East Frisian tea

East Frisian tea comes from Ostfriesland, or well, East Frisia.  Ostfriesland is a culturally and linguistically distinct region in Germany.  Situated on the Western side of the country near the Netherlands, Ostfriesland is apparently a rather cool and rainy place, and folks from the region drink more tea per capita than even the Irish, which is all the more remarkable in Germany, a nation given by and large to coffee consumption.  Frisian can be considered a dialect in the German language continuum, and interestingly, despite a rather heavy Dutch influence over the centuries, it is the closest living relative to English.  In fact, Beowulf was written about a hero from these parts, and without the years of Dutch influence, Anglo-Saxon Old English and Frisian would probably be mutually intelligible.  The region's location on the Dutch border explains both the propensity for tea drinking and the composition of the blend itself.  At first part of Germany, the common folk drank beer and lots of it as a daily beverage.  The Dutch conquered the region at one point or another, however, and disapproved of alcohol consumption, and introduced first coffee, then tea.  The Dutch East India company was in full swing, and cheap tea was pouring in from India and also Java, another Dutch colony, thus the common folk could afford a strong malty blend of Assam and Java teas.  Ostfriesland fell under German rule again, but the tea habit stuck.

I first discovered East Frisian tea in a BOP blend from Special Teas, and loved it from the outset.  Special Teas got taken over, and this thick, dark, strong blend disappeared, until I discovered Upton Tea Imports this fall.  Appropriately enough, the tea came in on a cold, rainy day, and to my pleasant surprise, Upton Teas' blend is even better than the one I remember from Special Teas.  East Frisian blends are typically made from a malty, tippy Assam and Java teas.  Assam is familiar ground, but I must admit, I was only dimly aware that tea even came from Java, an island probably far better known for its coffee.  I also purchased a sample pack of Java, to better understand the blend, and its an ok tea in its own right, but nothing spectacular.

Brewed at a rolling boil, steeped for three or four minutes, and served with milk (or even cream, as is traditional in Frisia) and sugar.  Brown rock sugar, known locally as kluntjes is served over there, and you can purchase the stuff online, but my need for authenticity only goes so far...I'm unlikely to shell out for a special kind of sugar that goes best with one tea, especially since I barely use the stuff.  Served traditionally, the tea is steeped, then poured over the rock sugar, and cream is floated on top, the notion being a layered beverage.  Well, I like doing things correctly and all, but I added a teaspoonfull of gold old white sugar and a tablespoon or so of whole milk and stirred everything together.

This is a strong and dark tea.  In fact, I first tried it because it was described as "stronger and darker" than Irish Breakfast.  Upton Teas' blend, though, is something truly special, huge and thick, with an amazing body and mouthfeel, and flavors of malt, coffee, and cocoa.  Despite my love of tea, I drink about two cups of coffee almost every day, have since I was a teenager, and would hate to give it up, but if I had to, this blend could replace the coffee.  The combination of malt from the Assam and coffee/cocoa from the Java is truly special, and perfectly executed.  Java on its own was kind of muddy and bland, but put up against a strong Assam, and, well, harmony is a wonderful thing.

Score:  99 (A+)  This is a pantry staple, especially in the colder months.  In fact, having sampled probably more than a hundred distinct teas, I can easily say that this is one of my top three, along with last week's Banaspaty Assam and the so far unreviewed Silver Needle White.  I'm also very curious to try full leaf East Frisian...the full leaves would mean a less intense cup, but would also bring more nuances of flavor.

Single Estate Assams

Happy (rather belated) one year birthday, tea blog.  Many happy returns.

I haven't forgotten or forsaken the tea blog, just been on a bit of a hiatus.  Babies, work, lots of cups of coffee, trying to squeeze the occasional condensed exercise in there somewhere, but very little tea, and no writing to speak of.  I've worked my way through an order of samples from Upton Tea Imports, so I have notes to write a few good reviews, but not so much the time lately.

So, Upton Teas is a local, Massachusetts company with a large warehouse less than an hour from here.  I've looked at their site from time to time, but never really gotten around to ordering, at least until the weather got cold and I got a hankering for East Frisian tea, a dark, thick, malty blend that's perfect for dismal, wet weather.  East Frisian blends can be hard to find, but a cursory web search brought me to Upton Teas, and I thought to myself, I've been meaning to try them for a while.  Now, I subscribe to the notion that if you're going to get a small amount of tea, why not get a small amount of a bunch of teas?  It costs very little, is a great way to explore new teas, and it gives me lots and lots to write about.  Luckily, Upton has a huge selection, and I ended up with ten small sample pouches at my door in less than 48 hours.  Great service, and as it turns out, great tea...this company takes loose tea pretty seriously.

