185 Tasting Notes

87
drank vithanakande by Bruu Tea
185 tasting notes

The visual aspect of this tea is really nice : wiry leaves for the dry loose tea, a dark copper colour for the brew. Maybe not as fragrant as one would like, but this is well compensated in taste : malty, with character (stone fruit), all well balanced.

What Bruu says about this tea on its webpage :
What it is? A higher than usual grade of Orange Pekoe, consisting of very well rolled, wiry leaves. An extraordinary quality and unique taste from an award-winning estate.
Why we love it? This is a gentle, full of flavour, exquisite black tea, perfect anytime of the day. Neat black and silver leaves produce a dark amber liquor. It has a smooth deep character with stony and malty notes of fruits and molasses.
Where it’s from? Sri Lanka, New Vithanakande tea factory. Ratnapura has a lower elevation, and its geography is a transition between hills and plains. Worth a trip one day? Pick your own tea maybe? The highest estates share in the microclimatic conditions produced by the rainforests, cloud forests and high, grassy plains endemic to this region. As a result, they produce tea of a somewhat different character to that grown at lower elevations in the district. Some of these estates receive the highest rainfall of any in the plantation districts.
How our drink hits the senses : Almost chocolaty, strong and intense
The taste journey : The tea is leafy and has a glorious black and copper sheen since the soil is abnormally high in nutrients. When infused, New Vithanakande has a complex caramel flavour and has hints of forest fruits; a tea truly blessed by nature.

Flavors: Malt, Stonefruits, Tea

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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80
drank champagne by Bruu Tea
185 tasting notes

From Bruu´s website :
What it is? A dry white and green tea blend, with lush peachy chunks and sweet sultanas.
Why we love it? The smell is amazing, instantly your mouth begins to water with the peachy tones. Crisp and fruity initially, but super dry on the finish, just like a glass of fizz. Raise your glass with us and take delight in the sweet, ripe grape and peach notes, which are mirrored in the sultanas and reddish golden peach crunchy bits.
Where it’s from? Unlike the alcoholic beverage which is from the Champagne region in North France, this wonderful tea is produced in the Fujian province in China. The hilly territories with their red and yellow mountain soils, year round mild climate and abundant rainfall contribute to the White Tea’s unique character.
How our drink hits the senses: Crisp and fruity initially, but super dry on the finish this tea is light and subtly peachy, just like a glass of fizz.

First of all, I don´t understand all the fuzz about the fizzy drinks and imitating them, when most of the people aren´t too bothered about the quality of the champagne/cava/sekt/prosecco in the first place, but seem to only be interested in the visual effect of pearly bubbles rising up in the glass. I´m not an expert, but I do know there´s a HUGE difference between a champagne from a small and artisan vigneron and the mass produced low price versions available everywhere. So, getting to this tea blend : it´s fruity (peachy indeed), a bit on the sweet side w/o overdoing it, which makes it all quite festive and summery. The blend is well put together, it smells nicely, and it´s easy to drink. Complex? No, not really. For me it´s more punch and less champagne. A decent fruity tea , which even people who mainly drink black tea can enjoy.

Flavors: Peach, Sweet, warm grass

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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75
drank it´s darjeeling by Bruu Tea
185 tasting notes

From Bruu´s website :
What it is? A strong, malty and aromatic leaf with a rich body.
Why we love it? Works well with a drop of fresh lemon juice.
Where it’s from? Nestled between the Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. Tea from the Darjeeling district in West Bengal, India. When brewed, tea grown and processed in this area has a distinctive, naturally occurring aroma and taste, with light tea liquor; the infused leaf also has a distinctive fragrance.
How our drink hits the senses? Whilst sitting dry in its container waiting to become your BRUU; A strong, malty and aromatic leaf with a rich body. As the drink is BRUUing; Black but edgy.
The taste journey? The in-between we are offering excels due to its well-worked leaf, a light amber cup and an incomparable, slightly flowery, scented bouquet. A special tea with a delicate, fine taste for a perfect Sunday afternoon. A full and rounded blend.

I admit this sounds fantastic. Unfortunately, the tea liquor is light but so is everything : aroma´s and taste. I´ve tasted darjeelings which were very “delicate” with subtle but elegant aroma´s and taste, but this blend is lacking this finesse. So, just an average mark for a “just OK” tea, in my opinion.

