Creamy Earl Grey Competition...And the Winner Is....

I recently had my first Teavana experience. 

I only bought Earl Grey Creme at Teavana. My tea stash is large enough and I wanted to compare it to my other favourite Creamy Earl Greys: one by DAVIDsTEA and one by T by Daniel.

So let me start the comparison and then announce which is my favourite! It might surprise you!

Firstly, I was really pleased with the price point of Earl Grey Creme at Teavana. It was $4.50 for 50g. I thought, hey, if I could get behind this tea I'd be saving a pretty penny! It smells nice, but the "creamy vanilla finish" promised didn't really come through the nose. 

I steeped it as recommended, at 96 degrees C for 3 minutes. It made a very pleasant black tea but I was underwhelmed with the whole experience. One might even say disappointed. My husband really liked it as a simple black tea. 

The next one I will talk about is Organic Cream of Earl Grey by DAVIDsTEA! My traditional favourite! This was my first foray into Creamy Earl Greys and has absolutely blown my mind. It has prominent sweet vanilla notes and does not disappoint. It's $6.98 per 50 g, but you can stock up when you belong to the Summer Steeper club and save 20%, bringing it down to $5.58 per 50g. 

This tea is delicious, smooth and, when steeped properly (yes, I will ALWAYS preach about that!) is never astringent or tart). 

Although I had been drinking Organic Cream of Earl Grey for months, after discovering T by Daniel I decided to try THEIR version of Creamy Earl Grey, aptly called Canadian Eh. This tea promises a maple flavouring, along with the traditional vanilla and bergamot. It's $7.00 per 50 g, and they often have sales, sometimes even 40-50% off. (Join the T by Daniel Fan page on FB for more information on upcoming sales!)

HOLD. THE. PHONE. 

This one has CHANGED MY LIFE. I don't know how they did it but it really DOES have maple notes in it. And vanilla. And bergamot. And yet, it's beautifully simple. I iced it the other day for the first time and squealed. Yes, I actually squealed. It's just that good. 

Keep in mind, I drink my hot teas plain - no milk or sugar. So they have to be very impressive. THIS ONE IS IMPRESSIVE.  

CANADIAN EH IS THE WINNER!!!!!!

Clockwise from Top Left: Canadian Eh, Organic Cream of Earl Grey, Earl Grey Creme

Congratulations, T by Daniel, on putting out yet another mind-blowing tea. (SLURRRRRRRP). Not only is it smooth and delicious, living up to the description, it's patriotic. I love it. 

The Wonders of White Tea

I remember trying my first white tea years ago, before I was introduced to loose leaf tea. I believe it was a ginger pear white tea, and it tasted like water. Maybe. It was a bagged tea from the grocery store. After that I was completely uninterested in white tea until I tried White Nectarine from DAVIDsTEA. Oh my. The flavour in this tea completely blew my mind. It was mild and gentle but completely...THERE. White nectarines are my favourite fruit and so to taste a tea that captured the taste so perfectly was amazing. I was sold. 

White tea is a real 'tea'. It comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, the sinensis variety (as opposed to the assam variety). Upon tasting it, however, one might think it's an herbal tea! It's that gentle and mild. It is picked early in spring, only from the very tips of the tea plant. "Authentic" white tea, according to Heiss & Heiss, only comes from the Fuijan province of China. Other sources agree, saying even though other countries grow and pluck white tea, it simply isn't the quality as found in the mountainous region of Fuijan. 

White tea is called "White" not because of the colour of the liquor, which is often a light yellow, but because the buds have a soft, downy white fuzz on them that is a silvery white colour, as seen below. 

There are two main types of white tea: Silver Needle and White Peony. They will be discussed in further detail below. There are two more rare types of white tea, also from Fuijan: Gong Mei and Shou Mei. They are not uniform in colour or appearance. Blooming flower teas are often made with white teas since they expand so much in water. Below you can see a small experiment I conducted with Buddha's Blend from DAVIDsTEA. The left shows the one teaspoon of tea without water, the right shows the expansion with just two tablespoons of water!

White tea can also take on added flavours and scents beautifully and often is part of high quality jasmine scented teas. 

White tea is the least processed of all the real teas. Cheadle and Kilby call it a 'basically unprocessed' tea. It is plucked by hand and left to dry. Therefore it undergoes minimal oxidation, unlike every other type of tea. According to Heneberry, it really is a type of green tea but without the rolling or breaking of the leaves. The leaves are left to dry in the sun. Even rain can cause severe damage, and since plucking season only lasts two weeks of the year, one can understand how this tea can be expensive and sought after!

