The Tao of Tea

This is a delicious darjeeling tea I bought from Tao of Tea in their walk-in store. The label doesn’t say which flush it is but it appears to be first flush. However, unlike other first flush darjeelings, it does not have the typical vegetal “grassy” flavoring found in other first flushes which I tend to avoid. The leaves almost look like a white tea, with a lighter green appearance with some oxidation showing in places. It almost looks like Oriental Beauty Oolong leaves.

The muscatel flavoring is subtle but nice, not overpowering. There’s a mild honey like flavor aftertaste that’s very nice. I really enjoy this tea and since this is the last of my supply, I will look forward to getting more next store visit.

This is my current favorite 2nd flush Darjeeling. As with most of the teas I get from Tao of Tea, this one is an excellent quality tea. The muscatel flavor and aroma from this organic tea is very good and I enjoy sipping it this morning.

Drinking this fragrant tea again and I have to say that I stand by what I said initially. Very nice…

Very fragrant and a pleasure to sip…very enjoyable!

I always start this off way hotter and stronger than I’d like it plain, so I can add lots of milk and clover honey. Feel good tea!

Delicious and delicate, with a great after taste.

Shorter steeps and lower temps helps this lose astringency and allow for multiple steeping.

Only thing that could make this better is if it had some infused Ginseng! =0

~paganbuddha

First some Dead Guy Whiskey, then some Daily Red wine.

How to finish the night?

Some of most delicious tea the great spirit could ferment for us: pu-er, and it’s certified organic!

~paganbuddha

I LOVE green rooibos. While I love the red as well, I find green to be much more mellow. It also blends well with other tisanes- tonight it is lemongrass, and a little bit of peppermint. I really enjoy experimenting with herbal blends in the evening. I’m too caffeine sensitive for “real” tea at night.

I blend half and half with lemongrass. Green rooibos is more mellow than the red- quite a different flavor.

Had this favorite this morning. It is always very good. A great go-to tea when you need a great no-surprises tea that is there time after time. It’s a really mellow golden yunnan tea that is less strong than some of the golden yunnans out there. If you aren’t sure you will like a golden yunnan, go for this one. Flavor is delicious!

This is one of my all time favorites. This tippy Yunnan black tea has a wonderful flavor, not quite as strong as Emporer’s Gold from Tao of Tea but has plenty of good strong flavor. If you like Yunnan tea this is an excellent representative of tea from that region.

This darjeeling is truly a quality 2nd flush. I prefer the 2nd flush over the 1st as I prefer more oxidized teas over the less oxidized varieties. The leaf is dark green, brown and black mix with long twisted-curled leaves. The brew is a robust floral and fragrant muscatel flavoring that is pleasing without being overpowering. It has a freshness to the taste with some notes of honey sweetness. This is one of my favorites when it comes to darjeeling 2nd flush. If you love a 2F darjeeling give this one a try.

I wonderful 2nd flush darjeeling with the nice muscatel flavor. Enjoyed it this morning… late on the report.

Nothing remarkable about this tea. It makes a great blending tea with other teas that I find too strong however.

This isn’t my very favorite chai blend, but it comes in at second place, nevertheless. The black tea is strong, but the proportion of spices is not very great, so I always add extra peppercorns, cardamom, and anything else I have on hand.

The best way to make this chai is on the stovetop, which is more time consuming but yields a stronger, more flavorful chai. If you know the ratio of water to milk you prefer (1:1, for instance), you can make a single serving or a large batch all at once. Start by heating your water to a boil in a pot (extra spices can be added to the water as it heats). Then, add a generous spoonful of tea per intended cup of chai, and allow to simmer for five minutes. Next, add the milk of your preference and allow to heat until it just returns to a simmer, at which point you should remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for another five minutes. Strain and serve. If honey is your sweetener of choice, add it after straining; otherwise, a spoonful of sugar per cup of liquid can be added at any point. Keep in mind that if you’re making only a single serving, some of the liquid will evaporate or be absorbed by the tea leaves, so you’ll end up with a very concentrated cup, so you may want to use a little extra water/milk; making a large batch makes this less noticeable.

As for me, I like using half milk and half water in my chai, so if I want to make two cups, I start with a cup of water, add two or three spoonfuls of tea, and then add the cup of milk. Voila.

I love rose-flavored things, and Rose Melange is the best rose-flavored tea I’ve had. Though the tea itself is strong, the rose flavor is not at all lost or overpowered as it so often is in other rose teas. Rose Melange looks and smells wonderful both as loose tea and after brewing, and I’ve never found it to become bitter, even though I tend to steep my tea for a long time. I think it’s delicious with milk and sugar. One of my absolute favorites.

Started my day with this #tea with that distinct muscatel flavoring.

This is an excellent Golden Monkey! Grown near the Tai Mu mountains of Fujian province, China,it is also known as ‘Panyong Wang’, the king of high grade black teas.

Enjoying this wonderful malty tea on a beautiful day out on the deck. What a glorious experience!

Starting my week with this bold tea from the higher elevations of India, which lends to a less astringent variety of tea. I’m drinking it black with sweetener the way I like most all my black teas. It’s a great variation on the Indian teas.

Starting my Sunday with this Nilgiri. A nice full bodied smooth tea.

A cup of this every so often is a nice change. The aroma is amazing. With a teaspoon of sugar, it’s almost like drinking a dozen roses!

A light roasty flavored oolong, much like a cliff oolong tea. Drinking it with some 75% dark chocolate. Ummm nice end to a day!