Flavors: Malt, Tea

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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90
drank maple syrup by Bruu Tea
185 tasting notes

Maple flavoured oolong sounds pretty sweet to me, but “Maple Syrop” is actually quite balanced. However, I don´t know whether the pieces of real walnut and almond really make a huge difference in taste. (Maple) syrop-y in nose, in mouth this oolong reminds me a lot of a caramel flavoured black tea very popular (or at least it was popular 20 odd years ago) in France, called “Marco Polo”. I used to enjoy this Marco Polo a lot, especially on a Winter´s afternoon, and so, I can only rejoice in Maple Syrop being available in my tea cupboard.

From Bruu´s website :
Canada in a cup – fine walnuts and the flowery Oolong tea, the sweet maple flavour unfolds to its fullest. This composition promises exceptional indulgence!
How our drink hits the senses: Whilst sitting dry in its container waiting to become your BRUU; One sniff, I’m in Canada eating pancakes loaded with maple syrup.
As the drink is BRUUing; After the initial syrupy hit, the earthy Oolong and nuts come through.
The taste journey; It’s sweet, it’s nutty, it’s smooth – what’s not to love here?!

Flavors: Caramel, Earth, Maple Syrup

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML
Show 2 previous comments...
Martin Bednář 5 years ago

Not really sure if I want to try it, as I am trying to avoid sweet flavours, but… the nuts?!

Ilse Wouters 5 years ago

they make the loose leaf tea beautiful, don´t know + not sure whether they have an impact in taste.

Roswell Strange 5 years ago

Nuts are a surprisingly common addition to maple blends; maybe because “Maple Nut” is a pretty common flavour combination in Canada? Maybe because some nuts, like walnut, actually have a slight natural maple-ish taste? I’d be curious to see if this maple flavour would get a Canadian stamp of approval, though. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a maple tea from a non-Canadian company that’s really nailed the flavour…

Ilse Wouters 5 years ago

I can agree with you there…and it works for the personal taste as well : all the Canadians I know just love maple syrop, for the other people around (like me) it´s nice once in a while, but we get fed up with it quite easily, I think. As a Belgian I´m always completely stunned by how the North-Americans treat our waffles when we only add a bit of glacing sugar or a bit of butter.

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82
drank diamond black by Bruu Tea
185 tasting notes

This is Bruu´s earl grey blend. In nose it definitely shows. When steeping the tea the bergamot aroma´s linger on, but then, taking out the filter, the liquid itself has sort of lost the typical earl grey smell, and in mouth it tastes maltier than other Earl Grey blends. I have no objection to this malty character, but I really love earl grey, and its typical aroma is part of the enjoyment, as far as I am concerned. So not that happy an end IMHO

From Bruu´s website :
What it is? A harmonious interaction of the soft, slightly spicy tea basis with natural bergamot flavouring let every Earl’s heart beat faster!!
Why we love it? Very tasty. Not only the bright blue mallow blossoms give this popular English classic touch of royal flair.
Where it’s from? Mahseer is located in the centre of Assam, Northeast India, on the North bank of the Brahmaputra River in the district of Sonitpur, 20 minutes from the ancient city of Tezpur and 2hrs away from Kaziranga National Park. It is a beautiful oasis set in the midst of the Balipara division of Addabarie Tea Estate. Assam tea is mostly grown at or near sea level and is known for its body, briskness, malty flavour, and strong, bright colour.
How our drink hits the senses? Whilst sitting dry in its container waiting to become your BRUU, Diamond Black has such a floral hit. And that hit carries through as the water lands and infuses. Gradually the black tea makes an appearance. Blending! BRUUing!
The taste journey : Such an intelligent blend. The two potions combine perfectly and the order in which the palate senses each flavour leaves you wanting another sip.

Flavors: Bergamot, Tea

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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80

A second review, now i´ve taken it a few more times : mango clearly in nose, but once steeped, the tea has a greener, grassy aroma, also present in taste, with some added – subtle – citrus rounding it off. Fresh and spring-like indeed.

Flavors: Citrusy, Grass, Green, Mango

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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81

This is a tea I have been using since a while now, and it seems I just have one more cup left. I bought it in a small tea shop in Pau, France (where I used to live), and cf another tea I bought there, I assume its origin is Dammann Frères as somebody on Steepster said it could well be.
In another tasting note I wrote that I´m quite fussy about orange flavoured teas. Nothing seems to come close to the taste of a real orange, and I don´t like it to overwhelmingly smell/taste as orange zest either. I love fresh oranges (and anything that comes close, like a good clementine), but a blood orange is really the top. The extra acidity of a good blood orange makes it so refreshing (as a matter of fact, when I juice oranges which are rather sweet I tend to add a lemon or a grapefruit to get the acidity up), in my opinion.
I bought the tea for it being blood orange flavoured, and although its original aroma´s have gone, this can still be noticed when brewing the black tea : it´s primarily a black tea, with the blood orange acidity coming through in the finish. Another positive note : there´s nothing artificial about the flavour. I really should try to get another bag or tin of this tea, to refresh my observations about the tea. So long, one more cup to go ;-)