To start working my way through my backlog of notes, let's talk Assam...single estate Assam.  In tea parlance, single estate means the tea comes from only one plantation.  In the past, I've compared them to single malts, though do to the seasonal nature of tea, most batches are also from only one year or growing season, so perhaps a single barrel whisky is a more apt comparison.  We've talked about Assam a little bit before.  In the past, I've always found it to be a sturdy, robust tea that takes well to milk and serves as the backbone for many a strong, bold breakfast cup.  It's solid, reliable, and can be a bit bland.  I thought the last until I finally tried some single estate Assam, anyway.


Banaspaty TGBOP
Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe, quality broken leaf pieces with plenty of golden tips.  Broken leaf teas lose perhaps some nuance of flavor in exchange for a stronger, more intense cup, so I'd be very curious to try a full leaf variety here, but no matter, as is this is possibly the best cup of tea I've ever had.  Dark, reddish brown in the cup, with a full, chewy yet never chalky mouthfeel.  The flavor is malty and fruity at once, with a wonderful natural sweetness.  Malt and oak, perfectly balanced with an amazing thick blackberry jam flavor.  Banaspaty kept bringing to mind port wood aged Speyside malts with its combination of malt and dark fruit.  It was excellent both black and more so with milk, and the jam notes really shone with the addition of a little sugar...maybe half or a full teaspoon.  I would get this tea again and again, though there are of course many other Assam estates to try.  Score: 99 (A+)


Brewed with water at a full rolling boil,  one teaspoon to a six ounce cup, and a shorter steep time than most black teas, at only three minutes.  The smaller leaf size does tend to brew up rather quickly, and I suspect five minutes might allow some bitterness to seep in.




Numalighur TGFOP1
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, full leaves with plenty of golden tips...the 1 denotes highest quality.  A full leaf tea, which brews up a slightly lighter cup than the Banaspaty.  The Numalighur has a more complex profile than the Banaspaty, with sweet malt notes mingling with dark raisins, easily reminiscent of a sherry aged Speyside or Highland malt.  Less oak than the Banaspaty, and a touch drier in the mouth.  Although the body is a little lighter, the finish lingers a bit longer.  I hesitate to use the word, but a more "elegant" cup than the Banaspaty, though not necessarily better.  Another tea I will definitely get again!  Score:  95 (A)


Brewed with the same parameters as the Banaspaty, but the full leaf size calls for a longer steep...I had success with five minutes.  Again excellent black, as well with milk and a bit of sugar.  I think the sugar made less of a difference here than with the Banaspaty.


These are two truly fantastic teas.  I should never have waited so long to try single estate Assams...I think I have a lot more exploration through the area, and I currently have a new favorite tea.  More to come!

Fortnum and Mason Assam Superb

The Assam region is in the north of India, and lies at a fairly low elevation.  The low elevation and the heavy yearly rainfall and tropical temperatures in the region bring about a larger, broader leaf than other varieties, and the climate patterns also make the Assam region quite prolific, producing far more tea than other parts of India and China.  Interestingly, the vast amount of tea coming out of the region broadened interest in tea across social classes in Britain.  Prior to the discovery of the Assam sub-variety in India, China was the main source of British tea, but the discovery and development of vastly cheaper tea from the prolific Assam fields meant that tea was no longer just a drink for the upper class.  The Assam sub-variety was reputedly discovered in 1823 by Robert Bruce, a Scottish adventurer, though the leaves had long been steeped and consumed by local Singhpo tribesman.  Bruce died in 1824, but was instrumental in introducing the tea plantation system to India, and Assam tea to Britain.

Fortnum and Mason Assam Superb is a blended offering, featuring a fairly homogenized mix of teas from various estates within the region.  It's a good blend, with a fair bit of golden tips, and brews up a typical cup of Assam, with a thick body, and lots of malt.  Malty flavors and a huge thick body are the hallmarks of the Assam subvariety, and as you might expect, a homogenized blend from the region tastes very typically of those characteristics.  Some single estate Assams have notes of dark fruit, jam or raisins, but the Fortnum and Mason feature notes of mild caramel, malt, oak, and honey. 

Falling back on comparisons to Scotch (of course), this could be likened to a high quality blend; not as distinctive or flavorful as a single malt (single estate), but pleasant and more than serviceable (and usually cheaper).  Score:  90 (A-)

I've gotten a bit behind on reviews, but I have two single estate Assams to review, courtesy of a order of sample sized pouches from Upton Tea Imports.  Coming soon!

