The Boston Tea Company

…and an egg sandwich!

Not bad. Mixed these leaves with the old Mao Feng leaves from the last pot.

What a great morning for tea! I was feeling like drinking something different this morning, so I picked out this Dragonwell. I have to say that I have not tried Dragonwell in some time, but I remember being quite the fan of it when I did have some. I prepare a cup of it with a cup of the perfect just-this-side-of-boiling water, a teaspoon of loose leave in an infuser basket. Working for the happy medium (always seems to make good tea) I go for four minutes of steep time (the package said three to five).

As the leaves steep, I take in the aroma of the tea. Dry, the tea smells leafy, slightly vegetal, a tad grassy, and it has some almost malt undertones, akin to some of the Taiwanese oolongs. The steeping tea is a bit sweeter to the nose, but additionally has some smoky undertones. I begin to sip the tea, drinking in the flavor, the smell, and the feel. This tea tastes mellow, and the sweetness almost translates to a floral flavor.

On the package, the Boston Tea Company directs one to “Relax and Enjoy!” after making this tea. I must say, I certainly have relaxed, and it has been a pleasant drinking experience. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this green tea a delectable 85/100.

A small bag whose ingredients include green tea and mint “flavoring”. I really think that I want to give away/throw away a lot of the tea samplers I got in the large collection that I originally thought was a good deal – as I look at other brands of bagged tea and their genuine efforts at great tea with real ingredients, I can really tell the difference between this brands and every other one I have in my cabinet.

Weak flavor with a slight twingy after taste of mint that clings to your tongue for a minute after you sip this tea. I frankly cannot taste the green tea in this concoction, which was why I had bothered trying this tea int he first place. I already have some Stash pure peppermint tea, and this one simply tastes like a weaker version of that already pretty weak tea.

I’ll give this tea another chance some other time – I’ll try letting it steep for three minutes, against my better instincts – but I think the bag’s small size and artificial flavor and probably poor quality of tea has made this tea dead on arrival. Now I think I’ll finish this cup and try something with an actual flavor.

This earl grey has quite a punch and the added citrus with the bergamot makes for a very complex flavor. Be careful not to oversteep this tea, it tends to taste like Mr Clean lemon. In the end I like an earl grey where the bergamot doesn’t take over and with bergamot having added support with the citrus the poor assam has no chance at all. Not bad but I always get a little nervous when my tea looks like potpourri.

The last of this delicious rooibos.

Nighttime snack.

Mixing it up with Dragon Pearl Whole Teas black tea.

Mixed with Dragon Pearl Whole Teas’ Fujian Premium Black

Wow, what an incredibly hefty name! With a name like that and an ingredient list that includes red rooibos, blood orange, cranberry, lemongrass, and rose petals, this tisane is shaping up to be something superb (at least it sounds like it!) While this tea steeps in just-boiled water for five minutes (one cup of water), I take a look at the box and packaging. This tea comes in pyramid satchets for greater water flow and better brewing. A lot of teas do not benefit from pyramid infusers, much less tea bags, thanks to a lack of space in which to unfurl their leaves. However, rooibos, having no large leaves to unfurl, does just as well in this pyramid infuser as it would loose in the cup.

This cuppa smells delicious. The cranberry and rooibos are definitely the prominent scents in the steeped tea. But I know that it is the taste results for which you are waiting! So I let the tea cool down a bit. For some reason it seems as though it is taking longer than tea normally does. My first sip is very much rooibos, laced with cranberries. I was actually expecting the cranberry flavor to be a lot more prominent than it actually is. However, it is quite pleasant and supports the rooibos well from the sidelines. The aftertaste is where I detect the blood orange. It offers a slightly sweet, slightly tart finish to the sip. Overall, I am finding this tea a bit more subtle than what I originally expected, which was a blast of cranberry flavor. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this tea an 82/100.

While I am no Green Tea expert, I can honestly say I love this tea. Its nice and smooth and the only time I found it bitter was when I severely over brewed it (near boiling water, meant to steep for 2 min. forgot and left it sit for nearly 10!) I have been able to get 4 good infusions on a portion of this tea before the flavor degrades. Also its one of the few Jasmine Greens I’ve tried (out maybe 10ish different brands) that actually has Jasmine buds IN the tea. Very nice!

Tried it again, and I have to say the Blueberry is probably the most tasty of Boston’s fruit green teas, but that ain’t saying all that much. Tastes like fake blueberry, but thankfully the green tea itself isn’t too terrible and it saves me from wanting to dump the whole thing down the sink.

Now that I think about it, the blueberry reminds me of the “blueberry” flavor you get in breakfast cereals.

Steeped this bag once before to get acclimated to the taste.

And it seems that every tea from this brand that has a fruity flavor to it is, indeed, artificial. Sigh

I’m not really sure what to say on this one – on the first steeping, a lot more of the green tea came through, making the artificial taste a lot more forgiving on the tongue. The second steeping, however, betrays its artifice, as the green tea has really left the building. This is probably due to two facts – the anemic size of the tea bag itself, and the size of the “travel mug” that I’ve been steeping it in, which is a bit large and pretty filled with water. At any rate, this tea’s resonating flavor on the second steeping is this artificial blueberry taste that was light and forgiving on the first steep through. I’d say this one is good for a single steep – a light green tea with a tickle of false blueberry – but toss the bag out on the first steeping.

