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Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act IV scene 4

O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Henry V, Prologue

The last time I had a straight-up Keemun I was doing my basic black trio comparison in order to learn what Keemuns, Ceylons, and Assams generally taste like. Keemuns came out on top as being my favorite amongst the three. With this Keemun I didn’t have to focus on the comparison at all, but instead just enjoy a good cup of black tea.

After my first sip I knew that this tea would be one of Shakespeare’s histories. It just seems too earthy and real to be anything else. I had visions of a mud-spattered Kenneth Branagh with a bad haircut giving rousing speeches to an outnumbered army. Therefore this tea is my Henry V (the king formerly known as Prince Hal). In Henry IV part 1 we watch Prince Hal go through his “Lion King” type transformation. Well, now that he’s a king we get to watch him get his king on.

This tea seems to give me an internal speech that says:

Once more unto the morning, dear Rabs, once more;
Or close your eyes with your braincells dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a woman
As modest snoring and humility;
But when the blast of dawn blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger. . .

Or something like that. NE

I haven’t had this oldie but goodie in awhile so I was curious to see if my palate had changed since last I had it. It’s about as I remember it: mango lotion! I’m getting a lot more mango in the aftertaste this time around which is a pleasant surprise. Perhaps it’s because I bumped up the temp to 190. NE

I think this tea has helped me realize that I’m not the biggest fan of hot white teas. They’re fine, but not my favorites. I really like some of them iced, but I don’t think that I’ll be going out of my way to sample more (or if I do, then it will be as an iced tea).

I’ve also realized that I’m not a big fan of melon flavor in teas. They just seem extra “musky” to me and I only enjoy melons when they’re sweet. I might have a different feeling about melon tea if I added sweetner, but I’d rather do tea straight up.

Overall it’s probably a decent melon white tea, but it’s not for me. M

Another big thank you to AmazonV for the packet of this that she sent me! I’m not a big plum fan (yes, I do actually eat food, but I could live off of fresh bread and good cheese to give you an idea of my taste preferences). It’s been years since I’ve sampled a plum and went “patooie” so maybe it’s time I need to try again. Keep that in mind.

I love this tea just for the happy-bright packets — I’ve cut the top off carefully and have preserved the two that I’ve had so far. I sniffed the granules and my eyebrows immediately knitted together. Burnt metal? This does not bode well.

Blended (since it’s not really steeped per se), the smell is more fruity. With burnt metal. It reminds me of the smell emitted from large double boilers used for soup when the heated water would boil away and the two metal surfaces touched. This was something to be avoided for both health, safety, and smelly reasons, but it did happen occasionally. If you had had never smelled it before, then you’d wander around the store going “I smell something like an electrical fire.” Once you figured it out you would forever know exactly what that smell is and be able to correct it immediately.

You add that metallic taste plus some plum-fruitiness with lots of sweetness and you’ve got this tea. I couldn’t finish the cup (sorry AmazonV!). I am forever grateful to have gotten a chance to try this, but it’s something I’d never want to try again. GA

Oh yes, my precious we are delicious cold brewed too. The rose and jasmine fade more into the backgroud. My precious. But we are so delicate and light. And we wept precious, we wept to be so alone. And we forgots the taste of bread, the sound of trees, the softness of the wind. We even forgot our own name. My precious. TG

ETA: We are upping our ratings (originally 95)

Now that’s what I call a tasty dragon!

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act IV scene 3

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Julius Caesar, Act II scene 2

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a very limited experience with Darjeeling teas. I couldn’t find any other Namring teas by Upton on Steepster, so I went ahead and checked out Upton’s website and they’re onto the 2nd flush of this tea. I’m drinking first flush. So I kept the heading for this tea basic and if it does indeed need some clarification on the tea name, then by all means adjust it.

Er, it seems like a Darjeeling from the dry leaves to the steeped. It walks like a Darjeeling tea, it quacks like a Darjeeling tea, therefore it must be a Darjeeling tea. I agree with the descriptions of “woody” and “nutty.” I could possibly squint my tastebuds and give it a “fruity.” Finishing with a sweetness? Not so much. It starts off quite pleasant and soft, but as the cup cools it gets more “bitey.” I only did one steep which is quite a rarity for me, but a big reason for that is that I have to be at work early tomorrow and needed to switch to tisanes STAT.

I dub this tea the character Julius Caesar. It seems a bit cockey and sure of itself. It believes that it’s entitled to a 100 rating. That it’s a tea god among tea men. I am its Brutus, stabbing it with my pointy knife saying “yeah, you’re not all that and a bag of chips.” It’s a fine tea, but nothing that has me wanting to back it up when the Ides of March rolls around. NE

So, I sorta forgot that this tea was sitting in my fridge. I think it’s been there about a week. I know in Barista Land™ we would’ve tossed it about 12 hours after it was made, but that’s hot brewed. In Rabs Land™ we go ahead and try it — danger be damned! It actually is really yummy and has mellowed the flavors quite a bit. Now, if I suddenly stop posting y’all will know that this tea did me in and not to repeat my folly. NE

Maybe it was the tea fairy’s plan all along to have me spill my Rosy Earl Grey which then forced me to place another Teas Etc. order with a sample of this tea included. Perhaps the tea fairy is less capricious than I had thought. Because I loves me some of this tea!

The dry leaves smelled…like an old ashtray?…but not tabacco-ey at all. I was majorly concerned. Steeped it’s a very light smoke (says the Lapsang Souchong lover). I wasn’t impressed with the first few sips. I was getting a woody taste, almost like cardboard and no sweetness. It seemed rather flat. And then slowly this tea started to morph. It seemed like a yummy wood taste (now reading the description it’s like “oak!” ::facepalm::), the smoke is still more of a feeling than a scent/taste, and there’s the nicest sweet aftertaste left over from the sip. Warm Fuzzy detectors engage. My “I need MORE NOW!” feeling kicked in and I knew that this tea’s a keeper.

I’m drinking the second steep right now (added 1 minute to steep time) and I’m liking it more and more. The sweetness is shining through. It’s not as aggressive as most LSes, all the flavors I associate with smoky teas are present, but much more subdued. You know how tv shows and comics have a tendency to turn their characters into babies? http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpinoffBabies
Well, this is the baby version of Upton’s Black Dragon. If I had to chose between the two it wouldn’t even be a contest: Upton would win with its maturity. But this tea is yummy in its own rights and has earned a permanent spot in my cupboard. TG