Bird Pick Breakfast Tea

An article I was reading recently divided black tea into two camps:  Chinese black tea vs. so called "British Legacy Teas,"  teas from former British colonies such as India, Sri Lanka, or Kenya.  Although this is a bit of an oversimplification, it does roughly work.  Chinese black teas tend to be lighter in body and cleaner in texture, and as such, work well as afternoon teas.  The right blend of Chinese blacks can make a pretty good breakfast tea, though.  I've mentioned English Breakfast blended solely from Keemun variants in the past, and it's a good, sturdy breakfast cup, as is Harney and Son's Queen Catherine.  I speculated that this was a more traditional breakfast blend, since tea from China was introduced first in Britain.  It looks, however, like I was pretty wrong on that.  According to which origin you pick, English Breakfast tea was first blended in Edinburgh, Scotland, or New York City, around either 1850 or 1870, and was a blend of Assam and a lighter tea, probably a Ceylon.  So much for my theory...the lighter Keemun blends must have come later.  Oh well, I never claim to be an expert, pretty much for this reason...I'm really just learning as I go along.

So, as mentioned last time, Bird Pick is a company out of California that specializes mostly in pretty high quality Chinese and Taiwanese teas.  As might be expected, then, their breakfast teas are usually pretty similar to the fancy Keemun based English Breakfast blends:  a strong flavor, but a light body and clean texture.  Bird Pick Breakfast tea however, is sort of a best of both worlds tea, with a fair bit of Keemun, blended with a light Assam, for an interesting mix of flavors and a round, full flavor profile.  It's a bit smoother than say Harney and Son's "All-Keemun" English Breakfast, but also probably not as strong a cup.  The balance is quite a bit more to the Keemun side of things than any similar breakfast blends I've had, with nice earthy note and a strong hint of Keemun smokiness, and the Assam maltiness lingering in the background.  Bird Pick's website notes citrus flavors, though I don't personally find them here.  I sometimes wonder, is my palate that undeveloped, or do these tea sellers exaggerate just a bit?

Bird Pick's Chinese blacks tend to do well with a slightly shorter steep time, maybe two to three minutes, though the Assam base here provides a little leeway.  As a true breakfast tea should in my book, Bird Picks breakfast tea tastes just right with the addition of milk, though it's not bad on it's own.  Sugar might work too, though I haven't tried it.  All in all, a nice cup, but probably not quite a morning goto.  Still, I like this company, and will have to try more from them in the future.  Score:  85 (B)

Tukdah Darjeeling TGFOP

At last, I've reached the fifth of five in Culinary Teas' Darjeeling Sampler.  It's been an interesting experience, going through five distinct Darjeeling estates.  I began back in the Spring with pretty low expectations, the only previous Darjeeling I'd had being severely underwhelming, and initially, I was pretty enthusiastic.  My first estate, the Soom, was not what I expected and pretty interesting, but as I worked my way through the teas, I found two things: one, the Darjeelings may have minor differences, but they all tend to have similar features, and two, I don't care for those features that much.  I mean, Darjeelings tend to be pretty high quality teas, but the principal note from each is "Holy astringency, batman!"  And while I don't mind some brightness in my cup, I prefer not to finish a tea with my mouth puckered dry.  So, I enjoyed trying all these teas, and I think I learned a good bit, but in the end, I'm just not much of a Darjeeling fan.

So, Tukdah is the last of five Darjeeling estate teas I tried.  The estate is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, and sounds truly beautiful.  I think I would very much love to visit the state of Darjeeling in northern India, as it sounds fascinating.  Tukdah is a large estate, located in the Teesta valley, which receives high rainfall and cooler temperatures, which produce a lighter tea than other Darjeeling estates or nearby tea regions.  The neighboring Assam region, for instance, is at a much lower altitude, and produces a much heavier, thicker cup of tea.  Up in the Teesta valley, once the monsoons have run through in the early spring, it's time to harvest the first flush, which have more delicate flavors and aromas than later harvests.

The TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, fairly large leaves with lots of tips) Tukdah from Culinary Teas is a first flush, and it does have lighter and more delicate notes than some of the other Darjeelings.  As with the others, making this tea requires a bit of care, though no more than making a cup of white or green tea.  I've had the most success with Darjeelings by treating them as Oolongs (which they can technically be considered, since the tea is not 100% oxidized), and steeping them in water at about 205 to 210 degrees C.  The easiest way to achieve this is to bring the kettle to a rolling boil, take it off the heat, and let it sit for about a minute, then pour.  I'm also careful about steeping times; the label says three to five minutes, but I tend to stay to the lower side of that spectrum and brew for about two or three minutes.

