Savoy Tea Company

Phooey. Lost a whole rambly note on this one.

In short, it’s so light in color, even after 4-5 minutes, you wonder if there’s been mal-steep-function.

Conclusion: this is just supposed to be delicate. I don’t think I have a delicate or refined bone in my body; which may be why it puzzles me. (I expect black teas to wear ten-pound Doc Martens.)

My first dragon pearls! Savoy is fast becoming one of my favorite walk-in-the-door tea sources. For a cheapskate like me, they’re a leetle pricey, but no shipping/handling and no waiting. (That’s the walk-out-the door advantage.)

Dropped two of these little gems, about the size of your pinky finger tip, into a big clear mug, added the recommended 8 oz. water, and … at first, not much. Was a little worried about impending tea fail, even after four minutes, because the water seemed awfully pale for a Yunnan.

Not to worry. I ran it through a little tea strainer into a smaller, opaque cup, which showed a little more color—bronze. Flavor was pleasantly surprising. A little savory and brothy and yep! cocoa as advertised.

Off to try a second steep. (Do dragon balls bounce back? ;)

Celebrating a string of several days that won’t be governed by an alarm clock or time clock—so this was in order.

(Actually, I just woke up craving sugar and we have no ready-made frosting in the house to break into.)

White cake flavor is spot on with this one; the sprinkles are cute but just make it a little cloudy. Easily remedied with a dark-colored mug.

This came in an unmarked baggie from a work buddy. Black tea with birthday sprinkles sounded like a nice antidote to a dreary gray Friday morning.

It’s very similar to H&S Vanilla Comoro; the sprinkles don’t do much but add a little levity to it. Milk would probably boost the buttercream illusion; I just didn’t get that far. Tasty and fun.

Without sweetening, this is still a rich and creamy dessert tea, heavier flavor emphasis on the creamy than on the chocolate. That could change with the addition of sugar; I just don’t sweeten tea. Instead I splooshed in a little almond milk and it still made a pleasantly decadent breakfast for a slow Sunday morning.

This is not a substitute for a box of Russell Stover cream centers. It’s tasty; you can pick up on the chocolate and coconut, but it’s still light enough your chocolate cravings know you’re trying to put one over on them.

(The only chocolatey tea I can think of that has the “heft” to be a plausible candy bar substitute is 52teas Malted ChocoMate.)

Still, a nice treat and change of pace.

Woke up in my own bed after a week of air travel and hotel life craving great honkin’ wads of CHOCOLATE. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate a tub of Betty Crocker double fudge frosting in the cupboard, so this seemed like a plausible substitute.

It smells wonderful dry. You know that first whiff you get when you walk into a really good candy shop? Yeah, that. Pouch sniffing on this one is imperative.

Steeped, it’s not as strong as its scent—few chocolate teas are, but still nice. The chocolate vibe is stronger with the cream, but that could change with the addition of a little milk or half-and-half. Aw, shucks…I may need another cup.

I hate airline snags and snafus, but am grateful that a re-route to Northwest Arkansas airport last week prompted my husband to make a quick detour on his way home to pick up this little sample.

Be it ever so humble, enjoy where you are today.

Nothing new to say about this tea’s carmelly-lemony goodness, but it tasted ten times better about 6:30 this morning sitting in the backyard glider silently holding hands with my husband. 31 years and counting. We watched the stars go down and the sun come up.

Tastebuds wanted sugar; bleary eyes and general disposition needed an adrenaline IV and a B12 shot straight to the brain. Compromised. Gently lemony-caramel with a reasonable amount of morning wake-up strength behind it.

Hey! I can post!

This smells a lot like a bag of fresh Brach’s Pick-A-Mix caramels this morning. The bergamot keeps it from being so cloyingly sweet.

Supply is waning…must conserve…

Slow Saturday morning start. Yum. The caramel stays on your tongue long after you’ve swallowed. Definitely not a tea to hurry through.

Almost like candy for breakfast. Nothing new to say about it after half a dozen tasting notes; caramelly, lemony. Only for mornings when there’s time to enjoy it. Because of where I buy it, when I drink it, I have strong sensory connections of leisurely days in the days of the Ozarks. I am in deep need of a strong dose of “somewhere else.”

This lemony caramel tea makes me smile. So does a morning spent with my nose in a commentary discovering the deeper meanings of the Israelite tabernacle furnishings so I can write about it for grade schoolers. Geekness at its finest :)

Still haven’t tried this with milk, but I need to. That would turn it in to a caramel-cream Earl Grey.

This was specifically the reason for my return visit to Savoy Tea Company. (Oh, who am I kidding? It’s a decent tea shop less than two hours from my front door. Of course I’m going to stop there every time it’s possible.)

Must be one of their more popular blends, because when I placed my bulk order, the lady asked if I’d read on Facebook that it had just come back in.

What grabbed me on the first sample pack was the luscious creamy caramel texture and flavor with a little bergamot thrown in. First cup out of this batch, I noticed more bergamot and it was a little pushy. (Stand back, you, and let the caramel through!)

I’ll check time and temp more closely next time around and see if I can whip it back into submission. Otherwise, I may just have to go to the Ozarks again. Darn.

This will be my last cup till we get back to Arkansas. Sweet caramel, little bergamot…light and lovely.