Flavors: Blood orange, Tea

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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82
drank naranja by Bruu Tea
185 tasting notes

A lot of people adore the combination of orange with let´s say chocolate (my brother is a big fan of Pim´s Cakes, for instance), or vanilla, and that´s great, but according to me no combination is as good as …a simple orange itself! Needless to say, I´ve encountered very few orange teas I really like. This 75% green tea (with white tea completing the blend) might be one I can enjoy more than once ;-) …and it truly smells like when peeling a ripe orange!

From Bruu´s website :
What it is? A premium blend with the aroma combination of oranges and vanilla. Deep red rose buds, bright carrot shreds and golden orange triangles will lighten up your day.
Why we love it : Teas have been selected very cleverly to create a subtle blend here. We’re pleased with this one, we think you will be too.
Where it’s from : Green tea from Kawane, Japan. Located on the mountainside on the upper stream of Oi river, Kawane is famous for producing refined, deep-steamed Sencha (green tea). Around this area, there is a nostalgic steam locomotive that still operates on the Oigawa Railway. Take the train to see the huge tea plantation from aboard, or get off the train to capture the lush scenery of this tea plantation as a backdrop to the whimsical black locomotive. Surrounded in mountains, Kawane features no shortage of unforgettable natural scenery.
How our drink hits the senses : Imagine the scent you get when you peel a ripe, juicy orange.
The taste journey : A taste with sweet notes and a special finish. A real pleasure without caffeine.

Flavors: Orange, Orange Blossom, Orange Zest

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML
ashmanra 5 years ago

That sounds good! Nina’s of Paris had an orange black tea that tastes like fresh fresh spray of orange in your face when peeling the fruit! It really is delightful as is, though I do like the scent of orange and vanilla, as well.

Ilse Wouters 5 years ago

the scent maybe, the taste…mmm, not sure ;-)

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80

This was actually a tea included in my first month´s Bruu tea subscription, but one way or another, I took it on holidays with me, forgot to taste it, travelled back with it…and so, almost 6 months later, I finally drank it. It´s a very easy drinking tea, fruity (in a tropical way even : mango!) and light. So, its name is definitely a good pick.

What Bruu themselves say about the tea :
What it is? A harmonious premium gourmet blend of green and white – a real Spring-time delight, all year round.
Why we love it : The scents from the initial opening become more prominent in the steeping stage. A desirable green with fruity kicks throughout. The palate is teased by a fruity, nippy aroma composition that makes this tea blend a real speciality. The combination of the different fruits flatters the smooth, fresh taste of the tea.
Where it’s from : Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The region has a long history of volcanic activity with eleven still active, such that much of the land throughout Kagoshima has been covered in a layer of volcanic ash known as “shirasu” (in Japanese). This ash helps produce soil that is exceptionally rich in minerals.
How our drink hits the senses : The scents from the initial opening become more prominent, a real fresh green and white mix that is reminding us that summer is coming!
The taste journey : A desirable green with fruity kicks throughout – a harmonious blend.

Flavors: Green, Mango

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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93

The first time I bought teas from The Capsoul, I must admit the beautiful tins were part of its charm. So far, the teas inside haven´t really been overwhelming me, but this is a nice surprise! I´m more of a black tea fan, so green teas often seem grassy and weak to me. However, the addition of jasmine flowers and flavourings, and of mint, bring out the essence of the green tea! Jasmine and mint tend to overwhelm, but this isn´t the case here : jasmine is everywhere in nose – both for the dry loose leaf tea as for the brewed tea – and is very subtle in mouth, while the mint only shows itself in the aftertaste. I could drink this tea all day, so balanced it is. The only draw-back is the very fine cut of the tea leaves, which makes it necessary to filter the liquid before drinking.

Flavors: Green, Jasmine, Mint

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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Profile

Bio

Introduced to tea by my sister-in-law in my country of birth = Belgium more than 30 years ago, I still love tea, mainly black, which I enjoy without sugar or milk. Having lived in UK, near good tea shops (e.g. Betty´s all over Yorkshire), I tend to buy most of my tea in bulk from tea shops (as such, most of these are not represented in my on-line cupboard). Nowadays, I live in Spain where tea gives me another sensatory bliss (as wine or beer or coffee can give me too).

Location

Madrid, Spain

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