Marco Polo Blend

Another tea from yyz thank you so much for sending this my way.

I was quite happy to see this in my package. I ordered teas from Capital Tea Ltd. awhile ago but mainly ordered straight black (that I was quiet happy with). It’s nice to be able to try one of their flavored teas.
This is a really nice Marco Polo blend. It’s fruity, hint of vanilla, hint of caramel. Really nice. I will be looking to order from them again, and will take a look at a few flavors at that time. :))

Another single serving from the Discovery tea box. I really wanted to go light on steeping this one, in my experiment to eek out more flavor by using cooler water and shorter steep times for initial steeps. This seems to be a black tea with flavoring and it’s delicious. Nice cocoa flavor with hint of cherry in the first steep. Considering the cool temp and short steep, there was quite a bite to the black tea when it cooled. In the second steep, the cherry disappears but there is quite a starchy quality. The description says Ceylon… I usually find Ceylon boring but this one is delicious with these flavors. Otherwise, the base might be boring by itself, but not as boring as Ceylon CAN be. This was quite the lovely tea to try.
Steep #1 // 1 1/4 teaspoons for a full mug// 20 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Another TTB tea

I honestly expected a lot more from this tea. I wanted chocolate and caramel. I only got a hint of cocoa and some malty black tea. I thought it was a straight tea until I looked up the description.

This accompanied me out the door into the cold and the dark at ridiculous-o’clock to do yoga this morning.

A flavoured black tea, that smells very different dry vs. steeped! I don’t know why, but when dry the leaves reminded me of dried vegetables – the kind usually found in Asian markets. I like that smell, so I don’t mind, but not sure why that came to mind.

When steeped though, the flavour becomes of earthy, fruity dark chocolate. There is a medium weight to the tea, it definitely has some body, not as much as Keemun but noticeable. There is just a hint of astringency at the end, but barely perceptible.

I had this earlier today and was underwhelmed – it was a bit astringent and bitter. I steeped western style – 3g in a 10oz mug, boiling water, 3min steep. I think next time I’ll try cooler water and maybe a shorter steep to start out. Alternately, this might just be one of those teas that needs milk +/- sugar to be enjoyable. Lowering my rating a bit.

Got a sample of this from Capital Teas Ltd! Still surprised at how big their samples are. xD 20g seems like so much-haha!
Anyway! This one is actually better than I expected.
When I opened the bag, I was hit by a strong, fruity aroma. Almost tart even, which made me not so sure. But while it steeped, a more chocolatey, dark aroma replaced the fruitiness.
Which is actually odd because this tea doesn’t really taste like chocolate at all. xD
As for the flavor; the caramel and fruity flavors are light, but not overwhelming. The black tea base is definitely present in this tea, which makes it taste much stronger.
Caramel is probably the biggest flavor in this tea. And the frutiness is more in the aftertaste.
So overall it’s not bad! Better than I expected. A nice, light flavored tea that’s not too overwhelming in any way. Definitely worth the try if you ever order from there! (:

mmmmm post bike ride tea! this one courtesy of YYZ and one of the few teas i have left from her generosity. First off, this smells tasty! i pick up the caramel instantly but not so much the fruit. once brewed this is a delightful caramel tea with a hint of fruit in the background. I vastly prefer THIS marco polo to the one from MF…and yes, they are totally different teas heh :)