The Metropolitan Tea Company

Another swap adventure! This one does taste like amaretto, at least what I assume amaretto tastes like since I don’t drink much. My husband has been making amaretto coffee and it smelled so good that I had to give this one a try.

Apparently I like the smell of amaretto but not so much the taste. It’s not a bad tea, but it’s not something I’d order for myself. Didn’t hold up for a resteep which doesn’t make me terribly sad.

Glad I got to try it, but it won’t become one of my must-have-at-all-times teas.

Mmm… this tea has a lovely black current aroma that will make you smell it at every sip. Best served with a dash of milk and compliments a nice light dessert very well (such as scones).

I love this tea! The bergamot could even be stronger, but I realise that I am a bergamot freak and most folks prefer more gentle touches of this Queen of oils. My only reservation for this tea is that for me, it could be even stronger in the black – maybe a bit of Assam. I steep it longer than the normal 4-5 min. and use a good round teaspoon per cup – a couple of them for my mug!

This tea soothes the stomach and relaxes the mind and should be name ‘tranquil tea’ with a hint of camomile added to it.

Not really sure how I feel about this tea. Flavour-wise it’s decent enough. It has a certain acidic smokiness to it that reminds me of gunpowder green actually. That being said, I find the price a bit steep considering you can get a massive tin of gunpowder green tea for the same price, with the same results. A nice everyday green tea, but I’ll stick with a cheap tin of gunpowder any day.

Just bought this tea about 20 minutes ago from a local drug store behind my house. Definitely tastes like rhubarb! If you are not a fan of rhubarb I would most likely stay away from this one (duh). I also prefer it with a tad bit of sweetener in it. Annnd I cant really think of anything else to say at this moment.

Smooth black tea with light peach-y taste. It’s about a 75 warm but as an iced tea, 80+. I am looking forward to spending some summer days sipping on this.

Very nice strawberry flavor. Light astringency, hardly noticeable. Tastes delicious warm or as iced tea. I think it’s sweet and good on it’s own; if you like sweetened tea, I’d start light with the sweetener.

Not so sweet that I couldn’t taste the Earl Grey, and not so strong that either flavour was cancelled out. Still though, it was really quite sweet. I might try it without milk next time :)

Second steep lacked the nice floral sweetness and green tea flavour I felt I experienced in the first, but it did reveal that mint! Not strong…mild enough for even the beau to enjoy, but I liked it. Doesn’t seem nearly as good (quality-wise) as the Sawadeee blooming teas I have enjoyed, but these were a steal and definitely an enjoyable time. I don’t know if I will do a third steep as the bloom opened entirely on number one and isn’t really flavouring up as I might have hoped. We’ll see!

This is a solid blooming tea. The first steep did not reveal much if anything by way of mint flavour, but there was a deliciously sweet floral flavour throughout. My blooming experiences are limited, but I’ve enjoyed them all so far, leading me to think I like floral teas, and just maybe like straight green and black tea. Hoping the second steep reveals the mint flavour!

4tsp for 3 cups of water. The leaves were dark with some lavender petals. There was a nice strong bergamont scent. The liquor was a nice amber color. The flavor was so strong. I think a little astringent but I am new to this so that might not be the right word.

I definitely need to sweeten this tea and possibly to add milk. I will try it that way next time.

So, the beau and I went into a fun store full of kitchen wares today to take a peep around. I spotted some tea supplies and went to study them, then spotted tea! There were 4 or 5 random bags of loose tea and artisan flowering teas from Metropolitan Tea Company. Not only that, but they were extremely discounted and still have really far off best before dates. I bought 100 g of this for $3 – Apparently the crazy co2 decaf process makes it last forever. Or something like that.

Anyway, I have practically zero unflavoured black teas and no palate for it at all (YET!), but I figured this couldn’t hurt. At $3, I don’t feel bad if I have to toss it, but if it’s at all palatable I can use it as a base for my highland chai mix from the tea brewery. Win/win, right?

I went light on the steep time, out of fear. I don’t think I needed to, but I don’t regret my choice. 1 perfect teaspoon to two mugs of boiling water (11 oz cups) and only 2 to 3 minutes steeping. It started out as a lovely blonde honey colour, then deepened into an amber. The smell is that of black tea, but lighter and sweeter. The taste is…shockingly sweet. Like there’s already a bit of honey in there. I know there isn’t, but it’s nice. It’s really nice. I could definitely enjoy this on it’s own, or as a base for chai, or something to add some peppermint to, or even to cut other teas I dont like so much. Good thing, since I’ve got a pretty substantial bag of the stuff. At the very end of the sip as it cools there is a hint of something bitter, but it never really forms. This is good as I hate bitterness in my tea, probably why I love flavoured ones so much. All in all this $3 investment was a GREAT one!

Egh. it was one of those mornings when you wake up too early and you can’t fall back asleep… well for those deep sleepers out there i guess that is pretty unimaginable, and i am envious. But yes, it was one of those mornings. As a result I ended up eating three cream puff pastries… and was wanting something wheat-like but instead continued on my sweet tooth rage by brewing a fruity black tea.

I was automatically a little off put by the fact that the aroma was not too strong and there were no bits of real fruit in the loose leaf mix. After a slight steep you could smell the hint of apricot more than the peach… and the taste was more black than fruity. I guess that is good for me as those cream pastries were too sweet anyways, but if i grabbed this tea on a day I was craving a fruity kick of goodness I would have been disappointed.

Great strong black tea! I’m not interested in putting milk in my black tea so I drank this straight and shared it with my meditation group. Everyone enjoyed it. I steeped this tea for only a couple minutes and it took on a dark amber tone. The aroma was refreshing and the taste was crisp but not bitter. I would buy this tea again.

One of my favourites. What can I say, it’s a smooth, vanilla/cream-soda flavoured Earl Grey. I think the name does it justice enough.

I love Earl Grey, but I found the bergamot in this one to be quite overpowering. I added a bit of milk and sugar, which I wasn’t planning to, and it was much better. It just balanced out the super floral-y, super bergamot-y flavor. It was more drinkable then, and I was semi-pleased. But this is definitely not my favorite Earl Grey.