(Unless I figure out whose teas Savoy Tea Co. is private labeling …)

I’m glad this double-steeps well because my supply is running low. Caramel, in my opinion, needs to be its own food group and this blend shows it off beautifully. Like a Brach’s Milk Maid caramel from the candy bin that’s still soft. The black tea base is dark and smooth, and the bergamot is barely there—just enough to complement the other flavors.

As I was savoring it this morning, I was also savoring the thought of some people who bless me regularly. You need to meet Miss Kathy. A frumpy, somewhat lumpy, gray-haired pillar of our church in sensible taupe Velcro shoes. She is generosity and humility personified, working with and loving the special needs adults Sunday after Sunday. Her other ministry is sending cards to homebound elders, and she has adopted my mom as one of her pen pals. When the tornado trashed my writing room and reference library, she brought me a box with a full set of J. Vernon McGee commentaries and said, “With your writing, you’ll need these more than I do.” I treasure them.

This cup’s for Kathy. May you cross paths today with someone who makes you feel treasured, too.

I need to go back to Arkansas and get more. This lemon/bergamot/caramel twist has got me by the taste buds. A perfect balance of all three, which for me, is “just barely bergamot.”

Still impressed. Passed the second steep test with flying colors. Was even strong enough to take a little milk. The milk overpowerered what was left of the citrus flavor, but still enough caramel to make you smack your lips.

I think this gives me a good excuse to go back to Arkansas; a one-ounce sample is not going to be nearly enough. This is a really nice black tea with lemon, caramel, and a hint of bergamot. Really, just a hint; it doesn’t assault you. The caramel is first and foremost; nice and thick on the tongue.

It’s been a long time since I had (and liked) Harney & Sons Indian Nimbu, but I’m pretty sure this is its twin sister.

Did the first test cup straight up, but I’m thinking this would be lovely with milk, too.

Even though this is one of the more plausible decaf teas I’ve tried recently, there’s just a hole in its middle where the kick belongs.

I oversteeped, not deliberately, but even with a bitter-er bite because of that, the lovely unadulterated black tea personality isn’t there.

Sigh. Oh well, off-kilter tea for an off-kilter day. (Time change, out of sorts, cloudy, cold, complications…you know, just a Monday. Glad today’s troubles are light and momentary.)

Our run-away-from-hype day yesterday was in the direction of Northwest Arkansas (Wal-Mart headquarters territory; lots of new shopping venues springing up). And in Rogers, to be exact, we discovered a nice tea shop with prepackaged sample sizes as well as tea by the ounce. With great difficulty, I limited myself to just two take-home treats.

…but I’m glad this one made it into my bag. I’ve often mentioned the desire for an unflavored decaf black tea that actually had some personality. This one’s decent. Steeps reddish amber and has some red-fruit undertones to it, even a hint of cola.

It even kicked out a fair second steep with the (fill-it-yourself) filter bag left in the cup.

After that, we hit the backroads. Two-lane Highway 12 snakes miles to the east of Rogers and leads to War Eagle Mill, a working grist mill in the gorgeous middle of nowhere with a gift shop that smells like fresh bread and a lovely view of War Eagle Creek from the top floor of the mill when sharing a serving of pecan cobbler with somebody you’re fond of. I didn’t want to leave.

It’s my Birthday and, as promised, I had Paris Morning dessert style (with sweetener and coconut milk) for the first time. It was as awesome as I imagined it would be and a great tea to have on my birthday.

Since I was in doing so depleting my tea supply a little, I just had to stop by Savoy Tea Company to replenish my supply and see what was new. While there, I couldn’t resist having one of their bacon cupcakes. OMG Om nom nom…

“I love Paris in the Springtime, I love Paris in the Fall,
I Love Paris in the Winter when it drizzles,
I love Paris in the Summer, when it sizzles…
(song from the musical “Can Can” by Cole Porter)

Ah, Paris Morning…How do I love thee? An awful lot, apparently. Running out of this was my main reason for returning to the Savoy Tea Company. Not that I needed more tea (I’m generally up to my eyebrows in it) but because I was out of THIS TEA and by golly, I had to have more right away.

I found it on my first visit to this shop while sniffing various sample jars. I caught a whiff of tea, vanilla, and bergomot and had to try it. If Paris is the city of love, well, it’s amore. Just taking it out of the cupboard makes me start getting all poetic.

This is a luxuriant tea, sensual and fragrant. Of course, the whole tea experience could be described as such. It’s time consuming to heat the water, steep it within the proper time frame, and then you have to wait for it to cool (though I’ll admit to occasionally dropping an ice cube in my brew out of impatience—I’m not much at this zen of tea stuff.). My point is, this is not the sort of tea to guzzle away in the course of a day or two. It’s more the kind I hoard like fine jewelry or expensive perfume, taking my time so I don’t run out too quickly. But even so, the days pass all too quickly and I’m alone again, staring at the empty place in my cupboard where my lost love once resided.

Paris morning is lovely stuff hot or cold brewed and like most of my favorites is fine alone, although cream and sweetener are fine for special occasions. Like my birthday. Yeah, maybe I’ll have it that way then.

I’m pretty certain Savoy is either relabeling Harney & Sons Paris or there is another company out there that has copied it almost exactly. That means I love the tea, but I’m not sure I’ll go out of my way to get it from Savoy again when I order from Harney frequently anyway. If you’ve had H&S Paris you’ve had this. :)