Metropolitan Tea Company

Iced tea of the day…..

Yep, this one is losing its luster for me. I have given some away and am trying it out iced to see if it has any value for me to keep it. Not bad. I can taste the bergamot and the cream adds kind of a weird but interesting aftertaste. I don’t sweeten my iced tea, so teas do taste vastly different iced than when I drink them hot.

I am in the midst of a good sized edit of my tea cupboard. I do like this one hot well enough, but I am kind of over having 80 teas to choose from on a daily basis. I think I could be happy with about 1 quarter of that. This one is not going to be replaced, even though I did enjoy it while i had it.

Usual iced tea method.

Tea of the afernoon…..

I was hoping to do some frothed milk for this ala DaisyChubb’s new found method, but I need a jar. I am too good at recycling them these days! I have some jarred sauce in the fridge (I know, the horror!) that is almost empty. At this point, if I don’t like the frothed milk in the microwave, it makes no sense to spend much on the equipment to froth. So I must wait for the jar to be empty and clean…….

This is still really good…bergamot and creamy vanilla. I did add a tiny spash of half & half just to see how creamy it could taste, and I do think the bubbly milk would be nice.

I got this tea from Angelina’s just to see if it was anything close to Teavana’s. I am fairly certain that it is from Metro, as the owner of Angelina’s did say on his website that Metro was one of his suppliers. I so appreciate the honesty in that! In my opinion, vendors should be upfront with the source of their tea unless they are adding something to it. Otherwise, they are essentially just a repackager, which there is not anything wrong with that if you let your customers know. And those who are avid drinkers in the tea world can usually figure out where something came from.

Onto the tea. Yep. Not that much different from the tea I got from Teavana. The surprising thing….the tea from Angelina’s looked fresher. The cornflowers in my Teavana tea were very faded compared to the sample I got from Angelina’s. Hmmmmm. I am finding fewer reasons to go to Teavana……

Ah, Tea and Toast, cinnamon toast. This is a perfect tea blend, for me. I love to start the day with a rich, balanced brew. I find myself coming back to this one again and again. Windsor Castle examples why blends exist, why they work. The strength and maltyness of Assam, on its own, is smoothed by the flowerness of the Kenya and livens up with the Darjeeling. It is flavory straight up. Not too strong. But, this one is also excellent with a touch of sugar and milk… and with the taste of crispy cinnamon toast accompanying.

My tea of the evening…. Basic vanilla rooibos decorated with almond slices and yellow petals. This one is pretty good as far as rooibos goes. I am not a big fan of rooibos, but I do think it lends itself well to vanilla flavors. Oddly, this tea really gives me a full feeling. I also need some sleep tonight, so I am skipping black tea this evening.

This one is actually from The English Tea Store online. I know I have it listed as Metro, but Metro teas are everywhere, and with a free shipping deal, English Tea Store has some of the best prices online for 4 ounces. It is where I stock up on this tea as well as Earl Grey Cream.

24 oz teapot, 6 actual tsp rooibos blend, freshly boiled water, 7 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

Picture it: Tennessee. 2011. (Ah, Golden Girls, I love you)

Anyway, my parents and wife are watching Ghost Hunters, and I’m bored out of my mind, so I update steepster with the teas the wonderful SimplyJenW sent me. I look up the Lady Londonderry and squeak happily during a quiet moment in the show, scaring the crap out of everyone in the room XD. I opened up the package and the scent of Strawberry Lemonade washed over me….oooooh yes. I’m in love. I don’t care that it’s nine pm. I need a cup of this now.

The taste delivers on what the scent promised…it tastes like a strawberry lemonade tea and I love it. It is beautiful. I am very grateful to Jen for sending me so much, and I am very excited to find it is Metropolitan Tea Company. One of their warehouses is literally around the corner from our home, so I can find most of their teas in the area. I can’t wait to get to Kensington and see if they have it, though I’m sure they do.

SimplyJenW, I can’t thank you enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You can’t go wrong with this Oolong! I love the toasty aroma and taste, its sweetness and how it lingers well on the pallet. Best brewed in a Yixing teapot (as with any Oolongs) and at any time of the day.

This tea which is relatively inexpensive taste better than some other more expensive Yunnan teas that I’ve tried. It holds the typical Yunnan qualities, and then some, but without having to pay an elaborate price that some tea stores charge for this type of tea. Yunnan black teas are my preference and I keep this tea stocked at all times.

This tea caught me off guard when I first tried it. I was simply not expecting such a great tasting blended tea! The black teas are from the Sri Lanka districts of Nuwara Eliya and Dimbula. They then add a Darjeeling and White Monkey Paw green tea to make this “black” tea very unique. Highly recommended and terribly inexpensive. A must try!

Trying this out today courtesy of SimplyJenW. Dry, this is a very appealing black tea with blue flowers mixed in. Steeped it delivers as promised. A fair balance of Bergamot and cream. I really like the combination. For me, the Bergamot is there at the beginning and end of the sip with the cream in the center, like an Oreo cookie. It is an interesting affect.
Thanks SimplyJenW, I am very glad to have tried this.

I found this tea at The Blueberry Patch in Lexington, Ohio. http://www.theblueberrypatch.org/
It makes an excellent iced tea. Steep 6 teaspoons in 1 1/2 cups hot water. Then strain and pour into ice cold water to make 1 liter. Stir in a little raw sugar. A few fresh, crushed blueberries really add to the refreshment on a hot summery day. ENJOY!!

