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This reminds me of Lupicia’s Bonne Nuit, another champagne-flavoured black tea. Both Champagne Rose and Bonne Nuit taste exactly like real champagne! God knows how Lupicia has managed to do that! The dry leaves of Champagne Rose smell of grapes and muscat (quite similar to Fanta Grape). The liquor has a fruity black tea base, which complements the sweet, candy-like grape flavour very well. I am not getting the strawberry flavour that everyone has mentioned, perhaps the grape flavour is so potent that my taste buds have become too occupied to entertain other flavours :P As I am drinking the Japanese version, there are tiny pink and silver pearls among the tea leaves. I am not sure whether they contribute any flavours to the tea, but it certainly is a nice decorative touch! Next time (I think I still have a sample from Lupicia?) I am going to try it iced! :)

Btw, just want to point out that the name of this tea is Champagne Rosé instead of Champagne Rose, so I guess it should have nothing to do with rose flower at all. ;)

This is yummy. :) The black tea itself tastes pretty generic, and there isn’t any fruit in this tea, yet it is a very fruity and satisfying cup. It will make a great dessert tea because it smells just like a fruitcake! Isn’t flavouring amazing? :P But remember to drink it hot as the honey fragrance can be quite overwhelming (seriously, it makes me a little bit light-headed) after the tea has cooled!!

My 9th tea from The Book of Tea, a Ceylon tea which I found very special! I was expecting this to be a strong black tea because the dry leaves had a pronounced malty aroma. But I was totally wrong; this had to be the mildest Ceylon I’ve tasted so far! It’s extremely smooth and I love the subtle flowery taste. Will take milk very well I am sure. What really struck me was that unlike many other Ceylon teas, this tea had hardly any astringent aftertaste… or perhaps more precisely, it seemed that there isn’t any aftertaste at all! It had such a clean finish that immediately after every sip I would be ready to taste another tea. Interesting! :)

My 8th tea from The Book of Tea! Somehow I regret drinking this tea because it has taken away my excuse of NOT working on my report tonight – I was feeling rather drowsy just now but this tea was a pick-me-up. Like many Ceylon teas I’ve tried, it’s not the strongest black tea but rich enough to leave a slightly astringent aftertaste. Didn’t get the minty aroma though.

I had really high expectation in this tea because the name was so delicious! Knowing that it was included in Gryphon Tea’s “Treasures” box (a sample of 10 differents) and it was only available at a shop at Dempsey Hill, I decided to visit the shop when I was in Singapore. Dempsey Hill isn’t a place that you can conveniently get to without a car (especially when the stops for the free shuttle bus are not signposted and can be a problem to tourists!), but after trying this tea I think it’s worth every effort!! ;D

The tea was as wonderful as its description had promised. The liquor had a beautiful light green colour that was characteristic of sencha, and the seductive caramel-y aroma filled the cup as the tea brewed. It looked so palatable that I took a sip right after 3 minutes! It was soft and smooth, at the same time sweet and creamy. :) It tasted very similar to T2’s milky oolong – refreshingly delicate, only sweeter. I liked it so much that I had re-steeped the tea bag several times, and I was surprised that the lovely flavour and creaminess was still there after my fourth steep. My only complaint would be the complete absence of osmanthus flavour in this tea, despite a fair amount of the flowers in the tea bag.

My 7th tea from The Book of Tea. My love for The Book of Tea grows every day. I almost never paid attention to the properties of black tea from different regions in the past (they were all just black tea to me!), so I am really happy that The Book gives me the opportunity to do so! I am amazed by the great variety of black teas – some of them are so wonderful that I wish I can drink it every day, while others taste so “special” that I think a cup would be more than enough. I hope that by the time I finish all the samples from The Book, I would have a better idea of what kind of black tea I like and also what to avoid. :)

I believe Nilgiri FOP will be one of my favourite black teas. It’s medium-bodied, very smooth and I love the mellowness. There’s little astringency in it and it’s on the sweet side. This is a perfect afternoon tea and it will go well with any kind of food. It delights your taste buds instead of overwhelming them or keeping them busy! ;) A bit of milk would make it even more enjoyable.

I am so going to try Nilgiri (also in The Book of Tea) this week! :D

My 6th tea from The Book of Tea, which is quite nice! I was worrying that it would turn out to be a tart cup but it didn’t. It was very fruity and tasted like real cherries (though the taste reminded me more of nectarines I must say!). It’s mostly sweet but also had a light note of sourness. Tea companies tend to throw in a lot of fruits and flowers to create fruit-flavoured black tea, often with disastrous results. I was glad that Lupicia didn’t do the same to this tea… after all there’s no need for them to do so given their wonderful range of flavourings! :P

Not a very flavourful tea. I steeped it for more than 8 minutes but there was little flavour apart from a bit of sweetness. I then resorted to put the tea bag back into my cup and leave it there, but still that didn’t change anything. Worse of all, the lemon flavour was artificial; I was surprised that there were actually natural ingredients in this tea. :0

My 5th tea from The Book of Tea. I kept the brewing time short as suggested by others. The aroma was rich and unique – very smoky (but of course nothing like the bacon-smokiness of Lupicia’s Lapsang Souchong) and also earthy. Taste-wise it’s somewhat pungent, bitter, with hints of plums. Quite a complicated tea huh. It isn’t the kind of tea that will be liked by everyone… it’s more an acquired taste I think, and it may have a greater appeal to sophisticated and adventurous tea drinkers. Definitely not my cup of tea, though I don’t mind having it with Chinese food (which is what we Chinese always do)! I really can’t imagine serving it with milk…

I would recommend a longer brewing time (~8 minutes) for this tea because it is rather mild. Very soft and lemony… I can’t quite taste the ginger though. Perhaps because I am drinking this tea in the morning, I hope it could be more zesty and stimulating, but as an evening tea it will be perfect.