Whittard of Chelsea

My 2nd sipdown of the day, from NofarS.
I love the name of this Assam. It’s just a cool name, IMO.
A nicely potent Assam, rich, dark, & almost coffee-like, with a pleasing bitter edge. It’s also very bright at the top end, as if trumpets were playing that wake up reveille, if you’re not familiar with the tune, here it is, LOL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IHJv3ewZwU

I don’t travel well. It’s just a fact. It’s not that I don’t like traveling, it’s more that my body is ridiculous. Any movement in any direction results in new allergies, issues with drinking water, etc.
I arrived yesterday & within no time was sneezing, eyes watering,lungs burning, all the classic symptoms. I forgot how crappy bottled water makes me feel. No matter how much I drink, it doesn’t slake my thirst. Luckily my parents got a new water filtration system, & so far, so good. There are 2 cats who know I’m allergic & will do anything to torment me. The air in this house is hot & stale & I feel claustrophobic. Also, due to the time change, overall irritation, & a very late night planning & executing an awesome tea order (YEAH), I stayed up lake, tossed & turned, etc. Enough bitching, thank you for letting me rant!

Otherwise, it is awesome to be here with my folks. Dad & I spent a couple of hours talking about esoteric things (Reiki, crystals, spirit guides…stuff like that). Mom & I are gonna do something today, I’m not sure what yet.

I’ve been sitting here slurping this Assam, from my awesome trade with NofarS, & even though I over-tea-ed it a bit, it is deliciously rich, bold, malty & sweet. All the things I want this morning. Well…all the things I want in a tea, anyway!

Cold brewed this overnight using 2 tsp leaf for ~450 ml water.

Wow, these gunpowder leaves expanded a lot. The spearmint aroma is assertive yet smooth, both in the dry leaf and liquor, but its flavor is soon followed by an unpleasant and long-lasting sourness, which seems to be made worse by the addition of sugar. I did a second overnight steeping in the fridge which came out more mildly flavored, yet the icky tanginess remained. This is my first time making Moroccan mint tea, so I probably need to learn the right brewing tricks to make it taste right.

This is the third tea that Whittard of Chelsea sent for me to try. I was so in the mood for a comforting cup I could have with milk and sugar, and this tea immediately came to mind.

Oh, this is exactly what I wanted! Malty, malty, malty and I am astonished how smooth it is. With Assams, you usually get that malt by paying the price with some roughness, bitterness, or astringency, but this one just has a touch of very pleasant astringency.

My only caveat is that it’s a little one dimensional. It’s delicious, delicious malt, but just malt. I have to say I prefer the 1886 blend because you get malt, chocolate :) But if you are craving super malty perfectly classic Assam goodness, this is your tea. You can check it out at http://www.whittard.com/tea/black/assam_tea :)

It also makes me so curious to try Whittard’s Chai Spice tea, because if the use some of their Assam in it, it HAS to be incredible!

This is another of the teas that Whittard of Chelsea sent to me! Thank you!

I am flagging after spending the morning at yard sales, so a breakfast blend just after dinner makes perfect sense to me. This one is excellent. Honeychocolate! A little fruity. The Assam and Keemun make beautiful music together. It is certainly a bold tea, but it’s also extremely smooth. Downright velvety. Chocolate mousse smooth! Perfect with a scant teaspoon of sugar and milk.

I want to call it a classic, but I can’t — it has something a little bit different about it which makes it special. This is one I’d serve guests and save for special days. I love it.

You can find this tea at www.whittard.com! Look at the beauteous tea caddy:

http://www.whittard.com/tea/black/1886_blend_tea/125g_tin_1886_blend.htm

Took this one to class with me this morning for my finals review sessions. This is another one of those teas that is so simple but a staple tea. One to go to if your indecisive. Loved it black and also loved it with a little honey. Got me through the morning and I love it. Thank you Shelley_Lorraine for this mystery sample. I will definitely keep this one as a morning go to:)

http://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=8784975223

Blueberry buckle is also reeeeeeally good with this Darjeeling. The wineyfruity notes paired with the baked blueberries are a bit outrageous.

I was contacted by Whittard of Chelsea and was asked if they could send me some teas to try and review. I usually say no to these types of requests, but I was absolutely delighted to accept some teas from this venerable tea merchant! On Saturday I got a “Knock! Knock! Knock! Delivery from the UK!” at my door — it was the tea! Thrilling! I tore open the package to find three beautiful full-sized loose teas.

I’m one of the few Darjeeling fans here on Steepster. I adore the muscatel flavor — so I was happy to see this tea in the package, and chose it as the first tea to try. I decided to take it with a little sugar “like the Germans.”

It’s delightful. Divine muscatel and a delicate but rich tea flavor. It’s a lighter tea — so perfect for the steamy day — but very flavorful. I drank it at work and had to pause for a moment to let the flavor wash over me. The wineyspicy muscatel, distinctive and delicious, was just so good. The sugar made it round and sweet without any of the astringency I usually find in a Darjeeling, but I took my second steep sans additions and there it was — a little piquant pucker. Love.

I was able to enjoy three steeps, the last one drank cool, which makes me think this would be a great fancy iced tea for a party (the color is a gorgeous amber – I could just picture it in a clear glass pitcher).

What a perfect introduction to Whittard of Chelsea — I am so, so pleased to meet you!

WHittard Rooibos tea leaves very small and hard to use,put leaves in a fine mesh. Strainer. I prefer rooibos in tea bags.

Vanilla tea comes in 125g/40z loose and has a bitter taste,drink it black with one spoon of sugar.

Nice cuppa tea,infused leaves and added a littrle milk. Nice in the morning
Very strong

I got a 25g sample tin of the loose version from a friend when she went to England last month, along with 2 other tins of Whittards Original and English Breakfast.

Normally not one to reach for a straight assam (usually go for a ceylon or lapsang if I want a straight black, or I’ll go for a straight blend like an irish breakfast), it’s taken me a few days to get around to trying this one, but I’m glad I did!

Another CTC style leaf, I was careful with steeping. I used the “french press” setting on my Breville multi-temp kettle, and used 1tsp instead of my usual 1.5tsp in my giant perfect mug from DAVIDs. I ended up going for a 5 minute first steep because I didn’t hear my timer go off at the 3:30 mark, so expected this to be a bit bitter, but I was pleasantly surprised!

This is a lovely malty cup, with an almost chocolatey undertone. Lighter than the Assam Banaspaty from DAVIDs (the only other straight assam I’ve had), and sweeter. With the Banaspaty I usually add a dash of palm sugar or maple syrup, but the Whittards is perfect on its own.

This lovely English gift has inspired me to look for a Brown Betty style teapot, but I want a rainbow one!!! I really like the shape and curves of the Brown Betty, and they come in so many sizes. So if anyone finds a 6-8 cup rainbow teapot with a similar curvy shape to the traditional Brown Betty, let me know!!!!

Tooth-achingly sweet… I actually prefer their salted caramel hot chocolate to this, but wanted something different tonight.

This reminds me of the sweet and cinnamony milk that’s left over after a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (especially when I make it as an iced latte using unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk). More vanilla and sugar than tea and spices, for sure, but a fun guilty pleasure. Slurp! MMMmmmm :-p