The London Tea Room

Sipdown – made iced for my husband and myself. I am very sad to see you go dear Mango – we have been good friends. :(

Thank you Terri Harp Lady for this sample tea!

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning, not my usual time but early enough for a leisurely sit down and cup of tea before heading off to drop my ‘Grandma Van’ at Hawkers Garage for a fix of my windshield wiper fluid delivery system.
I know snow is coming!

When I looked outside, I could see a smattering of snow already on the top of some of parked cars but not on the street. “It’s only October 5th!”, I told myself, then turned away to more important thoughts and decided to make this tea from Terri.

Black Tea, Black Tea, oh how I love Black Tea on a cold, cold day!
The anxiety of not knowing if this was going to be an EH’ tea or an
AMEN’ almost drove me to pull the steep short of the 3 minutes I
set my timer for.

I knew I would add splenda and cream but I tried the tea straight first. Um, the brew was very dark, strong, sweet and rich without being malty or bitter.
When the additions were stirred in, the tea was very smooth and delicious.
I loved the almost blackberry flavor with the roasty honey taste.

I could easily drink this often.

When I finished my tea, off I went to Hawkers where my daughter met me and whisked me off to breakfast at ‘The Breakfast Club’ (real name) for cornbread with sausage gravy. I know…it’s not good for you…blah, blah, blah…!
(I haven’t had this in over a year!)

After much running around, picking up the car and coming home,
I steeped another cup of tea from the morning leaves and enjoyed
more rich, smooth goodness.

I’m on snow watch now, and making rice (potato allergy) clam chowder, looking often out the window. I know this snowfall is only a fluke.

Things will warm up next week I know.
The real snow doesn’t come until Feb.-Mar. but I love the first
snow none-the-less.
Like the little girl I once was instead of an older woman I now am, I watch out my window with joyful anticipation.
I’m waiting for a giant hand to shake a heavenly snow globe, creating a magical white wonderland just for me.

Thank you Terri HarpLady for this sample tea!

The London Tea Room is a local place where Terri meets her friends for tea and friendly conversation, sort of a fancier version of Happy Lucky’s Tea House with a food menu. I’ve seen some of her pictures and I can see how much fun she has!
When one of you Steepster people comments “I wish that I had a Happy Lucky’s by me”, or “I wish that I had a tea Pub”, I often look up your town or city…hoping to find somewhere for you to go. A special little place of your own to check out for tea. The internet isn’t always helpful unfortunately.

With her trips to The London Tea Room, Terri has acquired a good stash of their tea’s for her cupboard and has shared some in a swap with me. Thanks Terri, I need to buy your CD now!

I used more than the normal amount of leaves (on a whim, at least a tablespoon and a half) and steeped them for 3 minutes in 6 (not 8…again a whim) ounces of water.
The first steeping was a little bitter, harsh but fragrant. It tasted vegital and the coconut was a little strange tasting too.

I repeated the same 3 minute steeping with the same amount of water and voila’….perfect coconut Oolong tea!
There wasn’t any bitterness or harsh flavor, just a subtle, creamy coconut taste with an aroma that smelled like cream pie.

As the tea cooled down the creaminess increased and coated my tongue, my teeth, my lips…so eh cudnt tk! (pause)

This was REALLY CREAMY COCONUT OOLONG! And yes, I did sweeten mine!

Here’s the deal though…and don’t forget!
The first steep is YUCKY!
The second steep is YUMMY!

I have been sipping on this tea for a couple of hours and when I came to log it was surprised to hear there is bergamot in it! LOL I know what bergamot taste like but I really didn’t notice it much. I did THINK I tasted some fig – which is odd, but here it is BERGAMOT and you know now that I read this I KIND of get A LITTLE bergamot and a slight orange but its not one of those in your face bergamots at all YET I do enjoy it quite much. Its an easy sipper and quite enjoyable!
Thank you Terri HarpLady for sharing!! :) I do love anything from LTR!

Thanks to TerriHarpLady for the sample of this!

I’m currently reading a play for class right now, so I put about a teaspoon of this into my basket infuser and set it in my 8oz Bodum Pavina. It’s a great size for doing 3 or 4 steepings.

