Silk Road

Cleansing and refreshing are two words that often come to mind when I think of Silk Road tea and Earl White doesn’t disappoint. This one gives me that zesty clean feel and it’s no wonder why- it contains lemongrass, citrus peel, and bergamot, among OTHER citrus notes. Despite the slightly bitter and tart front instated by the bergamot there’s a smooth, almost sweet and creamy note (from the white tea leaves?) that comes in, especially as it cools down.

Those who aren’t fans of citrus flavours or of Earl Grey will likely not be impressed with this one. For those who ARE fans of those things and are appreciators of the light complexities of white tea, give this one a shot.

honestly, i got this one because of the lovely description. first straight oolong i’ve tried, so it was interesting.
nice and light and fresh, i could hardly distinguish it from a green tea though.
as it cooled a bit it tasted sweeter, which was excellent.
a nice indulgent cup!

subtle flavour nice aftertaste its one of the best silk road teas i feel great when i drink it and it smells and tastes fantastic

I feel like I’m cheating on DavidsTea, but it’s always good to check out the competition, right? Loved it.

The smell of this tea dry is amazing: it’s such a nice smokey bergamot scent. Steeped, however, this tea has a very strong tendency to go very bitter very quickly, but steeping it for less time makes for an equally disappointing weak cup of tea.

I like this tea, and I buy it often, but it isn’t as bright and cheerful as I expect peach to be. You really have to add honey to this tea to counteract the bitterness that this brew has even with a regular-strength steeping. I think this may be derived more from the tea leaf base – Ceylon – and the citrus peel than the peach flavouring itself.

What does everyone here do when their tea tastes extremely tired? Do you suck it up and drink it all?

I’ve had this for over two years now and time has not been kind. It tastes like wilted sweet veggies..

This cherry tea is so smooth! The green tea and cherry are a good match and they subtly blend together to create a clean and tart, vegetative, tree fruit flavour. Someone told me this one reminded him of bubblegum but I’ve never really gotten that impression. It doesn’t have the artificial/mechanical taste that I’ve sometimes experienced with flavoured “candy” teas. The aroma is what attracted me to this tea and is a good indicator to the overall taste.

Hmm, this has a lot more rice kernels than I previously remembered. This optimizes the roasty trait, but I wish there was more veggie butter in the mix. Although it’s not my favourite genmaicha, it’s still good after a huge dinner. It didn’t mind me flunking the steeping parameters either.. well, not too much.

Also, happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Mild, minty – one of my favourite mellow teas. I blend this when I don’t want a caffeinated tea.

A coworker gave me some of this tea from Victoria BC. It is very lemon-grassy and crisp. The first sip and it had me hold my chin and ponder like a philosopher (seriously) about it’s strong taste and combination of flavours. Very nice if you like lemongrass.

I wanted to get a different genmai cha to compare to the stuff that I’ve gotten in the past from Maeda-en. I know that the Silk Road Teas have a good reputation and I got a bit of this at the local Whole Foods this afternoon in the bulk section.

I believe this blend has slightly more green tea than what I am used to. And I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of whatever green tea this is here as the base. I am getting a bit of astringency/bitterness which is one thing I am not fond of about senchas. It does have a nice nutty quality and I like the brown rice but in my opinion it’s just ok. If I was on a desert island with no other Japanese green tea I would be happy with it, I’m sure. Of course now I am spoiled after drinking gyokuro this morning!

mint, lemongrass… lovely. i can barely detect the seaweed in the smell of the steeped tea, and just a little bit more in the flavour, but it works well overall.
a nice herbal! refreshing on winter evenings :)

hoping to quell this scratchy throat! goes well with chicken strips and Bombay Bicycle Club :)

yes! one of my favourite teas. lovely peach fragrance, strong black tea taste and a sweet lingering floral peachyness afterward.
this is my second to last cup and i must get more!

i love this tea. i love silk road. they’re the ones that really got me into loose leaf. the atmosphere and the ‘self-serve’ type tea wall, just a great idea!

anyway, on to the tea… really lovely warming spicy blend. the cinnamon and clove are so nice with the black tea, and the slight citrus taste reminds me of mulled cider in the winter, though this tea would be equally excellent on a warm summer evening.
definitely one of my favourites – and i’m running low! must make another special tea trip to victoria, bc! :)

love this tea! one of the first flavoured greens i tried. lovely light cherry aroma, seems more like a bing cherry rather than a sour one to me, but i’m not complaining. really nice green tea flavour with cherry aftertaste. delicious!

second steep just as good :)

This lovely herbal blend is perfect for sipping while relaxing in the evening. The spearmint adds a wonderful freshness to the existing floral taste from the lavender and rose petals. Lovely, just lovely!

The first loosed leaf tea I ever bought. Recommended to me by the fact that if I like the green tea they serve as complimentary drinks at Japanese restaurants then I’ll probably like this. I do c: Sweet and nutty, I like to drink this when I’m eating something like sushi or okonomiyaki.

Nope, I tried it a second time, and this tea although blissfully fragrant is just not a tea for me. I wish it were, I love m ango, but it’s more black tea than mango when steeped and that is just a huge let down for me. Esspecially when the leaves are so fragrant before steeping.

This tea is so fragrant I actually breathed in the leaves and choked on them in the store, after a few giggles of embarassment I filled a small tin and wisked this one home for a taste test.

After following the directions for Black teas from Silk Roads I decided this time to steep the tea as little as possible and see what happens. The tea had a deep amber colour and the scent of fresh mangoes were intense enough to allude to enjoyable sipping… Not so much, I am starting to think that either a) I don’t like black teas or b) I just don’t like them from Silk Roads…

Here’s hoping it is “a” and not “b”

Must get more…

Must buy larger container next time…

I had quite the day, Dr’s with poor “bedside manner” and jerk like atittudes meets this tea… everything almost seems okay now.

Maybe I am starting to understand the more subtle notes of “black teas” but today detected floral scents under the manderine and spice. Soothing to the soul and the fractured sense of self – gotta love Dr’s and their ability to make one feel not only fat, but lazy all at once, and all because of a swollen, black finger… that is what I went in for and I came out with a sense of fat and lazy.

Delicious tea, to the point that I think I might be ready to venture into tasting straight blacks, no added flavours….

Hopefully the lab will garner conclusive results and show the Dr that he should stick to teh concern at hand… my puffy black finger that needs attention, and not my body fat, apparently my puffy black finger is a sign of high cholesterol… WFT?!

But I digress, this tea is delicious… I should buy more, soon.

I went to a few tea shops with my brother Saturday and walked away from Murchie’s with a Tuffy Basket Steeper and some new knowledge about steeping teas.

And….

I am on my second steep, and loving every minute of it!

First steep was fragrant and flavourful, with lots of intense mandarin taste. While the second steep allowed for more of the spice to come through, so much so that I am worried the third steep might be a little flat. That doesn’t worry me since I’ve already gotten my money’s worth with two steeps.

Not my most favourite tea, but for the tea connaisuer this tea is probably more up their alley.

Scent is fabulous! Even after it was steeped I truly enjoyed sitting in my favourite reading chair and sniffing the tea while ignoring the book I was reading at that time. But as for taste, if I wasn’t so against honey and sugar I am sure I could find more enjoyment in this tea if it was steeped less and sweetened with something.

Note: steep time is as suggested by Silk Roads