Earl Grey Jasmine Monkey King

Tea of the afternoon….. (SRP #20)

Yes, new tea samples from a new company for me. New Mexico Tea Company is currently having a free shipping offer until May 31, 2012. I decided to jump on that and try a few things, so I got this, Black Jasmine Cream, Rosie Earl Grey, and a free sample of Coconut Dream. Since I am on a jasmine and Earl Grey kick, these seemed fitting. They offer their teas in 1 oz amounts for sampling, plus 4 ,8, and 16 oz amounts, and they send a free sample that is probably a half ounce of your request. The service was prompt and shipping turnaround was very fast. The samples are packaged in a silver cello bag with a resealable zip closure. So far, I am impressed. I also ordered a round latch tin that will hold about 4 oz. of tea. I like the tin, too.

This tea is Springtime in a cup. There are jasmine notes intermingled with a light bergamot. It is definitely light and airy, floral and lightly citrusy. I definitely like it!

Brewed at about 160 for 2 minutes by the mug method.

After the success I had with Casablanca, I was excited to try this one. Jasmine, like mint, tends to be quite overpowering but the bergamot worked so so well in Casablanca, how could I not be excited!

This tea has a nice, fluffy base that smells strongly of both bergamot and jasmine. Well duh, of course it does! It smells like heaven while it’s brewing, I just want to stick my face in there. I wish there were tea perfumes! Well I mean, there are, but I’d like an endless variety of them.

I think 3 minutes is a little too long for this, since the jasmine is just a tad soapy. Not overwhelmingly so, and I think a 2 minute steep would fix that up nicely. The bergamot balances so nicely with it, both are quite strong but neither one is too strong. It’s exactly what you would expect—a light green earl grey with jasmine! I’m not going to rate it until I get the steep time right, but it’s pretty damn yummy.

Not really sure what to think about this one. I asked for it as a free sample and holy cow, is the sample ever huge! I’m impressed.

It seems at first taste like there is too much going on. But I also think I used water that was a bit too hot. So I’m going to go again before I really review it. So far I’ll say that it looks very neat and interesting after steeping. It smells a bit smoky but somehow everything has been smelling a little smoky to me so maybe I’m just going through a smoke-sensitive/imagining phase. :)

One thing for sure – I have plenty to try again!

The tea blender for NM Tea Company must be a genius, every tea I’ve tried has been just right. Perfectly balanced bergamot and jasmine, a delicate green tea.

The scent is almost as good as Casablanca.

As someone who enjoys the bergamot flavors of earl grey, but in moderation, this blend is the perfect balance for me. It’s become my staple go-to tea for mornings and afternoons, and I’ll re-steep my pot multiple times. None of the flavors overpower, but instead all of them blend well into a nice subtle balance that can be drinkable at any time.

I’m a big fan of Jasmine and Earl Grey tea. These two combined made me question on whether they’d pair well together. The overall smell of the tea reminds me of a Jasmine perfume, so I was little skeptical at first.

Fortunately, this tea is delicious. The aroma seems a bit much at first, but the overall flavor is delicate and nice. It’s a sweet Jasmine/bergamot tea, that stays on the tongue a while after sipping down the tea. I brewed this tea at 160 F and steeped it for 25 seconds. I’ve noticed that if you brew the water any higher or steep the tea any longer than that, it becomes very astringent and intolerable. However, it’s a great tea once you learn the methods of brewing the water/figuring out the proper steeping time.

Waaaaaaaaaaay too flowery for me. I might as well be munching on the blossoms! Bleck!