The dry leaf smells great – really coconutty. I love coconut, and I was super excited to see this. Checked the London Tea Room website – no steeping instructions, so I came onto Steepster. Water at 180, steeped 3 minutes.

It’s a rather light oolong. The tea is very lightly yellow, and the scent is also pale. The oolong itself is deliciously roasty, and the coconut is definitely there, wrapping itself around the flavor of the leaf.

Thanks Terri! This is super relaxing!

Thank you Terri Harp Lady for this sample tea!!

First let me say for all you people on the East Coast…I hope you are dry and well…drink tea and hunker down! The wind and rain on the news looked fearsome! My prayers are with you all!

I live in that la la land called the ‘Mountain Time Zone’. (Hey, that makes me a Mountain Mama doesn’t it!)
There are probably few people who can name any States that reside in this Zone (and a lot of people don’t even know there IS a Time Zone other than Eastern, Central and Pacific (I know Hawaii and Alaska have there’s too!)). Up here in the Frontrange with the migrating birds (they’ve started to arrive), I’m waiting for the temperature to drop. 80’s are better than the high 90’s of Summer…but I want FALL!

I do Spring Cleaning and Fall Cleaning. Today, I took down anything that looked like Spring and Summer and began the transition. I changed my floral arrangements, pillows and throws first. I’m sure that will change the temperature outside in the same way that washing my car makes it rain.

My morning tea today was this Parisian Breakfast that Terri sent in a swap. It was an easy choice. It had the word “Breakfast” in it.

There were little bits of orange rind (without pith) in the dry tea
which was a pleasing aroma.

The liquor was dark and very strong. (Not the kind of tea that I would drink plain.)
My first sip, tasted of vanilla and orange but again, it was strong. I was sure this blend was meant for milk or cream.

I added sweetening and cream which brought the tea to where I believe it’s intended to be enjoyed alongside a fresh crossiant or buttered roll.

As the tea cooled there was some astringency and I didn’t taste any cocoa or chocolate during my tasting (curious). Vanilla, yes…lots of vanilla and some light orange.

A pleasing little tea, not spectacular but good with sweet buttery bread.

I’m enjoying a pajama day with Tony. It’s cool enough that he brought in some logs & built a fire. I just earned some extra brownie point by steeping some of this beautiful colored tea. It’s a bright, tangy & flavorful blend, which I’m enjoying today with a little local honey.
Here’s Tony’s guest review: “fragrant, beautiful color, with a mild fruit after taste”

I’ve had way to much caffeine today!

My trip to the London Tea Room today resulted in my purchasing the following teas:
2 oz of Blood Orange Puerh
2 oz of Jubilee (for Tony, it’s one of his favorites)
2 oz of Chocolate Mate Chai
1 oz of the 5th of November
1 oz of Serenity
1 oz of Plum Berry White – For Tony, because he loves Plum Oolong, & although they don’t offer that tea right now, I thought he might like this one in it’s place.

All teas, plus my lunch, are tax deductible, as this was a business luncheon with my clients! As President of the St. Louis Harp Society (a non-profit_, I also appointed them all as my official Board of directors, so we planned some upcoming event, etc. How about that for being a savvy business woman???

Plum Berry White is a bright red koolaid looking brew! I brewed it in my cute little Rishi glass pot (that came with a Finnum strainer, oh joy, you can never have too many of these!). It’s juicey & tart, & particularly nice with a little sweetness added. Yup, I think Tony’s gonna like it! No wonder he loves me so……I’m a good girl

Sipdown!
Last night I put the last of this in the fridge to cold brew. Admittedly, this isn’t one of my favorites, & my new thing is taking teas that I don’t really care that much for hot & trying them out cold. So this is a smokey tea with berries. I do enjoy smokey teas sometimes, but this one really tastes like tobacco, which doesn’t totally ruin it for me, but is a little over the top. I have enjoyed trying it, but won’t plan to restock, it’s just not my thing, hot or cold.