The color is pretty nice, as with the other Darjeelings.  I tend to make these in a small, plain white teacup, and the liquor is a really nice deep amber or reddish gold color.  The nose suggests faint nuttiness and a hint of smoke, and the first sip is pleasantly round and clean.  This is a lighter Darjeeling with a slightly fuller mouthfeel.  I get faint hints of smoke as with most of the other Darjeelings, and a really bright, astringent finish.  For the fifth estate, I still fail to really find the muscat notes that Darjeelings are so well known for.  I don't know if it's a colorful use of the descriptor (like calling a single malt "chewy"), or if my palate is just not developed enough to appreciate the notes, but in any case, I don't find any sweet, fruity wine flavors.  Mostly, this tea is a one-two flavor profile:  light and round on the tongue, then the sucker punch of astringency, leaving my mouth puckered and dry.  Score:  80 (B-)

So, the last of the Darjeelings.  The folks at CT have an Assam sampler that I've been eying for a while that should prove interesting, and they have several different Keemuns to try.  The folks over at Harney and Sons have some interesting black teas as well.  I feel as if greens and whites tend to get short shrift here, but it's getting cold, so I would expect a lot of black tea for the next few months.

Second Flush Mim Darjeeling

Mim Darjeeling is the fourth of five in Culinary Teas' Darjeeling sampler.  So far, I've tried the Soom, the Castleton, and the Margaret's Hope.  The experience has greatly expanded my knowledge and appreciation of this Northern Indian sub-variety of tea, but it's still not my favorite.  That being said, the Mim is the best of the lot so far, with a complex and beautifully balanced flavor profile.

Mim in from a tea estate in the North of India, located at 6800 feet above sea level.  Apparently, on a clear day, you can see Mt. Everest from the tea garden, which is just cool!  The tea is grown at a pretty high altitude, in relatively cool weather, which means a short growing season, and fairly high prices.  This also means a fairly renowned reputation, and should mean a highly developed flavor, particularly this tea, a second flush, which should have the strongest flavors of the harvest.

So, as with other Darjeeling estates, is this tea worthy of such a reputation?  I brewed a cup the other morning to try and answer this question.  I brewed the tea along similar lines to the other Darjeelings, water brought to a boil and allowed to sit for about a minute (roughly 205 - 210 degrees F), steeped for about three minutes in my Paris infuser.  The resulting liquor is a really nice reddish brown color, with a pleasant aroma.  But how does it taste?

Thumbing through some recent reviews, it's clear that one of the things that I really value lately in a tea is a clean texture and flavor profile.  Darjeeling doesn't disappoint in this regard; all of the estates I've tried deliver a high quality tea with no muddiness or chalkiness, and the Mim is probably the best of lot so far, with a faint natural smokiness.  That being said, I still struggle to find the muscat flavor that Darjeeling is famous for.  I've had wine made from the muscat grape, and it's all been sweet and fruity, with huge grape flavors, while the predominate texture here is in fact a crisp dryness.  Darjeelings seem to be bright and rather astringent, with little of the natural sweetness that I find in other teas.  Perhaps my palate just isn't that nuanced, but maybe I'm just not that big a fan of Darjeeling.  The Mim does have a wonderfully balanced flavor, and really is a quality cup of tea...on the whole, though, I think I'd rather a quality Chinese white.  Score:  82 (B-)

Nilgiri, India's "other" self-drinking tea

In tea parlance, a "self-drinking" tea is a tea that is easily drinkable on it's own, capable of standing on its own merits without being blended with other teas or additions.  India is well known for several such stand alone teas: Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri.  Nilgiri gets less attention than the other two, often showing up only in blends; it's a key part of a quality Irish Breakfast blend, and the toasty aroma is immediately familiar because I've had so very much Irish Breakfast tea.  Due to it's relative scarcity, Nilgiri can sometimes fetch a high price in the market, but it's lesser known status can work in the buyer's favor as well.

I must admit, I expected a strong malty flavor from Nilgiri.  After all, Irish Breakfast is a dark, intense blend, and Nilgiri has such a toasty smell that I expected a similar flavor profile.  Surprisingly, Nilgiri is a light, fruity tea, with very little astringency; it's role in Irish Breakfast is clearly to provide sweetness and balance to the stronger, maltier Assam.  I found the Nilgiri to have a clean texture, and mild lemon and floral notes.  In fact, the same fruit and flowery notes often sought after in Ceylon, but with none of the astringency.  I've had poor luck with Ceylon.  I find it to be rather finicky, turning overly astringent far too easily.  Nilgiri seems to be a middle road of Indian/Sri Lankan teas, fruity and floral like Ceylon, sturdy like an Assam, yet smooth and clean like Darjeeling.

This was another Culinary Teas purchase, their Nilgiri Nonesuch, a BOP or "Broken Orange Pekoe" tea.  I brewed it along the regular parameters, full rolling boil, three to four minutes steeping, a splash of milk and sugar, though Nilgiri might drink well enough without the additions.  This tea was a great find, and I look forward to getting it again.  I also have been eying this and a tin of Assam in my cupboard, pondering mixing the two in an attempt to make my own Irish Breakfast.  I'll be sure to post my results here, though my expectations of my own mixing capabilities are not exactly high.  Score:  90 (A-)