Jeez, Boston really needs to get its fruit-flavors in line – probably done best by incorporating actual fruit into the bags.

Tried it hot; doesn’t taste all that great hot. I’ll recommend that everyone stick to iced tea with this blend.

Got 8 small tea bags with this flavor in a large hexagon-shaped “sampler” with twelve different teas in it. I picked this one out from the pack first, because it looked the tastiest for the moment.

Didn’t exactly get to pour purely “boiling” water over it, but it infused just fine before I took the tea bag out. I drank it cool, a little pre-occupied with a game I just got, along with the sampler at the mall, and found it to be delicious, without any sugar needed.

I haven’t yet had a chance to drink it hot, but this sweet-smelling tea reminds me less of mango than a mango/pineapple blend, and somewhat tastes it, despite the “artificial” flavoring used in the bag itself. Again, I just wish that there had been no need for the “artificial” in this tea, but what can I say – at ten bucks for ninety six tea bags with twelve varieties, I’m not finding much at all to complain about. A sweet-smelling – and somewhat to a less degree, tasting – drink that I think a kid would especially enjoy.

Update – Made a few more cups of hot tea from the first tea bag. I found that I could steep one small bag and make around five flavorful small cups of tea. I tried it with sugar, and it actually seemed to make it taste slightly more unpleasant. Not sure I would buy this particular tea again; the artificial flavoring in the tea puts me off, and it’s not even all that great of a taste. It’s not all that “un-fruity”, but doesn’t quite seem right, as it does not have any actual real fruit in it and I believe that the taste reflects that.

Thank you silvermage2000 for giving me so much of this tea!

I cold steeped some for my trip and had it while I drove down to Fort Lauderdale yesterday morning. I was so tired and it really helped perk me up.

I really haven’t ever paid attention to apricots. I like how they smell, but I don’t think I have ever willfully eaten one. I mean, I live in Georgia, I would think I was eating a weird peach if I ever had one! And actually I know zero about apricots, I just learned they are very Mediterranean. No idea where I thought they were mostly grown.

But I do like apricot flavored things, and I enjoyed this a lot. I’ll give it a try hot at home!

A grassy green floral Jasmine in a bagged with that funky grass and floral aftertaste
meh

Don’t love it – don’t hate it

Smells like sweet cranberry and Blood Orange. I have been wanting a real Blood Orange and can’t find them anywhere. I can taste the cranberry more at the beginning of the sip and more blood orange at the end of the sip but neither are over the top. This is a more gentle flavored Rooibos, I think.

Not bad at all…just not my favorite.

(Guest post from my mom!) :)

Well, hello there, sweet new addiction. How’ve you been, soon-to-be lifelong obsession?

Are you guessing that The Boston Tea Company’s Peach Passion (Premium Oolong Loose Blend Tea flavored with Sweet Peaches and Sunflowers) is a hit in my kitchen? I’m actually enjoying the heck out of a hot mug of this fragrant, flavorful, and beautifully delicious tea as I’m typing.

Talk about inspiration.

Emily (known to you as “The Crazy Tea Chick” and known to me as my beautiful first born daughter) often rolls her eyes at my fascination with putting honey in hot tea. I add it to green tea, black tea, white tea… basically anything BUT Chai Tea (that’s a job for cream). I don’t add honey to iced teas but if it’s a mug of hot tea, you’ll find me and my honey bear (now don’t judge me) nearby ready to sweeten the deal. Every tea, every time.

A funny thing happened on my way to my hot mug of Peach Passion, though. I left the honey bear behind. After one Heavenly whiff and after one even more Heavenly sip, I felt that it’d be positively criminal to add anything to the mug except my lips.

I was slow in jumping on the loose tea bandwagon. I honestly assumed that loose leaf tea would be too expensive and complicated – that is before I actually tried it for myself. Loose leaf tea is absolutely amazing and, although I still enjoy tea from bags as often, loose leaf tea is a real pleasure – especially when it’s crafted by perfectionists like The Boston Tea Company.

If you love high quality tea, I strongly urge you (with Peach Passion on my breath) to become a regular visitor to Boston Tea.com… Every single tea I’ve ever had from The Boston Tea Company has left me speechless – and, trust me, for this gal that’s really saying something. The Peach Passion is one you simply have to try right away. The intensity of the peach flavor and the underlying sweetness is nothing short of perfection. You’ll also love the resealable bag. So convenient.

This tea is absolutely divine and, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for another cup. Peach Passion and sugar cookies is a match made in Heaven.

I actually expected very little from this tea, but it exceeded my expectations. You can read other notes to get the details of the taste, but one thing that I noticed that really seemed abnormal was it’s peppery taste- but a little dairy calms this down. All in all, it’s like there’s a party in your mouth and everyone is drinking BTC Earl Greay Citrus.

Picked this up during a trip to Home Goods. They sometimes have gourmet foods. So I picked up this tin & it ended up being the best buy on the day.

I love this tea hot or cold. Iced during the summer offers a refreshing drink. Hot during the winter offers some warmth. Either way, you get a delightful full body flavored cuppa tea.

The ginger is the strongest note in this one….so avoid it if you don’t care for ginger.

Check out our video-tasting here: http://blip.tv/the-tea-show/episode-40-boston-tea-company-s-dragonwell-5776093

Thanks LiberTEAs! This is neat!

Sweet, Cherry, Floral, White Tea, delicate, delight!