The tea liquor itself is often a light yellow colour. Heneberry cites that it has the least caffeine of all the teas, but Keating & Long say recent studies found some white teas may have comparable levels of caffeine to other teas. All sources I looked at agree that white tea has large amounts of phenolic compounds, which are antioxidants. Some white teas may, in fact, have the highest antioxidant content of any teas! Why is this so? The reason again comes to how it is picked and plucked and processed. Only the tip of the tea plant is picked and plucked for white tea, and only at the first sign of spring. This part of the plant, at this time of its development, contains the highest concentration of nutrients, volatile oils, chlorophyll and flavour! BUT IT IS ALL DONE BY HAND. 

White tea has a light, sweet taste and hardly any astringency. Still, because it is a real tea, you can oversteep it. As stated, the liquor is pale yellow to pale green. It often has a mild, honey like flavour. Heiss & Heiss state that white tea has "a full body, clean, short-finished, soft and sweet" taste. 

Silver Needle is the finest, top grade of white teas. It consists of just the shoots and a single tip. It is the most expensive. It is sweet like a honeysuckle and has a clear liquor. Silver Needle is barely oxidized, at about a 5% rate. 

White Peony white teas bloom when steeped. White Peony consists of two leaves and a bud. It still has the silver needle but ALSO has two lower leaves. This actually contributes to a more complex, melon like flavour. It can be oxidized between 5-12%. It is less expensive and has a stronger flavour. It takes on added flavours well. 

Heiss & Heiss offer a caution: Bai Hao Yin Zhen is the true, original white tea from Fuijan, China, made from large, succulent buds. Other places in China and elsewhere in the world are attempting to make white teas but the non-Fuijanese bud white teas are just not up to par. However, even Heiss & Heiss say these less-than-desirable teas can be quite tasty. 

Some of my favourite white teas are:

Buddha's Blend from DAVIDsTEA

White Nectarine from DAVIDsTEA and

Vanilla Coco Loco from T By Daniel

(pictured below, counterclockwise from top)

DAVIDsTEA recommends steeping white teas at 90 degrees Celsius for 4-7 minutes. 

T by Daniel recommends steeping white teas at 80 degrees Celsius for 3-5 minutes. 

The Mighty Timer App recommend steeping white teas at 85 degrees Celsius for 4 minutes. 

My personal experience recommends steeping white teas at 80 degrees Celsius for 4 minutes. 

I have found white tea very weak for resteeping, but you may have more luck than me. 

Keating & Long recommend pairing white teas with such delightful foods as brie cheeses, delicate pastries and any lighter faire. Yum!!

If you've never tried white tea, give it a try. I would highly recommend jumping right to the looseleaf type, since the grocery store version is so disappointing. Not only can white tea be beneficial for your health, but it can also be a really tasty treat. 

Happy Steeping!

Works Cited

The Little Black Book of Tea M. Heneberry
The Tea Book: All Things Tea Cheadle and Kilby
How to Make Tea: The Science Behind the Leaf Keating and Long
The Simple Guide To Tea C Scott
The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook Heiss and Heiss
DAVIDsTEA.com
TbyDaniel.com
Personal Experience

Tea Empties, Reviews and Tips

Okay, so I drink a lot of tea. It's no secret. And so I have a few empties! I thought it would be fun to go through my latest empties with you and tell you what I thought, as well as share any feedback I have on that particular tea. I hope you enjoy. 

I have two sets of empties. The first is a T by Daniel set, the second is DAVIDsTEA. 

The first tea I will review is CITYYZ by T by Daniel. To be honest this was not a favourite of mine or my children but my husband thought it was gangbusters. I think I was put off because I didn't initially add sweetener and you MUST add sweetener to this tea! It has cacao in it, which is notoriously bitter, in my opinion. Once I added sweetener I must admit it was quite delicious. My husband thought it was on par with a Timmy's Iced Coffee, as do many T-fans on the fan page. This one sells out fast. You really should try it, just to see what all the buzz is about! Check it out here. 

The second tea I will review is a black tea by T by Daniel: Caramel Popcorn. The first time I made this I prepared it as I do all my black teas, at about 95 degrees Celsius. The black tea flavour came out beautifully but not much of anything else. The second time I prepared it (a fresh brew) I made it at 90 degrees and OH MY what a difference. Suddenly there it was: the caramel, sweet, salty flavours I was hoping for. I highly recommend this tea. You can purchase it here. 