Honey, I’m home!!
The Ladies (5 of my adult harp students) & I just got back from our excursion to the London Tea Room. We had so much fun! In addition to lunch, we each ordered a pot of tea & passed them around, so that everyone got to sample everything. Here’s a list of the teas we tried, & a few of the comments (which I asked everyone to jot down in a small 3 X 5 spiral I carry around with me):
White Peony: “Smooth Flavor” “Pale with a hint of apricot” “I found it calming”
Bergamot Sage: “oooh…that’s different! Kind of minty & not overpowering on the bergamot” “The warmth of sage, the brightness of citrus – a good way to center oneself” “The best full flavor! Love the Sage!” “Love the herb smell as I am drinking it. Has a smooth feel”
Silver Needle: “Mild – good” “Nice & Mild – good for colds”
Blueberry Rooibos: Although I’m not a fan of blueberry, this has an authentic taste & with sweetener, YUM!" “Tart!” “Surprisingly appealing, subtle but lingering, great with a bit of sweetener” “liked the blueberry tartness. Tasted better after sugar was added”
Chocolate Mate Chai: “a hint of pepper, would like to try with milk” “Yum num num, like a chocolate malt” “Great, surprisingly good” “loved the chocolate flavor”
Blood Orange Pu’erh: “Deep Reddish brown. Smells of minerals, orange, & the ocean. Tastes of chocolate, orange, berry. Sweetened, Wow!” “Burst of flavor, yet still delicate” “My favorite! Strong citrus flavor”

Lunch was awesome, the service excellent, between the 6 of us we probably spent enough $$$ to support the place for a week (I spent $75 on food & tea & a cute little glass teapot with basket that I just had to have…).

Sorry I got so off-track! While I was writing this, I’ve been drinking the Fifth of November, which I’ve wanted to try for awhile. It’s like going camping in the woods! Smokey & rich from the gunpowder & Lapsang Souchong base, there is an undefined berry flavor (“Winter Berries” what does that mean? Cranberries? Probably not…), & just enough vanilla. It’s really quite good, & I’m reminded of a sweet fruity pipe tobacco. Robust plain, a little sweetening really brings out the vanilla & fruit. A tasty blend!

Thank you Terri Harp Lady for this lovely tea sample!

My morning tea’s are usually strong. Regular favorites are a Keemun or Assam (Butiki), Laoshan or Breakfast Blend (Verdant), Black (Teavivre). Many times mornings are when I choose a Puerh for multiple steepings. Ah yes, I love rich tea!

Summer is fading fast into Fall. Yesterday it was 85 and today 66.
The temperature hops up, then down again but I’m beginning to notice some of the tree leaves starting to turn golden. Soon, the full leaf display of red, maroon, bronze and gold will flicker in the trees everywhere I look when driving around town. The snow geese will arrive in force! Great flocks of geese passing through, many thousands who stay and meld into the landscape with the great eagles, cranes and occasionally pelicans.

I looked at the end of my kitchen counter with ‘Tea to be reviewed’.
There was a packet of Peach Oolong that seemed curious. I’d never heard of such a thing.
I’d tasted an essence of peach while drinking tea but I never had tasted a real “flavored” peach tea before. I decided to try it out.

I used a Finum filter and brewed the tea 3 minutes. I poured half the tea in a tasting cup to drink plain, and the other half was kept in the mug and I sweetened that half.

The wet leaves were filled with little pieces of minced peach and large unfurled green Oolong leaves. The aroma was mild peach and vegital.

The color surprised me. The liquor was mauve. There’s something in the tea mixture that made the tea a blush mauve. (a purple very small little stick hard to see, maybe roselle)

First I tasted the unsweetened tea. It was slightly floral orchid tasting and sweet. As the tea cooled the sweetness increased and the slightly acidic fruit flavor of peach with the floral Oolong tea blended very well together.
The sweetened tea version was my favorite.
Let’s face it, who wants a half ripe peach? If you can control the sweetness and have a fully ripe, floral peach flavor…well…do it! (which is what I did!)
The combination of the floral orchid Oolong (which I must say was smooth and gentle) and the luscious ripe and juicy peach was perfect.

Now that I’ve tasted my first Peach Oolong…I want more.
I think Peach and Oolong go well together!

Thank you Terri Harp Lady for this sample tea (But just wait, you won’t be thanking me in a minute!)

I read your review about how this Diamond Anniversary of the Queen, delicious tea is boyfriend ’Tony’s’ FAVORITE! But it’s not your favorite is it miss Terri?!

I must say this…

I am with TONY!