Monk’s Blend is probably one of my favourite black teas of all time. I picked this one up because I had a real craving, but hadn’t had any in a couple of years.
Honestly, at first the scent in the bag put me off just a little. Something I can’t quite put my finger on, but which concerned me. Thankfully, once it was brewed my concerns were completely alleviated. This tea is absolutely delicious, and the flavours work together perfectly. I find it has a good astringency. I rarely drink this with any milk or sweetener.

I am pretty sure this is what I purchased online from Angelina’s Teas in Winston-Salem, NC. It was my first experience with this vendor, and I really wanted to try this tea as well as find a place to buy some of Metro’s Earl Grey Cream for comparison to Teavana’s. From looking at the tea this merchant stocks, it seems he has many Metro offerings, plus more. There is something similar to Emporer’s Red (It is an Imperial Red black tea that is called Da Hong Pao which I think means big red robe. They also have a Da Hong Pao Oolong.) It is easy to order in just about any amount by the ounce. Packaging was in the foil bags with the roll top and tie that flattens. I also got a free sample, and his shipping was extremely fast, even for a holiday weekend. There was one tea I ordered that was out of stock, and the owner subbed something more expensive for my one ounce. I got Formosa Ruby #18 black tea instead of the Dian-Hong Red tea I ordered. Actually, I am pleased with the sub, as the Ruby #18 is of interest to me.

Onto the Honey Tea…..I do like this one. It is a basic black tea with a floral honey flavor. It kind of reminds me a little of jasmine. Sweetened, this is very enjoyable. Once my two ounces are gone, I could see reordering. Plus, I am sure there are many other teas that Angelina’s has to offer that are of interest. I like that they have a balance of unique teas and the flavored teas I like.

Still loving this. I am a fan of peach & apricot, and this just fills my kitchen with a lovely scent when I brew it.

It can turn bitter quickly, so giving it a bit less than 3 mins works well. I didn’t make a tasting note for this before, but I’ve also enjoyed it iced. (Hot brew then chilled in another container with lots of ice)

Had some of this at lunch today. Peach Apricot keeps the flavors simple, and it’s an easy one to enjoy.

I plan on making some of this iced later. :)

Meh. Now, reverse osmosis water from the cottage may have impacted this one… but I think my initial impression of “Lover’s Leap” was prematurely ecstatic. That first day I tried it, I must have been in just the right mood… because it still rings those same raisin notes, but they just don’t “sing” to me like they did that first time.
This was purchased from a place in St. Lawrence Market, so I don’t really know if MTC was the distributor but either way this is my third ho-hum experience with this tea type. Makes me wonder what I was on that first day…

Cold brewed this overnight since we’re supposed to be under a heat advisory today. I got this from the Strawberry Festival at Bean and Leaves in Long Grove, IL because it smelled AMAZING! I’m not normally a huge green tea fan as I find they always smell amazing but are less flavorful than I would expect from the smell but I couldn’t pass this one up. I’m not sure that this is the exact tea since they don’t share who their suppliers are but it looks like it so I’ll just go ahead and rate this one.

There’s something…off…here. I can’t put my finger on it but something just tastes a bit off. It could be a combination of things: my palate is currently sullied with some Apple Jacks (dry, my breakfast of choice at work), I could still have a bit of toothpaste mouth, I added some splenda and that sometimes interacts with tea in a weird way, or my perfect teamaker might need to have its filter cleaned since I primarily make blacks and mates in there.

Aside from the off-ness, I do like aspects of the tea. My last sip there was an almost textural change to the feeling of cherry juice (makes sense, right?). I think the flavor is there, but I may have messed it up a bit. This is only my second batch of iced tea too so there may have been some user error in there.

I think I’ll like this one better warm. Perhaps I’m just not an iced tea person.

So I bought this one at St. Lawrence Market. I’m not sure if MTC is the right vendor but I’m willing to bet that it is given that they supply much of Toronto’s looseleaf market.
The tea is pretty much what I expected, no surprises. Coconut, pineapple… rooibos…
It stands alone with no sugar added but it gets a little tart. The rooibos is a bit strong, but then it usually is.
Overall, a solid tea but nothing to rave about.

Warming up today with a blend of maple tea and lapsang souchong, to go along with a bowl of hearty beef and veg soup. Good times! :D

Never tried this from the bagged tea box, mine is from a large vacuum sealed plastic bag (and is Orange Pekoe grade loose leaf).

Smelling the dry tea leaves, it reminded me of a root beer float (doesn’t taste like it though).
I found this to be a nice flavored black tea. I thought it might be a bit too sugary but that wasn’t the case. It has a subtle maple flavor and the black tea (which is from Sri Lanka) itself mixes very well with it. The black tea isn’t too bitter or sharp tasting. Sweet enough by itself, you shouldn’t need to add anything extra to it.

The other tea reviewers mentioned a dry feeling at the back of your throat. I sort of get that, but it doesn’t seem too bad. Maybe it has something to do with the bagged version?

3tsp for 2 cups of water. The leaves were silvery and full. They weren’t rolled or anything. There wasn’t much of a scent. The liquor is golden and has a light scent but I don’t know of what. At first the flavor reminded me of canned peas but the more I drink the better it tastes. There is a light flavor but it’s not lingering.

At first I didn’t like it but it’s growing on me.

4tsps with 3 cups water. The leaves were long and dark. I can’t pick out specific scents except it smells like a typical English Breakfast.

The liquid is amber and smells like the leaves. Again I can’t pick out specific flavors. There is an after flavor which I am thinking it is a trait of black teas. I like this tea.