My last empty from T by Daniel is a decadent treat called Chai Noir. I prepared this as a latte for my husband and it turned a neat shade of pink. It was so pretty! AND DELICIOUS!! The surprise for both of us is it wasn't much of a 'chai'. BUT...it is SO GOOD. You absolutely must try it. You can purchase it here. 

Now moving on to DAVIDsTEA empties...

Nutty by Nature is a yummy, smooth, sweet mate I use instead of coffee. It is yummy. Did I mention yummy? I believe the apricot is the key to the smooth sweetness. I drink this in the late morning or afternoon for a pick me up and I feel MUCH better than drinking coffee. This is a definite must. You can check it out here.

Now on to the real tragedy...

My favourite tea EVER of ALL TIME. (So far anyway). Cream of Earl Grey by DAVIDsTEA. Actually I shouldn't say it's my favourite since Canadian, Eh by T by Daniel rivals this bad boy! (Check out that smooth goodness here) The best part of Cream of Earl Grey is that my husband doesn't like it so I get it all to myself!!! It's very smooth and not spicy at all. I steep it at 90 degrees for only about 3 minutes. If you want stronger tea, PLEASE ADD MORE TEA rather than steeping for longer!!! This may seem counter intuitive. Or at least more expensive (it is that!!!!) but you won't be releasing the bitter tannic acids this way - you will only be releasing the tea deliciousness!!! You can purchase this delicacy here. 

If you want to be amused, you can watch our Youtube video here!! or here. 

Happy Steeping! Please let me know if you have any questions about these teas or any others. 

-B

Berry Fruit Fusion by T by Daniel

Today's the day! It's +30•C outside and time for some iced tea! Everyone on the T by Daniel Fan Page on Facebook has been raving about B.F.F. so I decided to give mine a try! 

My first impression is how lovely and tart it smells right out of the package. This is likely due to the hibiscus, which I love! 

My next impression is how totally gorgeous the tea itself looks! You can literally feel the antioxidants and vitamins "healthing" you up! 

By now I am salivating! 

I put two teaspoons in my iced tea press (that's from another....ahem...tea company) and love the colour as I watch it steep. 

I added some stevia to offset the tartness of my beloved hibiscus. Perhaps I should have tried the tea "naked" but a little sweet is always good, right?

Now I wait seven minutes...tick, tock, tick, tock...

Here's the result: 

And now for the first sip....

It is delicious. Very smooth. The tartness is not overwhelming. (Keep in mind I added just a touch of sweetener). I can actually taste the berries, not just a general fruity flavour!! I would write more but my daughter just stole it from me and she's polishing it off!

Thumbs up from this T-fan. I will be buying this again. 

If you're interested in this delicious tea, you can find it here: 

T by Daniel Berry Fruit Fusion

So Long, Oolong??

Oolong tea, also known as Wulong, is one of the most complicated teas to produce. It requires the most human intervention. There are over seven steps required to make this wonderful tea. It is considered a work of art. Because of this, it is in limited production, and its prices are increasing. Could this be the end of oolong?

Oolong is a genuine tea, made from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. As stated above, however, it is very uniquely processed. It varies between the green teas and black teas. It can be oxidized/processed as little as 10%, making is as light as a green tea, or as heavily oxidized/processed as much as 70%, making it closer to a black tea. 

Its appearance is not uniform, as you can imagine! It can be tightly rolled and green, or black and 'bakey' looking. (Yes, 'bakey' is actually a tea term! Who knew!)

Keating and Long state, "Many people have heard of oolong tea but few people can define it." 

Oolong originated in China and spread to Taiwan. Mastery of making oolong takes many years to perfect and requires the human touch. Because of this it may be a dying art form. Machines have yet to touch this form of tea making. 

Cheadle and Kilby outline how to make a perfect cup of Oolong Tea:

1. Start with freshly poured water, not water that has been sitting in the kettle. Freshly poured water includes more oxygen, which infuses more flavour into the tea. 

2. Stop heating at 80 - 85 degrees Celsius, or 176 degrees F. 

3. USE QUALITY TEA!! See lovely Oolongs here T By Daniel Oolong

4. Use the proper tea to water ratio. To do this, follow the directions on your particular tea's package, or use 1 tsp tea to 300 mL water. 

5. Steep only 3 minutes. 

6. DO NOT ADD MILK TO OOLONG TEA.

7. ENJOY!!

Sources:

Youtube Oolong Video
How to Make Tea (B. Keating, K. Long)
The Tea Book: All Things Tea  (L. Cheadle, N. Kilby)