Your BF and I might just make some sweet oooh’s and ahhhh’s over this good tasting bergamot orange tea! I didn’t even think it was bitter or too strong tasting! It was delicious!

So watch out! (Hee Hee)

Tell ol’ Tony not to worry,…but I love this tea.
My pot of tea was smooth and rich. Really rich in a way that didn’t have any of the floral cream flavor that some bergamot tea’s have. This was black tea, bergamot, orange and smoothness.
Entirely lovely!

Thank you Terri HarpLady for sending me some of this! I thought it would go well with my Indian lunch and it does!
A nice follow up to a heavier meal for sure!
The balance of this blend is exceptional!
I can taste every element in this tea.
Once again The London Tea Room does not disappoint in providing excellent teas!
I would love to be the person who tests all the teas to determine which they will sell in their tea shop!
Whoever it is does a fine job! :)

Nothing new to share about this tea. It is bold, tart, a little bright & dark, all at the same time. It was my last cup this morning before I hit the road.
Roadtrip!
I’m driving 2 hours to play a 3 hour gig, spending the night because I’ll be playing late, it pays well, and I can afford a hotel! So I’ve packed teas, my electric kettle, etc, and will enjoy a quiet night away…kind of a paid vacation, really :)

It’s feeling hot & humid in St. Louis today, really for a couple of days now, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying a pot of this tea on the front porch with a friend. It’s bold & beautiful, and I need something like that to perk me up because humidity makes me slow.

A bold & bright cup enjoyed after a hearty breakfast, while driving to work to teach the evil children… ;)

actually, some of them are starting to make progress, so they aren’t all evil

Bold, bright, tart, & shiny!

I made a pot of this to go with my decadent breakfast:
Homemade Turkey Apple Maple sausage meatballs
almond flour pancakes
fried apples

The tea was bold & bright, with an edge to it that made me think of a shiny shard of obsidian, so smooth, but razor sharp. Just what I needed!

I made myself a batch of almond flour pancake. I’ve been feeling unsatisfied, food-wise, causing me to venture into eating things I shouldn’t. Today I really want something sweet for dinner. Not TOO sweet, just lightly sweetened. Hence I’m sitting here, enjoying a nice stack of pancakes, spread with coconut butter, & lightly drizzled with maple syrup. And bacon.
And I’m having a cup of this tea.
I feel like my senses must be off today regarding tea. Every single cup I’ve made has seemed lacking, somehow. I want something amazing & bold, & every tea I’ve drank should have fit the bill, & yet all day long it’s been this way, from the first cup in bed, to this one. Hopefully by morning this strange syndrome will have passed. If not, I’ll drink a series of green teas , in an effort to reset myself.

Another Sipdown :)
I probably shouldn’t be drinking this right now, LOL, because this black tea really packs a punch in the caffeine department. Oh well!

The description of this tea says it’s earthy & rich & somewhat like a Yunnan. There is definitely an earthiness to it, a warm cereal quality, but truthfully, this is a much bolder & gutsier tea, much more like an Assam in my opinion. Interestingly, since I drank the Wanja Purple tea earlier today, I am also noticing a similar flavor in this one that I can’t quite identify, but that I noticed in that other tea as well. It’s vaguely familiar…cranberry! That’s it! Maybe that is the terroir of the Kenyan soil?

The after breakfast cup, which probably should have been the breakfast cup. I forgot how BOLD this one is!
I’m alive!!

ahhh, good morning!
Bills pd last night? “Check”
Yoga done this morning? “Check”
Bold & earthy cup of tea to start my day? “Check!”

It’s been awhile since I had a cup of this, & I love it! This tea doesn’t have the frills of a Yunnan, not quite as in your face as an Assam, but I feel that it is more like the A than the Y.
It really almost reminds me of blackberries, in a way. There is a fruitiness to it, a richness. Otherwise, I feel that it’s fairly balanced all the way across the board, from low to high. A very nice deep cup that is fulfilling, yet doesn’t scream it’s name.

Now for a really bold cup! This is a real contrast to the Yunnan I drank first, almost harsh in comparison, but not in a bad way. To me this is not a malty tea, but more of a deep fruity flavor, like blackberries, with a brightness to it.

My verdant tea bundle box came! Oh…where to begin?