be too “out these” with this session – and it actually worked even better than I could have imagined. Sometimes with rock oolongs like this one I already taste more savory, herbaceous notes like dill, thyme, or even occasionally sage so the consistent note of dill in the cheese really riffed those elements of the tea creating an overall profile that was umami foward with such unctuous and buttery notes of grilled nuts, warming spices, and mineral-rich exotic woods. Sometimes I get lychee notes with this Dahongpao in particular, but with this session the fruitiness was kind of pushed to the backburner and really just translated into a general sweet, very round feeling sweetness after the sip. Very fun combination, and a nice way of elevating both the tea and the cheese!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9qLSuEup7h/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ElKk4yTg1M

Gongfu!

Even from the first steep, I found this oolong to be surprisingly sweet with notes of lychee and sugared plums that were almost just as strong as the roasted nuts and woody mineral notes that were more expected! The lychee, in particular, leaned floral with a delicate finishing flavour. Overall, this tea was rich, with a beautifully coating medium body and a gentle astringency that drew emphasis to the nuttier elements. Very nice way to kick off the day!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3TbqaiOcVK/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce-Q8CI8m_8