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I also found this tea tin in a neglected corner of the tea cupboard, along with a few other brisk English-styled black teas. This one dates back to my summer Balkans & London trip in 2015. I hoped that I still had some of Fortnum & Mason’s Strawberry black tea too but it looks like I finished it off, or it found a new home while I wasn’t looking. Too bad!

Fortnum & Mason has some great “afternoon tea” styled blends, and biscuits (hello delicious Pistachio & Clotted Cream biscuits), among other things. This blend fits right in with their overall aesthetic and style.

The base is vibrant and bright, with a touch of astringency. Caramel notes and the rose scent definitely evokes Turkish Delights, and also grandma (love you/miss you & your rose scented clothes drawers). I’m also super impressed with how vibrant this tea still is, despite its age.

Oh, no. I found an almost untouched tin of this faaaar back in the cabinet, along with some other giant untouched brisk black teas. OMG, no. I’m pretty sure I bought this back in 2013.

I know what I’m going to be drinking every day for the next long while. Consider this Day 1. I’m going to start reading War & Peace today as well and see which one I finish first.

This one is old, although not as old as I thought. My sister brought this one back from Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2018. She also hyped the tea shop, World Tea House, and said the owner was awesome and super helpful. My sister doesn’t know a lot about tea. She likes tea a lot and is equally content to drink a Starbuck’s London Fog as she is to drink a peppermint tea latte, a cup of Yunnan Golden Snail, Milk Oolong, or a Red Rose tea bag, so long as someone else is making it. If it’s milky or milk can be added that’s great, and if it pairs well with a cookie it may as well be perfect.

So in that regard, I do believe World Tea House picked the perfect tea for sis. This Assam is lovely with milk, and makes me reassess my lack of Assam drinking. I don’t mind a nice Earl Grey or robust and full bodied breakfast tea every once in a while either!

Once I drink this up, as well as my ancient tin of Andrews & Dunham’s Tiger Assam (nvm I left that at my old work place so it’s Red-tailed Hawk tea!), I think I will properly revisit Indian teas.

May 2020 Blend

This seems like a relative of the Danishes, which are all usually delicious takes on various types of berries and cream (the pastry element was always a flip of a coin). This one is also pretty great, and the aroma fills the room in wonderful way.

+Tobacco note derives from the rooibos base, and is pleasant.

All in all, the May teas were generally great and I’m sad to see this last one go. Too bad the Pacific West Coast refuses to comply with the spring/summer concepts; seriously, it feels and looks like mid-September today.

So, this one doesn’t taste at all like Amaretto. I probably should’ve expected that when the blend consisted of cranberries as opposed to cherries or marzipan pieces, but still I’d hoped. No surprises that it tastes mostly cranberries and almonds, even when sugar and/or milk is added. C’est la vie.

It did taste like Amaretto after I added Amaretto liqueur though! So, yeah. Not my favourite.

Sipdown!

This session is pretty different from my earlier one. There are far more tea leaves to fruit in this last serving. The fact that this is a roasted oolong is much more noticeable, and it brings out the dried goji berries more while diminishing the impression of ripe melons and sweetness.

I still like this quite a bit particularly as it cools. It’s almost caramelized/ slightly creamy but also fruity and roasted. I’m having a hard time describing it and it’s not consistent enough a thing to pinpoint.

Steep Count: 2

This tea has tea has two ingredients I’ve never heard of and didn’t bother to look up before placing my order. These are Maca (Peruvian ginseng) and Pau D’Arco (South American tree bark).

I’m combining two different drinking sessions in one note.

First Attempt: 8 minutes, two teaspoons = oversteeped

The aroma of both the blend and steeped cup is 99.9% cinnamon and apple, with a hint of sweet nutty earth. Cup flavour profile is vibing on baked cinnamon apple. There is an initial strong liquid maple syrup drip, that tones down a bit over time, as well as a dry woody and tangy lingering quality, not dissimilar to green apple. This builds.

I don’t “the dry” but do think this would make a particularly lovely cup on a wet fall evening. I’m going to try and play with the steeping parameters (meaning I will obey them this time, lol) to see if I can mitigate “the dry”.

Second Attempt: 6 minutes, 1 1/2 teaspoons

I forgot about this one so drank it lukewarm to cool. Cinnamon Apple is still No.1 with a hint of beet, honeybush, ginseng, and thin maple. I still think the broth is on the thin side, not dissimilar to how thin maple syrup is, but the dry is much more manageable. Huzzah!

As per the description for this tea:“the classic ginger bite” is probably the thing that turns me off this kind of sencha base. However, I have to give it props here; it pairs nicely with the subtle papaya and rich pecan notes. The aftertaste leaves a mouthful of provocative and warming fruity nut and honey-like flavours. The aroma (nutty) is also lovely.

My mother was an even bigger fan than me (doesn’t have my Chinese sencha bias). She rates it a 9/10.

Just be careful not to overleaf or oversteep; this green base can get nippy!

Yes!!!!! I found an unopened pack… I’m not sure from what year but it’s Anne’s.

I previously stated on another note that I possibly like another lime-flavoured blend from 52teas better than this one (the package I was comparing it too had gone kind of “pissy” for some reason. I blame lemongrass). That was a lie. This less oxygen exposed batch is the best thing ever.

May 2020 Blend

I never bothered to try this one hot because it was just so great iced/cold steeped. It also took a while to finish off because the Pacific Northwest was not into embracing summer weather for the last month. Cool Rain and coconut-mango chilled beverages aren’t the best of combos.

The Gunpowder base curtails what may have been a sweet mango/coconut combo by adding in some grass and (light) smoke; it gives both of those tropical fruit/nuts an underripe quality. The overall result is a clean and refreshing tropical beverage, as opposed to a syrupy sweet one.